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THE
DISPENSATORY
OP THE
UNITED  STATES OF  AMERICA.
                   BY

          GEORGE B. WOOD, M. D.,

PROFESSOR OF THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF
                PENNSYLVANIA,
    PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA,
  ONE OF THE PHYSICIANS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL, ETC. ETC.,

                   AND

         FRANKLIN BACHE, M. D.,

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA,
   VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA,
 LATE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC. ETC.
    ELEVENTH EDITION,

CAREFULLY  REVISED.
         PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT  AND  CO.
               1858. 
U«wA  Mttm
        Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1858,

          By George B. Wood, M. D., and Franklin Bache, M. D.,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United  States in and for the
                    Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
PBEEACE
             TO


THE  FIRST  EDITION.
  The objects of a Dispensatory are to present an account of medicinal
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 import-
ance of these objects, and  the general value  and even necessity of a
work of this nature, will  not be disputed.  It may, however, be a
question, bow far the wants of the  medical and pharmaceutical com-
munity 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 tbey both are,
upon the excellent basis laid by Lewis, they are nevertheless entitled,
from the  great addition of valuable  materials,  and the distinctive
character  exhibited in the  arrangement of these materials, to be con-
sidered as original works; while the style in which they have been
executed speaks  strongly in favour of the skill and industry of their
authors.   But tbey were calculated especially for the sphere of  Great
Britain, and  are too deficient in  all  that relates exclusively 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 chemical 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 explanatory commentary, 
IV
Preface to the First Edition.
in order that its precepts may be fully appreciated, 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 what-
ever is useful in European pharmacy, may accurately represent the
art as it exists in this  country, 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 Dispen-
satories, 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 satisfacto-
rily  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 disposed  to deny.  In offering a new work to the  medical and
pharmaceutical 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 sufficient
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 division
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 signification
of these names are inserted in immediate connexion with the titles to
which tbey 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 comment and ex-
planation  appeared  necessary.   Nothing, in fine, has been omitted, 
Preface to the First Edition.
v
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 important object of establishing, as
far as possible, throughout the United States, uniformity both in the
nomenclature and preparation of medicines.  In  one particular, con-
venience required that the plan of the Pharmacopoeia should be de-
parted from.  The medicines belonging to the department of Mateeia
Medica, instead of being arranged in two divisions, corresponding with
the Primary and  Secondary Catalogues of that work, have been treated
of indiscriminately in alphabetical succession; and  the place which
they respectively  hold in the Pharmacopoeia is indicated by the em-
ployment 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 ex-
clusively employed  and referred to, have an extensive circulation
among  us,  renders some commentary necessary in order to  prevent
serious mistakes.   The Pharmacopoeias of London,  Edinburgh, 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 preparation is recognised by
our  national  standard.   In the latter case, if different names are ap-
plied by different  British Colleges to the same object, that one is gene-
rally preferred which is most in accordance 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 Phar-
macopoeias alluded to, some others have been described, which, either
from the lingering remains of former reputation, from recent reports
in their favour,  or  from their  important relation  to  medicines  in
                                * 
VI
Preface to the First Edition.
general use, appear to have claims upon the attention of the physician
and apothecary.  Opportunity has, moreover, been taken to introduce
incidentally brief accounts of substances used in other countries or m
former times, and occasionally noticed in medical books; and, that the
reader may be able to  refer to them  when desirous 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 pro-
perties, its chemical composition  and relations, the changes whicb it
undergoes by time and exposure, its accidental  or fraudulent adultera-
tions, its medical properties and application, its economical uses, and
the pharmaceutical treatment to whicb 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 employed as  such, its peculiar toxi-
cological  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 advantages of
such descriptions are obvious.  The physician may often be placed in
situations, in whicb it may be highly important that be 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 distinguishing, 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 tbe  gratification  afforded by the in-
dulgence  of a liberal curiosity in relation to  objects so  closely con-
nected with our daily pursuits.  The  introduction 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,  and therefore coincide
with the general design of the  work, which is  to collect into a conve-
nient form for consultation all that is practically important in relation 
Preface to the First Edition.
vn
to medicines.   The authors have endeavoured to preserve a due pro-
portion 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 a 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 bis obser-
vation.
   In preparing the Dispensatory, the authors have consulted, in addi-
tion 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
Frencb writers, who stand at present at the head of  this department
of medical  science.  They have also endeavoured to collect such  de-
tached facts,  scattered through the various scientific,  medical, and
pharmaceutical journals, as they conceived to be important in them-
selves, 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
whicb they have most largely drawn, and the authorities upon whicb
they have  most relied.  In relation to our  own  commerce in drugs,
and to the  operations  of our chemical  laboratories, tbey 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 thanks, and which tbey are  pleased to have this opportunity of
acknowledging*
   It has not  been deemed necessary to follow the  example of the
 British Dispensatories, by inserting into the  work a treatise upon
 Chemistry, under the  name of Elements of Pharmacy.  Such a  treatise
 must  necessarily be  very meagre and imperfect; and, as systems of

   * The authors deem it proper to state that they are peculiarly indebted for assist-
 ance 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
 apothecary'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, Carbonate of Magnesia, and Sulphate of Magnesia. 
viii                Preface to the First Edition.

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 tbey  have expended mucb 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 general
accuracy of its statements.   They are conscious, nevertheless, that, in
so great a multiplicity of details, numerous  errors and deficiencies
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 inte-
rested in the diffusion of sound pharmaceutical  knowledge, the com-
munication of  friendly suggestions  or  criticisms in  relation  to the
objects and execution of the work.
Philadelphia, January, 1833. 
PREFACE TO  THE ELEVENTH  EDITION.
  In the foregoing preface to  the first edition of this work, sufficient
has been said of its objects, the plan upon whicb it was written, and
the sources whence the materials composing it were originally derived.
A modification of its arrangement was made in the second edition, by
the introduction of an Appendix, containing an account of drugs not
recognised by the American or British Pharmacopoeias, yet possessing
some interest from their former or existing relations to Medicine and
Pharmacy.  This Appendix has been so much enlarged by the nume-
rous additions which have at various times been made to it, and espe-
cially in the present edition, that  the authors  have  deemed it worthy
of being considered as a third part  of the Dispensatory; so that the
work,  as now arranged, consists  of  three divisions, the first treating
exclusively of the medicines included in the Materia Medica catalogues
of the Pharmacopoeias, the second of the Preparations, and the third
of substances not strictly officinal.   An Appendix, however, is still
retained, in which are introduced various tables, and other subjects of
interest or use to the apothecary and physician, for which a place could
not conveniently be found in the body of the  work. A precision has
thus been given to the arrangement of the Dispensatory which was at
first wanting.  In the several successive  editions, it has been the aim
of the authors  to keep pace with the progress of Materia Medica and
Pharmacy, making changes corresponding with those  of  the officinal
codes acknowledged by them as authoritative, and introducing more
or less in detail all the new facts, views, and  processes, as they came
to public  notice.  In the ninth  edition, that, namely,  of 1851, it was
 necessary to make a thorough revision  of the whole  work, and in a
 considerable degree to rearrange the materials, in consequence  of the
 then recent appearance of new and  greatly altered  editions of our na- 
x                Preface to the Eleventh Edition.
tional Pharmacopoeia, and of those of the London and Dublin Colleges.
We  refer to these  changes,  in order  to  call attention to the new
division of weights adopted by the Dublin  College, which, though the
same in terms as those in general use, differ from them materially in
value, and, therefore, required much  caution, on the part of the au-
thors, to guard  against serious mistakes.  It will be seen, by consult-
ing the formulas of the several  Pharmacopoeias, that care has been
taken, in all cases in*which the result would  be  affected by a misun-
derstanding  of the denominations of weight employed, to refer within
brackets to their proper  signification.   Thus, the pound and ounce of
the Dublin processes are designated as belonging to the  avoirdupois
weight, and  the subdivisions  of drachms and scruples  to the Dublin
weights, the value of which is indicated by a table in the Appendix.
The  measures now employed  by all the British Colleges are the Impe-
rial gallon and its subdivisions, differing more or less in value from the
similar denominations of the  wine measure used  in the U. S. Pharma-
copoeia ; and it has been necessary, on this point, also, to guard against
error by a particular reference to  the fact, in  every formula in which
entire accuracy is essential.
   In regard to the present edition, the authors have  only to say that
they have exercised no less vigilance than on former occasions, to let
nothing escape them which could add to  the value of the work, and
make it, what it aims to be, a representative  of  the existing  state of
Pharmacy, and a safe guide for the student and practitioner.   Within
the three  or four years which have elapsed since the publication of the
last  edition, the improvements in Materia Medica and Pharmacy have
kept pace with the  general progress in other departments of science
and art; and it has  been necessary to make many additions and modi-
fications in  the Dispensatory  in accordance with these improvements.
The great difficulty of the authors has been to prevent the work from
swelling beyond the limits of a single volume, and thus becoming in-
convenient  for reference.  By discarding, however, whatever seemed
 to them to have become useless through the progress of improvement
 or change of opinion, by aiming  at the greatest conciseness of expres-
 sion consistent with clearness in  regard both to the  old and the new 
                 Preface to the Eleventh Edition.                xi
matter, and by care to  avoid any waste of space in the method  of ar-
ranging the materials for the press, tbey trust that they have succeeded
in accomplishing this object without impairing the usefulness of the
work;  but tbey have, nevertheless, found it necessary to increase its
dimensions by about one hundred  pages, in order to meet  the exi-
gencies of advancing knowledge.  With these few preliminary expla-
nations, they offer the Dispensatory for  the eleventh time to the pub-
lic, hoping that it may meet with that approval from the medical and
pharmaceutical professions, of which it has always been their aim to
render it deserving.
Philadelphia, February, 1858. 
ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED IN THE WORK.
U.S.—"The  Pharmacopeia of the United States op  America.  By
  authority of the National Medical  Convention, held at Washington, A. D.
  1850."
Lond.—London Pharmacopoeia, A. D. 1851.
Ed.—Edinburgh Pharmacopeia, A. D. 1841.
Dub.—Dublin Pharmacopoeia, A. D. 1850.
Off. Syn.—Officinal Synonymes, or the  titles employed by the Pharmaco-
  poeias with the accompanying explanations, when these titles  are not given
  in chief.
Sex. Syst.—The Sexual System, or the artificial system of Linnaeus, 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. Pharmacopoeia 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. Pharmacopoeia.
Sp. Gr.—Specific Gravity.
Equiv.,  or Eq.—Chemical Equivalent, or  the  number representing the
  smallest quantity in which one body usually combines with  others.
Linn., Linnaeus.—Juss., Jussieu.—Be Cand., De Candolle. — Willd. Sp.
  Plant, WlLLDENOW'S EDITION OF THE SPECIES PLANTARUM OF LlNNiEUS.
  — Woodv. 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 sig-
nification.  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 commerce by the
manufacturer; the other, those which are prepared by the apothecary,  and are
the objects of  officinal directions.  The former are enumerated under the title
of "Materia Medica;" the latter, under that of "Preparations," or "Pre-
parations and Compositions." In Dispensatories, which  may be considered
as commentaries on the Pharmacopoeias, the same arrangement is usually fol-
lowed- 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 recommenda-
tion  of being the most convenient.  By this  plan, all the directions which
relate to the practical operations of the  apothecary 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 distinc-
tion between the original medicinal substances and their preparations.   Under
the head of Materia Medica, therefore, in this Dispensatory, we treat of medi-
cines 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 sepa-
rately, and without any  reference to community of source, or similarity of cha-
     ' 1 
0
Materia Medica.
PART I.
 racter.   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 ol
 the author has been especially directed.  Thus,  the naturalist classifies them
 according to the affinities of the several objects in nature from which they are
 derived; the chemist, according to  their composition; the practitioner  of  medi-
 cine, 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 alpha-
 betical 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 latter on particular parts or organs.
   I. GENERAL REMEDIES include 1.  Arterial Stimulants, sometimes
 called Incttants, 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. Anti-
 spasmodics, 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 apparent increase of the healthy
 actions; and  5. Astringents, which have the property of producing contrac-
 tion in the living tissues with which they may come in contact.
    II.  LOCAL REMEDIES  may be divided  into four sections:  a.  Those
 affecting the function of a part, namely, 1. Emetics, which act on the  stomach,
 producing vomiting; 2.  Cathartics, which act on  the bowels, producing 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 increase the cutaneous
 discharge; 6. Expectorants, which augment the secretion from the pulmonary
 mucous membrane, or promote the discharge of  the secreted matter; 1.  Emme-
 nagogues, which excite  the menstrual  secretion;  8. Sialagogues, which in-
 crease the flow of saliva; and  9. Errhines, which increase the discharge from
 the mucous membrane of the nostrils: b. Those affecting the organization of a
 part, including 1. Rubefacients, which produce redness and inflammation of
 the skin;  2.  Epispastics or Vesicatories, which produce a  serous discharge
 beneath the cuticle, forming a blister; and 3. Escharotics or  Caustics, which
 destroy the life of the part upon  which  they act:  c. Those operating by a me-
 chanical 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 diminish  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 cm extraneous matters contained within
 the organs, including 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 
PART I.
Materia Medica.
3
a very few which are so peculiar in their action as scarcely to admit of classifi-
cation, 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 recognised in  the
system of classification, but constantly referred to in medical language.   Thus,
we have Refrigerants, which, when  internally administered, diminish animal
temperature; Alteratives, which change, in some inexplicable and insensible
manner, certain  morbid actions or states 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 dis-
tinct  names to groups of remedies, with reference to certain effects which  are
incident  to the  properties that serve  to arrange them in some more  compre-
hensive 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 viscera, 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. 11. 8.  The herb in flower.
Lond.   The herb.  Ed.                                    . .   A    .   _
  Absinthe, Ft.; Gemeiner Wermuth, Germ.; Assenzio, Ital.; Artemisio Axenjo. bpan.
  Artemisia.  Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua. — Nat. Ord. Compositae bene-
cionideas.  De Cand.   Asteracese.  Lindley.
  Gen.  Ch.  Receptacle  sub-villous, or nearly naked.  Seed-down none.  Calyx
imbricate, with roundish, converging scales.   Corollas of the ray none.  Willd.
  Several species of Artemisia have  enjoyed  some reputation  as medicines.
The leaves of A. Abrotanum, or southernwood, have  a fragrant odour, and a
warm, bitter, nauseous taste; and  were formerly employed as  a  tonic, deob-
struent,  and anthelmintic.   Similar virtues have been, ascribed to  A. Santonica.
A. pontica has been occasionally substituted for common  wormwood, but is
weaker.   A. vulgaris, or mugwort,  formerly enjoyed considerable reputation as
an emmenagogue, and some years since came into notice, in  consequence of the
recommendation of its root in epilepsy by Dr. Burdach of Germany.   For this
purpose, it should be collected in autumn or early in the spring, and the side
roots only dried for use.   These should be powdered as they are wanted, the
ligneous portion being rejected.   The dose is about a drachm, to be  adminis-
tered in some warm vehicle in anticipation of the paroxysm,  and  to be repeated
once or  twice, at intervals of half  an hour,  till perspiration is produced, the
patient being confined to bed.   In  the intervals, it  may be  given every second
day.  This  is merely the  revival of an old practice in Germany.  Dr. Neu-
meister, of Arneburg, has used mugwort, in connexion with  assafetida, success-
fully in  chorea.  He adds a pound  of the tops to a  gallon of water, digests for
three days, then strains,  adds three ounces of assafetida, and gives a teacupful
for  a dose.  The proportion of assafetida might be reduced to one-third, if well
mixed.   A.  vulgaris of this country is thought by Nuttall to be a distinct
species,  and may not possess similar properties.  In China,  moxa is said to be
prepared from the leaves of Artemisia  Chinensis, and A. Indica.   The medi-
cine known  in Europe by the name  of wormseed,  is the product of different
species of Artemisia.  The  only species which requires  particular description
here is A. Absinthium.
  Artemisia Absinthium.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii.  1844;  Woodv. Med,  Bot. p.
54, t. 22.  Wormwood  is a perennial plant, with  branching, round, and stri-
ated 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 annu-
ally 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 acute divisions;
the floral leaves are lanceolate;  all are hoary.  The flowers are  of a brownish-
yellow  colour, hemispherical, pedicelled, nodding, and in erect 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 mountainous
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.
   Wormwood has a strong odour, and an intensely bitter, nauseous taste, which 
PART I.
Absinthium.—Acacia.
5
it imparts to water and alcohol.   It yields by distillation a volatile oil (oleum
absinthii), usually of  a dark-green colour, sometimes yellow or brownish, hav-
ing a strong odour of the plant, an acrid peculiar taste, and the sp. gr. 0-972.
It is sometimes  adulterated with alcohol, oil of turpentine, &c, which lessen
its specific gravity.  The product of the dried herb is much greater than that
of the fresh. (Zeller.)  The other constituents, according to Braconnot, are a
very bitter, and an almost insipid azotized matter, an excessively bitter resinous
substance, chlorophylle, albumen, starch,  saline matters, and lignin.  The cold
infusion becomes olive-green and turbid on  the addition  of sesquichloride of
iron, indicating  the  probable existence  of  a little  tannic acid. (Pereira.)
Among the salts, Braconnot found one consisting of potassa, and an acid which
he  supposed to be peculiar, and denominated  absinth ic acid,  but which is
said to be identical with the succinic.  This acid may be recognised among the
products of the dry distillation of wormwood. (Annul, der Chem. und Pharm.,
xlviii. 122.)  The substance formerly called salt of wormwood (sal absinthii) is
impure carbonate of potassa, obtained by lixiviating the ashes  of the plant.
By precipitating an infusion of  wormwood which 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 re-
sulting tincture to slow evaporation,  Caventou obtained a  very bitter, imper-
fectly crystalline substance, which he considered as the active  principle, and
which has been  named absinthin.  Dr. E. Luck has procured pure absinthin
by  a process which may be seen  in the Am.  Journ. of Pharm., (xxiii. 358.)
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Wormwood was known to the ancients.  It
is highly tonic; and its active principles probably enter the circulation, as it is
said to render the flesh and milk of animals  fed with it bitter.  It formerly
enjoyed great reputation in numerous complaints, attended with a debilitated
condition of the digestive organs, or of the system generally.   Before the in-
troduction tof Peruvian bark, it  was much used in the treatment  of intermit-
tents.   It has also been supposed to possess anthelmintic virtues.  At present,
however, it is little used in  regular practice on this side  of the Atlantic.  A
narcotic property has been ascribed to it by some writers,  in consequence 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.                                   W.


                    ACACIA.  U.S., Lond., Dub.

                             Gum Arabic.

   The concrete juice of  Acacia vera and other species  of Acacia, U.S.; of
various species of Acacia. Lond.  The gum of Acacia vera. Dub.
   Off. Syn. GUMMI ACACI^E.  Gum of various species of Acacia.  Ed.
   Gomme Arabique, Ft. ; Arabisches Gummi, Germ. ;  Gomma Arabica, Ital.; Goma
Arabiga, 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 of Acacia  was employed by the ancient 
6
Acacia.
PART I.
Greeks to designate the gum-tree of Egypt, and has been appropriately applied
to the new genus in which that plant is included.
   Gen, Ch   Hermaphrodite.   Calyx  five-toothed.   Corolla  five-cleft  or
formed of five petals.  Stamen 4-100.  Pistil one  ^ume^fje-J^i
Calyx  five-toothed.   Corolla  five-cleft, or  formed of  five petals.   Stamens
4-100.  Willd.                                            ,.   e,,   -,
   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 Nilotica.
   Acacia vera.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 1805;  Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib.
de 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 pin-
nae.  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, supported
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  intervening portions of Africa.
   A. Arabica. Willd. Sp. Plant,  iv. 1805;  Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. x.
32; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i.  31.—Acacia Nilotica, Delille, Illust. Flor.
de VEgypt, p. 79.   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 alter-
nate 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 uppermost pair.   Both  the common and partial
petioles, 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.
   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 byBroussonet in Morocco near Mogador; A. Ehrenbergiana,
a shrub six or eight feet high, named in honour  of the German traveller Ehren-
berg, who observed it in the deserts of Libya, Nubia, and Dongola; A. Seyal,
 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 Libyan  desert.   It is highly probable  that <mrn  is
 obtained also from other  species  not hitherto  described, growing in the hot
 latitudes @f Africa.   A. decurrens and A. fioribunda are said to yield it  in 
PART I.
Acacia.
7
New Holland.   Other trees, moreover, not belonging to the genus, afford a
similar product, especially Feronia elephantum of Hindostan, the gum of which,
according to Ainslie, is used for medical purposes in Lower India, and Alyaro-
bia glandulosa of New Mexico and neighbouring regions, supposed to be the
source of the mezquite gum.  (See Part Third.)
  The gum-bearing Acacias are all thorny or prickly trees or shrubs, calculated
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 situations,
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 praised 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 substituted for it called
 acacia nostras, obtained by expression and inspissation from the unripe fruit
 of Prunus spinosa, or the wild plum tree.
   The gum of the Acacias  exudes spontaneously from the bark,  and hardens
 on exposure; but incisions are sometimes made in order to facilitate the exuda-
 tion.   This  is supposed 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  characters of the gum do
 not depend upon  difference in the  species of the plant.   Thus, from the same
 tree, it will exude frothy or thick, and clear  or dark-coloured, and will assume,
 upon hardening, different  shapes and 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 Barbary, the Senegal, and  the India Gum; to which
 may be added the Cape and the Australian  Gum.
    1.  Turkey Gum.  Gum Arabic was formerly procured, chiefly if not exclu-
 sively 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.*   We obtain it in
 this country through Smyrna, Trieste, Marseilles, or some  other entrepot  of
 the Mediterranean commerce.   Two varieties have long been noticed, one more
 or less coloured, the other white, which were  formerly distinguished by  the
 titles of gum ge'dda and gum turic, derived from the ports  of the  Red  Sea,
 Jidda and Tor, from which the varieties were erroneously supposed to be re-
 spectively exported.  The gum from Egypt  is commonly known by the name
 of Turkey gum,  and is the  kind with which  apothecaries are usually supplied.^
 Though interspersed with roundish pieces of various sizes, it consists chiefly of
 smalTirregular fragments,  commonly whitish, or slightly tinged with yellow
 or reddish-yellow.   It  is, on the whole, lighter coloured, more brittle, more
 readily soluble, and freer from impurities than the  other commercial varieties,

    *  Bayard Taylor states that it is obtained almost entirely from Kordofan where
 30,000 cwt. are annually gathered.  {Journey to  Central Africa, N. Y., 1854, p. 6bl.) 
8                                Acacia.                          rART *•
and  contains much of that form of gum Arabic which is characterized by in-
numerable minute fissures pervading its substance, and impairing  its transpar-
ency.                                                                  _r
  2. Barbary Gum.  Much gum  Arabic is obtained from Barbary ;  and Mo-
gador, a port of Morocco, is the chief  entrepot of the trade.   It  is probably
derived, in part at least, from Acacia gummifera.  According to Jackson, the
natives call the tree which  affords it  attaleh.   They  gather  it in 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 Barbary gum  in  part re-
sembles the Turkey, in part  the Senegal.  When first deposited in the ware-
houses, it has a faint smell, and makes a crackling noise, occasioned  by the
rupture of the  small masses as they become more dry.  Barbary gum is ex-
ported in casks, and reaches the United States through English commerce.
  3. Senegal  Gum.   This variety was 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 is chiefly centred. Immense forests of Acacia exist  at some distance
in the  interior.  These are composed chiefly of two trees, called by the natives
vereck or nereck, and nebuel or nebued;  the former yielding a white gum, the
latter a red.  These are probably distinct species, the vereck  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.  The
juice begins to  exude in November.  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 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.  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,  reddish,  or brownish-red, larger
than those of Turkey gum, less brittle and pulverizable, and breaking with a
more conchoidal fracture.*

  *  An interesting account  is given by M. J. Leon Soubeiran of the  varieties  of gum
sold under the  name of Senegal.  The following is an abstract from his paper pub-
lished in the Journ. de Pharm. et Chim. (Juillet, 1856,p. 53,) to which the reader is re-
ferred for further particulars.
  Hard gum Galam (gornme dure de Galam) is the name given to the product of the
two  species mentioned in the  text.   That of A. vereck is white, wrinkled, and dull
externally, of a vitreous fracture, sometimes vermicular or tortuous, but in  general
roundish or oval, two inches in diameter, of a sweetish  slightly acidulous taste, and
wholly soluble in water, with which it forms a mucilage much clearer and less con-
sistent than that of Turkey gum, and reddening the tincture of litmus. The product of
A. nebued differs only in being  more frequently of a reddish colour, almost always in
roundish lumps from six lines to an inch in diameter, transparent, of a slightly bitter
taste, and yielding a mucilage thicker than that of Turkey gum, and but very slightly
reddening the tincture of litmus.                                          °   *
  Mixed with the Galam gum are two other varieties, named Bondou gum and Gona
Mi gum; the former closely resembling the Galam gum, but differing by its decidedly
bitter taste, which renders it unfit for  medical use ;  the latter derived from A Adan
nonii, redder than the red Galam gum, drying readily and becoming vitreous like the
better varieties, but unfortunately so bitter as much to lessen  the value of the cum
with which it may be mixed, and from which it is not easy to distinguish it
  Brittle gum, Salabreda, or Sadra-beida is supposed to be obtained from A 'albida of 
PART I.
Acacia.
9
  4. India Gum.   Large  quantities of  gum have been  imported from India,
derived from A. Arabica, and probably other species of Acacia.  Most of it is
taken to Bombay in Arab vessels from Cape Gardafui and Berbera on the north-
eastern coast of Africa, where it is collected, or from the ports of the Red Sea.
It is in pieces of various size, colour, and quality, some resembling the broken
fragments  of Turkey gum, though much less chinky;  others large, roundish
and tenacious, like the Senegal.  It is usually much contaminated, containing,
besides genuine  gum Arabic, portions of a different product, having  the  char-
acteristic properties of Bassora gum.  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.   Besides this im-
purity in the India gum, there are often others more readily detected.  Among
these,  we have observed a yellowish-white  resinous substance, which has the
sensible properties of the turpentines.  If care  be used  in assorting  this com-
mercial variety, it may be  employed for all the purposes of good  gum Arabic.
India  gum is brought into this country, partly  from Calcutta or Bombay, and
partly'by way of England.  It usually comes in large cases.   We have seen a
parcel said to have come directly from the Red Sea, enclosed in large  sacks
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, irre-
gular, very brittle masses, not much less than the fist in size.
   5. Cape Gum.   Pereira mentions that gum  is imported into Great Britain
from the Cape of Good Hope, where it is collected probably from Acacia Kar-
roo, which grows abundantly on the banks of the Gariep, and in other parts.
Dr.Pappe, of Cape Town, refers it  to  Acacia horrida of Willdenow. (Flor.
 Capens. 8.)  It is of a pale-yellow colour,  in tears or fragments, and is consi-
dered an  inferior  variety.   According to Mr. Simmonds, the  importation has
nearly ceased; this gum having been superseded by the artificial product called
British gum or dextrin. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm, xxix. 75.)
   6. Australian Gum.  Considerable quantities of gum have been imported
into England from South Australia.  It is in pieces  elongated or globular,
rough and even wrinkled upon the surface,  and of a violaceous tint, which dis-
tinguishes it from other varieties.  It is not entirely soluble in water, to which
it imparts less viscidity than ordinary gum Arabic.
   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
 sun.   In  powder it is always white.  It  is inodorous, has  a feeble, slightly
 sweetish  taste, and when pure dissolves wholly in the mouth.   The sp. gr.
 varies from 1-31 to P48.   Gum Arabic consists essentially of a peculiar proxi-
 mate  principle  usually called gum, but for which the name of arabin has been
 adopted.   In describing its chemical relations, therefore, we describe  those of
 the principle alluded to.   Water, either cold or hot, dissolves it, and forms a

 the Flora of Senegambia, which is much smaller  than A.  vereck, and characterized
 by its white bark.  The gum is usually in small, irregular pieces like coarse salt,
 probably the fragments of larger lumps, but sometimes in vermicular pieces about as
 thick as a goose-quill, and of variable length.  It is dull and often wrinkled externally,
 of a vitreous fracture, and of different tints of  colour, white, green, yellow, or orange.
 It is always somewhat bitter.  Very easily soluble  in its weight of water, it affords a
 mucilage of little consistence, which has but a slight effect on the tincture of litmus.
 When the solution is evaporated to the consistence of a paste, it absorbs moisture so
 as to become viscid ; and this  property detracts much from its value.  It is much less
 esteemed than the Galam gum.  Note to the eleventh edition. 
10                                Acacia.                           PART r-
viscid  solution called mucilage, which, when evaporated, yields the gum  un-
changed.  (See Mucilago Acacise.)   It is  insoluble  in alcohol, ether, and  the
oils; and alcohol precipitates it from its aqueous solution.   Diluted acids  dis-
solve it, but not  more freely than water.   The concentrated acids decompose it.
Triturated with sulphuric acid  at ordinary temperatures, it  is converted into a
product, similar to the gummy  substance resulting from the action of the same
acid on linen rags and sawdust.  Heated with concentrated sulphuric 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 con-
verts it into mucic acid, and at the same time produces oxalic and malic acids.
It combines with several salifiable bases.   With the alkalies and earths it forms
soluble compounds.   By the subacetate of lead it is  precipitated from its solu-
tion, in the form of a white insoluble compound 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 compound of gum and potassa remains dissolved.
Its solution yields a precipitate with nitrate of mercury, and forms a brown,
semi-transparent jelly, with a  strong solution  of sesquichloride of iron.   In
solution it unites with sugar; and  the liquid, when  evaporated,  yields a trans-
parent, solid substance, insusceptible of crystallization.*
   Gum Arabic undergoes no change by time, when  kept in a dry place.   Its
aqueous  solution, if strong, remains for a considerable time unaltered, but ulti-
mately becomes sour, from the  production  of acetic acid.  The tendency to be-
come sour is increased by employing hot water to dissolve  it.   Between 300°
and 400°, the gum  softens, and may be drawn into  threads.  At a red heat it
is decomposed, yielding, among other substances, a minute proportion of ammo-

  * 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 proxi-
mate principle of plants.   It is now proposed to restrict the term to the former of these
applications, and to designate the principle alluded to by the name of arabin. The sub-
ject of  the gums was investigated by M. Guerin, who repeated and corrected the expe-
riments of former chemists, and threw new light upon the nature of these substances.
Several of the facts mentioned in the text were 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 mucic acid, when acted on by nitric acid.  He re-
cognises 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 ;
2. bassorin, which enters largely into the composition of Bassora 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 Part Third.)   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  du pays, appear to be identical  in composition, con-
sisting of a portion soluble in cold water, which is  arabin, and  a portion insoluble,
which was formerly thought to be 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,  insoluble in
cold water, in which it softens and swells a little, and convertible by the action of boil-
ing water into arabin, with which it appears to be isomeric.  In this last property it
differs 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 m colder regions, and that  consequently the acacia ram
consists chiefly of arabin.—Note to the third edition.          quenuy me acacia gum
  From the observations of Dr. Kiitzing it would appear that the spontaneously exuded
gum of the plum, cherry, &c. is sometimes at least the product of a diseased  cell
action, and contains remains of the cells, probably analogous to the epithelial onTwti
tuent of animal mucus. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxv. k)-NTtcTetenS edSton] 
PART I.
Acacia.
11
nia.   When burnt, it leaves about three per cent,  of  ashes, consisting, accord-
ing to Guerin, of carbonates 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 property of reddening litmus paper.   In consequence of the pre-
sence of lime, oxalate of ammonia occasions a precipitate with the solution.
Besides pure gum, or arabin, gum Arabic contains a very small proportion of
an azotized body, which is thought to occasion a slight opalescence in its solu-
tion, several saline substances,  and 16 or 1*7  per cent, of uncombined water.
(Guerin.)  Pure gum may be obtained by treating the compound of gum and
protoxide of lead with sulphuretted hydrogen.  Its ultimate constituents  are
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  Its formula has been variously given, C^H^O^;
CMH10Ot0; and C)2H11011.*
  The properties above enumerated belong to  gum Arabic generally.   There
are,  however, pharmaceutic varieties with  differences which  deserve notice.
1. Gum that is transparent and readily soluble.   This constitutes  by far  the
greater portion of the commercial varieties distinguished by the names of Tur-
key and Senegal gum.   It 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 fendillee of Guibourt.   It
is distinguished by the whiteness and deficient transparency of the pieces, attri-
butable 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 unbroken pieces are  somewhat opaque, each minute
fragment is perfectly transparent  and homogeneous.   This variety, in conse-
quence of its  prompt and entire solubility, is usually preferred for 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 gomme pelliculee,
from  the  circumstance that the masses are always  apparently covered,  on some
part of their surface, by a yellowish opaque pellicle.  Other portions of it have
a mammillary appearance on the surface.  It is less transparent than the for-
mer variety, is less freely and 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 have been ascribed to variable proportions
of bassorin associated  with the soluble arabin.   Between these two  varieties

  * From  experiments of Lowenthal, reported by Neubauer, it appears that pure arabin,
obtained by strongly acidulating gum Arabic with muriatic acid, and precipitating by
alcohol, is  while still moist readily dissolved by water, forming a mucilage, but when
dried gradually loses its solubility, and if dried at 212°, is no longer soluble in water,
but swells with it into a jelly-like mass.  Its solution has  an  acid reaction.  From
these and other facts it is inferred, that arabin is an acid substance analogous to pectic
acid, and,  as it exists in gum Arabic, owes its ready solubility to the presence  of lime
and potassa,  which are supposed to form with it  soluble saline combinations.   Thus,
when a solution of  pure arabin is treated with lime water, baryta-water, or solution of
potassa, and  then precipitated by alcohol, definite compounds of arabin with these
bases respectively are obtained, all of which are soluble.  From these results it might
be conjectured, that the variable solubility of the gums of commerce is owing to  the
variable proportion of lime or potassa they contain; arabin itself being common to all,
and, when uncombined with a base, having relations to water similar to those of bas-
sorin.  It would, however, be premature at present to receive these inferences as esta-
blished facts. ( Chem. Gaz. Nov. 1855, p. 412, from Journ.fiir Prakt. Chem. lxii. 193.)—
Note to the eleventh edition. 
12
Acacia.
PART I.
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.   A foreign substance sometimes adheres to its
surface, giving it a bitter taste, from which it may be freed by washing in
water.*  Dextrin, broken into small fragments, has been mingled with parcels
of gum.  It  may be known by yielding, in solution, a reddish-purple colour
with solution of iodine.   It does not, like gum, produce a yellowish or brown-
ish jelly with solutions of the sesquisalts of iron.
  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 in-
flamed surfaces; and, by blending with and diluting irritating matters, blunts
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 useful  in inflammations
of the gastric and intestinal mucous membrane; 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 doubtful.  By some physicians it is thought
to possess a positively sedative influence over inflamed surfaces to which it may
be applied  in the state of  solution.   As an  article of diet in  febrile cases, and
others requiring 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 fact 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 sufficient to sustain life in a healthy
adult.   In many cases of  disease, its solution may constitute, for a time, 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, called 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 extensively used for the suspension of insoluble substances in water
and for the formation of pills and troches.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio  Amygdalae; Mistura Amygdalae; Mistura Cretse- Mis-
turaGlycyrrhizaeComposita;  Mistura Guaiaci; Mucilago Acacise; Pulvis Cretan
Compositus;  Pulvis Tragacanthae Comp.; Syrupus Acacise; Trochisci Acacias.
                                                                     W.
  *  M. Picciotto proposes to purify coloured gum by dissolving it in six or eiffht r,arts
of a strong and pure solution of sulphurous acid, heating the solution, treating it with
carbonate of baryta in excess, then filtering, and  evaporating  at  a moderate  heat
(Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ix. 16.)— Note to the ninth edition         moderate  heat. 
PART I.
Acetum.
13
                          ACETUM.  U.S.

                                Vinegar.

  Impure dilute acetic acid prepared by fermentation.  U. S.
  Off. S'/n. ACETUM (Britannicum).  Impure dilute acetic  acid, prepared
from infusion of malt by fermentation. Lond,  ACETUM  BRITANNICUM.
British vinegar. Ed.  ACETUM GALLICUM. French vinegar. Ed., Dub.
  Vinaigre, Fr.;  Essig, Germ.; Aceto, Ital.; Vinagre, Span.
  Yinegar is a sour liquid, the product of the acetous fermentation.^  Viewed
chemically, it is a very dilute solution of acetic acid, containing certain foreign
matters.   (Seepage 14.)
  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 converted
into vinegar, if  subjected to the action of a ferment, and exposed, with access
of air, to a temperature between 75°  and 90°.   During the acetous fermenta-
tion,  a microscopic fungus, called torula aeeti, is developed.
   Yinegar is generally made by the German process, by which the time con-
sumed in its formation is greatly abridged.   A mixture is prepared of one part
of alcohol of  80 per cent., four or  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 furnished,
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 be-
tween 75° and 83°, is placed on the diaphragm, and slowly percolates the beech
shavings, whereby it becomes minutely divided.  It is essential  to the success
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 tempera-
ture  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.  According to Wimmer, pieces  of charcoal, about the size of a  wal-
 nut,  may be substituted for the beech shavings in the process, with the effect of
 expediting the acetification.   The charcoal must be deprived of saline matter
 by dilute muriatic acid, and afterwards washed with water.
   In England,  vinegar  is at present made from the infusion  of malt by the
 German process, which is said to have originated with Mr. Ham, of  Bristol,
 England, as early  as 1822.  The fermented wort is made to fall in a shower
 upon a  mass of faggots of birch twigs, occupying the upper part of a large vat,
 and, after trickling down to the bottom, is pumped up repeatedly to the top,
 to be again allowed to fall, until the acetification is completed.   This mode of
 oxidizing the alcohol in the fermented wort, has the advantage of rendering
 insoluble certain glutinous and albuminous principles, which, if not removed,
 would cause a muddiness in the vinegar, and make it liable to spoil. 
14
Acetum.
PART I.
  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.   I he acetifica-
tion is completed in the course of about  two years.   Ihe progress  of  the fer-
mentation however, must be watched ; and, as soon as perfect vinegar is formed,
it should be racked off into clean barrels.   Without this precaution, the acetous
fermentation would run into the putrefactive, and the whole of the  vinegar be
spoiled.  Cider vinegar contains no aldehyd. (Menard, Journ. de Pharm. Mar.
1855, p. 185.)                           .   .                  .         ,
  Yinegar  may be clarified, without impairing its aroma, by throwing about a
tumblerfull of boiling milk into from fifty to sixty gallons of the liquid, and
stirring the mixture.  This operation has the effect, at the same time, of ren-
dering red vinegar pale.
  The series of  changes which occur during the  acetous fermentation is called
acetification.   During its progress, there is a disengagement of heat; the liquor
absorbs oxygen and becomes turbid; and  filaments form, which are observed to
move in various directions, until,  finally, upon the completion of the_ fermenta-
tion, they are deposited in a mass of a pultaceous consistence.   The liquor now
becomes transparent, its  alcohol has disappeared, and acetic acid has 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 aldehyd, into  which the alcohol is changed by the loss of a part of its hydro-
gen.   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, composed 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 (C4H,03,HO).   Thus the conversion 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-T9.   It absorbs  oxygen
with avidity, and is thus converted into acetic acid, as just stated.   Its pro-
perty of absorbing oxygen gives it a reducing power, like  that possessed by
glucose.  Hence, Trommer's test  for glucose may be applied to the detection of
aldehyd.  A few drops of  solution  of sulphate of copper  is added to the solu-
tion,  suspected to contain  aldehyd,  and then a  solution of potassa in excess.
The liquid is next heated nearly to  the boiling point, which will cause  the pre-
cipitation of red suboxide of copper, if aldehyd be present.   The name, aldehyd,
alludes to its relation to  alcohol, alcohol cfe%e?rogenated.  Its aqueous solu-
tion is decomposed by caustic 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.   Yinegar, when good, is of an agreeable penetrating odour, and
pleasant acid taste.   According to Magnes Lahens, wine vinegar always con-
tains  a little  aldehyd.  (Journ.  de Pharm. Jan. 1855.)  The better  sorts of
vinegar have a grateful aroma, which is  probably due to the presence of  an
ethereal substance, perhaps acetic  ether.   The  colour of vine"-ar varies from
pale yellow to deep red.  When  long kept, especially if exposed to the air, it
becomes muddy and ropy,  acquires  an unpleasant 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- 
PART I.
Acetum.
15
quently malic and tartaric acids, with  a minute  proportion of alkaline  and
earthy salts.  According to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, vinegar should be devoid
of free sulphuric acid, as shown by its yielding no  precipitate when boiled with
a solution  of chloride of calcium;  and of such a strength  that a fluidounce
would require, for saturation, about thirty-five grains of crystallized bicarbonate
of potassa.
   In  the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, two kinds of vinegar are  officinal, malt
vinegar and wine vinegar, under the  names of British vinegar  and French
vinegar.  The former is stated  to  vary in density from 1-006  to 1-019, the
latter from  1-014 to 1-022.   Specific gravity, however, is not an accurate index
of the strength of vinegar. The London Pharmacopoeia recognises only British
vinegar of the sp. gr. 1-019 ;  the Dublin, only the French.
   Malt vinegar (Acetum Britannicum)  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 part
in a thousand.  This addition was  at  one time thought necessary to preserve
the vinegar; but it  is now admitted that, if the vinegar be properly made, it
does  not require  to be protected by sulphuric acid.   The Edinburgh College
does  not recognise this impurity, although sanctioned by the British laws,  and,
therefore, rejects the vinegar if it gives  evidence of the presence of free sulphuric
acid.  On the contrary, the London College admits  the vinegar, if, after the
addition of ten minims of solution of chloride of  barium to  a fluidounce of it,
and the separation of  the precipitate by filtration, it deposits nothing on the
further addition of  the solution.  The test is made by dissolving a drachm of
the chloride in a fluidounce of distilled  water.
   Wine vinegar (Acetum Gallicum) is nearly one-sixth stronger than pure malt
vinegar.   It is of two sorts, the 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 is the best.    Bed wine vinegar may  be deprived of its colour
and rendered limpid, by being passed through animal charcoal.   According to
the  Edinburgh 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.   Muriatic
 and nitric acids are but rarely present.   Chloride of calcium will detect free sul-
 phuric acid, when boiled with the vinegar, without causing the least precipitate
 with the minute quantity of  sulphates,  almost  always present in the  liquid.
 (Boettger.)  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.   Sul-
 phurous acid may be detected and estimated by first precipitating 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  barium.   From the sulphuric
 acid in the last precipitate, its equivalent of sulphurous acid is easily calculated.
 (Baroque.)  Muriatic acid may be discovered  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 producing a yellow colour, when  the suspected vinegar is
 boiled with indigo.  The acrid  substances usually introduced into vinegar are
 red pepper, long pepper, pellitory, grains of paradise, and mustard seed.   These 
26                  Acetum.—Acidum Aceticum.              part i.

may be detected by evaporating the vinegar 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 de-
tected by a brownish precipitate on the addition of ferrocyanuret of potassium
to the concentrated vinegar;  the latter, by a blackish precipitate with sulphu-
retted 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 strengthened with acetic acid from wood, sometimes
contains a minute proportion of arsenic.   In this case, the deleterious metal is
probably derived  from arseniferous sulphuric  acid,  employed in preparing the
acetic acid.
  Medical Properties.  Yinegar 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  sup-
posed to be a powerful antidote to  the narcotic poisons, but this is a mistake.
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.  Exter-
nally it is employed  as a fomentation 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 sorethroat, and it is diffused through
sick rooms under the impression that it destroys unwholesome 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, the quantity used is one to two
fluidounces.
  Off. Prep.  Acetum Destillatum ;  Ceratum  Saponis Compositum ; Linimen-
tum ^Eruginis ; Syrupus Aceti;  Tinctura Opii Acetata.                B.

              ACIDUM  ACETICUM.  U. S., Lond,

                            Acetic Acid.

  Acetic acid of the sp. gr. 1-041.  U. S.   An  acid prepared from wood-by fire,
purified.  Lond.
   Off. Syn,  ACIDUM PYROLIGNEUM.   Pyroligneous Acid.   Diluted
acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood.  Density at least
1-034. Ed.   ACIDUM ACETICUM E LIGNO YENALE.  Acetic Acid of
 Commerce.   Purified Pyroligneous  Acid.  Sp.gr. 1-044. Dub.

          ACIDUM  ACETICUM  GLACIALE. Dub.

                        Glacial  Acetic Acid.

  The sp. gr. of this acid is  1-065. Dub.
   Off. Syn.  ACIDUM ACETICUM.  The  density is commonly from 1-063
to  1-065, but must not exceed 1-0685. Ed.


             ACIDUM  ACETICUM  FORTE. Dub.

                         Strong Acetic Acid.

  The sp. gr. of this acid is 1-066. Dub.
  Exclusive of Acidum Aceticum Dilutum, which will be noticed in the second
part of this work,  three strengths  of acetic acid  are now officinal in the U.S.
and British I harmacopceias, assuming those acids to be identical which ap- 
PART I.
Acidum Aceticum.
17
proach most nearly to equality in specific gravity.  The following table pre-
sents a view of the names and densities of the several acids.
Acetic Acid.	U.S.	Lond.	Ed.	Dub.
Highest off. I s"tre"stl" J Intermediate ( strength. 1 Lowest strength. f J			Acidum Aceti-cum. Sp. gr. 1-063 to 1-065.	Acidum Aceti-cum Glaciale. Sp. gr. 1-065 Acidum Aceti-cum Forte. Sp. gr. 1-066. Acidum Aceti-cum e Ligno Venale. Sp.gr. 1-044.
				
	Acidum Aceti-cum. Sp. gr. 1-041.	Acidum Aceti-cum. Sp. gr. 1-048.	Acidum Pyro-ligneum. Sp. gr. 1-034	
       We shall take up the three grades of acid separately, in the order in which
    they are mentioned in the table.
       Acidum Aceticum Glaciale, sp. gr.  1-065. Dub.  Acidum Aceticum, sp.
    gr. 1-063-5. Ed.   The following are the processes of the Dublin  and Edin-
    burgh Colleges for these acids.
       "Take of Acetate of Lead, any convenient quantity: place it in an oven at
    about the temperature of 300°, until it ceases to lose weight, and, having then
    brought it by trituration to a fine powder, let it be introduced into a flask or
    retort, and exposed to an atmosphere of dry muriatic acid gas, until very nearly
    the whole of it exhibits a clamped appearance.   The flask or retort being now
    connected in the usual manner  with a Liebig's  condenser, let heat be applied
    by means of a chloride of  zinc bath, until the  entire of the  acetic acid shall
    have  distilled over.
       "The muriatic acid gas should be slowly disengaged from the materials directed
    in the formula for Acidum  Muriaticum [Purum, Dub.],  using eight  ounces
    of salt for every pound of anhydrous acetate of lead [avoirdupois weight]; and,
    to render it  quite dry, it should, before  being  conducted into  the vessel con-
;    taining the sugar  of lead, be made to bubble through oil  of vitriol, and then
    pass through a long tube packed with small fragments of fused chloride of cal-
    cium." 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 bis-
    muth), 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 fluidrachms
    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 liquidjwith 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."  Ed.
       These processes, when carefully conducted, furnish an acid of the maximum
    strength, consisting of one eq. of dry acid, and one of water.  The acetate of
    lead is first freed from water of crystallization  by heat, and then decomposed.
    The agent of decomposition  is dry muriatic acid gas in the Dublin formula, and
'    sulphuric acid in the Edinburgh.  When muriatic acid is used, water and chlo-
    ride of lead are formed, and  monohydrated acetic acid distils over; when sul- 
18
Acidum Aceticum.
part I.
phuric acid is employed, sulphate of protoxide of lead is formed  A  a boihng
Uperature is not sufficient for decomposing  the acetate of lead a c  or deof
zinc bath is used in the Dublin process, and one of oil or fus ble meta  in the
Edinburgh.   On the other hand, the use of a sand-bath would incui the nsk
of too high a temperature, which would give rise to a portion of acetone. The
red oxide of lead, used in the Edinburgh formula, 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.
  Acetic acid of maximum strength 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
mav 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 con-
version into binacetate, and subsequent decomposition.
   Acidum Aceticum Forte, sp. gr. 1-066,  Dub.   This acid, introduced for
the first time into the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of 1850, is prepared according to
the following formula.
   "Take of Glacial Acetic Acid six fluidounces; Distilled Water Jour ounces
[avoirdupois].  Mix." Dub.
   The only use made by the Dublin College of glacial acetic acid is to form the
Acidum Aceticum Forte, as above ;  and the latter acid enters into two prepara-
tions only, namely, Acetum Cantharidis and Acidum Aceticum Camphoratum.
   Acidum Aceticum, U.  S., Lond.  (sp. gr. 1-041 U. S., 1-048 Lond.) Acidum
Pyroligneum (sp. gr. 1-034), Ed.  Acidum Aceticum e Ligno  Venule (sp. gr.
1-044), Dub.   This is the acid resulting from the purification of the crude acetic
acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood.  It is the acid most use-
ful to the apothecary, and which forms the heading  of  this article.   The cor-
responding acid of the former U. S. and London  Pharmacopoeias was  placed
among the preparations, being obtained from the acetate of soda by the action
of sulphuric acid; but in the last editions of  those works, it has been placed in
the materia medica list.   As this grade of acid has  its source in the impure
acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood, it will  be  proper
to premise some account  of the crude acid, called crude pyroligneous acid.
   Wood, when charred,  yields many volatile products, among which  are  an
 acid liquor, an empyreumatic oil, ancl tar containing creasote and some other
 proximate principles.  When the  carbonization is performed in close vessels,
 these products, which are lost in the ordinary process of charring, may be col-
 lected, and, at the  same time,  a large amount of charcoal is obtained.
   The carbonization of wood in  close vessels, with  a view to collect the con-
 densible products, was first put in practice by Mollerat in France.   The appa-
 ratus employed at Choisy, near Paris, is thus described by Thenard.  It consists
 of 1st, a furnace with a movable top; 2d, a strong sheet-iron cylinder, standing
 upright, 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 foot;  4th, a copper
 tube connected with the last, which is bent in such a manner as to plunge suc-
 cessively to the bottom of two casks filled with water,  and, after rising out of
 the  second, is bent back,  and made to terminate in 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 removed 
PART I.
Acidum Aceticum.
19
by the same means, to be replaced by another.   During the carbonization, the
volatile products are  received by the tube;  and those which are condensible,
being an acid liquor and tar, are condensed by the water in the casks, and col-
lect in the lower bends of the tubes, from which they run into the several reci-
pients ; while the incondensible products, being inflammable gases, are discharged
into the furnace, where, by their combustion, they  assist in maintaining the
heat.   Eight hundred pounds of wood afford, on an  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, with pyroxylic spirit, and probably a small proportion  of
creasote.  It is  from this crude acid that the U. S. and London acetic acid, cor-
responding  to the acetic  acid  of commerce, is  obtained.   The purification  is
effected as follows.   The acid is saturated with cream of  lime,  whereby acetate
of lime is formed in solution, and a good deal of the tarry matter precipitated.
The solution of acetate of lime is then  mixed with a concentrated solution  of
sulphate of soda, and, by double decomposition, acetate  of soda is formed  in
solution,  and sulphate of  lime precipitated.  The solution of acetate of soda
is next to be subjected  to evaporation, during which  further impurities  that
separate on the surface are to be skimmed off.  The solution, being duly con-
centrated, is set aside to crystallize; and the impure salt thus obtained,_ after
having been partially purified by solution and  recrystallization,  is fused in  an
iron  vessel, stirred until it dries, and, the heat being carefully raised, subjected
to incipient carbonization, whereby remaining empyreumatic matters are car-
bonized, with little  damage to the salt.   The mass is then dissolved in water,
and the solution, being strained and recrystallized, furnishes pure acetate of soda.
(See Sodse Acetas.) Finally, this salt is  distilled with from 34 to 35  per cent.
 of its weight of sulphuric acid, when  it  yields the acetic acid of commerce^ the
residue being sulphate of soda, which is reserved for  decomposing fresh portions
 of acetate of lime.   The  acid has still  an  empyreumatic flavour, which is  re-
 moved by filtering it through animal charcoal.
   Sometimes the acetate of lime is distilled with sulphuric acid directly, with-
 out having been previously converted into acetate  of  soda, by which  mode of
 proceeding a step in the process is saved.  But this decomposition is attended
 with many inconveniences, and  the acetic acid obtained is apt to be contami-
 nated with sulphuric acid.   The same step  is  saved, but without this risk,  by
 distilling the acetate of lime with hydrochloric acid, as recommended by Christl;
 and, if the acid be not used in excess, the acetic acid obtained scarcely contains
 a trace of chlorine.
   The sp. gr. of the different  acetic acids  increases with their strength up to
 the density of 1-0735 (maximum), after which it decreases until it reaches P063,
 the density of the strongest acid (glacial acid).   The following table, condensed
 from one given by Pereira on the authority of Mohr, exhibits the sp. gr. of
 acetic acid of different strengths, including the officinal Acidum Aceticum Dilu-
 tum.  The officinal and commercial acids are  noted  opposite to  their several
 densities, and the corresponding number in the column on the left gives the per
 centage of monohydrated acid in each. 
20
Acidum j-
-iceticum.
PART I.
Per cent. of Acid.	Specific Gravity. 1-063 Acetic acid [glacial], Ed* 1-065 Glacial acetic acid, Dub. 1-068 1-073 1-0735 Maximum density. 1-070 1-067 1-066 Strong acetic acid, Dub. .. nr„ ( Acid corresponding in t sp- gr- t0 tue strongest. 1-062 1-060 1-051 .. „k0 (English acid of com-( merce.	Per cent. of Acid. 37 33 32 31 30 25 20 10 6 5 4 3	Specific Gravity.
			1-048 Acetic acid, Lond. . A( . ( Acetic acid of coni-1,044 \ merce, Dub. i SL'otoh acid of com" 1-0 { merce (strongest). 1-041 Acetic acid, U.S. 1-040 1-034 Pyroligneous acid, Ed. 1-027 1-015 1-008 Diluted acetic acid, Lond. 1-006 Diluted acetic acid, Dub. 1-0055 1-004 Diluted acetic acid, U. S.
100 99 97 90 80 70 60 59 54 52 50 40 39			
  Up to the specific gravity 1-062, the  density of acetic acid is a pretty accu-
rate 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 con-
taining only 54  per cent, of such acid.   The  ambiguity may be removed  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.  The
density of the English  and Scotch  acetic acid of commerce is  given  on the
authority  of Dr. Christison.
  It is shown by the table that the  Dublin " strong acetic  acid" is an acid of
intermediate strength, containing 59  per cent, of monohydrated acid; while the
officinal acid of  commerce  contains  variously from 25 to 3*7 per cent, of the
same acid; the Edinburgh acid being the weakest, and the London the strongest
  Properties of the Glacial Acid (Acidum Aceticum Glaciale, Dub.).  This acid,
sometimes called radical vinegar, is  a colourless, volatile, inflammable liquid,
possessing a corrosive 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. It 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 has  been isolated by (J. Gerhardt, who finds it to be a
limpid liquid, heavier than water, and having the constant boiling  point of 27.9°.
Its formula is C4H303.
   Properties of the Acid of Commerce (Acidum Aceticum, U. S.,  Lond.).  This
 acid has similar properties to those  of the glacial, but milder in decree.  It is
 a colourless, volatile liquid, having a sharp taste and pungent smell° It unites
 in  all proportions with water, and to a certain extent with alcohol.  It is in-
 compatible with the  alkalies and alkaline earths, both pure and carbonated
 with metallic oxides,  and with  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.   Any fixed residue is impurity; and  precipitates by the tests
 mentioned show the presence of sulphuric and muriatic acids.   Sulphohydrate
* Varies to 1-065. 
PART I.
Acidum Aceticum.
21
of ammonia does not discolour it.   If sulphuretted hydrogen produces a millu-
ness, sulphurous acid is  present.  When saturated with ammonia, it gives no
precipitate with iodide or ferrocyanuret of potassium, which proves the absence
of lead and copper.   If  silver be digested  in it, and  chlorohydric acid after-
wards added, no precipitate will be produced.  The negative indication of this
test shows the absence of nitric acid.   Of the U. S.  acid " 100 grains saturate
60 grains of crystallized bicarbonate of potassa, and contain 36 grains of mono-
hydrated acetic acid."   This statement does not agree with that contained hi
the foregoing table, which gives 31  as the per centage of monohydrated acid,
contained in an acid of the sp. gr. 1-041.  Taking the results of Mohr, as given
in the table, the acids, included-under this head, contain the following per cent-
ages of monohydrated acid; Ed. 25; U. S. 31; Dub. 33; and Lond. 37.  Thus
it is seen  that,  of  the  acids here classed as the acetic acids of commerce, the
Edinburgh is the weakest.  It is also  somewhat different  in properties.  The
Ed. acid has a pale straw colour, and a strong acetic odour, scarcely empyreu-
matic if the acid be well prepared.   One hundred minims of it neutralize fifty-
three grains of carbonate of soda.   When acid of this strength is diluted with
three parts of  water, it forms the ivood  vinegar of  the shops,  containing 6"25
per cent,  of monohydrated acid.   As tests of its freedom from copper, lead, and
sulphuric acid, the Edinburgh College directs that  it  should be "unaffected by
sulphuretted hydrogen or solution of nitrate of baryta."   This acid is used by
the College as a chemical agent in preparing iodide of lead.
   It is difficult to ascertain the strength of acetic  acid by saturating it with
the carbonated alkalies, when the operator depends upon test paper for ascertain-
ing the point  of neutralization.  The difficulty is caused  by the fact  that the
acetates  of potassa and soda, though  neutral  in composition, are alkaline to
test paper.   Hence the liquid begins to be alkaline to test paper before enough
 of the alkali has been added to  complete the acetate, as a salt neutral in com-
position.  It follows, therefore, that,  by the use of test paper, the strength of
the acetic acid will be underrated.   The degree of inaccuracy, where test paper
 is used, is much diminished by saturating the acid with a solution of saccharate
 of lime  of a  known strength, as proposed by Mr. C. C. Williams. (Pharm.
 Journ. & Trans. May,  1854, 594.)   A still better way is to  add to the acid a
 weighed  excess of carbonate of baryta, and to calculate its strength  by the
 amount of the carbonate decomposed, ascertained by deducting the undissolved
 from the total used.  (Redwood.)   Equally accurate results may be obtained by
 the use of  carbonate of lime in a similar manner.  (E. C. Nicholson and D. S.
 Price,  Chem.  Gaz. Jan. 15, 1856.)
    Uses of Crude Pyroligneous Acid,   This acid having been incidentally de-
 scribed as the source of the acetic  acid  of commerce, it may be proper in this
 place to  notice its uses.  It has been employed as  an application to gangrene
 and ill-conditioned ulcers.  It acts on the principle of an antiseptic and stimu-
 lant- the former property being probably chiefly due to the presence of creasote.
 Several cases in which it was successfully employed are reported in a paper by
 Dr. T. Y. Simons, of Charleston, 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 Ramsey made some interesting experiments with it for that pur-
 pose.  Herrings and other fish, simply dipped in the acid and afterwards dried
 in the shade, were effectually preserved, and, when eaten, were found very agree-
 able to the taste.  Herrings, 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.
 Ramsey to be of fine  quality and flavour.  Fresh beef, dipped in the  acid in
 summer for the space of a minute,  was perfectly sweet in the following spring. 
22            Acidum Aceticum.—Acidum Arseniosum.        PART I.

Professor Silliman states that one quart of the acid, added  to  the common
pickle 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.                                      , . .,    *  ±-     tt a
  .Medical Properties of Acetic Acid of Commerce (Acidum Aceticum, U S.,
Lond).  Acetic acid of about this strength acts as a stimulant and  tonic.
When diluted sufficiently, it is refrigerant, diaphoretic, and diuretic.  Owing to
its volatility and pungency, its vapour is frequently applied to the nostrils as an
excitant in syncope, asphyxia, and headache.  When employed 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 into small glass bottles with ground stoppers.
  Medical Properties of the  Glacial Acid.   This acid is only used externally,
and acts as a rubefacient, vesicant, or caustic, according to the length of time
it is applied.  Its application requires caution.   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 internal inflammation.   It may be applied
by means of blotting paper or cambric moistened with the acid.  It is a good
corrosive for destroying warts and corns, and is also  a valuable remedy in scald-
head.
  Off. Prep, of Acetic Acid of Commerce. Acetum Cantharidis;  Acetum Col-
chici; Acetum Scillaa; Acidum Aceticum Dilutum;  Extractum Colchici Aceti-
cum ; Morphiae Acetas; Oxymel; Plumbi Acetas; Potassse Acetas; Sodse Acetas.
  Off.  Prep, of Glacial Acetic Acid, Dub., Ed.   Acetum  Cantharidis, Ed;
Acidum Aceticum Camphoratum, Ed.;  Acidum Aceticum Forte;  Mistura
Creasoti.
  Off.  Prep, of Strong Acetic Acid, Dub.   Acetum  Cantharidis;  Acidum
Aceticum Camphoratum.                                             B.


           ACIDUM  ARSENIOSUM. U. S., Lond.

                           Arsenious Acid.

  Sublimed arsenious acid in masses.  U. S.   A metallic acid prepared by sub-
limation. Lond.
  Off.  Syn.  ARSENICUM ALBUM.  Ed,   ARSENICI OXYDUM AL-
BUM VENALE.   White Oxide of Arsenic  of Commerce.  Dub.
  White arsenic; Acide arsenieux, Arsenic  blanc, Fr.;  Arsenichte Saure, Weisser
Arsenik, Germ.;  Arsenik, Dan., Swed., Polish; Acido arsenioso, Arsenico, Ital.;  Ar-
senico bianco, Span.
  Arsenious acid is prepared chiefly in Bohemia and Saxony, where it is pro-
cured on a large scale, as a collateral product, during the smelting of cobalt
ores, which  are  almost invariably accompanied by arsenic.  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 con-
denses  on the sides of the flues.   In  this state it  is impure, 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 gradually becoming, by contact with the air' opaque
at their surface.  These are  broken into fragments of a convenient size  and 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
23
thrown into commerce.  The arsenious acid which reaches this country is gene-
rally packed in casks, containing  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, exhibit-
ing a vitreous fracture.   It is of a milk-white colour exteriorly, but, internally,
often perfectly transparent.  As first sublimed, the whole mass is transparent;
but  it gradually becomes white and opaque, the change proceeding progress-
ively from the  surface inwards.  This change has not been well explained; but
it probably depends upon the absorption of moisture, causing a gradual passage
of the acid from the amorphous to the crystalline state.  (Pereira.)   Accord-
ing to Guibourt, the sp. gr. of the transparent 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 lime or 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 the liability of  the acid to contain impurities
when in  powder, it is directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia to be kept in masses;
so that the apothecary may powder it for himself as it is wanted.   It has been
erroneously stated to have an acrid taste.   Dr. Christison asserts that it pos-
sesses hardly any taste; inasmuch as it produces merely a faint sweetish impres-
sion 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 in the state of vapour.   The garlicky odour, sometimes attributed to it,
belongs 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 than  that of  metallic  arsenic, being only 425° of  Fahr.  When
slowly sublimed, it condenses in regular octohedral crystals, exhibiting a spark-
ling lustre.  It consists of one eq. of arsenic 15, and three of oxygen 24=99.
  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 va-
riety.  The following particulars are given on the same authority.  The trans-
parent acid dissolves much more  rapidly than the opaque.  By prolonged
ebullition with water, the opaque variety attains the same solubility as the trans-
parent, 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 trans-
parent 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 here-
tofore 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.  Phitos. 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 diseases 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 
21                        Acidum Arseniosum.                   part I.
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 (edema arsenical is.  Some-
times salivation is produced, and occasionally the hair and nails fall  of.  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 arseniate of soda, dissolved in a fluidounce of water, forms the arsenical solu-
tion'of Pearson.
  M. Tschudi has given some strange accounts  of the  habitual use, by the
peasants of Styria and the  Tyrol, of arsenious acid as an invigorating remedy,
which they are unable to relinquish without suffering.   The  air in the neigh-
bourhood of Swansea, in South Wales, is impregnated with  arsenical vapour,
derived from  the copper smelting works in  that locality, and yet the workmen
do not appear to suffer in health. (Wood's Therapeutics, ii.  308.) This nega-
tive statement is very different from that of M. Tschudi, who would lead us to
believe that the habitual use of arsenic may be beneficial in ordinary health.
Encouraged by the reports  from Styria, M.  Decaisne tried  a course of arsenious
acid in marsh cachexy, but with unfavourable results.   Upon  the whole, it is
not improbable that  the accounts  received of the habitual use of arsenic by
the peasants of Styria are either untrue or  greatly exaggerated.
  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.  Dr.
Physick held  a different opinion; for, with regard to the arsenious acid and the
solution of arsenite of potassa (Fowler's solution), the result of his experience
was that they act differently, and cannot be substituted for each other.   Cases
of the efficacy of  the metal, in  the form of Fowler's solution, will be noticed
under the head of Liquor Potassse Arsenitis. For a list of the diseases in which
arsenic has been tried, the reader is referred  to Mr. Hill's paper ill the Ed, Med.
Journ., vols.  v. and vi.
  Some writers have entirely proscribed the use of the arsenical preparations
in medicine, and have  deprecated their introduction into the Pharmacopoeias
as a great evil, on the ground of the facilities afforded, by legalizing the medi-
cinal  use of the poison, for its  employment in poisonous  doses by mistake  or
design.   Arsenic is, indeed, a virulent poison, and is frequently resorted to 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.
  Arsenious acid has been exhibited in a great variety of diseases, the principal
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 swell-
ings 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.   In  some  trials  made with it, in 1850, by Andral, in intermittent
fever, its ancient reputation in the  cure of that disease was fully confirmed  It
was usually given by him daily, or every second day, in the large  dose of be-
tween four and five-tenths of a grain in solution,  administered in wine about
five hours before the  expected recurrence of the fit.  Usually, nausea was pro-
duced for  several hours,  and sometimes vomiting.   Mr Henry Hunt  of 1)\ -t
mouth, England, found it useful in mitigating the pain of ulcerated'cancer of
the uterus, and in menorrhagia; also in irritable uterus, attended with pain and 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
25
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 un-
pleasant 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 number of cases of this disease without a single failure.  It 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.
   Mr. Benjamin Travers, jun., has called the attention of the profession to five
cases of snake-bite occurring in men, successfully treated by Mr. Ireland, in the
Island of St. Lucie, by grain doses of arsenious acid, in the form of Fowler's
solution, given every half hour, until the patient began to revive.  The quantity
of the  solution to form this dose is  two fluidrachms.  The number of doses
taken varied from six to eight, which always produced abundant vomiting and
purging,  results important  to the  success  of  the  treatment.  (Braithwaite,
xxviii.  423.)
   The external  application of arsenic has been principally restricted to cancer,
and anomalous  and malignant  ulcers, especially of  the kind denominated noli
me tarn/ere.  Dupuytren used with advantage a powder, composed of one part
of arsenious acid and twenty-four parts of calomel, as a topical application 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.  PlunkeVs caustic, a remedy of this
kind of great celebrity, 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 rubbed up with yolk
of egg, and spread on pig's bladder.  The use of the vegetable matter is to de-
stroy°t'he 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 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.)
   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 ap-
plication dangerous.  The arsenical paste  of Frere Come has been applied
 advantageously by M. Biett to  the ulcerated surfaces in yaws.   The precaution
 was used of not applying it, at one time, over a surface larger than that of half
 a dollar.   This paste is made by mixing with water a powder, consisting of ten
 grains of arsenious  acid, two  scruples of red sulphuret of mercury,  and ten
 grains of powdered animal charcoal.  The practice of sprinkling  unmixed ar-
 senious acid  on ulcers is 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. 
2G
Acidum Arseniosum.
PART I.
  Febure's remedy for cancer consisted of ten grains of arsenious acid, dissolved
in a pint of distilled water, to which were added an ounce of extract of conium,
three fluidounces of solution  of subacetate of lead, and a fluidrachm of tincture
of opium. With this the cancer was washed every morning.  Febure's formula
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,
containing about the  sixteenth of a grain of the acid, was  given every night
and morning, with half a fluidrachm of the syrup of poppies.  The dose was
gradually increased to six tablespoonfuls.
  Mr. Lloyd, of London,  praises the effects of arsenical injections in cancer of
the vagina and  uterus.  They act favourably by preventing rather than destroy-
ing the fetor, and by diminishing the sloughing and  discharge. _  The strength
of the solution  employed was from two to eight grains of arsenious acid to the
pint of water.  (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., Oct. 1854, p. 541, from  the  Med.
Times and Gaz.)
  The average  dose of arsenious acid is the tenth of a grain, three times a day,
given in the form of pill.  It is usually 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 crumb 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 ;  but, in some rare  instances, no well
marked symptoms are  developed  until eight or nine hours after the ingestion
of the poison.   Dr. Edward Hartshorne relates a case  of recovery, in which
at least a drachm of  arsenious acid had been swallowed, and where the symp-
toms of poisoning were delayed for sixteen hours.  (See  Med. Examiner, Dec.
1855, p. 707.)   The symptoms  produced by the poison  are an austere taste;
fetid state of the mouth ;  frequent ptyalism ;  continual hawking ;  constriction
of the pharynx and  oesophagus; the sensation  of the  teeth being  on edge;
hickup ;  nausea ; anxiety ; frequent sinkings ; burning pain  at the prsecordia;
inflammation of the  lips, tongue, palate,  throat, bronchi, 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;
suppression of  urine;  scanty,  red, bloody, and  sometimes albuminous 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 ; de-
lirium ; convulsions,  often accompanied with insupportable  priapism; falling
off of the hair, detachment  of the cuticle, &c.  In some cases there is inflam-
mation  with burning pain in the urino-genital  organs.   It is very rare to ob-
serve all these symptoms in  the same individual.  Sometimes, indeed, they are
nearly all wanting, death taking place without any pain or prominent symptom.
Occasionally the symptoms have  a 'perfect resemblance to  those of Asiatic
cholera, in the  stage of collapse.  After  death, the morbid appearances are
various.   In some instances, no vestige of lesion can be discovered   The ap-
pearances, however, in the generality of cases, are the followino-    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 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
27
the former is in a manner destroyed, and reduced to the consistence of a reddish-
brown pulp.  In cases  of recovery, it has been a question how long it takes
for the poison to be eliminated from the system.  In a case, reported by Dr.
D. Maclagan, in which  about two  drachms of the poison had been swallowed,
and in which  magnesia was used  successfully as an antidote, arsenic was de-
tected in the urine by Marsh's test as late as the twentieth day.
   In view of the numerous accidents and crimes, caused by the use of arsenious
acid, its sale should be regulated by law in all the States of the Union.   In
1851,  an act for this purpose was passed by the  British Parliament.
   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 inflam-
mation to be always fully developed.   In the third  order of cases, two stages
occur; the first stage being characterized by inflammatory symptoms, as in the
first order; the second, by symptoms  referable  to nervous irritation, such as
imperfect palsy of the arms  or legs, epilepsy,  tetanus, hysterical affections,
mania, and coma.  It is a general character  of this poison to induce inflam-
mation 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 ap-
 pearances 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 arsen-
 ious 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, Joeger, 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
 by a smaller amount, applied 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 has put on record 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.  Death
 has occurred 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.   Sir  Astley Cooper  bears  testimony to the dangerous  effects of
 arsenic, externally applied.  On the other hand, some writers assert 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 testimony,
 so conflicting, we  are constrained to believe that the circumstances of the dif-
 ferent experiments and observations must have been different; and we think
 that the observations of Blackadder and Harles  show in what this difference
 consists.   It seems to  depend entirely on the circumstances of the application,
 as being  favourable or otherwise to absorption.  Blackadder attributes his 
28
Acidum Arseniosum.
TART I.
success to the large quantity of 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 em-
ployed arsenious  acid,  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
the acid to five of sublimed sulphur.
  Arsenious acid proves  escharotic, according to some, by acting on the vital
properties of the part so  as to cause its death ;  according to others, by pro-
ducing a chemical decomposition of the structure, a  condition incompatible
with life.
  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
quantity taken should  be  at least twelve times  the supposed amount of the
poison swallowed; but, as the antidote  is perfectly innocent, it  is prudent 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.   Its  efficacy is of course  greater,  the  sooner it is administered
after the ingestion  of the poison ; but, 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 antidote 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 (2Fe,03 and As03=4FeO AsO )  The
maimer of preparing the antidote  will be given under  another head'  (See
Fern Oxidum Hydration, U. S.)  It should be kept by all apothecaries ready
for use.                                                                 J
   This antidote for  arsenious acid was discovered by Drs. Bunsen and Berthold
of Gottmgen,  in 1834 ; and its  efficacy has been  abundantly confirmed by ex-
periments on  inferior  animals, and by its successful application to numerous
cases of poisoning m the human subject   Among others, the reader is referred
to the following :—1.   lhe case of M. Blondel, in which two drachms of arsenic 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
29
had been  swallowed.   2,  Two cases treated by Dr. Buzorini.  3. A case re-
ported 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 un-
successfully, on account of the instrument becoming choked with the remains
of food.   4. A case related by Dr. Thomas, of Baltimore, in which twenty grains
of the poison  had been swallowed.  5.  Case of Dr. Macdonald in  the  New
York Journ. of Medicine and Surqery, ii. 205.   6. Case  reported  by Dr.
Gerhard.  (Med. Exam., iii. 250.)   7.  Cases related by Drs. Smiley and Wal-
lace, 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.  (Med, Exam., iii. 679.)
   Several valuable observations have been latterly made in relation to the anti-
dotal powers of the different oxides of iron, and the circumstances which influ-
ence their efficacy.  The forms of  oxide experimented with are  the anhydrous
sesquioxide  (colcothar), the dry hydrated sesquioxicle (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 magma, 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.
Yon Soecz,  of Yienna, has  proved that rust of iron acts as an antidote 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 procured.
 Orfila agrees with Yon Specz as to the degree of efficacy of the rust,  and  attri-
butes 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 oUpulp 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 Prof. William Procter, jun.r of this  city, appears  to have
 settled these points.  (Amer. Journ. of Pharmacy, xiv. 29, April, 1842.)_ He
 has proved that the moist oxide gradually decreases in its power of neutralizing
 arsenious acid, the longer it is kept; and that  this decrease 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 by the experiments  of G.
 C. Wittstein.  This chemist finds  that the hydrated oxide of iron, recently pre-
 cipitated, dissolves readily in acetic and other vegetable  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 dehy-
 dration ; for, when kept a long  time, the  oxide loses half its watcr.^  From
 these considerations, Wittstein prefers the more recent oxide as an antidote for
 arsenic,  and recommends that the preparation should  be re-made every six
 months  or  year, by dissolving  the  old oxide in  muriatic acid, and  re-precipi-
 tating with ammonia.- (Journ. de Pharm., Fev.  1847,  from Buchner's Re-
 perl., 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, 
30                       Acidum  Arseniosum.                   part I.
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 anti-
dote.   When applied to  for it, he must instantly furnish the  magma, or, if
unprovided with this, the rust or precipitated subcarbonate, and  immediately
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 precipitation.
(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 must be combated on
general principles.   Accordingly, venesection and leeches may become  neces-
sary ; and, in the course of the treatment,  emollient enemata, antispasmodics,
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 exclusively
of milk, gruel, cream, rice, and similar bland articles.
   Bussy has proposed light magnesia, or the kind which has not  been  too
strongly calcined, as well as recently precipitated gelatinous magnesia, as an
antidote for arsenious acid;  and a case is given by him in which it proved effi-
cacious.  (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. Sci. for July, 1848.)  For the full precipitation of  arsenious acid,
eighteen times its weight of anhydrous magnesia are required.  (E. Riegel.)
Like the sesquioxide of iron, the magnesian antidote is conveniently kept,
in a pulpy state, in stoppered bottles under water.  M. Schroff has made some
experiments on rabbits, to determine the comparative efficacy,  as  antidotes, of
the sesquioxide and  magnesia, and gives the preference to the latter.   For the
salts of the acids of arsenic, the subacetate of the sesquioxide of iron has 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 incontestably, by bringing it to the  metallic  state.  The former em-
brace all the liquid  reagents, so  called; the latter, the different  processes for
 metallization.
   The most characteristic  reagents, according to Dr. Christison, are  sulphu-
 retted 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  metallization
 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 sulphuric
 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   Ac
 cording to  Dr. Christison, this test is so exceedingly delicate  that it  detects 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
31
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 prefer-
able.   It can be applied with  much  convenience by using one  of Dr. Hare's
self-regulating gas generators.
  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 subse-
quent reduction.  But  they are  all liable to the objection of being  obscured
in  their indications, where the amount of  poison is small, by the presence of
organic principles; a complication constituting the most difficult problem 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 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 to  the metallic state.
   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 after-
 ward's 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, neutral-
 ize 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 sepa-
 rate 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 solution  filtered.
    The solution having in this manner been disembarrassed 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 produced, 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 withdrawn, 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 wash-
 ing 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
 driesfand 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,   filter the  solution,  and evaporate it in  a watch-glass, when the 
32
Acidum Arseniosum.
PART I.
tersulphuret will  be left.   The precipitate is  then to be reduced by means
of a flux, which this author  recommends 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.                   _    _
  Some  vears ago it occurred to Dr. Clarke, of Aberdeen, that arsenic might
be separated and detected  by taking advantage  of the volatility of its chloride.
Following up this  idea, Dr. Andrew Fyfe, of Aberdeen, has applied it to the
separation of arsenic when mixed with organic matter.  For this purpose, he
heats the arsenical liquid with sulphuric acid, free from arsenious acid, in a flask
to which a bent tube and cooled receiver are adapted.   When the mixture is
brought to the boiling point, a little dried sea-salt is added, the receiver is con-
nected, and the distillation is continued for some time.  Hydrochloric acid is
evolved,  which, by reacting with the arsenious acid, produces terchloride of
arsenic,'which distils over free from organic matter.   The terchloride of arsenic
is then'precipitated by a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen, to  obtain the yellow
tersulphuret of arsenic, or subjected to the action of Marsh's test. (See Philos.
Mag., 4th series,  ii. 487.)  The distillate  of terchloride, as  thus obtained, is
liable to contain  sulphurous  acid, from  the action  of organic matter  on the
sulphuric acid, with the  effect of obscuring the indications of Marsh's test when
subsequently  applied, by giving  rise to a yellow ring instead of a black stain.
To prevent the formation of sulphurous acid, L. A. Buchner recommends that
the chloride of sodium  should be added to the  arsenical  liquid before  the sul-
phuric acid, and previously mixed with a little chlorate of potassa, the chlorine
from which  has the effect of promoting the formation of  the arsenical ter-
chloride, and of rendering the decomposition of the organic matter more com-
plete. (See Pharm, down,  and  Tram., July, 1855, p.  38.)  Dr. Penny and
Mr. W. Wallace  bear testimony to the  value  of the plan of converting the
arsenic into terchloride,  as a means of separating the metal from organic matter,
but think it will be found in practice more convenient to produce the terchloride
by the direct agency of  hydrochloric acid, than by sulphuric acid and chloride
of sodium as recommended by Dr. Fyfe. (Philos. Mag.,  xli.  365.)   Of course
the hydrochloric acid must be perfectly free from arsenic.
   The general formula  for reduction is as follows.  The operation is performed
in a small glass tube. If the matter to be operated on is  small, it is introduced
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 oc-
cupy, 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 by 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 octohedral crystals of arsenious
acid, the triangular facets of which may be  seen  with a magnifying Mass.
Finally, the crystals may be dissolved in a drop or two of distilled water^ and
the solution  will react characteristically with the liquid tests.
   Another method of testing for arsenic has been proposed by Mr. Marsh.  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 ar- 
PART I.
Acidum Arseniosum.
33
seniuretted hydrogen.  The liquid from the stomach, or obtained from its con-
tents by boiling water, is added to the materials for generating hydrogen (dilute
sulphuric acid and zinc), contained in a self-regulating generator of hydrogen.
If the liquid from the stomach contain arsenic, the nascent hydrogen will com-
bine with the metal, and the nature of the compound gas formed may be ascer-
tained by burning a jet of it from a fine jet-pipe connected with the generator.
The flame will  have a characteristic blue colour,  and, by holding a porcelain
plate against it, a thin film of metallic arsenic, forming a black stain, will  be
deposited.   Liebig  and Mohr bear testimony to the delicacy of this test; but,
to remove every source of fallacy, it is necessary to be sure of the purity of the
materials for generating the hydrogen, by a preliminary trial of the gas, before
the suspected liquid is added; as zinc and sulphuric acid are both liable to con-
tain a minute proportion of arsenic.  This trial is made by holding a plate
against  the burning hydrogen, which, if  pure, will  produce  no stain.  The
pieces of zinc employed  should be changed after every experiment.  A modifi-
cation of Marsh's apparatus, which is praised by Berzelius for the certainty and
distinctness of its results, is figured in the  Chemical Gazette, iii. 46.
   Marsh's test has been objected to  by Mr. L. Thompson, who alleges that
antimony forms a compound with hydrogen, very similar to arseniuretted hydro-
gen, both in the colour of its flame, and in the metallic spot which it deposits
during combustion on cold surfaces. Still, the two metals may be discriminated
by acting on the metallic spot with a drop  or two of fuming  nitric acid, with
the aid of heat.  Arsenic will thus be converted into soluble arsenic acid, pre-
cipitable brick-red  by nitrate  of silver; antimony, on the  other hand, into  in-
soluble antimonic acid.   Another way  of distinguishing  them  is to apply to
the stain  a solution  of hypochlorite  of soda, which  instantly dissolves the
arsenical spot, without affecting that of antimony.
   Another mode of discriminating between arsenical and antimonial crusts or
spots, dependent on the  difference of temperature at which the two metals are
sublimed, has been  proposed by Dr. D. Maclagan, of Edinburgh.   It consists
in subjecting the metallic spot "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.)  Prof. E. Davy re-
commends a platinum spatula, instead of porcelain, to receive the metallic spot.
A platinum surface affords facilities for testing the spot, which, if arsenic, may
be removed by the  flame of a caudle giving  rise to a  garlicky odour; but, if
antimony, cannot be so removed.  (See Am.  Journ. of Pharm., March, 1857,
p. 172.)
   Professor Reinsch has proposed a method for collecting arsenic from 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,
which converts the arsenious  acid into the terchloride, 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 procedure is not that it gives a characteristic deposit on the copper;
for bismuth, tin, zinc, and antimony give a similar deposit; but that the copper
       3 
34
Acidum Arseniosum.—Acidum Citrieum.
PART I.
collects all the arsenic from the organic liquid, and presents it in a convenient
form for applying the liquid and subliming tests.          *.*.,♦*•     f
  It has been shown by MM. Malaguti and Sarzeau that, for the detection of
minute quantities of arsenic in exhumed bodies, the best method of proceeding
is to distil the viscera with aqua regia, made by mixing one part of nitric with
three of hydrochloric  acid.   The animal matter (the liver for example)  cut
into small pieces, is dried by a gentle heat, and  mixed with a quantity of  the
aqua regia, equal to the weight of the matter before it was dried.  The mixture
is distilled, and the arsenic, if present, comes over in the form of the volatile
terchloride, which may be  converted into the tersulphuret in the usual manner.
(Journ, de Pharm., xxiii. 27, Jan. 1853.)
  Arsenic may be detected in exhumed bodies long  after death.  M. RIondlot
found it  in the brain of a body that  had been buried twenty years.   In this
case, it was ascertained that no  arsenic existed in the earth of the  cemetery.
(See Brit, and For. Medico-chir. Rev., Jan., 1855, p. 222.)
   Off. Prep. Acidum Arseniosum Purum; Arsenicum Purum; Liquor Arsenici
Chloridi; Liquor Potassas Arsenitis.                                   B.


         ACIDUM  CITEICUM.   U.S., Lond,,  Ed., Dub.

                               Citric Acid.

  Aeidum limonis, Lat. ; Acide citrique, Ft. ; Citronensaure, Germ.; Acido citrico, ItaL,
Span.                                                          „
   Citric acid is the peculiar acid to which limes and lemons owe their sourness.
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 currant, the
strawberry, the raspberry, the tamarind, and the red  elderberry (fruit of Sam-
bucus  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 satu-
rated 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.
    Preparation on the Large  Scale.  The juice is placed in a large vat, closed
 at the top, and saturated with whiting (carbonate of lime).  Carbonic acid gas
 is evolved,  which passes out by an exit-pipe, and may be used  in  the manufac-
 ture of bicarbonate of soda ;  and citrate of lime precipitates.  The supernatant
  liquor, containing much extractive matter, is  drawn  off; and the  citrate of
  lime is decomposed by dilute sulphuric acid, liberating the citric acid, and pre-
  cipitating the lime as a sulphate.  The mixture of citric acid and sulphate of
  lime is run  off into a wooden filter back,  lined with lead, furnished with a per-
  forated  false bottom, and lined throughout with  stout  twilled flannel.  The
  solution of citric  acid passes off through a pipe, leading from  the bottom of
  the back,  to  suitable reservoirs.  The  sulphate is washed until  it  becomes
  tasteless, and the washings are run off into the same reservoirs.  The filtered
 ; acid solution is then concentrated by evaporation in wooden vessels lined with
  lead, through which steam is made to pass by means of coiled lead pipes.   As
  citric acid is liable to decomposition, if subjected to  too high a temperature, 
PART I.
Acidum  Citricum.
35
the use of the vacuum pan  is highly advantageous  in concentrating the solu-
tion.   When the liquor is  sufficiently concentrated, it is  transferred to cylin-
drical  sheet-lead vessels, placed in  a  warm  situation, to crystallize.   The
crystals, as first obtained,  are coloured.  In order to purify them, they are
redissolved in a small quantity of water, with the assistance of heat,  and the
solution is digested with purified animal charcoal,  filtered, and  recrystallized.
The crystals, after  having been washed  and  drained, are dried on  wooden
trays,  lined with sheet-lead, placed in a room heated by steam.
   Since the above was written, Dr.  Price and Mr. Pontifex, both of England,
have made improvements in the manufacture of citric acid, for  the  details of
which the  reader is referred to the Pharm. Journ.  and Trans., xiii. 313, and
xvi. 430.
   The citrate of lime  of  the above process should be  decomposed  without
delay; for, if kept, it  will undergo a true fermentation, with the effect of
destroying the  citric  acid.   According to Personne, the  products of  this fer-
mentation are acetic  and butyric acids, while carbonic acid and hydrogen are
evolved.
   According to the late 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 sometimes be quite  sour, without containing any citric acid, in con-
 sequence of its having undergone the acetous fermentation..
   It is desirable to have a  slight excess of sulphuric acid;  as this 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 properly placed in the Materia Medica list of the United States,
 London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias,  as an  article purchased from  the  manu-
 facturing chemist.  The Edinburgh College  places it among  the preparations,
 and makes it by a  process of which the following  is an outline.  Boil  eighty
 fluidounces of lemon juice,  and allow it to rest, in  order that  the mucilage and
 other impurities may subside.  Pour off the clear liquor, and, having brought
 it to the boiling point, add by degrees four and a half ounces of prepared chalk,
 or as much as may be sufficient to  saturate the acid.   Collect the precipitate,
 and wash it with hot water until the water passes  colourless.   Then subject it
 to a  powerful press, and, having mixed it uniformly with forty fluidounces of
 distilled water, add officinal diluted sulphuric acid by degrees,  in the propor-
 tion of eight fluidounces for  every ounce of chalk expended  in the  saturation,
 constantly stirring the mixture.   Separate now the clear liquor by subsidence
 or filtration, wash  the  insoluble matter with cold  water,  add the washings  to
 the liquor concentrate it with a gentle heat until crystals form on the surface,
 and set it'aside to  cool and crystallize.  The crystals are then to be  subjected
 to repeated solution and crystallization until they  are colourless.
    If  the citrate of lime be exactly decomposed by the sulphuric acid, without
 the latter being in excess, the  citric acid set free will not be contaminated by
 sulphuric acid. In order to determine whether the acid liquor, remaining after
 the subsidence of the sulphate of lime, is all citric  acid, the Edinburgh College
 directs that a small filtered portion of it should be tested with nitrate of baryta
 If the acid liquor contain only citric acid, the precipitate  will be citrate of
 baryta, and wholly soluble in nitric acid;  but if sulphuric acid be present also,
 it will'be a mixture  of citrate  and sulphate  of baryta, and not wholly soluble
 in nitric acid, the sulphate not being soluble in that acid.  Accordingly, if the 
36
Acidum Citricum.
PART I.
 precipitate be not wholly soluble in nitric acid, citrate of lime must be  added
 to the acid liquor until the sulphuric acid is almost entirely removed.
   The preliminary boiling of the lemon  juice, directed by the Edinburgh Col-
.lege, is intended to render the mucilage and other impurities insoluble, whereby
 they are got rid of by subsidence.   According to Dr. Christison, the juice may
 be advantageously clarified by albumen.
   Properties.   Citric acid is a white  crystallized solid, often in large crystals,
 having the form of rhomboidal prisms with dihedral summits. _ It is permanent
 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  decomposition,
 becoming  yellow or brown, and forming a very sour syrupy liquid, which is un-
 crystallizable.   By destructive distillation, it  gives rise to  water, empyreumatic
 oil,  acetic and carbonic acids, carburetted hydrogen, and  a number of pyroge-
 nous 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 forming an insoluble salt with lime,
 and a deliquescent one with potassa.  If sulphuric acid be present, the precipi-
 tate  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 incine-
 rating the acid,  either alone  or with red oxide  of mercury, when the.fixed
 matter will be left.   According  to the U.  S. Pharmacopoeia, 100 grains  of
 citric acid saturate 150 grains of bicarbonate of potassa.
    Composition.  The formula of this  acid, considered dry, as it exists in the
 citrate of silver, is CiaH5On.  When  crystallized  from its solution by cooling,
 it contains four eqs.  of water, three of  which are basic.
   Medical Properties,  &c.  Citric acid, when given  in  concentrated  solution
 to the inferior animals, acts as a poison, producing effects similar to those of
 oxalic acid.  When  largely diluted with water, it forms a cooling, refreshing
 drink.  Accordingly, it is much used  for making a substitute for lemonade.
 It is also employed in the composition  of effervescing draughts,  and for  pre-
 paring the neutral mixture. (See Liquor Potassee C it rat is.)   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 be made by dissolving from two to
 four parts  of  the acid, mixed with sugar and  a little  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.
    The  physiological action of a weak  solution of citric acid is that of a re
 frigerant, increasing  the fluidity of the  blood, and rendering it less  coagulable. 
part I.        Acidum Citricum.—Acidum Muriaticum.             37

Hence its utility in inflammations and fevers.   It is also useful in scurvy, liver
disease, and dropsy.  In recent times citric acid, in the form of lemon juice, has
come into vogue as a remedy for gout and rheumatism;  but the trials made with
it in these diseases have not shown that it possesses any peculiar efficacy.  Dr.
H. Bence Jones has made some interesting observations on citric acid and lemon
juice, and concludes that their action is identical.  Experimental  trials showed
that they always increase the acidity of the  urine.  In view of  this fact, Dr.
Jones cautions the practitioner  against  the use of the juice for  three or four
weeks continuously in chronic gout or  rheumatism,  for fear red gravel,  or uric
acid calculus should be produced.  (See Dr. Jones's remarks, copied into  the
Am. Journ. of the Med. Sci. for Jan. 1855, p. 204.)  The dose of lemon juice
in inflammatory rheumatism is two fluidounces, repeated from four to six times
a day.
   Off. Prep.  Ferri Ammonio-citras; Ferri Citras; Liquor Ammonia? Citratis;
Liquor Magnesias Citratis; Liquor Potassa? Citratis; Potassa? Citras; Pulveres
Effervescentes Citrati;  Syrupus Acidi Citrici.                           B.


                ACIDUM  MURIATICUM.  U.S.

                            Muriatic Acid.

   An aqueous solution of chlorohydric acid gas of the specific  gravity U16.
  U S
   Off.  Syn.  ACIDUM  HYDROCHLORICUM.  Lond.  ACIDUM MU-
 RIATICUM PURUM.  Ed,  Dub.   ACIDUM  MURIATICUM.  Hydro-
 chloric  Acid of  Commerce. Ed.   ACIDUM MURIATICUM YENALE.
 Commercial Muriatic Acid. Dub.
   Spirit of sea-salt, Marine acid, Hydrochloric acid, Chlorohydric acid; Acide hydro-
 chlorique, Fr.; Salzsaure, Kochsalzsaure,  Germ.; Acido muriatico, Ital., 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
 aqueous muriatic acid.  The acid is officinal in its pure form in the U. S.  and
 London Pharmacopoeias, and both  in  its  pure and commercial  forms in the
 Edinburgh and Dublin.  The sp. gr. of the pure acid is directed to be  1-16 in
 the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, 1-17 in the Edinburgh, and 1-176 in the
 Dublin.   The Edinburgh  and Dublin Colleges  give processes for the prepara-
 tion of the pure acid; while, in the United States and London Pharmacopoeias,
 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 is to 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. 
38
Acidum Muriaticum.
PART I.
  The acid, when  required to be pure, is generally prepared by saturating dis-
tilled water with the gas in a Woulfe's apparatus.   A quantity of pure fused
common salt is introduced into a retort or matrass, placed on a sand-bath    lne
vessel is then furnished with an S tube, and connected with a series of bottles,
each two-thirds full of water.   A quantity of sulphuric acid is then gradually
added, equal in weight to the common salt employed, and diluted with one-third
of its weight  of water.   The materials  ought  not to  occupy more than  halt
the body  of the retort.   When the extrication of the gas slackens, heat  is
applied and gradually increased until the water in the bottles refuses to absorb
any more  or until  no more gas is found to come over.   As soon as the process
is completed, boiling water should be  added to the contents of the retort or
matrass 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 very simple.   Common
salt  is  a  compound of chlorine and sodium;  muriatic acid, of  chlorine 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 sulphate  of
soda;  while the hydrogen and chlorine, being  both in the nascent state, com-
bine, and escape as muriatic acid gas.  The residue of the process is consequently
sulphate of soda or Glauber's  salt.   It is reserved  by the Edinburgh College
to be dissolved and crystallized, in order to form the officinal sulphate of soda.
(See Sodse Sulphas.)
   In making  pure muriatic acid, the Edinburgh College directs  equal weights
of purified and well dried salt, pure sulphuric acid, and water.  The following
is the Dublin  process, the ounces employed  being  avoirdupois ounces.   Pour
upon 48 ounces of dried salt, previously introduced into a globular flask having
the  capacity of at least a gallon (Imp. meas.), 44 fluidounces (equal to about
 81f ounces) of sulphuric acid of commerce, diluted with 32 ounces of water,
and allowed to cool before being added.  Then, applying a gentle  heat, conduct
the  muriatic acid  gas into a bottle, containing 44 ounces of distilled water,  by
 means of a bent tube, dipping about half an inch beneath its surface, and con-
 tinue to distil until 3 pints (Imp. meas.) of product are obtained.  Throughout
 the  operation, the temperature of the distilled water  must be prevented  from
 rising by the application of cold.
   In the process  for muriatic acid, theory calls for a little less than 82 parts of
 liquid  sulphuric acid to 100 of common salt.   Thus it appears that the Edin-
 burgh College, directing  100 of  acid to 100 of salt, uses a considerable excess
 of the former, which to this extent may, perhaps, be useful, to insure the com-
 plete decomposition of the salt; but the excess of acid, used  by the Dublin
 College, is so great as to create  a suspicion that  the quantity  prescribed is a
 misprint.   The quantity of acid, directed by the College,.is sufficient to decom-
 pose twice the quantity of common salt taken.
   The common salt is directed to be purified by the Edinburgh College by dis-
  solving it in  boiling water, concentrating the  solution, skimming off the crys-
  tals as they form on the surface, draining  from them the adhering solution,
  and subsequently washing them slightly  with  cold water.  The object of this
  treatment  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  sulphuric acid  on 
PART I.
Acidum Muriaticum.
39
the ground that  the commercial usually contains nitrous acid. (See Acidum
Sulphuricum Purum.)
   Properties  of  the Pure Acid.  Muriatic acid, when pure, is a  transparent
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.  1-16,  and 100 grains of it saturate 132 grains of crystallized car-
bonate 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 appearance of ebulli-
tion,  until  its sp.  gr.  falls  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 aqueous 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 quantity of Aqueous  Muriatic Acid of sp. gr. 1% of Muriatic
   Acid  Gas, and of Chlorine  in 100 parts  of Aqueous  Acid of different
   densities.
Sp. gr. 1-2000 1-1910 1-1*22 1-1721 1-1701 1-1620 1-1599 1-1515 1-1410 1-1308 1-1206	Aqueous Acid of sp. gr. 1-2.	Acid Gas.	Chlorine.	Sp. gr.	Aqueous Acid of sp. gr. 1*2.	Acid Gas.	Chlorine.
	100 95 90 85 84 80 79 75 70 65 60	40-777 38-738 36-700 34-660 34-252 32-621 32-213 30-582 28-544 26-504 24-466	39-675 37-692 35-707 33-724 33-328 31-746 31-343 29-757 27-772 25-789 23-805	1-1102 1-1000 1-0899 1 1-0798 1-0697 j 1-0597 i 1-0497 ! 1-0397 ! 1-0298 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 10-1^4 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 3-968 1 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 potassium,
tartrate of potassa, tartar emetic, tartrate of iron and potassa, 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 diluted 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
bv the acid  having the power to  dissolve gold-leaf. Any minute  portion ot the
leaf which  may be dissolved,  is detected by adding a solution of protochlonde
of tin which will .rive  rise to a purplish tint.   The  free chlorine is derived
from the  reaction of nitric or nitrous acid on a small  portion of the muriatic 
40
Acidum Muriaticum.
PART I.
acid, which is thus deprived of its hydrogen.   Hence it is that, when free chlo-
rine is present, nitrous acid or some other oxide of nitrogen is also  present as
an impurity.  The nitric and nitrous acids are derived from nitrates  in the
common salt, and from nitrous  acid  in the  commercial sulphuric acid, em-
ployed in the preparation of the muriatic acid.
  Muriatic Acid of Commerce.   This acid has the general properties  of the
pure aqueous acid.  It has a yellowish colour, owing to the presence of sesqui-
chloride of iron, or of a  minute proportion of organic matter, such as cork,
wood, ke.   It usually contains sulphuric acid, and sometimes free 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  U16 and 1-17, and
found them  to contain from 7 to nearly 11 per cent, of sulphurous acid.  To
detect this acicl, 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.  (Heintz.)  M. Lembert has pro-
posed the following,  which he considers as a more delicate test of sulphurous
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  sulphurous  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 arsenfc.  The immediate source of this impurity is the sulphuric
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
terchloride,  and, from its volatility in this state of combination, is transferred
to the muriatic acid, distilled from the  commercial  acid.  This impurity is sepa-
rated by diluting the acid with an equal volume of water, and passing through
it sulphuretted hydrogen, which throws down the arsenic as a  tersulphuret.
Where leaden vessels  are used in preparing muriatic acid, it is apt to contain
chloride of lead, which falls as  a white  precipitate on neutralizing the acid.
The nature of the precipitate is verified by dissolving it  in  nitric acid and
adding  iodide of potassium, when the yellow iodide  of lead will fall.  (Hai-
nautt.)   This impurity, being fixed, may be got rid of by distilling the  acid.
  Muriatic  acid of commerce is officinal only in  the  Edinburgh and  Dublin
Pharmacopoeias.   The density of  the Edinburgh acid is directed to be at least
1-180.  Dr. Christison states that it varies in this  respect from 1-180 to 1-216
Thus the commercial  is stronger than the pure acid of  the Edinburo-h Pharma- 
PART I.
Acidum Muriaticum.
41
copoeia, and consequently more fuming.   Mr. Phillips states that he has never
found the commercial acid  nearly so strong, and suspects that, when of  this
specific gravity, it must contain a very large admixture of sulphuric acid.   The
commercial acid is defined by the  Edinburgh College to be  always  yellow,  and
commonly to contain 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 1-2G9.  Sub-
jected to a pressure of 40 atmospheres, at  the  temperature of 50°, it is  con-
densed into  a transparent liquid, to which alone the name  of  liquid  muriatw
acid properly belongs.  It absorbs water with the greatest avidity,  and, accord-
ing to the temperature and  pressure, unites with a greater  or less quantity 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 aqueous acid already described.
   Composition.  Muriatic acid gas consists of one eq. of chlorine 35*5, and one
of hydrogen 1=36-5; or of one volume of chlorine and one of hydrogen, united
without  condensation.                                          .    .
   Medical  Properties.  Muriatic acid is tonic, refrigerant, and antiseptic. _ It
is exhibited, largely diluted with  water, in  low 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  may also be added with  advantage to  infusions of
columbo, gentian, and cinchona.   It proves also a  good adjunct to gargles m
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
proportion  of from half a fluidrachm to two fluidrachms, mixed with six fluid-
 ounces of the vehicle. (See Acidum Muriaticum Dilutum.)        _     _   _
   Toxicological Properties.   Muriatic  acid, when swallowed, is  highly  irri-
 tating and  corrosive, but  less so  than  sulphuric or nitric acid.   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 saturating 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.
   Pharm  Uses.  Muriatic acid is used as a chemical agent in the preparation
 of Acidum Hydrocvanicum Dilutum; Acidum Tartaricum; Antimonii et Po-
 tassa? Tartras;  Antimonii Oxidum; Calcis Phosphas  Pra?cipitatum; Carbo
 Animalis Purificatus; Hydrargyrum Purum;  Potassa? Bicarbonas; Quima?
 Sulphas; Soda? Bicarbonas; Strychnia; Sulphur Pra?cipitatum; Yeratna.
    Off. Prep, of Muriatic Acid.   Acidum Muriaticum Dilutum; Acidum Nitro-
 muriaticum-  Barii  Chloridum; Caleb Chloridum; Ferrum Ammoniatum; Li-
 quor  Arsenic! Chloridi;  Liquor Calcii  Chloridi; Morphia? Murias ; Tinctura
 Ferri Chloridi; Zinci Chloridum.
    Off Prep, of Muriatic Acid of Commerce.   Antimonii Terchlondi Liquor ;
 Calcis Murias; Chlorinii Liquor; Ferri  Muriatis Tinctura;  Zinci  Chloridi
 Liquor. 
42
Acidum Nitrieum.
PART I.
              ACIDUM NITHICUM.  U.S., Lond.

                             Nitric Acid.

  Nitric acid of the specific gravitv 1-42.  U. S., Lond.
  Off  Syn  ACIDUM NITRICUM.  Nitric Acid of Commerce, sp. gr. 1-38
to 1-39. Ed.;  ACIDUM NITRICUM YENALE.  Commercial Nitric Acid.
Dub.
  Spirit of nitre; Aqua fortis; Acide nitrique, Acide azotique, Fr.; Salpetersaure,
Germ.; Zalpeterzuur, Sterkwater, Dutch.;  Shedwater, Swed.; Acidonitrico, Ital., Span.
  Nitric acid is one of the five  compounds, formed between nitrogen and ox-
ygen.  These  are  nitrous oxide (exhilarating  gas), NO;  nitric  oxide, N02;
hyponitrous acid (sometimes called nitrous acid), N03; nitrous acid (sometimes
called hyponitric acid), N04; and nitric acid, N05.
  Nitric acid is now officinal in four forms; the pure acid of the sp. gr. 1-5, the
pure acid of the sp. gr. 1'42, the commercial acid, and the diluted.   The acid
of 1-42 and the commercial acid, being placed exclusively in the Materia Medica
list, will be noticed here,  and the other two,  for which formulae are given, will
be described under the preparations. (See  Acidum Nitrieum Purum  and Aci-
dum Nitrieum Dilutum.)
  The usual practice  adopted in the laboratory for obtaining  nitric 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  applied 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 thicken, 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  indicate that the process
is completed.
   The proportion of equal weights,  as above  given, corresponding  nearly to
one eq. of nitrate of  potassa, and two of monohydrated sulphuric acid, is  the
best for operations on a  small scale in the laboratory.  This proportion is pre-
ferred 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 employed.
   Monohydrated Nitric  Acid.  Nitrate of Water. This is the strongest liquid
nitric  acid that can be procured, and  may be supposed to  be  obtained  by dis-
tilling one eq. of pure and dry nitre, with two eqs. of  monohydrated  sulphuric
acid.  One eq. of monohydrated nitric acid distils over,  and one eq.  of mono-
hydrated bisulphate of potassa remains behind.   KO,N05 and 2 (HO,S03)=
HO,N05 and  KO,2S03 + HO.  Acid of this strength is very difficult to get/and
requires for its preparation the most elaborate attention  to separate the super-
abundant water.  According to Mr. Arthur Smith, of London, acid, dehydrated
as far as possible, is perfectly colourless, boils at  184"°, has the sp. gr. L517 at
 60°, and  nearly approaches, in composition, to a monohydrate.   Acid of this
strength,  even at the boiling temperature, has not the slightest action on tin
or iron. (Phil. Mag., Bee. 1847.)  Accordiug to  Millon, the true monohydrate
has a  sp.  gr. as high  as  1521.
   Nitric Acid (sp. gr. 1-42). Quadrihydrated Nitric Acid.  This is the acid
 adopted in the last U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, in the place of the acid
 weighing 1-5. Acid of  the density 1*5 was not found in any of the shops, and
 much  pains were required to  get it of  that strength.   Besides,  acid of the 
PART I.
Acidum Nitrieum.
43
density 1-5 was  not necessary for any process of the Pharmacopoeia.   Con-
siderations of this kind induced the revisers of our national standard of 1850,
to lower the strength of officinal nitric acid to  1-42, its purity in other respects
remaining the same.  To satisfy the tests given in the U. S. Pharmacopeia it
must be colourless, entirely volatilized by heat, and, when diluted with distilled
water,  not precipitated by nitrate  of silver or chloride of barium.  Acid of the
density 1-42 is the most stable of the hydrated compounds of  nitric acid, and
boils at 250°.  When either stronger or weaker  than this, it distils over at a
lower  temperature; and, by losing more acid  than water in the first case and
more water than acid in the second, constantly approaches to the sp. gr. 1-4^,
when its boiling  point becomes  stationary.  These facts in relation to quadri-
hydrated nitric acid were first observed by Dalton,  and have since been confirmed
by Mr Arthur Smith,  of London.   This acid consists of one eq.  of dry acid
and four of water (4HO,N05).   But, as only  one of the eqs.  of water is basic,
the other three being constitutional, the true formula is HO,N05+3HO.     _
    Commercial Nitric Acid, Ed, Dub.  The Edinburgh commercial acid  is
 stated to have a density varying from 1-38 to 1-39.   It is colourless or nearly
 so  and if diluted with distilled water,  precipitates but slightly, or not at all,
 with  solution of nitrate of baryta or nitrate  of  silver.   The Dublin commer-
 cial acid is not  defined, either  as to specific  gravity  or grade  of purity.   Ac-
 cording 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 ot sul-
 phuric acid.   If iodine be.present, the sulphuric acid will set it free, and the
 starch solution will become blue.                               .
    Nitric Acid of the Arts.  Two  strengths  of  this  acid occur in the arts;—
 double aquafortis (sp. gr. 1-36), which is half  the  strength  of concentrated
 nitric acid, and single aquafortis (sp. gr. L22), 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 of iron which  is left, is sold, under the name
 of colcothar, to  the polishers of metals.   The distillation is performed m large
 cast-iron retorts, lined on the inside with a thick layer of red 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 com-

    The reddish acid, called nitrous acid of the shops, is nitric  acid, containing
  more or less real nitrous acid (N04).  The same acid may be formed by impreg-
  nating to a limited extent, colourless nitric acid with  nitric oxide (JNOJ.  it
  the saturation be  complete, every two  eqs. of nitric acid become  three eqs^ of
  nitrous  acid, by the aid of one eq.  of nitric oxide (2^05  and ]S03=3JSUJ.
  The  nitrous acid of the shops may be  converted into  colourless nitric acid by
  exposino- it to a gentle heat,  The nitrous acid  of the shops was formerly offi-
  cinal with the Edinburgh College, under the name of Acidum Nitxosum.   As
  nitrous acid (N04) forms, in contact with bases,  a nitrate and hyponitnte, there
  being, strictly speaking,  no nitrites, some chemists consider it as a compound
  of nitric and hyponitrous acids (2N04=N05+N03).
     In France nitric acid is manufactured on the large  scale  from nitre and sul-
  phuric acid  in cast-iron cylinders.  The  cylinders are disposed horizontally 
44                        Acidum Nitrieum.                     part I.

across a furnace, and are strewed internally throughout their 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 end, 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;  but  this disadvantage is  counterbalanced  by a
great saving of expense, when the process is conducted in  such vessels.
   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 containing water.
The proportion of sulphuric  acid,  employed  by the  manufacturer, is between
one and 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 stoneware or
glass, connected together by means of a tube.   Large demijohns of glass answer
the purpose of receivers very well.   The incondensible  products 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 (cubic nitre), 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  ten per cent,  more 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 enixum, is
sold to the alum makers.
   M.  Mallet, of Paris, has proposed to obtain nitric acid from nitrate of soda,
by distilling it with dried boracic acid.  In  this case, biborate of soda or borax
is  the residue.
   General Properties of Nitric Acid.  Nitric acid, so called  from nitre, is a
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.   The concentrated acid, when exposed to the air,
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,  causing its decomposition.  On the living fibre it operates  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 diluted, 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 chromium, tungsten, columbium
cerium, titanium,  osmium, rhodium, gold, platinum,  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 Nitro-
muriaticum.) 
PART I.
Acidum Nitrieum.
45
  A trace of nitric acid has been detected in atmospheric air.  It is said to be
always present in the air in summer. (Kletzinsky.)
  As a nitric acid below the standard strength is necessarily employed in many
chemical and pharmaceutical  operations, it often becomes  important to know
the proportion of  dry acid, and of acid of the strength of 1-5, contained in an
acid of  any given- specific  gravity.  The following table, drawn  up from ex-
periments by Dr. Ure, gives information on these points.

Table showing the Quantity of Hydrated Nitric Acid (sp. gr. 1-5), and of Dry
    Nitric Acid, contained in 100 parts of the Acid at Different Densities.
	■Hyd.	Dry	I	Hyd.\ Dry		Hyd. Dry			Hyd.	Dry
SP. Gr.	Acid	Acid	Sp.Gr)	Acid] Acid Sp.Gr.		Acid Acid		Sp. Gr.	Acid	Acid
	in 100	in 100		in 100' in 100 1		in 100 tnlOOi			in 100 in 100	
1-500	100	79-700	1-4189	75 159-775 1-2947		50 39-850		1-1403	25	19-925
1-498	99	78-903	1-4147	74 ,58-978	1-2887	49 39-053		1-1345	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	77-309	1-4065	72 57-384	1-2765	47 37-459!		1-1227	22 17-534	
1-4910	96	76-512	1-4023	71 ,56-5871 1-2705		46	36-662	1-1168	21 |l6-737	
1-4880	95	75-715	1-3978	70 55-790 1-2644		45	35-865	1-1109	20 15-940	
1-4S50	94	74-918	1-3945	69 54-993	1-2WJ3	44	35-068	1-1051	19 45-143	
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	67 153-399	1-2462	42 !33-474		1-0935	17 13-549	
1-4760	91	72-527	1-3783	66 52-602	1-2402	41 32-677		1-0878	16 12-752	
1-4730	90	71-730	1-3732	65 151-805	11-2341	40 31-880		1-0821	15 11-955	
1-4700	89	70-933	1-3681	64 51-068	1-2277	39 131-083		1-0764	14 ill-158	
1-4670	88	70-136	1-3630	63 50-211	11-2212	38 30-286		1-0708	13	10-361
1-4640	87	69-339	1-3579	62 49-414 1-2148		37 j29-489		1-0651	12	9-564
1-4600	86 ,68-542		1-3529	61 ;48-617	;3-2084	36 ;28-692		1-0595	11	8-767
1-4570	85 67-745		1-3477	60 47-820	jl-2019	35 127-895 |i'l-0540			10	7-970
1-4530	84 66-948		1-3427	59 47-023	4-1958	34 '27-098		1-0485	9	7-173
l-450'i	83 ;66-155		4-3377	5S 46-226	jl-1895	33 126-301		1-0430	8	6-376
1-4460	82. 65-354		11-3323	57 45-429	1-1833	32 J25-504		1-0375	7	5-579
1-4424	81 164-557		1-3270	56 44-632	11-1770	31 24-707		1-0320	6	4-782
1-4385	80	63-760	1-3216	55 143-835	4-1709	30 123-910		3-0267	5	3-985
1-4346	79	62-963	1-3163	54 43-038	1-1648	29 23-113 1-0212			4	3-188
1-4306	78	62-166	1-3110	53 142-241	1-1587	28 22-316 1-0159			3	2-391
1-4269	77	61-369	1-3056	52 41-444	11-1526	27 21-519 [1-0106			2	1-594
1-4228	76	60-572	1-30-Jl	51 40-647	1-1465 i	26 20-722 1-0053 il			1	0-797
   Tests.  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 maybe discovered, according to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, by heating
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 produced
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. Another test for nitric acid is to add pure
sulphuric acid to the concentrated liquid, suspected to contain it, together with
a little concentrated solution of the sulphate of protoxide of iron.  The smallest
trace of nitric acid affords, when the mixture is warmed, a pink-red colour; and,
if it be  present in considerable amount, the liquid becomes almost black. 
46                         Acidum Nitrieum.                    PART  r-

  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 reagents should produce a precipitate, the chloride
will indicate sulphuric acid, and the nitrate, chlorine.  These  impurities may
be separated by adding nitrate of silver in  slight excess, which will precipitate
them as sulphate and chloride of silver,  and then distilling nearly to dryness  in
very clean vessels. The sulphuric acid may also be got rid of by distilling from
a fresh portion of nitre.  The  chlorine  may be separated, without the use  of
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.  (Ch, Barreswil.)
These impurities, however, do not affect  the medicinal properties of the acid.
   Composition.  The composition of the  officinal acid of the density 142 has
already been given.   It contains about 75  per cent, of nitric acid of the sp. gr.
1-5. • The composition of the officinal commercial acid is necessarily variable.
The Edinburgh commercial acid contains from 67  to  68 per cent, of nitric acid
of the density of  1-5.  The strength of the  Dublin commercial acid is left indefi-
nite ; as no sp. gr. is assigned  to  it.   Anhydrous nitric acid consists of one
eq.  of nitrogen 14,  and five eqs. of oxygen  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.   In 1849,  the interest-
ing discovery was made by M.  Deville, of Besancon, of the means  of isolating
anhydrous nitric acid,  The method pursued was to pass perfectly dry chlo-
rine  over nitrate of silver.  The anhydrous  acid is in the form of colourless,
brilliant,  limpid crystals, which melt at 85° and boil at 113°.  In contact with
water, they form a colourless solution wdth evolution of heat, without the dis-
engagement of gas.  (Journ. de Pharm, et de Chim., March, 1849, p. 207.)
   Medical Properties.  Nitric acid  is  tonic  and antiseptic.  Largely diluted
with water, it forms  a good acid drink in febrile diseases, especially typhus.
It is praised  as  an antiperiodic in intermittent fever by Dr. Geo. Mendenhall
 and Dr. E. T. Bailey, of Indiana, given in doses of from five to  eight drops
 once in  six hours,  without regard to  intermissions  or exacerbations.   (Am,
 Journ, of the Med. Sci., Oct.  1854, p.  581, from  the Western Lancet.)  Ac-
 cording to Dr. Arnoldi, of Montreal, nitric acid,  added to water so as to give
 it the acidity of  lemon juice, and sweetened almost to the consistence of syrup,
 forms an efficacious remedy in  hooping cough ; and his report of its value has
 been fully confirmed by Dr. Geo. D. Gibbs, in his treatise on hooping-cough,
 published in London in 1854.   The  dose  for a child one  year old is a dessert-
 spoonful every hour; for an  adult, a  tumblerful during  the day.  To save
 the teeth the mouth should be washed after each dose.  Further evidence of
 the efficacy of nitric  acid in this  disease, given in the way above mentioned,
 is borne  by Dr. McNelly, of Ten., and by Dr.  C. Witsell, of Cheeha, S. C.  (See
 Charleston Med,  Journ. for  Jan. 1857.)   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, in worn-out constitutions, is  often an excellent adjuvant either to
 prepare the system for the use  of mercury, or to lessen the effects of that metal
 on the economy.  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.  It  is also 
PART I.
Acidum Nitrieum.
47
useful in ulceration of the mouth and gums as a gargle, made by adding about
sixty drops of the acid to a pint of water.  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, or by the use of a glass brush.   Sometimes a piece of lint is
soaked  with the strong acid, and pressed into the sore, being allowed to remain
for several hours.  Many cases of the successful treatment of phagectena by
nitric acid are reported to have occurred in the  London Hospitals  since the
publication of the last edition of this work.  (See Am. Journ, of the Med, Sci.,
Jan., 1855, p. 244.)  In cancrum oris concentrated nitric  acid, freely applied, is
one of the best local remedies that can be employed for arresting the phagedenic
ulceration,  and disposing the sore to heal.   The strong acid also  has been
found very useful as  an escharotic in the local treatment of hemorrhoids and
of prolapsus ani, by Dr. W. Cooke,  Mr. H. Lee, and Mr.  H. Smith, of Lon-
don.    For information as to the mode of applying the  acid, the  instruments
employed, and the precautions  to  be observed, the reader is referred to Rank-
 ingJs Abstract (Am.  ed.), No. 20,  p. 143, and No. 23, p. 158.   As nitric acid
 dissolves both uric acid and the phosphates, it was supposed 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 prescribing.  (See
 Acidum Nitrieum Dilutum.)
    Nitric acid, in the state of vapour, is considered useful  for destroying con-
 tagion, and hence is employed for 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 considered 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 well  be doubted whether nitric  acid, as  a .disin-
 fecter, is at all  comparable to  chlorine;  and, since the introduction of chlori-
 nated' 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 super-
 sede that of every  other  agent employed with  similar intentions.  (See Calx
  Chlorinata and Liquor Sodse  Chlorinatse.)
    Properties as a Poison.  Nitric acid, in its concentrated state, is one of the
  mineral poisons most frequently taken for the purpose of self-destruction.  Im-
  mediately 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  exquisite 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  always fatal.  The  best remedies are repeated
  doses of magnesia as an antidote, mucilaginous drinks in large  quantities, 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. 
48            Acidum Nitrieum.—Acidum Sulphuricum.       part I.

  Pharm. Uses.  Nitric acid is used as a chemical agent to prepare Acidum
Phosphoricum Dilutum ;  Antimonii  et Potassae Tartras ; Ferri Fcrrocyanure-
tum; Ferri Oxidum Hydra turn; Hydrargyri Oxidum Rubrum; Zinci Chloridum.
  Off. Prep, of Nitric Acid.  Acidum Nitrieum Dilutum; Acidum Nitromuri-
aticum; Ar^enti Nitras; Argenti Nitras Fusus;  Bismuthi Subnitras;  Liquor
Ferri Nitraris;  Spiritus JEtheris Nitrici; Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis.
  Off. Prep, of Commercial Nitric  Acid,   Acidum Nitrieum Dilutum ; Bis-
muthum Allium.  The  commercial acid is used chemically to prepare Ferrugo,
Ed., and Zinci Sulphas, Dub.                                        B.


          ACIDUM  SULPHURICUM.  U.S.,  Lond,

                           Sulphuric Acid.

  Sulphuric acid of the specific gravity 1-845, U. S., 1.843, Lond.
  Off. Syn.  ACIDUM SULPHURICUM.   Sulphuric Acid of Commerce.
Ed.; ACIDUM SULPHURICUM VENALE. Commercial Sulphuric Acid;
Oil of Vitriol.  Dub.
  Oil of vitriol, Vitriolic acid; Acide sulfurique, Fr.; Vitriolol, Schwefelsaure, Germ. ;
Acido solforico, Ital.;  Acido sulfurico, Span.
  Sulphuric acid is placed in the Materia Medica list of all the Pharmacopoeias
noticed in  this work, as an acid to be  obtained from the wholesale manufac-
turer.   Its officinal sp.  gr., as given  in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, is U845 ; in
the  London, U843; in the Edinburgh, T840 or near it.   In the Dublin Phar-
macopoeia, no specific gravity is given for the  commercial acid.
  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 decomposition, 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 eq. of their several radicals.  One eq. of sulphur
decomposes one eq. of nitric acid of the nitre, and becomes one eq. 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 eq. 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 cham-
ber.  While these changes are taking place, the remainder of the  sulphur is
undergoing combustion, and filling the chamber with sulphurous acid gas. One
eq.  of nitrous acid  gas, and one eq.  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 eq. of sulphuric acid and one
eq.  of hyponitrous acid, united with a portion of water.   This compound falls
into the water of the chamber, and  instantly  undergoes  decomposition.  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, and that reproduced by the nitric
oxide uniting with the oxygen of the atmosphere, again react with sulphurous
acid and humidity, and give rise to a second portion of the  crystalline com-
pound, 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 cham-
ber  to the  sulphurous acid, to convert the latter into  sulphuric acid.  The re- 
PART I.
Acidum Sulphuricum.
49
sidue of the combustion  of the sulphur and  nitre, consisting of sulphate of
potassa, 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 several
modes of burning the mixture of sulphur and nitre, and otherwise conducting
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  mix-
ture 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 gene-
rated.   When the combustion is over, the door is opened, 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 transferred to leaden boilers,
where it is, boiled down until it has attained the sp. gr. 1-7.  At this density
it begins to  act on lead,  and its further 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 appear-
ance 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, enclosing all the carboy except the neck.
  As, in the manufacture of sulphuric acid,  nitre  is the most expensive mate-
rial, many plans have been resorted to for obtaining the necessary 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 the expense.
  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 amount of nitric acid.
  Another method is practised by some manufacturers of sulphuric acid.  It
consists in filling the leaden chamber with sulphurous acid by the combustion.
of sulphur, and afterwards admitting into  it nitrous acid  and steam.   The
nitrous acid is generated from a mixture of sulphuric acid with nitre 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 acids,  and aqueous
vapour are intermingled in the chamber, all the conditions necessary for gene-
rating the crystalline compound, already alluded to, are present.  The rationale •
of the process is the same as that already given.
  Mr. Thomas Bell, of England, obtained a patent in Dec. 1852 for the use of
ozonized air,* produced either by electricity, or by the slow combustion of phos-

  *  Ozonized air is air having its oxygen in a peculiar state,  which Schonbein,* who
first remarked it, attributed  to the union with the oxygen of a peculiar form of matter,
which he called ozone, from a Greek word signifying, to have a smell. It is now adinit-
       4 
50
Acidum Sulphuricum.
PART I,
phorus, in order to cause the union of sulphurous acid with the requisite oxygen,
in the leaden chamber, without  the  use  of nitre,  in  manufacturing  sulphuric
acid.   The specification of his patent is given in the Pharmaceutical Journal
for March, 1853.
   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 Nordhausen, so called from its properties, 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 or polishing rouge, a mate-
rial employed for polishing metals, particularly gold and silver.   According to
A. Yogel, jun.,  a better  polishing rouge for fine work is made by calcining
oxalate of  protoxide of  iron.  (Chem.  Gaz., Nov.  1,  1854, p. 410.)
   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 Eng-
lish  physician, of the name of Ward.   As practised by him the  combustion
was conducted in very large glass vessels.  About the year 1746, the great  im-
provement of leaden chambers  was introduced by Dr. Roebuck, of Birmingham,
where the  first  apparatus of  this kind was erected.   In consequence of this
improvement, the acid immediately fell to one-fourth of its former price.
   Properties.   Sulphuric acid (sulphate of water), commonly called oil  of
vitriol, is a dense, colourless,  inodorous  liquid, of an oleaginous appearance,
and strongly corrosive.   On living tissues it acts as a powerful caustic.  In the
liquid form, it contains water,  which is essential to its existence in that form.
When pure, and as highly concentrated as possible, as manufactured in leaden
chambers, its sp. gr. is 1-845,  a  fluidounce weighing  a  small fraction over 14
drachms.  When of this sp. gr., it contains about 18 per cent, of water.   If its
density exceed this, the presence of sulphate of lead,  or other impurity may be
inferred.  The commercial acid is seldom of full strength.   According to Mr.
Phillips, it has generally  the sp. gr. 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 deposits crystals of

ted that the state of oxygen referred to does  not depend upon the presence of any form
of matter either simple or compound; and hence the term ozone should be abandoned,
retaining only the term ozonization to express the means by which oxygen is brought
into the new state.   Oxygen may be ozonized by electrical, chemical, and galvanic
agency, and is always the same in the ozonized state, by whatever means  generated.
Thus, the oxygen in air may be ozonized by passing repeated electrical discharges
through it, or by the slow combustion of phosphorus in it, and the oxygen in water, by
electrolysis.  Even dry oxygen may be ozonized by the passage of repeated electrical
sparks, a fact which proves that the change  does not depend upon any foreign matter
simple or compound.  Oxygen has never been fully ozonized; as  is shown by the
delicate test  of  iodide of potassium, prepared with starch, which absorbs the ozon-
ized  oxygen only.  Thus,  the  oxygen,  obtained by electrolysis, contains  only »inth
part  of its  weight in the  ozonized state.  Ozonized oxygen  has  chemical properties
• different from those of ordinary oxygen.  It is not absorbed by pure water  It has a
•peculiar smell like that produced by repeated discharges of electricity.  Its oxidizing
 power is far greater than that of ordinary oxygen ; and this forms its most marked
 characteristic.   By many agencies it is deozonized, and brought to  the condition of
 ordinary oxygen.  It is not known in what  the ozonized  state of oxygen essentially
.consists  Chemists recognise the general fact that the  same element may exist in
 different physical and chemical states, and call these allotropic states   Accordingly
■ozonized oxygen is an allotropic state of this element.   For further information on this
 subject, the reader is referred to the able  experimental paper of Dr  Thorns AnH,-««,«
 an abstract of which is given in  the Chem. Gazette, No. 309, p. 339* In thS?™™rDr

 ty^%Ts the statement of Dr'Baumert'that ozo    d °x7sen ^"^SSto s 
PART I.
Acidum Sulphuricum.
51
the bihydrated acid at about 28° ;  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.  E. Rogers to  be capable of absorbing 94 per cent, of carbonic acid gas, a
fact having an important bearing on analytic operations.  When diluted with
distilled  water, it ought to remain  limpid, and, when heated  sufficiently in a
platinum spoon,  the fixed residue should not exceed one part in 400 of the
acid employed.  When present in small quantity in solution, it is detected uner-
ringly by chloride of barium, which causes a precipitate of sulphate  of baryta.
The most usual  impurities in it are  the sulphates of potassa and lead;  the
former derived from the residue of the process, 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 gives rise to the impurity of sulphate
of potassa.   These impurities often amount to 3 or 4 per cent.   The commercial
acid cannot be  expected to be absolutely pure; but, when properly manufac-
tured, it should not contain more than one-fourth of one per cent, of impurity.
The fixed impurities are discoverable by evaporating a portion of the 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 pouring
a solution of green vitriol over the commercial acid in 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, however, is not to be
rejected, unless the test shows the presence of nitrous acid in unusual quantity.
For the  mode of removing this impurity by means of sugar,  see Acidum Sul-
phuricum Purum.   For the removal of the  nitrogen acids  generally, Dr. J.
Lowe  recommends the addition, to the heated sulphuric acid, of small portions
of  dry oxalic acid, so long as it exhibits  a yellow tinge.  The oxalic acid is
decomposed into carbonic acid and oxide, the  latter of which, in becoming car-
bonic acid, deoxidizes and destroys the nitrogen acids.  A slight excess of oxalic
acid produces no harm; as it is  immediately  decomposed.  When 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 sulphate of ammonia will be expelled, and the sulphate of potassa
left.   Arsenic is  sometimes present in sulphuric acid.  In  consequence of  the
hio-h price of Sicilian sulphur some years ago, several English manufacturers
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. G. 0. Rees and Mr. Watson, and a still larger proportion
by Mr. J. Cameron, of South Wales.  To detect this impurity, the acid, previously
diluted with distilled water, must be examined by March's test. (See Acidum
Arseniosum.)   To separate the  arsenious acid, Dr. J. Lowe recommends that
the concentrated sulphuric acid should be gently heated in a flat dish, in a place
where the fumes may be carried off, and then  treated with small  quantities of 
52
Acidum Sulphuricum.
PART I.
finely powdered chloride of sodium, constantly stirred in with a glass rod.   By
the reaction between the arsenious acid and disengaged muriatic acid, terchloride
of arsenic is formed, which, being volatile, is separated by the heat.  The heat
is  afterwards  continued, to  expel the  excess of muriatic acid.  This  mode of
purification is effectual; but introduces into the oil of vitriol a little sulphate of
soda, which, however, does not interfere  with the ordinary uses of the acid.
Buchner proposes a similar process for purifying sulphuric acid  from arsenic;
but, instead of chloride  of sodium, he employs muriatic acid, or a stream of the
acid gas.   This plan does not introduce sulphate of soda into the  acid; but is
less convenient than that of Lowe, and, when the aqueous muriatic acid is used,
tends to weaken the oil of vitriol by introducing water.  Dupasquier 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  precipitates  sulphuret of  tin, convertible by nitric  acid into the white
insoluble deutoxide of  tin.  Should the precipitate be the mixed sulphurets of
arsenic and tin, the former would be converted by nitric acid into arsenic  acid
and dissolved, and the  latter into insoluble deutoxide and left.
  As sulphuric acid is  often under the  standard strength, it becomes important
to know how much hydrated sulphuric acid of the standard specific gravity, 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	Sp. Gr.	Acid	Acid
	in 100 in 100			in 100	in 100		in 100	in 100		in 100	in 100
1-8485	100	81-54	1-6520	75	61-15	1-3884	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
1-8460	98	79-90	1-6321	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	46	37-51	1-1480	21	17-12
1-8376	95	77-46	1-5975	70	57-08	1-3440	45	36-69	1-1410	20	16.31
1-8336	94	76-65	1-5868	69	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	35-06	1-1246	18	14-68
1-8233	92	75-02	1-5648	67	54-63	1-3165	42	34-25	1-1165	17	13-86
1-8179	91	74-20	1-5503	66	53-82	1-3080	41	33-43	1-1090	16	13-05
1-8115	90	73-39	1-5390	65	53-00	1-2999	40	32-61	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	88	71-75	1-5170	63	51-37	1-2826	38	30-98	1-0887	13	10-60
1-7870	87	70-94	1-5066	62	50-55	1-2740	37	30-17	1-0809	12	9-78
1-7774	86	70-12	1-4960	61	49-74 !	1-2654	36	29-35	1-0743	11	8-97
1-7673	85	69-31	1-4860	60	48-92 ! 1-2572		35	28-54	1-0682	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	83	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	5-71
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'	64-42 j 1-4265		54	44-03 1-2108		29	23-65	4-0268	4	3-26
1-6870	78	63-60	1-4170	53	43-22 1-2032		28	22-83	1-0206	3	1-636
1-6750	77	62-78	1-4073	52	42-40	jl-1956	27	22-01	1-0140	2	1-63
1-6630	76	61-97	1-3977	51	41-58	|1-1876	26	21-20	1-0074	1	0-1854
  The only way to obtain pure sulphuric acid is by distillation.   Owing to the
high boiling  point of this acid, the  operation  is rather precarious, in conse-
quence of the danger of the fracture of the retort, from the sudden concussions
to which the boiling acid gives rise.   Dr. Ure recommends that a retort of the 
PART I.
Acidum Sulphuricum.
53
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  gradually heated by a  small
furnace  of charcoal,  or, what is better, by means of a sand-bath, the retort
being buried in the sand up to the neck.   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 distilled  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 coining 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 thispoint
is attained, will be an  acid water.   In  the distillation  of  sulphuric acid, M.
Lembert  uses fragments  of the mineral called quartzite, 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.
   The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges give formulae for purifying the commer-
cial  acid. (See Acidum Sulphuricum Purum.)   The strong acid is not con-
venient for medicinal use ;  and hence  a formula for  a diluted acid is given in
the United States Pharmacopoeia, following  the example of the British Col-
leges. (See Acidum  Sulphuricum Dilutum.)
   Composition.   The hydrated acid of the sp. gr. U845 consists of one  eq. of
dry acid 40, and one eq. of water 9=49.  As the water acts  the part of a
base, the proper name of it is sulphate of water, its formula being  HO,S03.
The dry acid consists of one eq. of sulphur 16, and three eqs. of oxygen 24=
40.   The ordinary  commercial  acid (sp. gr.  1-8433)  consists, according to
Phillips, of one eq. of dry acid, and one  and a quarter eqs. of  water.   The
hydrated acid of Nordhausen has a density as high as 1-89  or 1-9,  and con-
sists  of  two eqs. of  dry acid, and one eq. of water (HO,2S03).   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 refrigerated
receiver, dry or anhydrous sulphuric acid distils  over, and the common mono-
hydrated acid  remains behind.  The  dry acid may also be  obtained by the
action of dry phosphoric acid on concentrated sulphuric acid, according to the
method of Ch.  Barreswil.   The mixture must be made in a refrigerated retort,
and afterwards  distilled by a gentle heat into a refrigerated receiver.  Anhy-
drous sulphuric acid under 64° is  in the form of small colourless crystals,
resembling  asbestos.  It is tenacious, difficult 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 proper-
ties in  this form, the reader is referred to the title, Acidum Sulphuricum Dilu-
tum.  Externally it is sometimes employed as a caustic; but, from its  liquid
form, it is very inconvenient for that purpose.  It is used also as an ointment,
mixed with lard, in the proportion of a drachm to an ounce, in swellings of the
knee-joint and other affections.  Charpie, corroded by it,  is a good application
to "-angrene.   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 feeling of cold 
54         Acidum Sulphuricum.—Acidum Tartaricum.      PART I.

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 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 freely.
According to Dr. Geoghegan, the acid may be detected, after death, in the blood
and parenchymatous viscera, especially the  liver.  It  is found, not as a sul-
phate, but combined severally with the colouring  matter and tissues.
  The holes burnt in linen by sulphuric  acid, so  long as the  texture is undis-
turbed, are distinguished from those produced by red-hot coals, by the paste-
like characters of the edges of the former. (Masclika, of Prague.)
   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, sulphate of-magnesia, &c.
The arts of bleaching and dyeing cause its principal consumption.
   Pharm. Uses.   Sulphuric  acid is used as a chemical agent, in one or more
of the Pharmacopoeias commented on in  this work, for preparing the following
officinals :—Acidum Gallicum ; Acidum Hydrocyanicum Dilutum ; Acidum Mu-
riaticum Purum ;  Acidum Nitrieum Purum ;  JEther ; Ammonias Hydrosulphu-
retum ; Antimonii Potassio-Tartras ; Aqua Acidi Carbonici;  Argenti Cyanu-
retum; Chlorinei Aqua; Collodium; Ferri Ferrocyanuretum; Ferri Oxidum
Hydratum ; Ferri Oxidum Nigrum ;  Hydrargyri  Chloridum Corrosivum ;  Hy-
drargyri Chloridum  Mite;  Liquor Soda? Chlorinatas; Potassas Bicarbonas;
Quinas Sulphas ; Sodas Bicarbonas ;  Sodas Phosphas ;  Sodas Valerianas ;  Spi-
ritus  ^Etheris Nitrici;  Strychnia ;  Yeratria.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum ; Acidum Sulphuricum Dilu-
tum ;  Acidum Sulphuricum  Purum; Ferri  Sulphas;  Ferri  Sulphas Granu-
latum ; Hydrargyri Sulphas ; Hydrargyri Sulphas Flavus ; Oleum ^Ethereum;
Potassae Bisulphas; Potassas Sulphas;  Quinias  Sulphas; Spiritus JEthereus
Oleosus ; Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum ; Zinci Sulphas.           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 Edinburgh College;
but stands more properly, in the London, Dublin, and United States Pharma-
copoeias, 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 fer-
mentation 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 eqs. of tartaric
acid united to one of potassa. (See Potassse 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 insol-
uble  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 con-
 ducted, furnishes the second equivalent, or excess of acid only  of the bitartrate. 
PART I.
Acidum  Tartaricum.
55
The other equivalent may be procured by decomposing the neutral tartrate of
potassa, remaining in the solution after the precipitation of the 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  tartrate of lime
will precipitate, which may be decomposed by sulphuric acid in the same man-
ner  as  the first portion.   The  process, when thus conducted, wilh of course,
furnish twice as much tartaric acid, as when the  excess of acid only is saturated
and set free.
   Preparation on the Large Scale.  The process pursued on the large scale is
different from that above given.   The decompositions are effected in a wooden
vessel, closed at the top, called a generator, of the capacity of about  2000  gal-
lons, and furnished with an exit-pipe for carbonic acid, and with pipes, entering
the  sides of the generator, for the admission of steam and of cold water re-
spectively.  Into the generator,  about one-fourth filled with water, 1500 pounds
of washed chalk (carbonate of lime) are introduced, and the whole is heated by
a  jet of steam, and thoroughly mixed by an agitator, until  a  uniform  mass is
obtained.   About two tons of  tartar  are now introduced by  degrees,  and
thoroughly mixed.  The carbonate of lime is  decomposed, the carbonic  acid
escapes°by the exit-pipe, and the lime unites with the excess of tartaric acid to
form tartrate of lime, which precipitates ; while  the neutral tartrate of potassa
remains in solution.  The next  step is to decompose the tartrate of potassa, so
as to convert its tartaric acid into tartrate  of lime.   This is effected by the
addition of sulphate  of lime in  the state of paste, which, by  double decomposi-
tion, forms a fresh portion of tartrate  of lime,  while sulphate of potassa re-
mains in solution.  The solution of sulphate of potassa,  when clear, is drawn
off  into suitable reservoirs, and the remaining tartrate of lime is washed with
several charges of cold water, the washings being preserved.  The tartrate  of
lime, mixed with sufficient water, is now decomposed by the  requisite quantity
of sulphuric acid, with  the effect of forming sulphate of lime, and liberating the
tartaric acid, which  remains in solution.  The whole  is now run  off into  a
wooden back, lined with  lead,  furnished with a perforated false bottom, and
covered throughout with stout  twilled flannel.   Through this the  solution of
tartaric acid filters, and the filtered liquor passes through a  pipe, leading from
the bottom of the back, to suitable reservoirs.    The sulphate of lime is then
washed until it is tasteless, and the whole acid liquor is evaporated, in order to
crystallize.   The evaporation is effected in wooden vessels,  lined with lead, by
means of steam circulating in coils of lead-pipe,  care being taken  that the heat-
does not exceed 165°.  The vacuum-pan is used with advantage in evaporating
the acid solution ; as it furnishes the means of  concentration at  a lower tem-
perature.  When the  acid liquor has attained the sp. gr.  of about 1-5, it is
drawn off into  sheet-lead, cylindrical,  crystallizing vessels, capable of  holding
 500 pounds of the  solution.  These  crystallizers are placed in a warm situa-
 tion, and, in the course of three or four days, a crop of crystals is produced in
 each,  averaging 200 pounds.  These  crystals, being somewhat coloured,  are
 purified by redissolving them in hot water.   The solution is  then digested with
 purified animal charcoal, filtered, again concentrated, and  crystallized.  The
 crystals, having been washed and drained, are  finally dried on wooden trays,
 lined with  thin sheet-lead, placed in a  room heated by steam.  The mother
 liquors of the first crystallization are  again  concentrated, and the  crystals
 obtained, purified by animal  charcoal  as before.   When the residuary liquors
 are no longer crystallizable, they are saturated  with chalk,  and converted into
 tartrate of lime, to be added to the product of a new operation.   In order to
 obtain fine crystals of tartaric acid, it is necessary to use  a  slight excess of
 sulphuric acid in decomposing the tartrate of lime.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., 
56
Acidum  Tartaricum.
PART I.
Feb., 1851.)  The merit of this process consists in the greater economy of sul-
phate of lime over chloride of calcium for decomposing the tartrate of potassa.
  Dr. Price, of England, has made  some  improvements in the above process,
which are described, in detail, in the London Pharm. Journal and Transac-
tions for Jan., 1854, p. 315.   The main point in his improvements  is to con-
vert the crude tartar into tartrate of potassa and ammonia by means of some
ammoniacal liquor, which gives a soluble double salt, comparatively free from
organic colouring  matter and other impurities, and, therefore, favourable for
conversion into sulphate of lime by the  usual methods.  Mr. Pontifex, of Eng-
land, has obtained a patent for an improvement in manufacturing tartaric acid,
which consists in evaporating in vacuo.  (Ibid.,  Feb., 1857, p. 430.)
  Properties.  Tartaric acid is a white crystallized solid, in the form of irregu-
lar  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, pre-
pared 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 a little less than its weight of cold water,  and in
half its weight of  boiling water.  It is also soluble in  alcohol.   A weak solu-
tion 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 unit-
ing with bases, it  has  a  remarkable tendency to form  double  salts, several of
which constitute important  medicines.  It combines with  several of the vege-
table organic alkalies,  so as to form salts.  When subjected  to  heat it gives
rise to three peculiar acids, described in systematic chemical works.   It is dis-
tinguished 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  afford-
ing, 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 bitartrate;
and with the salts of  lime and lead,  with which it also forms precipitates.   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.
  Racemic acid, otherwise  called paratartaric or uvic acid, is  isomeric with
tartaric acid.  It exists,  naturally, in small proportion, in the juice  of  °rapes,
growing in particular localities, and was  obtained artificially, in 1853Jby m!
Pasteur.  By combination with certain organic alkalies,  M. Pasteur has re-
solved racemic acid into two  acids which form distinct salts with  the alkali.
The acids in these salts  have the power of turning the plane of polarization
of polarized light in  contrary directions,  one to  the right, the other  to  the
left, which  has caused them  to be  distinguished as dextro- and leevo-tartarie
acids.   Ordinary  tartaric acid is dextro-tartaric acid, which may be converted
into racemic acid, by exposing it, in the form of tartrate of cinchonia to a heat
of 338° for several hours.   At the same time, a portion  of  tartaric  acid is
formed, which has no action on polarized light, and  which is, therefore  called
inactive tartaric dcid.   This acid, like  racemic acid, is resolvable into  dextro-
and lasvo-tartaric  acids.  Accordingly,  we have four isomeric tartaric acids—
dextro-tartaric acid (ordinary tartaric acid);  lasvo-tartaric  acid-  racemic acid
consisting of dextro- and lasvo-tartaric  acids; and inactive tartaric acid   Ra-
cemic acid differs from ordinary tartaric acid in being much less soluble in water 
 part i.         Acidum Tartaricum.—Aconiti Folia.               57

 and in its want of action on polarized light.   When crystallized it contains one
 eq. more of water than tartaric acid.   The racemates"differ from the tartrates
 in their crystalline form, and in their less solubility in water.
   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 is  officinal
 in the Edinburgh and Dublin Pharmacopoeias.  Tartaric  acid is a constituent
 in the gentle aperient 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 blue paper; and thirty-five grains of tartaric
 acid contained  in a white  one.  The contents of the blue paper are dissolved in
 about half a pint of water, to which those of the white paper  are added; and
 the whole is taken in a state of effervescence.  In these powders the tartaric
 acid is in excess, which renders the medicine  more pleasant, without interfering
 with its  aperient quality.   Sometimes sulphate of soda or sulphate of magnesia
 is substituted for Rochelle salt in  these  powders,  which gives the dose a bitter
 taste.   Tartaric  acid, dried by a gentle heat, and then  mixed in due  propor-
 tion with bicarbonate of  soda, forms a good effervescing powder, a teaspoon-
 ful of which, stirred into a tumbler of water, forms the dose.  The powder is
 generally directed to be kept in well stopped vials; but Prof. Otto has shown
 that this direction tends to spoil the powder rather than to preserve  it, by pre-
 venting the evaporation of some water of crystallization which is set free by a
 commencing chemical  reaction.  A better plan is to keep  the  powder in ordi-
 nary boxes.  On this  subject, see  remarks by Mr. J. M. Maisch, published in
 the  Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association, A. D. 1856,
 p. 52.  The neutralizing power of tartaric  acid is about  the same as that of
 citric acid.  Tartaric acid, in an over-dose,  acts as a poison.   After death, it
 may be detected in the blood and  liver,  from which it should be extracted by
 absolute alcohol, to avoid the error of mistaking the tartrates for it.
   Off. Prep. Pulveres Effervescent.es;  Trochisci Acidi Tartarici.         B.


                     ACONITI  FOLIA.  U.S.

                            Aconite Leaves.

  The leaves of Aconitum Napellus. U. S.
  Off. Syn. ACONITI FOLIUM. Aconitum Napellus. Folium refcens et ex-
 siccatum. Lond.; ACONITUM. Leaves of Aconitum Napellus. Ed.

                ACONITI  RADIX.   U. S., Lond.

                            Aconite Root

  The root of Aconitum Napellus.  U. S., Lond.
  Off. Syn. ACONITUM. Aconitum Napellus. The root. Dub.
  Aconit, Ft. ; Eisenhut, Monchskappe, Germ.; Aconito, Napello, Ital.; Aconito, Span.
  Aconitum.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria Trigynia. — Nat. Ord.  Ranunculaceas.
  Gen. Ch. Calyx none.  Petals five, the highest arched.  Nectaries two, pe-
duncled, 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. Cammarum, and
A. Napellus.  The U. S. and  British Pharmacopoeias unite at present in ac-
knowledging only A. Napellus.   There has been much difference of opinion as 
58
Aconiti Folia.—Aconiti Radix.
PART I.
to the plant originally employed by Stdrck.   Formerly thought to be A. Na-
pellus, it was  afterwards generally believed to be A. neomontanum of Willde-
noiv, and by De Candolle was determined to be a variety of his A. paniculatum,
designated as Storckianum. But, according to Geiger, A. neomontanum is pos-
sessed 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 frequently substituted for another in the shops.  Those  are probably the
best which are most  acrid.  Among these certainly is A. Lycoctonum.  Dr.
Christison found A. Napellus, A. Sinense, A. Tauricum, A.  uncinatum, and
A. ferox to have intense acrimony;  and Geiger states that he has found none
equal, in this respect, to A. Napellus.  A. uncinatum is the only species indige-
nous in this country.   Most of the  others are natives of the Alpine regions
of Europe and Siberia.   Those employed in medicine appear  to be indiscrimi-
nately called  by English  writers wolfsbane or monkshood.   The  root of A.
heterophyllum is said  to be used as an antiperiodic in Upper India.  (Pharm.
Journ. and  Trans, xvi. 312.)
  Aconitum Napellus.  Linn.  Flor.  Suec. ed. 1755, p. 168.—A. neubergense.
De Candolle, Prodrom.  i.  62.—A. variaMle neubergense.  Hayne, Darstel. und
Beschreib. &c, xii.  14.   This is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a spindle-
shaped, tapering  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 old  root
decaying.   The  stem is erect,  round, smooth, leafy, usually simple, and from
two to six or even eight feet high.   The leaves are  alternate, petiolate, 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
lacinias or teeth are linear or linear-lanceolate and pointed.  The flowers are of
a dark violet-blue colour,  large and  beautiful,  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 nectaries, of which the spur is capitate, and the lip bifid and revolute.
The fruit consists of three, four, or  five pod-like 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 intro-
duced into this country  as an ornamental flower.  All parts of it are acrid and
poisonous.  The leaves and root are  used.   The leaves  should be collected
when the flowers begin to appear, or shortly before.  After the fruit has formed
they are less efficacious.   The root is more active.   It  should be gathered in"
autumn or winter after  the leaves have fallen, and  is not perfect  until the  se-
cond  year.  It has been mistakenly substituted for horseradish root  as a con-
diment, with fatal effect;  but the possibility of such  an  event has 'only to be 
PART I.
Aconiti Folia.—Aconiti Radix.
59
known to be avoided.  The seeds also are acrid.  The wild plant is said to be
more active than the cultivated. (Schroff.)
  Properties.   The fresh leaves have  a faint  narcotic odour, most  sensible
when they are rubbed.   Their taste is at first bitterish and herbaceous, after-
wards burning and acrid, with a feeling  of numbness 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 pro-
perties and medicinal activity are impaired by long keeping.   They should be
of a  green colour, and  free from mustiness.   The root  has a feeble, earthy
smell.  Though sweetish at first, it has afterwards the same effect as the leaves
upon the  mouth and fauces.  It shrinks much in drying,  and becomes darker,
but does not lose its acrimony.  Those parcels, whether  of  leaves or roots,
should always be rejected, which are destitute of 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, lignin,  malate  and  citrate of lime and
other saline matters, besides 83'33 per cent, of water.   During the bruising of
the herb,  he experienced headache, vertigo,  &c, though water distilled from it
produced no poisonous effect.   It has  been rendered probable by Geiger and
Hesse, that there are two  active principles  in aconite; one easily destructible,
upon which the acrimony depends, the other less acrid, alkaline, and capable
of exerting a powerful narcotic influence.  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 Belladonna.) The
U.S. Pharmacopoeia gives a process  for its preparation. (See Aconitia, in the
second part of this work.) Peschier discovered a peculiar acid in aconite, which
he called  aconitic acid.  Messrs. T. and H. Smith, of Edinburgh, have ascer-
tained the existence of mannite in the root.   (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,-x.
124.) It contains also a fatty  matter soluble in alcohol.
   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 mode-
rate doses, it has been said to excite the circulation, and to increase the perspi-
ratory and urinary discharges; but these effects are doubtful, and certainly not
constant.   Schroff, however, states that it greatly increases  the secretion  of
urine.  According to Dr. Fleming, it is a powerful sedative to the nervous sys-
tem,  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 the 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 occur; the patient complains occasion-
ally of severe neuralgic pains; the  pulse, respiration,  and muscular strength
are  greatly reduced; and a state of  general prostration may be  induced, 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 their
height in an hour or two, and continue with little abatement from three to five
hours.  In poisonous doses, besides the characteristic tingling  in the mouth and
elsewhere, aconite occasions burning heat of the oesophagus and stomach, thirst,
violent nausea, vomiting, purging, severe gastric and  intestinal spasms, head-
ache, dimness of vision with contracted or expanded pupils, numbness or para-
lysis of  the limbs, diminished sensibility in general, stiffness  or spasm of the
muscles, great prostration of strength,  pallid countenance, cold extremities,  an 
60
Aconiti Folia.—Aconiti Radix.
PART I.
extremely feeble pulse, and death in a few hours, sometimes preceded by deli-
rium, 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 oc-
curred in one or more instances.  Dissection reveals inflammation of the stomach
and bowels, and engorgement of the brain and lungs.   Life may usually be
saved  by a  timely and  thorough  evacuation of the stomach, and the use of
stimulant remedies internally and externally; 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 immediately after death from  aconite, no
pulsations of the heart are  visible.  Applied to the skin, aconite occasions heat
and prickling or tingling followed by numbness, and, if in contact with a wound,
produces its peculiar constitutional effects.   Applied to the eye, it causes con-
traction of the pupil.  In relation to its mode  of action, it appears to be lo-
cally irritant, and, at the same time, entering the system, 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, anginose and
catarrhal  affections,  scrofula, phthisis, metastatic  abscess and other  cases of
purulent infection, secondary syphilis, carcinoma, certain cutaneous  diseases,
hooping-cough, amaurosis, paralysis,  epilepsy, intermittent fever, dropsies, and
hypertrophy of the heart.   It has long enjoyed, in Germany, a high reputation
as a remedy in rheumatism; and has  recently come into great  vogue elsewhere
in the  treatment of that disease, especially in its chronic  and  neuralgic forms.
By some practitioners it is considered as one of the  most effectual remedies in
neuralgia, in which it is used both internally and as a local  application.  Dr.
Fleming 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 anasmia, and in all cases  attended with a
torpid or paralytic condition of  the muscular system.   Cazenave  has  found it
very useful in cutaneous eruptions with extreme sensibility of  the skin;  and it
is said sometimes to check  excessive sweating.  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 of the leaves
twenty or thirty drops, to be repeated twice or three times a day, and gradually
increased till the effects of the medicine are experienced.  The preparation now
most employed is probably the strong tincture of the root, a process for which
is given in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, under the name of Tinctura Aconiti
Radicis.  Of this, from five to ten drops may be given three times a day, and
gradually increased  till its effects become  obvious.   It is very important to
distinguish between the tincture  of the leaves and  the strong tincture  of the
root just referred to.*   Few patients will bear at first 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 or liniment made
with the extract, or  of aconitia.  (See Extractum Aconiti, Extractum Aconiti
Alcoholicum, and Aconitia.)  The tincture may be applied by means of a soft
piece of sponge fastened to the end of a stick.

  * Physicians should be very careful, when prescribing, to designate by name which
of these tinctures they intend, whether that of the root,  or  that of the leaves • as
serious mistakes may otherwise occur;  and  apothecaries  6hould  be scrupulous in
putting up the preparation of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia when the tincture of the root
is prescribed, and not  that of Dr. Fleming, which is stronger than the officinal  (Note
to the tenth edition.)                                                   '  v 
PART I.
Adeps.
61
   Off. Prep, of the Leaves. Extractum Aconiti;  Extractum Aconiti Alcoholi-
cum; Tinctura Aconiti Foliorum.
   Off Prep, of the Root.  Aconitia;  Tinctura Aconiti Radicis.          W.

                        ADEPS.  U.S., Lond.

                                 Lard.
   The prepared fat of Sus Scrofa, free from saline matter. U. S., Lond.
   Of.  Sun.  AXUNGIA.  Fat of  Sus Scrofa.  Ed.; AXUNGIA.  ADEPS
SUILLUS. The fat of Sus Scrofa.  Dub.
   Axonge, 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 in this country it is purchased by the druggists already
prepared.   The adipose matter of the omentum and mesentery, and that around
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 contaminated with blood, from all which it
must be freed before  it can be fit for use.  For this  purpose, the fat, haying
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  portion of water, in a copper or iron vessel,  over a slow
fire.   The heat is continued 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 strain-
 ing the liquid through linen, and pouring  it into  suitable vessels, in which it
 concretes upon cooling.   Lard  may be rendered quite inodorous  by melting it,
 when fresh, by means of a salt water bath, adding a little  alum  or common
 salt, continuing the heat tijl a scum rises, which is to be skimmed off, and, after
 the lard has  concreted, separating the saline matter by washing it thoroughly
 with water.  For a  particular  account of  the process, see the Am. Journ. of
 Pharm, xxviii. 176.                                                 .
   Lard, as offered for sale, often contains common salt, which renders it unfit
 for pharmaceutic purposes.   To free it from this, it may be melted with twice
 its weight  of boiling water, the mixture well agitated and set aside to cool, and
 the fat then  separated.   American  lard is said to be  adulterated, in England,
 with  water,  starch,  and  a small proportion  of alum and  quicklime,  which
 render it whiter, but unfit for medical use.  Considerable  quantities  of lard
 have been imported  into France from the United  States, adulterated with 25
 per cent, of a jelly-like substance supposed to be extracted from Irish moss.  This
 was separated by treating the  lard with boiling water. (Journ. de Pharm. el
 de  Chim., Juin, 1855, p. 455.)
    Properties.   Lard is white,  inodorous, with little taste, of a soft consistence
 at ordinary temperatures, fusible at about 100° F., insoluble in water, partially
 soluble in  alcohol, more so in ether and the volatile oils, dissolved and decom-
 posed by the stronger acids,  and converted into soap by reaction with the alka-
 lies.  When melted, it readily unites with wax and" resins.  According to  Bra-
 connot, 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 ascertained that
 the stearin of Braconnot consists  of  two  distinct  substances, differing in fusi-
 bility and solubility.  For the least  fusible of these he  retained the name of
 stearin, and to the other applied that of margarin, from its resemblance to the
 principle of the  same name in vegetable  oils.   Most fats and  oils  of  animal 
62
Adeps.—Alcohol.
PART I.
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 deposits the latter
on  cooling, 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 separated by compression under
water; the stearin and margarin remain.
  Olein,  stearin,  and  margarin are now generally considered as  compounds
respectively of oleic, stearic, and margaric acids with glycerin and water.  For
an  account of these principles, see  Olea Fixa.   Yery good candles are now
made out  of the concrete constituents of lard; and the liquid principle or olein
is extensively employed for burning in lamps, and  other purposes  in the arts.
Vart quantities of it are prepared  in Cincinnati, Ohio, and much is exported
In France it is said to  be largely used for adulterating olive oil.
  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 irritates the skin, and sometimes exercises an  injurious
reaction on substances  mixed with it.  Thus, the ointment of iodide of potas-
sium, which is white when prepared with fresh lard,  is said to be more or less
yellow when the lard employed is rancid.  Rancidity in lard and other fats is
prevented by digesting them with benzoin or poplar buds.  (See  Unguenta.)
  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.
  Rectified spirit, Spirit of wine; Alcohol, Esprit de vin, Fr.; Rectificirter Weingeist,
Germ.4 Alcoole, Acquavite rettificata, Ital.;  Alcohol, Espiritu rectificado de vino, Span.
  The Pharmacopoeias have  recognised  several pharmaceutical strengths  of
the  liquid which,  in its anhydrous state,  is  named by the chemist alcohol  or
absolute alcohol.   The Dublin Pharmacopoeia has  admitted four strengths of
alcoholic  liquid, the Edinburgh  three, and  the London  and United States
Pharmacopoeias 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.
Alcohols.	U.S.	Lond.	Ed.	Dub.
Highest off. "1 strength. / Second do. i Third do. 1 Lowest do. >	Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-835. Alcohol Dilutum. Sp. gr. 0-935.		Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-794-6.	Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-795. Spiritus Fortior. Sp. gr. 0-818. Spiritus Rectifi-catus. Sp. gr. 0-840. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0-920.
				
		Spiritus Rectifi-catus. Sp. gr. 0-838. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0-920.	Spiritus Rectifi-catus. Sp. gr. 0-838. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0-912.	
 
PART T.
Alcohol.
63
  By the table it is perceived that the officinal  " Alcohol" of the United
States Pharmacopoeia is a rectified  spirit of the sp. gr.  0-835; while the same
name is given by the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges to absolute alcohol.   It
is certainly to be regretted that the same name is applied to spirits so different
in strength, as  it leads to  confusion.  In this  article we  shall descnbe_ the
Alcohol  of  the United States Pharmacopoeia, corresponding to the British
Spiritus Rectificatus.   The Spiritus Fortior of the Dublin College, the Alcohol
of the Edinburgh  and Dublin Colleges, and the Alcohol Dilutum, will be con-
sidered in the second part of this work. (See Preparations of Alcohol.)
  Alcohol, in the chemical sense, is a peculiar liquid, generated  for the most
part in vegetable juices and infusions by a fermentation, called  the vinous or
alcoholic.   The liquids which have  undergone it are called vinous 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 fermenta-
tion, however various they may be in other respects, one general  character  pre-
vails; 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  pro-
ducts 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 absolute alcohol.  (See Alcohol,
 Ed., Dub.,  in the second part of this work.)
   Sugar, however, will not  undergo the vinous  fermentation by itself;  but re-
 quires  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 by commencing and maintaining the chemical
 chano-es.  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 microscopic vegetable, in the form of
 diaphanous globules, contained in the ferment, and called  torula cerevisise.
 The ferment is 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 conducting the vinous fermentation ranges  from
 60° to  90°.                           „            n .   ^   ,
    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 explained
 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 fermentation.   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 fermentation, it is supposed that
 it passes through the intermediate  state of sugar.   According to Berthelot,
  mannite glycerin, and similar substances may be made to ferment by  contact,
 for several weeks, with chalk and cheese,  at 104° ; and the change takes  place
  without the production of sugar, provided chalk is present.  . M.  Arnoult has 
64
Alcohol.
PART I,
 succeeded  in  obtaining alcohol by fermenting sugar (glucose), formed by the
 action of sulphuric acid on poplar wood sawdust, which yielded from 70 to 80
 per cent, of this kind of sugar.
   Alcohol, being the product  of the vinous fermentation, necessarily exists in
 all vinous  liquors, and may be obtained from them by distillation.   Formerly
 it was  supposed that these liquors did not contain  alcohol, but were merely
 capable  of furnishing it, in consequence of a new arrangement of their ultimate
 constituents, the result of  the  heat applied.  Brande, however, disproved 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 of
 separating it consists in precipitating  the acid and colouring matter from each
 vinous  liquor by subacetate of lead, and removing 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, and  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  distinguished 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. 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 re-
 quire 10 volumes of 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  contain-
 ing about half its weight of water, together with a peculiar oil and other foreign
 matters. It may be further purified and strengthened by redistillation  or recti-
fication 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 ob-
 tained, 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  be about 0-825 which is the
 lightest  spirit  that  can be obtained by ordinary distillation and is the pure
 spirit of the British system of excise.   It  still,  however, contains eleven ner
 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. (See Alcohol Amyhcum.)                             J
   Properties.  Alcohol, using  this term in a generic sense, is a colourless trans
 parent,  volatile  liquid, of  a penetrating, agreeable  odour, and burning taste. 
PART I.
Alcohol.
65
It should be free from foreign odour, which, when present, is owing to fusel oil,
When free from water, it is called anhydrous or absolute alcohol. (See Alcohol,
Ed., Dub.)  It is  inflammable, and burns without smoke  or residue, forming
water and carbonic acid.   Its flame is bluish when strong, but yellowish when
weak.   It combines in all  proportions with water and ether; and, when diluted
with distilled water, preserves its transparency.  Its density varies with the pro-
portion of water it contains.   When of the sp. gr. 0'820,  its boiling point is
at 176°.   Its value depends  upon the quantity of absolute alcohol contained in
it;  and, as this is greater in  proportion as the sp. gr. is less, it is found conve-
nient to take the density of a sample in estimating its strength.   This is done
by instruments called hydrometers,  which, when allowed to float in the spirit,
sink deeper into it in proportion as it is lighter.  Each hydrometer strength
has a corresponding specific  gravity; and, by referring to tables constructed for
the purpose, the per centage of absolute alcohol is at once shown.   Dr"! W. H.
Pile, maker of hydrometers, of this city, graduates instruments, showing specific
gravity at once, which are exceedingly convenient.
   The following table, constructed by Lowitz and improved by Thomson, gives
the sp. gr. of different  mixtures by  weight of absolute alcohol and water.

  Table of the Specific Gravity of  different Mixtures by Weight of Absolute
           Alcohol and Distilled Water, at the  Temperature of  60°.
100 Parts.			100 Parts.			100 Parts.			100 Parts.		
		Sp. Gr. at 60°.		---	Sp. Gr. at 60°.			Sp. Gr. at 60°.			Sp. Gr.
											at 60°.
Ale.	Wat.		Ale.	Wat.		Ale.	Wat.		Ale.	Wat.	
100	0	•796*	76	24	•857	52	48	•912**	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	■920ft	25	75	•967
96	4	■807	72	28	•867	48	52	•922	24	76	•968
95	5	•809	71	29	•870	47	53	•924	23	77	•970
94	6	•812	70	30	•871	46	54	•926	22	78	•972
93	7	•815	69	31	•874	45	55	•928 ;	21	79	•973
92	8	•817f	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	•935JJ	18	82	•977
89	11	•825$	65	35	•883	41	59	•937	17	83	•978
88	12	•S27	64	36	•886	40	60	•939	16	84	•979
87	13	•830	63	37	•889	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	•838||	60	40	•896	36	64	•947	12	88	•986
83	17	•840 H"	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	I 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

  * Alcohol, Ed., Dub.                          t  Spiritus Fortior, Dub. (nearly).
  i Lightest spirit obtained by ordinary distillation. §  Alcohol, U.S.
  II  Spiritus  Rectificatus, Lond., Ed. "           ^  Spiritus Rectificatus, Dub.
  ** Spiritus Tenuior, Ed.  ft Spiritus Tenuior, Lond., Dub. XX Alcohol Dilutum, U. S.
       5 
66
Alcohol.
PART I.
 organic substances, it is a solvent of the  organic vegetable alkalies, urea, tan-
 nic acid, sugar, mannite, camphor, resins, balsams, volatile oils, and soap.   It
 dissolves the fixed oils sparingly, except castor oil, which is abundantly soluble.
 It acts on most acids, forming ethers with some, and  effecting the  solution 01
 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.
    Officinal alcohol, though of standard strength, may still be impregnated with
 an  essential  oil, called fusel  oil.  This is usually  removed  by  digesting  the
 alcohol  with  charcoal.  It may also be removed, as well as other  impurities,
 by passing the impure spirit through a filtering bed, composed of sand, wood-
 charcoal,«boiled wheat, and broken oyster-shells, arranged in  layers, according
 to the method  of  Mr. W. Schaeffer.   (See Am. Journ. of Pharm. for Nov.,
 1854.)  It may be detected by adding a little of the solution of nitrate of silver
 to the alcohol, and then exposing it to a bright light,   If fusel oil be present,
 it will be converted into a black powder.   Officinal alcohol will not withstand
 this test; as the best contains a little of the foreign  oil.   The Edinburgh Col-
 lege tests its rectified spirit (Alcohol, U. S.) in the following way.   Four fluid-
 ounces (Imp. meas.), treated with twenty-five minims of a solution of one part
 of nitrate of silver in forty of distilled water, exposed to a bright light for twenty-
 four hours, and then freed from the black powder which forms by being passed
 through a filter purified by weak  nitric acid,  undergo no farther  change when
 again exposed to light with  more of the  test.   Here  a limited degree of con-
 tamination  by fusel oil is allowed.  According to Mr.  E. N. Kent, of New
 York, nitrate of silver will not detect fusel  oil, but affords its indications by
 reacting with other organic substances.  For detecting fusel oil Mr. Kent finds
 pure sulphuric acid the best test.   To apply it he half fills a test tube with the
 spirit  to be tested,  and then fills it up very slowly with pure concentrated sul-
 phuric acid.  If the spirit  be pure, it will  remain colourless;  otherwise it will
 become coloured, the tint  being deeper in proportion to  the amount of the
 impurity. (New York Journ. of Pharm., Aug., 1854.)
   The best  alcohol, made in Philadelphia, is that manufactured by Z. Locke &
 Co., under Atwood's patent process, in which manganic acid is used to destroy
 the  fusel oil and  other foreign substances.   This  alcohol withstands the tests
 ot  nitrate of silver and sulphuric acid remarkably well.
   M'dical  Properties,  &c.   Alcohol is a very powerful  diffusible stimulant.
 It is the intoxicating ingredient in all spirituous liquors, including under this
 term, wines, porter, ale, cider, and every other liquid  which ha.s undergone the
 vinous fermentation.  In a diluted  state, it excites the  system,  renders the
 pulse full, and gives additional energy to the muscles,  and temporary exaltation
 to the mental faculties  It is found to lessen the amount of the excretions
 from which  fact some physiologists have inferred that it diminishes  the  disin-
 tegration of the tissues.  But this is not likely ; since the effect of stimulation
 is  to increase function  in the  tissues, and consequently to  cause  their waste
 On this  subject Dr. Wood holds  the more probable  opinion, th   aLoho  c
 liquors besides furnishing some nutriment, act by promoting digestion and
 sanguification thus  causing a more thorough  appropriation of food to nutri-
 tion; and that the  saving,  thus effected, more than counterbalances  the waste
 of the  tissues  implied by increased vital action. (See his Therapeuticsi ZT)
  In some  states of acute disease, characterized by excessive  debility  alcohol
is a valuable remedy.   In  chronic diseases, physicians should be  cautiTs  in
prescribing  liquids  containing it,  for fear of begetting  intemperate habits
Externally, alcohol is sometimes applied to produce cold by evaporation ■bu ' 
PART I.
Alcohol.—Aletris.
67
when this is repressed, it acts as a stimulant.   A mixture of equal parts of
rectified spirit and white of egg forms an excellent application to excoriations
from pressure, in their early stage, occurring in protracted diseases.   It is to
lie 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 con-
sequences.   Besides the moral degradation which they cause, their habitual use
gives rise to dyspepsia, hypochondriasis, visceral obstructions, dropsy, paralysis,
and  not unfrequently mania.
  Effects as a Poison. When taken in large quantities, 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 useful.  An enema of two  tablespoon-
fuls  of common salt in a pint of warm water, is said to dissipate  rapidly the
more serious symptoms.   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 has been detected in the brain,
by others in the ventricles, and by Dr.  Wright  in the urine.   According to Dr.
Ducheck, alcohol undergoes,  in  the system, continued combustion, producing
intermediate products, among which is aldehyd, to the presence of which in the
blood he attributes intoxication.  Mr. R. D. Thomson  has proposed the fol-
lowing test  for detecting alcohol in medico-legal investigations.  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 bichromate  of potassa, acted
on by a  few  drops of sulphuric acid, may be used.  Dr.  Ed. Strauch objects to
this test as liable to some ambiguity, and proposes platinum-black as preferable.
For a description of the mode in which he  uses it, the reader is referred to the
 Chemical Gazette for  Aug. 1, 1854.
  Pharm. Uses.  Alcohol, either in its rectified state or diluted with  water, is
used in the preparation of collodion, ethereal oil, morphia, some of the syrups,
and  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 vehicle or diluent of
certain  active medicines, as in Spiritus Ammonise, and Acidum Sulphuricum
Aromaticum.  It is also  employed for various  incidental  purposes connected
with its  solvent power.
   Off.  Prep.  Alcohol, Ed.; Alcohol Dilutum;  Spiritus Fortior;  Spiritus
Tenuior.                                                             B.

                    ALETRIS. U S., Secondary.

                               Star Grass.

  The root  of Aletris farinosa,  U. S.
  Aletris.   Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord, Liliaceas.
   Gen.  C/i.  Corolla tubular, six-cleft, wrinkled, persistent.   Stamens inserted
into the base of the segments.   Style triangular, separable into three.   Capjsule
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 immedi-
ately from the root, and spread on the ground in the form of a star.  Hence 
68
Aletris.—Allium.
PART I.
 have originated the popular names of star grass, blazing star, and mealy star-
 wort, 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, which 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,
 wheu 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 bitterness is ex-
 tracted 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 freely given, it is apt to occasion 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 rheu-
 matism.  The powder may be administered as a tonic in the dose of ten grains.
                                                                    W.

                      ALLIUM.  U.  S.,  Ed.

                                 Garlic.

  The bulb of Allium sativum. U S.,  Ed.
  Ail, Fr.; Knoblauch, Germ.;  Ag\io,Ital.; Ajo, Span.
  Allium.   Sex. Syst.  Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Liliaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla six-parted,  spreading.   Spathe  many-flowered.  Umbel
 crowded.  Capsule superior.   Willd.
  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 substi-
tuted for the cultivated garlic, 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.  A. sativum, or garlic, is the only one now officinal;
and to this we  shall here  confine our observations, simply stating that there
are few genera,  of which the several species resemble one another more closely
m sensible and  medical properties than the present.  For an account of A
 tepa or onion and A. Porrum, or leek, which have  recently been discharged
from the British Pharmacopoeias,  see Part  Third of this work
  Allium sativum.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 68 ; Woodv.  Med. Bot. p 749 t  256
This  is a perennial  plant, and, like 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 stein is
simple, and rises about two feet.   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 bu bs mingled together, and enclosed in a pointed spathe, which
opens on  one Side and withers.   The  flowers are small and white, and make
 heir appearance in July.  This  species of garlic  grows wild in Sicily, Italy,
and the south of France;  and is cultivated in all civilized countries 
PART I.
Allium.
69
  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 com-
monly called English garlic, to distinguish it from those which grow  wild in
our fields and meadows.
  Properties.  Garlic, as found  in the shops, is of a shape somewhat  spheri-
cal, 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 laminas, 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 gar-
lic,  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  disagreeable,
pungent odour, so peculiar as to have received the name of alliaceous.   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 dis-
tillation, passing over with the first portions  of water.   As first  obtained, the
oil  is of a dark brownish-yellow colour, heavier than water, and decomposed
at its boiling temperature.  It may be purified by repeated distillation in a salt-
water bath, and is  then lighter than water,  of a pale-yellow colour, and not
decomposed by boiling.  According to Wertheim, it consists of a peculiar or-
ganic radical called allyle (CSH5), combined  with one equivalent of sulphur.
From one hundred weight of garlic Wertheim obtained from three  to four
ounces of the impure oil, and about two-thirds as much  of the rectified.  ( Chem,
Gaz., iii. 177.)   The impure oil has an exceedingly pungent odour, and strong
acrid   taste; and, when applied to  the skin, produces  much irritation,  and
sometimes  even  blisters.  Besides this oil, fresh garlic, according to Cadet-
Gassicourt, contains, in  1406 parts,  520 of mucilage, 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 wTater before it can be easily
filtered.  When  dried, it serves  as a lute for porcelain.  It has the  medical
properties  of the bulbs.   Water, alcohol, and  vinegar extract the virtues of
garlic.   Boiling,  however, if continued for some time, renders it inert.
  Medical Prrjperties and Uses.   The use of garlic, as a medicine and condi-
ment, ascends to the highest antiquity.   When it is taken internally, the oil is
speedily absorbed, and, pervading  the  system, becomes sensible in the breath
and various secretions.  Even externally applied, as to the soles of the feet, it
imparts its odour to the breath, urine, and perspiration, and, according  to some
writers,  may be tasted in the mouth.   Its effects on the system are those of a
general  stimulant.  It  quickens the  circulation, excites the nervous  system,
promotes expectoration in debility 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' emmenagogue.  Applied to the
skin  it is  irritant and rubefacient, and moreover  exercises, in some degree, its
peculiar influence upon the system, in consequence of absorption.   Moderately

  * We have been informed that  a  variety of garlic has been introduced into this
market having larger and fewer cloves or small bulbs than the officinal, and supposed
to be  the product of a hybrid between the common  garlic  and the leek.   It is much
inferior to the genuine drug.—Note to the eleventh edition. 
70
Allium.—Aloe.
PART I.
employed, it is beneficial in enfeebled digestion and flatulence; and it 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, and other pectoral affec-
tions in which the symptoms of inflammation have been subdued, and a relaxed
state of the vessels  remains.  We use it habitually, and with great benefit, in
such affections in children, as well as  in the nervous and spasmodic coughs to
which  patients of this class are peculiarly liable.  Some have 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,  garlic 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.   Its juice mixed with oil, or  the
garlic  itself, bruised and steeped  in spirits, is frequently used  as a liniment in
infantile convulsions, and other  spasmodic or nervous affections in  children.
The  same application has been made in cutaneous eruptions.  A clove of garlic,
or a few drops of the juice, introduced into the ear, are said to prove 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 retention of
urine from debility of that organ.  In  the  same shape, it has been used to
resolve indolent tumours.
   Garlic may be taken in the form of pill;  or the clove may be swallowed
either whole, or  cut into pieces of a convenient size.  Its juice is also frequently
administered mixed with 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.                                          W.

                             ALOE.  U.S.

                                  Aloes.

   The inspissated juice of the leaves of Aloe spicata, Aloe Socotrina, and other
species of Aloe.   U S.
   Off. Syn, ALOE BARBADENSIS. Aloe vulgaris.  Folii resecti succus
spissafus.  ALOE HEPATIC A.   Aloes species incerta,   Folii succus spissa-
tus.  ALOE  SOCOTRINA.  Aloes species incerta.  Folii resecti succus aire
induratus. Lond.;  ALOE BARBADENSIS. ALOE INDICA.  ALOE SO-
COTORINA. From undetermined species of Aloe. Ed.; ALOE  HEPATICA.
Extract or inspissated juice, from the leaves  of one or more undetermined spe-
cies  of Aloe.  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 A. vulgaris and A. Socotrina are usually ranked among the medicinal species'
In Lindley's Flora Medica, A. purpurascens, A. arborescens, A  Commelyni 
PART I.
Aloe.
71
and A. multiformis, all natives of the Cape of Good Hope, are enumerated as
yielding  aloes ; and others are, without doubt, occasionally resorted to.   We
shall  confine ourselves  to a description of the three following species, which
probably yield most of the aloes of commerce.
  Aloe. Sex. Sysf.  Hexandria Monogynia, — Nat. Ord, Liliaceas.
  Gen.  Ch. Corolla erect, mouth spreading, bottom nectariferous. Filaments
inserted into the receptacle. Willd.
  Aloe spicata.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 185.   This species of Aloe was first de-
scribed 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, sub-
verticillate, about two feet long, broad at the base,  gradually narrowing to the
point, channeled 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, white, 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, 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 derived
from this species.
  A. Socotrina, Lamarck, Encycl.,\.  85 ;  De Cand. Plantes Grasses, fig.  85 ;
Curtis's 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, eighteen
inches 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 serratures 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 Illust, of Med. Bot., ii. 46, pi. 90.   This species has a very short woody
stem, and lanceolate embracing leaves, which  are first spreading, then ascend-
ing, 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 West Indies, where  it contributes largely to furnish the Bar-
badoes 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  obtained
by expression from  the parenchyma is mucilaginous, and possessed of little
medicinal virtue.   The  quality of the drug depends much upon the mode of 
72
Aloe.
PART I.
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 conversion  of  a portion of the
soluble  active principle into an insoluble  and comparatively inert substance,
through the influence of an  elevated temperature.   The  plan  of bruising and
expressing the leaves, and boiling down the resulting  liquor, yields a  much in-
ferior 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 evaporate the decoction.   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; the Cape aloes, 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,  is imported from  the
Cape of Good Hope, either  directly, or through the medium  of  English com-
merce.   It is collected by the Hottentots and Dutch boors indiscriminately from
A. spicata and  other  species, which grow wild in great  abundance.   Dr. L,
Pappe,  of Cape Town, states that the best aloes  is derived from Aloe ferox
(Lam.) growing at Swellendam, and a weaker product from A. Afrieana and
A. plicatilis  of Miller. (Flor. Capens. 28.)   The process is very simple.  Ac-
cording to 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 up-
ward.   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. ( United Breth. Mission. Intelligencer, N. ¥., 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 con-
stant 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 Bettietsdorp 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. (Dunz-
terville, in Pereira1 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 appearance.   Its
odour is strong and disagreeable, but not nauseous, and in  no  degree aromatic.
In mass, the  drug has little  or  no smell.   Cape aloes, when quite hard, is very
brittle, and readily powdered;  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 is sometimes imported into England from the' Cape
of a reddish-brown colour like hepatic aloes.                                '
  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 
PART I.
Aloe.
73
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 neighbour-
ing parts  of Arabia is the same as  that of Socotra.  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.  Mr. Yaughan states  that  nearly the whole product of  the island is
carried to Maculla, on the southern  coast of Arabia, and thence transhipped
to Bombay.  (Pharm.  Journ. and Trans., xii. 268.)   The species  of aloe which
yields it is not certainly known, but  is probably A.  Socotrina,   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; 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
by Wellsted; but, according to Hermann,  it is by exposure  to the heat of the
 sun.   The aloes is exported in skins.   Its quality differs much according to the
care taken in its preparation. (Wellsted''s Voyage,  &c.)  A  portion ascends
 the Red Sea, and through Egypt reaches the Mediterranean  ports, whence it is
 sent to London.   Another portion  is carried to Bombay,  and  thence  trans-
 mitted  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, said to be from
 Socotra,  and have in our possession  parcels of  aloes brought  by both.   They
 are identical in character, and  correspond 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 sum-
 mer, 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 yellowish,
 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 packages
 brought  from any of the commercial sources of aloes.
    w'hen 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  becomes 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 
74
Aloe.
PART I.
strained, and that the skins from which the best portions have  been removed
are washed with water,  which is then evaporated.
   Occasionally the juice has been imported into London in casks, not thoroughly
inspissated.   In this state it is of the consistence of  molasses, of an orange or
yellowish colour, and of a  strong fragrant odour.   It  separates, upon stand-
ing, into a transparent liquid, and an opaque, lighter-coloured, granular portion
which subsides.   Pereira found the latter portion  to  consist of innumerable
minute prismatic crystals, and believed it to be identical with or closely analo-
gous to the  aloin of the Messrs. Smith.  When the juice is heated,  the deposit
dissolves, and the whole being evaporated yields a solid, transparent product,
having all the properties of fine Socotrine aloes. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,
xi. 439.)
   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 sup-
posed 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 probably 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 dis-
tinct 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 Edin-
burgh College under the title of  Aloe Indica—an improper designation; as
the aloes produced in India is  altogether inferior,  and is  seldom or never ex-
ported from tkat region.   The variety which the Edinburgh College 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," may possibly

   * Dr. Pereira inferred,  we thinjfr somewhat prematurely, from his observations on
the juice  of  aloes before referred to, that the  Socotrine is  prepared by evaporation
by artificial heat, to which it owes its transparency; while the  hepatic is  opaque,
because dried m the sun.  If this were the case, Barbadoes aloes, which is wholly
opaque,  more so even than the hepatic, should have been dried in the sun, instead of
being inspissated by heat, as it really is.— Note to the tenth edition 
PART I.
Aloe.
75
merit the title; but certainly the description is not applicable to the drug as
usually brought from Socotra.
  Hepatic aloes is reddish-brown, but darker and less  glossy than the Soco-
trine.  Its odour is somewhat like that of the Socotrine,  but less agreeable ; its
taste nauseous,  and  intensely bitter.   The fracture is-not so  smooth, nor the
edges so sharp and transparent as in either of the first-mentioned varieties.  It
softens in the hand, and becomes adhesive.   The powder is of a dull yellow
colour.
  4.  Barbadoes Aloes.  This  is the name by which the aloes produced in
the West Indies is generally designated.   The aloes plants are largely culti-
vated 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 different
places, or at least as described by different authors.   A  fine kind was formerly
prepared by the spontaneous inspissation  of  the juice,  placed  in  bladders or
shallow  vessels, and exposed to the sun.   The common  Barbadoes aloes, how-
ever, is  now made, either by boiling  the  juice to a proper consistence^ 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 Bri-
 tain ; 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 India aloes; but they are not brought, unless acci-
 dentally, 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 been sufficiently described.   Several
 distinguished chemists have investigated the nature and composition of aloes.
 Braconnot found it to  consist  of a bitter principle, soluble in water, and  in
 alcohol of 38° B., which he considered peculiar and named resino-amer (resinous
 bitter);  and  of another substance, in 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 were essen-
 tially confirmed by Trommsdorff, Bouillon-Lagrange, and Yogel, who considered 
76
Aloe.
PART I.
the former substance as extractive matter, and the latter as a kind _of resin.
Besides these principles, Trommsdorff discovered, in a variety of hepatic aloes, a
proportion of insoluble matter which he considered as albumen ; and Bomllon-
Lagrange and Yogel found that Socotrine also yielded, by distillation,  a small
quantity of volatile  oil, which they could  not obtain from the  hepatic.   Ihe
proportions of the ingredients were found to vary greatly in the different varie-
ties 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, and 26 of the flea-coloured principle.  Trommsdorff obtained from Soco-
trine 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 100  parts.   The
former  variety, according to Bouillon-Lagrange and Yogel, 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 se-
parate 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 the unaltered  extractive, which had adhered to it, dis-
solved 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  powder, in-
soluble 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 remainder of the aloes,
may be obtained by treating the watery infusion of the drug with  oxide of lead,
to separate a portion of the apotheme which adheres to it, and evaporating the
liquor.   It is a  yellowish, translucent, gum-like substance, fusible  by a gentle
heat, of a bitter  taste, soluble  in ordinary alcohol, but insoluble in that fluid
when anhydrous, and in ether.
   A  subsequent analysis of aloes by M. Edmund Robiquet yielded the following
results.  A  portion of  hyacinthine, transparent  aloes, considered as genuine
Socotrine, was found to consist in  100 parts, of 85 of aloetin, 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 phosphate of lime.   To  get pure
aloetin, M. Robiquet exhausted aloes in powder with cold water; concentrated
the infusion; 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  aloetin, washed it with boiling  water, and then
 decomposed it by a current of  sulphuretted hydrogen with the  exclusion of at-
 mospheric air.   Sulphuret of lead was deposited, and a colourless liquid floated
 above  it, which, being decanted, and evaporated  in vacuo, yielded aloetin in
 slightly yellowish scales.  Thus procured, aloetin is uncrystallizable, very soluble
 in water and alcohol, but slightly soluble in ether, and quite  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 ab-
 sorption of a minute proportion of oxygen, which, however, scarcely affects its
 properties in other respects.  It possesses in a high degree the bitter  taste and
 purgative property of aloes, and might be used as a  substitute; 8 parts  of it
 representing 10 of Socotrine and 50 of Cape aloes. (Journ.  de P/iarm., 3e ser.,
 x. 173.) 
PART I.
Aloe.
77
  Aloin.   The bitter  substances noticed above, viz., the resino-amer of Bra-
connot, the bitter extractive of Berzelius and others, and the aloetin of Robiquet,
probably contain the active principle of aloes, but combined with impurities which
render it  insusceptible of crystallization.   Messrs. T. and H. Smith, of Edin-
burgh, have  succeeded  in obtaining it quite pure and in  crystals, and name it
aloin.  This has been  examined by Mr. Stenhouse, and found, when quite free
from water,  to  have a definite composition, represented  by the formula C34Hla
Ou.   There can be  no doubt that it is the active principle of aloes; as it has been
found to operate invariably as a cathartic in the dose of one or two grains, and
occasionally in  that of half a  grain.
  It is obtained most readily from Barbadoes aloes.  The process consists in mix-
ing this, previously powdered,  with sand, exhausting it with cold water, evaporat-
ing  the infusion in vacuo to the consistence of  syrup, and allowing the residue
to rest in a cool place.   In two or three days the concentrated liquid becomes
filled with a brownish-yellow granular mass of minute crystals, which is impure
aloin.  This is separated, by  pressure between folds of bibulous  paper, from a
greenish-brown  matter that  contaminates  it, and  then  repeatedly crystallized
from hot water, the temperature of which should  not exceed 150°, as aloin is
rapidly oxidized at  the boiling point.   By dissolving  it in hot alcohol, and
allowing the solution to cool, it is obtained in the shape of minute needle-
shaped crystals, arranged in a star-like form.   These are pale-yellow; at first
sweetish  to the taste,  but soon intensely bitter; combustible without  residue;
slightly soluble in cold water or alcohol, but readily dissolved by these liquids
when moderately heated; soluble also readily in alkaline solutions,  which are
rendered of an  orange-yellow colour, and become rapidly  darker, especially when
heated, in consequence of the oxidation of the aloin, and its conversion into
resin.  By the action of strong nitric acid it is converted into chrysammic acid.
It is neither acid nor alkaline;  but, with strong solution of subacetate of lead,
is precipitated  in combination with the oxide of that metal. (See Ed. Monthly
Journ. of Med. Sci.,  xii. 127,  Feb.,  1851,  and Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xi.
 458.)  There can be  no doubt that  aloin  exists  also in Socotrine and Cape
aloes;  and the Messrs. Smith, though they at first failed in obtaining it from
these varieties, have subsequently succeeded with the Socotrine.  (Ed. Monthly,
 xiv. 581.)*

   * M. Edmond Robiquet has recently  again investigated the cbemical  constitu-
 tion of aloes, and come to the conclusion  that the  aloin of the Messrs. Smith, for
 which he retains his name of aloetin, exists originally in the juice of aloes, and is re-
 tained in its crystallizable state, when the juice is allowed  to concrete in the sun ;
 that the juice thus  concreted is quite opaque, as in the case of Barbadoes aloes ;  that
 by exposure to a boiling temperature the  aloin becomes  amorphous, and gives to the
 concrete juice a vitreous or transparent character; and that consequently the Socotrine
 aloes, which, in this view of  the subject, must have  been obtained in the concrete
 state'by boiling the juice, affords no crystallizable aloin. He also states that crystalline
 aloin or aloetin is  wholly destitute of purgative properties, and acquires them  only
 when by the action of air and heat, it has become amorphous or uncrystallizable.  (See
 Journ. de Pharm. et Chim., Avril, 1856, p.  241, and Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 543.)
   But  these  views are  so contradictory to what is known of the mode  of preparing
 commercial aloes, that they cannot be  received unless amply confirmed  by repeated
 experiment; and, indeed, have been refuted by the more recent experiments of Mr. T.
 B  Groves, who has obtained aloin largely from Socotrine aloes.  In the process of the
 Messrs. Smith, cold water was  used in  the extraction of the principle.  But aloin  is
 feebly soluble in cold water, while readily so  in the same liquid heated.  Mr. Groves
 availed himself of this fact.   He exhausted the aloes by means of boiling water, acidu-
 lated the decoction slightly with muriatic acid, separated the precipitated matter by
 filtration evaporated the liquor to the consistence of syrup, and set it aside to crystallize.
 In a fortnight the  liquid had  become  a mass of crystals, which were separated by 
78
Aloe.
PART I.
  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 Berzclius  is
deposited as the solution cools.  It is also soluble in alcohol, rectified or diluted.
Long boiling impairs its purgative properties by oxidizing the aloin, and ren-
dering it  insoluble.   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 precipitate
the soluble matter; as the insoluble portion is without action upon the system.
Among these is the infusion of galls, which 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 exhalant 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 frequently 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 ten-
dency to the uterine system.   Its emmenagogue effect, which is often very con-
siderable, is generally attributed to a  sympathetic extension 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 influence 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 with it soap or an alka-
line carbonate; but it does not follow, as supposed by some, that this modifica-
tion of its operation is the result of increased solubility; for aloes given in a
liquid state produces the same effect as Avhen 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 peculiarities are not dependent upon the particular form
in which it may be given, but on specific  tendencies to particular  parts. (Ger-
hard, N. Am. Med.  and Surg. Journ., x. 155.)  With its other  powers, aloes
combines the property  of slightly stimulating the stomach.   It is, therefore, in
minute doses, an excellent remedy in habitual costiveness, attended with torpor
of the digestive organs.  It has been supposed to stimulate the  hepatic secre-
tion, and certainly acts sometimes very happily in jaundice, producing bilious
stools even after calomel has failed.   From its special direction to the rectum,
it has been found peculiarly useful in the treatment of ascarides.  In amenor-
rhoea it is perhaps more frequently employed than any  other remedy, entering
into almost all the numerous  empirical preparations habitually resorted to by
females  in that  complaint, and enjoying a no  less favourable reputation  in

draining and compression, and purified  by repeated solution in boiling water, and
crystallization.   The pure aloin obtained amounted to 10 per cent, of the aloes used.
 {Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xvi. 129.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Altheese Flores.—Althsese Folia.
79
regular practice.  It is frequently combined with more irritating cathartics, in
order to regulate their liability to excessive action.   In 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 Aloes Compositum; Enema  Aloes;  Extractum Aloes
Aquosum; Ext. Aloes Barbadensis; Ext.  Aloes  Socotrinas;  Ext. Colocynth.
Comp.; Pilulas Aloes; Pil. Aloes Comp.; Pil. Aloes et Assafostidas; Pil. Aloes
et Ferri; Pil.  Aloes et Myrrhae;  Pil.  Cambogias  Comp.;  Pil.  Colocynth.
Comp.; Pil. Rhei Comp.; Pulvis Aloes Compositus; Pulvis Aloes et Canellas;
Tinctura Aloes; Tinct, Aloes et Myrrhas; Tinct. Benzoini Comp.; Tinct. Rhei
et Aloes;  Yinum Aloes.                                             W.

                   ALTtLE.E  FLORES.  U.S.

                        Marshmallow Flowers.

   The flowers of Althasa officinalis.  U S.

                     ALTLEE.E  FOLIA.  Ed.

                        Marshmallow  Leaves.

   The leaves of Althasa officinalis. Ed.

                 ALTLLE.E RADIX.  U.S., Ed.

                         Marshmallow Root.

   The root of Althasa officinalis. U S., Ed.
   Of. Sign.  ALTHAEA. Althasa officinalis.  Radix. Lond.
   Guimauve, Fr.; Eibisch, Germ.; Altea, Ital.;  Altea, Malvavisco, Span.
   Althaea.  Sex.  Syst. Monadelphia Polyandria. — Nat. Ord. Malvaceas.
   Gen. Ch.   Calyx double, the exterior six or nine-cleft.   Capsules numerous,
oug-sggcIgcI..  l/Vzlld.
   Althsea officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant., iii. 770;  Woodv. Med. Bot., p. 552, t.
198.   Marshmallow is an  herbaceous perennial, with a perpendicular branch -

   * Dr. Paris enumerates the following empirical preparations, containing aloes as a
leading ingredient; Anderson's pills,  consisting of aloes, jalap, and oil of aniseed;
Hooper's 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. 
80
Althsese Radix.
PART I.
in"- 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 stein, oblong-ovate and obscurely 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 has five spread-
ing,  obcordate petals, of  a pale purplish colour.  The fruit consists of numer-
ous' capsules united in a compact circular  form, each containing a single seed.
The  plant grows throughout Europe, inhabiting salt marshes, the banks of
rivers, and other moist places.  It is found also in 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.  The flowers,
leaves, and root are officinal; but the last  only is  employed to any considerable
extent in this country.
   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 some-
times 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 con-
tains a large  proportion of mucilage, besides starch and  saccharine 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 am-
 monia 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.)  Asparagin, being
 now considered as a derivative from malate of ammonia, has received the name
 of nialamide, and asparmic acid is called, by a corresponding change, mala-
 midic acid,  (Gregory's Chemistry,  Uh  Lond, ed., p. 322.)  It  is  found in
 various other  plants besides the marshmallow, 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 therapeutical 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 Malvacese are sometimes substituted  for that of marsh-
 mallow,  without disadvantage, as  they  possess  similar properties.   Such are
 those of AltKaea rosea or hollyhock,  and Malva  Alcea.
   The leaves, which  are recognised  by  the Edinburgh College, 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 
PART I.
Althasse Radix.—Alumen.
81
 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  and
 flowers are applied to similar uses.   In France, the powdered root is much used
 in the preparation of pills and electuaries.  Some prefer it to powdered liquorice
 root in the preparation  of the mercurial pill.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Althaeas;  Syrupus Althasas.                      W.


                ALUMEN.  U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Bub.

                                  Alum.

   Sulphate of alumina  and potassa.  U. S.
   Alun, Ft., 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.
   Alum is manufactured occasionally from earths which contain it ready formed,
 but  most generally from minerals which, from the fact of their containing most
 or .all of its constituents, are called alum ores.  The principal alum ores are
 the  alum stone, which is a native mixture of sulphate of alumina and sulphate
 of potassa, found in large quantities at Tolfa and Piombino in Italy, and  cer-
 tain natural mixtures  of bisulphuret of iron with  alumina,  silica, and bitu-
 minous matter, called aluminous schist or alum-slate.
   It is particularly at  the  Solfaterra, aud  other  places  in the  kingdom of
 Xaples, 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 hydrate  of  alumina.   The 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.
   Alum-slate, 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 sulphuric 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, containing 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 potassium;  the latter being obtaiued
 usually from the soap boilers.
   \\ nen the alum-slate is easily disintegrated, it is not subjected  to combus-
tion, but  merely placed in heaps, and occasionally sprinkled with water.   The
bisulphuret  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
       6 
82
Alumen.
PART I.
alumina.  At the end of about a year, the matter is lixiviated, and the solu-
tion of  the two sulphates  obtained  is concentrated to the proper  degree in
leaden boilers.  The sulphate of iron  crystallizes, while 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 treated with  water, just_ sufficient
to dissolve them at the boiling temperature, and the saturated solution is run
into casks or tubs, so constructed as  to be easily taken to pieces  and  set up
again.  In the course of ten or fifteen days, the alum  concretes into a crystal-
line mass, from which the mother-liquor is let off.  The vessel is then taken to
pieces, and the salt, having been broken up, is packed in barrels for sale.   This
process for forming the alum in large masses is called rocking.
  Alum is sometimes manufactured  by the direct combination of its  consti-
tuents.  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  insxt
crystallized into  alum by  the  addition  of sulphate  of potassa in  the usual
manner.  Alum is made in this way from the ashes  of the  Boghead cannel-
coal, which occurs near Edinburgh, according to the patent of Messrs.  Barlow
and Gore.  These ashes, which form the residue of the combustion of the coke
derived from the  coal used  for making gas, contain a considerable quantity
of alumina in a state readily soluble  in acids.
  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.  Ammonia-alum, or the sulphate of
alumina and  ammonia, is made by adding sulphate of ammonia to  the solution
of sulphate of alumina.   This kind of alum has come into use to a consider-
able extent,  owing to the rise in value of potassa,  and to  the  comparative
cheapness of ammonia, obtained in the process for ferrocyanuret of potassium,
or derived from the liquor  of gas  works.   Ammonia-alum is extensively manu-
factured by Powers and Weightman of this  city.   Scotch  alum, made near
Paisley, generally contains both  potassa and ammonia.   Ammonia-alum re-
sembles potassa-alum so exaetly  that  it cannot be  distinguished  by simple
inspection;  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 the sole residue; or by rubbing it 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 regular
octohedrons, and possessing a sweetish, astringent taste.  It dissolves in be-
tween 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 em-
ployed.   Alum is  insoluble  in alcohol and brandy.   Its sp. gr.  is 171.  It
reddens litmus, but changes the blue tinctures of the petals of plants to o-reen.
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  dried alum.  (See Alumen E.rsicca-
tum.)  Exposed to a red heat, it gives  off oxygen, together with sulphurous
and anhydrous sulphuric acids; and the residue  consists  of  alumina and sul-
phate of potassa.   When calcined with finely divided charcoal, it forms a spon- 
PART I.
Alumen.
83
taneously inflammable substance, called Homberfs pyrophorus, which consists
of a mixture of sulphuret of potassium, alumina, and charcoal.
   Several varieties of alum are known in commerce.  Roche oZmwi, so called
from its having come originally from Rocca 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 Pereira, by bole or rose-pink.   Roman alum, which
is the purest variety found in commerce, also occurs in small fragments, covered
with a reddish-brown powder, resembling ochre, which is put on by the manu-
facturers.  It  has  been  supposed that the powder contained iron; but this is
probably a mistake.  Roman alum crystallizes in cubes, from the fact that the
crystals are deposited from a solution  always  containing an excess of alumina,
wiiich decomposes any iron salt that may be present.   This crystalline form of
alum is, therefore,  an index of its freedom from iron.
   All the alums of commerce contain more or less sulphate of  iron, varying
from five to  seven parts in the thousand.  The iron is readily detected by adding
to a solution of the suspected alum a  few drops of the ferrocyanuret of potas-
 sium,  which will cause a greenish-blue tint, if iron be present.  It may be de-
 tected 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 an in-
 jurious impurity when the salt is 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.
   Incompatibles.   Alum is incompatible with the alkalies and their carbonates,
 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, Yauquelin, and  Chaptal to contain also sulphate of
 potassa, sulphate  of ammdfcia, 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 87 % and twenty-four of water 216=474-6.   In the am-
 monia-alum, the equivalent of sulphate of potassa is replaced by one of sulphate
 of oxide of ammonium, that is, sulphate  of ammonia  and water.   Alumina
 is classed as an  earth,  and may be obtained  by subjecting ammonia-alum to a
 strono- calcining heat.  It consists of two eqs. of a metal  called aluminium
 27-4 &and three of oxygen 24=51-4.   It is,  therefore,  a  sesquioxide.   The
 existence of this metal was rendered  probable by Sir H. Davy in 1808; but it
 was not fairly obtained until'1828, when Wohler procured it in an impure state,
 in globules  of the size of a pin's head, by the action of  potassium on chloride
 of aluminium  In  1854 Deville succeeded in obtaining the pure metal  in
 ingots  by decomposing the same  chloride with sodium.   Aluminium is silver-
 white ' sonorous,  unalterable in  the  air, and  lighter  than glass, having the
 sp  gr  2-56 only.  Its fusing point is  somewhat lower than that of silver.
 It is not  attacked by sulphuric or nitric  acid, nor  tarnished by sulphuretted
 hydrogen   Its proper solvent is muriatic acid.   After silver, gold,  and pla-
 tinum it 'is the least alterable of the  metals.   According to Mr. A. Monier, of
  Camden N  J., who first obtained the metal in this country, it is not in the
 least oxidized by fusion with nitre, a property which affords a ready means of
 purifying it from other metals. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., March, 1857.)  By
 reason  of its valuable properties, it will be  applied to many purposes  in the
  arts  if obtainable in sufficient quantities, and at a moderate cost.
    iledical Properties, &c.  Alum, in ordinary doses, is astringent and  anti-
  spasmodic ; in large doses, purgative and emetic.  It is employed as an astnng- 
84
Alumen.
PART I.
ent in passive hemorrhages, colliquative sweats, diabetes, and chronic dysentery
and diarrhoea; also in gleet and leucorrhoea, 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 antispasmodic
in hooping-cough has been much insisted on by Dr. Davies.  As a purgative,
it has  been employed in colica pictonum.  This practice was introduced by
Grashuis, a Dutch physician, in 1752, and imitated by Dr. Percival with great
success. Its use  in this disease has been 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.  Sometimes it is advantageously con-
joined  with opium and camphor.  It is also efficacious in nervous colic.  Sir
James  Murray found it a useful remedy  in the peculiar affection  of  the  sto-
mach, characterized by the frequent vomiting of a large quantity of glairy fluid.
He gave it in doses of  ten or twelve grains three  or four times a day, mixed
with an equal quantity of cream of tartar to prevent constipation, and a little
ginger to  obviate flatulence.   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 promptness and certainty, and without producing that  extreme  prostra-
tion which often follows the use of antimonials.  His  son, Dr. J. F. Meigs,
has also borne testimony to its value  in  this  dangerous disease.   In a case in
which  an ounce of opium had been swallowed, Dr. C. D. Meigs found alum an
efficient emetic.   After 30 grains of sulphate of zinc had been given without
effect, half an ounce of  alum was administered, followed by copious vomiting.
Soon afterward,  a second half ounce was  given, with the effect of renewing the
vomiting;  and the result was that the patient entirely recovered.
   In various anginose affections, alum is  found highly useful, applied topically
either  in powder or solution. When the affection is attended with membranous
exudation, its efficacy has been particularly insisted on by Bretonneau, 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.  Yelpeau, in 1835, ex-
tended the observations of Bretonneau, and has used  alum successfully, not
only in simple inflammatory sorethroat, but in those forms of angina dependent
on small-pox, scarlatina, &c.  In  these cases, the powdered  alum may be ap-
plied several times a day to the fauces, by means of the  index finder.  In re-
laxation of the  uvula,  and in the beginning of  sorethroat, a solutiou of alum
is one  of our best gargles.  It forms also a useful astringent wash in mercurial
sore-mouth.  In gleet and  leucorrhoea the solution  is an  approved remedy,
either  alone or conjoined with  sulphate of zinc. (See Liquor Aluminis Com-
positus.)   It is frequently applied as a 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, is the most efficacious remedy we
possess.   In these cases, it is  usually applied in the form of the alum cata-
plasm, made by coagulating the whites of two eggs with a drachm of alum
   The ordinary dose of alum is from  ten to twenty grains, repeated every two
 or three hours,  mixed with syrup or molasses.   Sir James Murray objects to
its administration in solution, and greatly prefers the form  of an impalpable
powder,  mixed  with molasses, as furnishing the means of presenting  the
remedy slowly to  the surfaces intended to be acted upon.   In hoopino--cou"-h 
PART I.
Alumen.—Ammonia.
85
the dose is from two to ten 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 teaspoonful of the powder,  mixed with honey, syrup, or molasses,
and repeated every ten or fifteen  minutes, until free vomiting is induced.   An
elegant mode of giving alum in solution is in the form of alum whey, made by
boiling two drachms of alum with a pint of  milk, and then straining to sepa-
rate the curd.  The dose is a wineglassful, containing about fifteen grains 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  in a pint of water, and  sweetened with honey,  isa
convenient gargle.  Solutions for  gleet, leucorrhoea,  ulcers, &c, must vary in
strength according to the state of  the parts to which they are applied.
   Alum  is sometimes used to adulterate bread, with the view to increase its
whiteness, and to conceal the defects of the flour.
    Off. Prep. Alumen Exsiccatum; Liquor Aluminis  Compositus; Pulvis Alu-
 minis Compositus.                                                 "■

                             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 muriatic acid, so
 as to form chloride  of  calcium and water, and expels the ammonia.   It is
 transparent and colourless, like  common air, but possesses an acrid  taste, and
 exceedingly pungent smell.  It has a powerful alkaline reaction, and, from this
 property and its  gaseous nature,  was  called the volatile alkali by the earlier
 chemists.  Its sp. gr. is  0-59.   It is irrespirable, the glottis closing  spasmodi-
 cally when the attempt is made  to breathe it.   It consists of  one eq. of nitro-
 gen 14  and three of hydrogen 3=17 ; or, in volumes, of one volume of nitro-
 gen and three volumes of hydrogen, condensed into two.   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, with the  symbol NH„HC1.  But Berzebus  sup-
 posed that, in the act of uniting, the hydrogen of the  muriatic acid is trans-
 ferred to the elements of the ammonia, and that the compound thus formed,
 uniting with the chlorine, gives rise to a salt, represented by NH4C1.  To this
 hypothetical compound (NH4) Berzelius gave the  name  of ammonium, and
 consequently to muriate of ammonia, the appellation of chloride of ammonium
    Applying the same view to the oxacid salts of ammonia, Berzelius conceived
 that  they  are compounds of  oxide of ammonium (NH40) with their several
 acids   It is found that the true  oxacid salts of ammonia always contain one
 eq of water which  cannot be  separated from them without destroying  their
 identity; 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 Ber-
 zelius's view to sulphate of ammonia,  this salt is usually considered  a monohy-
 drated  sulphate of ammonia (NH3,SO„HO); but he made it the sulphate of
  oxide of ammonium without  water (NH40,S03).                      .
    The  atmosphere contains a minute  proportion of  ammonia, probably in the
  state of carbonate.                                _
    Ozonized oxygen oxidizes the elements of ammonia, producing water and 
86
Ammonia.
PART I.
nitric acid, which latter, by uniting with undecomposed ammonia,  generates
nitrate of ammonia.  Ordinary oxygen, under the influence of platinum black,
or finely divided copper, likewise oxidizes the elements of ammonia,  the nitro-
gen to the extent only of forming nitrous  acid, with the result of producing
nitrite of ammonia.  (Schonbein, Chem, Gaz., March 16, 1857.)
  Medical Properties.  The compounds of ammonia are stimulant, antispas-
modic, antacid, and alexipharmic.   According  to Dr.  Ogier Ward, they pos-
sess the property of dissolving the protein principles of the blood ;  and,  while
their primary action is stimulant, their remote operation is sedative, resolvent,
and attenuant, implying the  power of carrying the products of inflammation
out of the  system.  Dr. Ward appears to be much influenced in his views by
the alleged discovery, by Dr.  Richardson, that the blood contains ammonia as
a normal constituent, and owes its fluidity to its presence. (See Am, Journ. of
the Med.  Sci. for April, 1857, from the London Lancet.)
   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.; Ammonias  Liquor Fortior, Lond,,
           Dub.; Ammonias Aqua Fortior, Ed.—Stronger Solution of Am-
           monia.
         Linimentum Ammonias Compositum,  Ed,
         Linimentum Camphoras Compositum, Lond,, Dub.
         Tinctura Ammonias Composita, Lond,
       Liquor Ammonias, U. S.; Ammonias Liquor, Lond.,  Dub.; Ammonias
           Aqua, Ed.—Solution of Ammonia.  Water of Ammonia,
         Hydrargyrum  Ammoniatum, U. S.;   Hydrargyri  Ammonio-chlori-
           dum, Lond., Dub.; Hydrargyri Precipitatum Album, Ed,—Am-
           monialed Mercury. White Precipitate.
         Linimentum Ammonias, U. S., Lond,, Ed,, Dub.—Liniment of Am-
           monia.  Volatile Liniment.
         Linimentum Hydrargyri, Lond.; Linimentum Hydrargyri Compo-
              situm, Dub.
  II.  In  Spirituous Solution.
       Spiritus Ammonias,  U. S., Ed.—Spirit of Ammonia.
         Tinctura Castorei Ammoniata, Ed,
         Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata, Ed,
          Tinctura Opii Ammoniata,  Ed.
         Tinctura Yalerianas Ammoniata, Ed.
       Spiritus  Ammonias  Aromaticus, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.—Aromatic
            Spirit of Ammonia.
          Tinctura  Colchici Composita, Lond,
          Tinctura  Guaiaci Ammoniata, U S.; Tinctura Guaiaci  Composita,
            Lond.
          Tinctura Yalerianas Ammoniata, U. S.;  Tinctura Yalerianas Com-
            posita, Lond,
       Spiritus  Ammonias Foetidus,  Lond,, Ed., Dub.__Fetid Spirit of Am-
            monia.
 III.  In  Saline Combination.
       Ammonias Murias, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Ammonias Hydrochloras Lond.—
            Muriate of Ammonia. Sal Ammoniac.
          Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Ferri Ammonio-chloridum, Lond
       Ammonias  Carbonas, U S.,  Ed;  Ammonias  Sesquicarbonas,  Lond.
            Dub.— Carbonate of Ammonia. Mild Volatile  Alkali
          Cuprum Ammoniatum, U S., Ed.; Cupri Ammonio-sulphas, Lond.
            Dub.                                               '      '' 
PART I.
Liquor Ammonise Fortior.
87
         Liquor Ammonias Sesquicarbonatis,  Lond.;  Ammonias Carbonatis
           Aqua, Ed,
         Linimentum Ammonias Sesquicarbonatis, Lond,
         Ammonias Bicarbonas, Dub.
         Liquor Ammonias Acetatis, U. S., Lond; Ammonias Acetatis Aqua
           Ed;  Ammonias Acetatis Liquor,  Dub.—Solution of Acetate of
           Ammonia. Spirit of Mindererus.
         Liquor Ammonias Citratis, Lond.—Solution of Citrate of Ammonia.
       Ammonias Hydro-sulphuretum, Dub.
       Ferri Ammonio-citras,  Lond,, Dub.—Ammcmio-citrate of Iron.
  The ammonia in the spirit of ammonia of the U. S. and Ed. Pharmacopoeias
is in the caustic state.  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 ammoniated  tinctures are
made in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia with the simple spirit of ammonia; in
the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias with the aromatic spirit.          B.

           LIQUOR  AMMONIA FORTIOR.  U.S.

                   Stronger Solutioti of Ammonia.

   An aqueous solution of ammonia of the specific gravity  0-882. U S.
   Off. Si/n. AMMONLE LIQUOR FORTIOR. Lond,Dub.; AMMONLE
AQUA FORTIOR.  Ed,
   This preparation is too strong for internal exhibition, but forms a convenient
ammoniacal solution for  reduction, with distilled water, to  the  strength of or-
dinary officinal solution of ammonia (Liquor Ammonias), or for preparing strong
rubefacient and vesicating lotions and liniments. (See Linimentum Ammonise
 Compositum.)                              #   .-,-,„.    -,  ^   •  +1
   The United States and London Pharmacopoeias include this soiution in the
list of the Materia Medica; but in the Edinburgh and Dublin Pharmacopoeias a
formula  is given for its preparation.   The Edinburgh formula 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 a receiver a bottle also provided with a  safety-tube, and containing 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 descend to the bot-
 tom  of the bottles at the further end from the retort; and  the receiver and bot-
 tles must be kept cool by snow, ice, or a running  stream  of 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 contained 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 Ammonias in the first
 bottle, or raise it with Distilled Water so as to form Aqua Ammonias 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 Li</uor Am-
 monise.   But it is perceived  by the details of the process, that the Edinburgh 
Liquor Ammonise Fortior.
PART I.
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 impurities.   The water m the first bottle be-
comes nearly saturated with ammonia, a result which is favoured  by  the appli-
cation of cold  After the gas has ceased to be disengaged from the retort, this
is removed; and anv 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  residue is
allowed to pass into the  second bottle, where it impregnates the water to a
greater or  less  extent, forming a weak  aqueous ammonia.  The aqueous am-
monia in the first bottle is the Edinburgh Ammonise  Aqua Fortior, and that
in the second is  converted into Liquor Ammonias 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 Dublin College prepares  this officinal by passing the ammoniacal gas,
disengaged by lime from eight ounces of muriate of ammonia, into eigU ounces
of its'" Ammonias Liquor,''' or five ounces of distilled water.
   Solution of ammonia is seldom made  by the formulas of the Pharmacopoeias,
but is prepared on a large scale, from one  of the products  of  the coal  gas
manufacture, by the following more  economical  process.   Gas liquor is  dis-
tilled, and the  distillate,  which  is principally hydrosulphuret  of ammonia, is
converted into  sulphate of ammonia by sulphuric acid.   The rough sulphate
is then gently distilled with milk of lime, the still being connected with a series
of glass carboys, arranged like Wolfe's bottles, and three-fourths filled with dis-
tilled water.  In this way solution of ammonia may be obtained of  maximum
strength.  (See  a paper by Mr. W. Lawson, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for
July, 1855, p.  362, from  the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, for April, 1855.)
   Properties of Aqueous Ammonia  of Maximum  Strength.  This is a colour-
less liquid, of an acrid taste, and very pungent smell.   It is strongly alkaline,
and immediately  changes  turmeric, when held over its fumes, to reddish-brown.
Cooled down to 40° below zero, it  concretes into a gelatinous  mass, and at
 130° enters into ebullition, owing to the  rapid disengagement of the  gas.
Its sp. gr. is 0-875 at 50°, when it contains 32-5 per cent, of ammonia.
   Properties oftfie 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,, and 0-900,  Dub.  When of the density 0-882, it contains about 29
 per cent,  of ammonia.   The liquor ammonias fortior of the shops is usually
 deficient in strength, commonly ranging in density from 0-900 to 0-920.  Even
 though of proper officinal strength at first,  it generally becomes  weaker by the
 escape of ammonia.  To  prevent its deteriorating, it should be kept in closely
 stopped bottles in a cool  place.   If  precipitated  by lime-water, it contains car-
 bonic acid.  After having been saturated with nitric acid, a precipitate by car-
 bonate of ammonia  indicates earthy impurity, by nitrate of silver,  a  chloride,
 and  by chloride of barium, a sulphate.
   Liquor Ammonise Fortior is a convenient preparation for making Liquor
 Ammonise (sp. gr. 0-960) by due dilution with distilled water.   To effect this
 reduction of strength,  the U. S. and London stronger solution  requires to be
 diluted with two measures of distilled  water ;  the Edinburgh,  with  two  and a
 half measures.
    When purchasing the  Stronger Solution of Ammonia, the apothecary should
  not  trust to its being of  the officinal strength; but should ascertain the point
  by taking its  density, either by the specific gravity bottle  or the hydrometer. 
PART I.
Ammonise Murias.
89
Another method of ascertaining its density, is by the ammonia-wieter of Mr. J.
J. Griffin, of London, described and figured in the Pharm, Journ. and Trans.,
x. 413.  In reducing it to make Liquor Ammonias, the same precaution should
be taken;  and, if the mixture should not have the sp. gr. 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 medicinal use
in its unmixed state.  Its rubefacient, vesicating, and caustic properties, when
duly reduced by admixture with tincture of camphor and spirit of rosemary,
will be noticed under Linimentum Ammonise Compositum.  When a solution
of ammonia of  25° (sp. gr. 0-905) is  mixed with fatty matter, the mixture
forms the  vesicating ammoniacal 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.
   A case of poisoning by stronger solution of ammonia, successfully treated by
Dr. H. W. Reed, in  which the  stomach pump, dilute acetic acid,  olive  oil,
milk, hot fomentations, and strong purgative enemata were used, is related in
the London  Med. Times and  Gaz., xi. 59.   The  subsequent irritation  and
inflammation were combated chiefly by morphia, and by leeches to the stomach
and throat.  The immediate effects, after swallowing the ammonia, were those
of the strong corrosive poisons.
   Pharm. Uses.  The  stronger  solution of ammonia is used in the  prepara-
tion of two Edinburgh  officinals,  Ferrugo and Ferri Oxidum Nigrum.
   Off.  Prep.  Linimentum  Ammonias Compositum; Linimentum Camphoras
Compositum;  Liquor  Ammonias;  Spiritus  Ammonias  Aromaticus, Dub.;
Spiritus Ammonias Foetidus, Dub.; Tinctura Ammonias Composita.    B.


            AMMONLE MURIAS. U S., Ed., Dub.

                        Muriate of Ammonia.

   Chlorohydrate of ammonia. U S.
   Off.  Syn.  AMMONITE  HYDROCHLORAS. Lond.
   Sal ammoniac, Hydrochlorate of ammonia;  Hydroehlorate d'ammoniaque, Sel  am-
moniac, Ft. ; 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 principal
 sources; the ammoniacal liquor, called gas liquor, found in the condensing ves-
 sels of coal gas works, and the brown,  fetid animoniacal  liquor, known under
 the name of bone spirit, which is a secondary product, obtained, during the de-
 structive distillation of bones, by the manufacturers of bone black.  These two
 liquors are the chief sources of the ammoniacal compounds ; for they are both
 used to procure muriate of ammonia,  and  this salt is employed, directly or
 indirectly, for obtaining all the  other salts  of ammonia.   Other sources are
 stale urine, coal soot, guano, peat, and bituminous schist.
    Gas liquor  contains carbonate, hydrocyanate, hydrosulphate, and sulphate 
90
Ammonise Murias.
part I.
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 sublimed with chloride of sodium in
iron pots, lined with clay, and furnished with a leaden dome or head.   By the
mutual  action of the sulphate, water, and chloride, there are formed muriate
of ammonia which sublimes, and sulphate of soda which remains behind.  Thus
NfI,,HO,S03 and XaCl become NHS,HC1 and NaO,SOr   Sometimes, instead
of the ammonia of the gas liquor being first converted into the sulphate, it  is
made at once into muriate by the addition of muriatic acid or chloride of cal-
cium.   When chloride of calcium is  employed, the chief reaction  takes place
between carbonate of ammonia and the chloride, whereby muriate of ammonia
is formed in solution, and carbonate of lime precipitated.  The solution is duly
evaporated, whereby brown crystals of the muriate 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 somewhat 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-transparent sal ammoniac
are knocked off in cakes." (Pereira, Mat. Med, 3d ed., p.  446.)
   In the destructive distillation of bones for making bone black, the distilled
products are the bone spirit already mentioned, being chiefly an aqueous solu-
tion  of carbonate of ammonia, and  an empyreumatic oil, called  animal oil.
These products all result from a new arrangement  of the ultimate constituents
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 spirit
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.
   Other processes have been proposed or practised for obtaining muriate of
 ammonia.  For an account of the manufacture of ammoniacal  salts,  and for a
 list of  the patents, issued in Great Britain, since  1827, for  their preparation,
 the reader is referred to  the Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., xii. 29,  63, and 113.
    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;  and is consumed almost exclu-
 sively 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 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  1-45.   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.    This salt  is very difficult to
 powder in the  ordinary way.   Its pulverization,  however,  may be effected 
PART I.
Ammonise Murias.
91
readily by making a boiling saturated solution of the salt, and stirring it as it
cools.  The salt is thus made to granulate, and in this state, after having been
drained from the remaining solution and dried, may be readily powdered.  At
a red heat it sublimes without decomposition, as its mode of preparation shows.
Exposed to a damp atmosphere it becomes slightly moist.   It  has the pro-
perty of  increasing the solubility of corrosive sublimate in water.  It is de-
composed 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.  It is incom-
patible 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
subject to adulteration.  If it is not entirely volatilized by heat and soluble in
water, it contains impurity.   Still, as ordinarily prepared, it contains iron in
the state of protochloride.   This metal may be detected by boiling a small por-
tion of a saturated solution of the salt with a drop or two of nitric acid,  and
then adding ferrocyanuret  of potassium, when the characteristic blue colour,
occasioned by iron, will be  produced.  If the salt is 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
36-5, and one of ammonia 17=53-5.   Yiewed  as  chloride of ammonium, it
consists of one eq. of chlorine and one of ammonium (NH4C1).
   Medical Properties.   Muriate of ammonia acts primarily as  a stimulant,
purging  in large doses, but rather constipating in small  ones.  Its secondary
action is that of a resolvent, conjoined with a  tonic power, derived probably
from  the  presence  of  chlorine.   By  reason of these properties, it  forms,
according to Dr. O. Ward, an  excellent  substitute for mercury, in cases where
that medicine, on account of its debilitatiug effect, is inadmissible.  (See p. 86.)
It has been recommended  in chronic rheumatism;  in pleuritis, chronic  bron-
chitis, peritonitis, dysentery, and other inflammations of the serous and mucous
membranes, after the first  violence  of the disease has abated; in  chronic in-
flammation and  enlargement of the thoracic and abdominal viscera; in scrofu-
lous and syphilitic enlargements of the lymphatic glands; 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 Bibliqthek  for  1834.   According to  Dr. Watson, it is a very
efficacious remedy in hemicrania.  In the opinion of Dr. Ebden, of the Bengal
medical service, it is a powerful remedy for neuralgic affections generally;  such
as tic  douloureux, nervous headache, toothache, sciatica, and neuralgic dys-
menorrhoea.  He gives it in  the amount  of from twenty-five to thirty-five
grains in a fluidounce  of  camphor mixture, or of mint water,  every twenty
minutes, for three doses. Usually after the second dose,  the immediate pain is
relieved.  (Ranking's Abstract, No. xx.  55.)  In 1851, Dr. Aran reported his
success with this remedy in intermittent fever to the Academy of Medicine, of
Paris, having cured eleven out of thirteen cases.   M. Fischer, of Dresden, in
1821, recommended it in chronic enlargement of the prostate, and since then,
several German  practitioners have confirm'ed his statement.  Dr. A. Lindsay,
of Glasgow, has investigated the  physiological and therapeutical effects of
muriate of ammonia.   Taken in health he found it to improve  the appetite,
and to give a certain buoyancy to the spirits.  In his hands it proved particu-
larly efficacious in chronic rheumatism, and chronic bronchitis.   In the  latter
disease, where the sputa were tough  and  tenacious, it speedily  improved their 
92                Ammonise Murias.—Ammoniacum.          part i.
quality. (Med. Exam, for Jan., 1856, from the Glasgow Med. Journ.)  Similar
testimony is borne to  its value in chronic bronchitis by M. Delvaux, of Brus-
sels, who  found  it to diminish dyspnoea, mitigate cough, and facilitate  and
lessen expectoration. (Ann. de Ttierap., 1855, 99.)
  The dose of muriate of ammonia is from five to thirty grains, repeated every
two or three hours,  and  given  in sweetened water or mucilage.  When given
in enlarged prostate, the dose recommended is fifteen grains  every two hours,
gradually increased until  nearly half an ounce is taken daily.   When the dose
is greater than the system can safely bear, it produces disordered digestion, a
miliary eruption, profuse sweats, and scorbutic symptoms.
  Externally, muriate of ammonia is used in solution, as a stimulant and  re-
solvent, in contusions, indolent tumours, &c.   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 injec-
tion in leucorrhoea, it should not contain more than from one to four drachms
of the salt to a pint of water.
  The vapour of muriate of ammonia has been administered by inhalation,
employed several times a day, in chronic catarrh, with marked advantage, by
Dr. Gieseler, of Germany.
  Off. Prep. Ammonias  Aqua Fortior; Ammonias Carbonas  ; Ferrum Ammo-
niatum;  Liquor  Ammonias;  Liquor  Hydrargyri  Bichloridi; Spiritus  Am-
monias;  Spiritus Ammonias  Aromaticus, U. S., Lond.; Spiritus  Ammonise
Foetidus, Lond.                                                     B.


           AMMONIACUM. U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Bub.

                              Ammoniac.

  The concrete juice  of  Dorema  Ammoniacum.  U. S.  Gum-resin from the
stalk and pedicel. Lond,   Gummy-resinous exudation. Ed., Dub.
  Gomme ammoniaque, Ft. ; Ammoniak,  Germ.; Gomma ammoniaco, Ital.;  Gomma
amoniaco, Span.;  Ushek, Arab.; Semugh belshereen, Persian.
  Much uncertainty long existed as to the ammoniac plant.   It was generally
believed to be a Ferula, till Willdenow raised, from some seeds mixed with the
gum-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 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 "-um-
resin, but ascribed the result to the' influence of climate.   The Heracleum,
however, did not correspond exactly with  the representations  given  of the am-
moniac plant by travellers; and Sprengel ascertained that it was a native of the
Pyrenees, and never  produced gum.  Mr.  Jackson, in his account of Morocco,
imperfectly described a plant of that country,  supposed  to be a Ferula  from
which gum-ammoniac is  procured by the natives.  This  plant was ascertained
by Dr. Falconer to be  Ferula Tingitana (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 comes ex-
clusively from  Persia.  M. Fontanfrr, who  resided many years in Persia  saw
the ammoniac plant growing in the province of Fars,  and sent 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 given to it by
Lemery,  of F ammonifera.   It was subsequently, however,  ascertained  from
specimens obtained  in Persia  by Colonel Wright, and  examined by Dr  Darid 
PART I.
Ammoniacum.
93
Don, that it belonged to  a  genus allied to Ferula, but essentially different,
which was named by Dr. Don, Dorema.   It is described in the 16th vol. of the
Linn. Transactions,  under the name of Dorema Ammoniacum,   This is now
acknowledged by all the officinal authorities.   The same plant was described
and figured by Jaubert and Spach in their "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 Linnasus.  It grows spontaneously in Farsistan, Irauk,
Chorassan, and  other  Persian provinces.  Dr. Grant  found  it abundantly in
Syghan near Bameean, on  the northwest slope of the Hindoo Coosh moun-
tains.  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 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,
chiefly to Bombay.   A small portion is  said to be taken to the  ports of the
Levant,  and thence distributed.   The name of the drug is thought  to  have
been derived from the temple of  Jupiter Ammon  in the Libyan desert, where
the ammoniac of the ancients is said to have been collected;  but Dr. Don con-
siders 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, homogeneous, 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 matters, such  as seeds,
fragments of vegetables, and  sand, or  other earth.   We have seen masses com-
posed of agglutinated tears alone.
   The smell of ammoniac 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 smoke  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 ob-
tained 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 6-0 of water, with 1 -2 per cent, of loss.   Hagen succeeded in procuring the
volatile oil in a separate state  by repeated  distillation 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. 
94              Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.         PART I.
   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 em-
ployed 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 deficient expecto-
ration 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 amenorrhcea, and in chlorotic and
hysterical conditions of the system arising out of that complaint.   It has also
been prescribed in obstructions or chronic  engorgements of the abdominal vis-
cera, under the vague notion of its deobstruent power.  Any good which it may
do in these affections, is more probably ascribable to  its revulsive  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 admitting its presence, to decide whether it was a 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 dis-
cutient 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 preferable.  (See Mistura Ammoniaci.)  The
dose is from ten  to thirty grains.
   Off. Prep. Ammoniacum Prasparatum; Emplastrum Ammoniaci; Emplast.
Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro ;  Emplast.  Gummosum;  Mistura Ammoniaci;
Pilulas Ipecacuanhas cum Scilla;  Pil. Scillas Composite.              • W.

               AMYGDALA  AMARA.  U.S., Ed.

                           Bitter Almonds.

  The kernels of the fruit of Amygdalus communis—variety amara.  U. S., Ed.
  Amande amere, Fr.; Bittere Mandeln, Germ.; Mandorle  amare, Ital.,- Almendra
amarga, Span.

               AMYGDALA  DULCIS.  U.S., Ed.

                           Sweet Almonds.

  The kernels of the fruit of Amygdalus communis—variety dulcis.  U. S. Ed.
   Off. Syn. AMYGDALA  (Jordanica).  Amygdalus communis, ear. dulcis.
Semen. Lond. AMYGDALA. Amygdalus communis.  Yariety Dulcis.  The
kernels of the fruit. Dub.
  Amande douce, Fr.; Susse Mandeln,  Germ.; Mandorle  dolci, Ital.,- Almendra dulce,
Span.
  Amygdalus.  Sex Syst  IcosandriaMonogynia. — Nat.  Ord, Amygdaleas.
   Gcn.Ch. Calyx five-cleft, inferior. Petals five. Drupe with a nut perforated
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' heieht'
and divides into numerous spreading branches.   The leaves stand upon  shori
footstalks,  are about three inches long,  and three-quarters of an inch broad,
elliptical, pointed at both ends, veined, minutely serrated, with the lower serra-
tures  and petioles glandular, and are of a bright green colour   The flowers 
 part i.         Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.              95

 are large, of a pale red colour varying to white, with very short peduncles, and
 petals longer than the calyx, and usually stand in 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, containing 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 Amygdalus (communis)  dulcis and
 Amygdalus (communis) amara, the former bearing sweet, the latter bitter al-
 monds.  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  ex-
 tensively cultivated in various parts of the south of Europe.  It has been intro-
 duced 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 Marseilles 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 Yalentia.  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  immersion
 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 with-
 out smell,  and have a sweet, very pleasant taste, which has  rendered them a
 favourite article of diet in 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 albumen is
 somewhat  peculiar, and  is called emulsin.  It may be obtained separate  by
 treating the emulsion of almonds with ether,  allowing the mixture, after fre-
 quent 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  alcohol, 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
 has an acid reaction,  and, if heated to 212°, becomes opaque  and  milky, and
 gradually deposits a snow-white precipitate, amounting to about ten per  cent.
 of the emulsin employed.  (Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 354, from  Liebig's
 Annalen.)   Its distinguishing  property is  that of producing certain changes,
 presently to be noticed, in amygdalin, which property it loses when its solution
 is boiled, though not by exposure in the solid  state to a heat of 212°. (Ibid.,
 357.)  It consists of  nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and  oxygen, with a minute
proportion of sulphur, and is  probably  identical with the principle for which
Robiquet proposed  the  name  of synaptase.   The fixed oil is  described under
the head of Oleum Amygdalae, to which  the reader  is referred.   Almonds, 
96              Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.        part i.
when rubbed with water, form a  milky emulsion, the insoluble  matters being
suspended by  the agency of  the albuminous, mucilaginous, and saccharine
principles.
  2. Amygdala Amaua. Bitter  Almonds.  These are smaller than the pre-
ceding variety.  They have  the bitter taste of the peach-kernel, and, though
when dry inodorous or nearly so, have, when  triturated with water, the fra-
grance of the  peach blossom.  They contain the  same ingredients  as sweet
almonds, and  like them form a milky emulsion with water.   It was  formerly
supposed that they also contained hydrocyanic acid and volatile oil,  to which
their peculiar  taste and smell, and their peculiar  operation  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 reac-
tion of water; and Wohler and Liebig proved, what was suspected by Robiquet,
that they are formed out  of a substance of peculiar properties,  denominated
amygdalin, which is the characteristic constituent of bitter almonds.   This
substance, which was discovered  by Robiquet and Boutron, is  white, crystal-
lizable, inodorous, of a sweetish bitter taste, unalterable 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 associ-
ated.  Bitter  almonds, previously deprived of their  fixed oil by pressure, are
to be boiled in successive portions of alcohol till 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 sepa-
rated by washing it with ether.   One pound of almonds yield  at  least 120
grains of amygdalin.  (Annalen der Pharm., xxii. and xxiii. 329.)*
   Amygdalin, 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  causing 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 moist-
ened, result  from the mutual  reaction  of  amygdalin, water, and emulsin,
Certain substances have the effect of  preventing this reaction, as, for example,
alcohol and acetic acid.  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. (Annul, der

   * Amygdalin appears to be  extensively diffused in plants,  having been noticed not
only in the different  genera of the Amygdaleae, as Amygdalus, Cerasus, and  Prunus,
but also by Vv icke m various Pomacese, as  Pyrus Mains, Sorbus Aucuparia, Sorbm
hybrida, Sorbus torminal.es, Ametanchier vulgaris, Cotomnster vulgaris  and Cratsequs
 Oxycantha. (Ann. der Chem. und Pharm., lxxix. 79.)  It may be advantageously pro-
cured from peach kernels, which have  been found to  yield 80 grains for each avoir-
dupois pound,  or more than one per cent. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.  xxvii. 227 } 
part I.   Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis.—Amylum.        97

Pharm., xxviii. 290.)  Amygdalin appears not to be poisonous when taken
pure into the stomach; as there is nothing in the system capable of acting the
part of emulsin.   Nevertheless, large quantities given to a dog have produced
narcotic  effects.
  Bitter almonds yield their fixed oil by pressure; and the volatile oil, impreg-
nated with hydrocyanic acid, may be obtained from the  residue  by distillation
with water.  (See Oleum  Amygdalae Amarse.)
  Confectioners employ bitter almonds for communicating flavour to the syrup
of  orgeat. (See  Syrupus  Amygdalae.)  The kernel of the  peach possesses
similar properties, and is frequently used as a substitute.  It has been ascer-
tained that bitter almond paste, and other substances  which yield the same
volatile  oil, such as bruised  cherry-laurel leaves, peach leaves, &c, have  the
property of destroying the odour of  musk, camphor, most of the volatile oils,
creasote, cod-liver oil, the balsams, &c.; and M. Mahier, a French pharmaceu-
tist, 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 to 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 triturat-
ing them with water is a pleasant vehicle for the administration of other medi-
cines,  and is itself useful in catarrhal affections.  Bitter  almonds^ are more
energetic, and, though not much in use, might be employed with advantage in
cases to which hydrocyanic acid is applicable.   An  emulsion  made with them
has proved useful in pectoral affections with cough,  and is said to have cured
intermittents.  It probably  operates by diminishing the  excitability of  the
nervous centres.  Dr. A. T. Thomson says  that  he  has found it useful as a
lotion in acne rosea and impetigo.  Bitter  almonds are said by Hufeland to
have been successfully employed for the expulsion of the tape  worm.  In some
persons  they produce urticaria, in the smallest quantities.  Largely taken, they
have sometimes proved deleterious.  Landerer mentions the case of a lady, who
was alarmingly affected  by a bath, made from the  residue of bitter almonds
after expression of  the fixed  oil.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii.  321.)
   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 seventeen 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 anhydrous 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 contains, not more
than a fluidrachm should be given as a commencing dose.
    Off. Prep, of Sweet Almonds.  Confectio Amygdalas;  Mistura Acacias; Mis-
tura Amygdalas; Mistura Camphoras;  Syrupus Amygdalas.
    Off. Prep, of Bitter Almonds. Syrupus Amygdalas.                  W.

                AMYLUM. U. S., Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.

                                 Starch.

   The fecula of the seeds of Triticum vulgare. U. S.,  Lond., Ed.  Starch from
the seeds of Triticum GUstivum. Dub.
        7 
98
Amylum.
part I.
  Amidon, Fr.; Starkmehl, Germ.; Amido, Hal.; 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 kc. ;  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, agi-
tating 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
those 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  cooling, forms with
it a soft semi-transparent paste, or a gelatinous opaline solution, according 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 modi-
fied 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
 soluble 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.
    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
 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 solu-
 tions together; and  a compound results, which, though retained by the water
  while hot,  is deposited when it cools.  By long boiling with diluted sulphuric, 
PART I.
Amylum.
99
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, converts it into oxalic and malic
acids.  By the action  of strong nitric, sulphuric, and crystallizable acetic acid,
used with certain precautions, the  starch  is rendered soluble, and may be  ob-
tained in this  state by separating the acids by means of alcohol.  (Chem. Gaz.,
Dec. 1, 1854,  p.  450.)  By the continued action of concentrated sulphuric acid
it is decomposed. When it  is dissolved in strong  nitric acid, and precipitated
by water, a white powder is  thrown down, called xyloidin, in which two equi-
valents of the hydrogen of the starch are replaced by two eqs. of nitrous acid.
Mixed with hot water, and exposed to a  temperature of 70° or 80°, it under-
goes fermentation, which results in the formation of several distinct principles,
among which are sugar,  a gummy substance (perhaps  dextrine), and a modi-
fication of starch which De Saussure called amidine.
  Nature of Starch.   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 ex-
tended by Guibourt,  Guerin,  and others.  According to these  views, starch con-
sists of organized granules, which, examined by the microscope, appear to be
of various form and size.  Different opinions have been held as to the precise
structure of the granules.  The one first adopted, and still maintained by some,
is that they consist of a thin  exterior coating, 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 thousandths of the weight of starch.   In
relation to the interior portion, there is not an exact coincidence of opinion.
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 por-
tion, consisting of the broken teguments, is gradually deposited.   If the solu-
tion be now filtered and evaporated, another portion is deposited which cannot
afterwards be dissolved.   When wholly deprived  of this portion, and evapo-
rated to  dryness, the solution yields the part soluble  in cold water.  According
to MM. Payen and Persoz, the interior portion  of the  globules  consists  only
of a single  substance, which is converted into the two just  mentioned by the
agency of water; and Thenard is  inclined to the same opinion.  An appro-
priate name for  the interior soluble  portion of starch is amidin, 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

  * Dextrine is a  substance resembling gum in appearance and properties, but differ-
ing  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 mu-
cilage  in that of a white brilliant powder, and in small masses or fragments resem-
bling natural gum.   According to  M. Emile  Thomas,  it  may be distinguished  from
gum Arabic by the taste and smell of potato oil which it always possesses.  It is made
bv the  action either of acids or  of diastase on starch.  For particulars as to the manu-
facture the reader is referred to a paper by M. Thomas, republished in the American
Journal of Pharmacy, vol. xix. p. 284. 
100
Amylum.
PART I.
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
observation, has been advanced by Schleiden.  According to this view, it con-
sists 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 Blatt,  1844, p. 401.)
  Mr.  J. J.  Field thinks he has demonstrated that the granule  consists, as at
first supposed,  of an interior matter surrounded by a distinct  membranous en-
velope.  Having saturated some canna starch with glycerin, and then added
a little water, an endosmose  of the thinner outer  liquid took place into the
granules,  distending them so as to rupture their  investing membrane, which
was distinctly  visible, under  the microscope,  in  longitudinal wrinkles.   The
concentric rings he thinks nothing more than folds of the membrane, produced
probably by the contraction of the granules. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiv.
253.)   The idea has been advanced that the starch granule is a  true vegetable
cell with a nucleus, which surrounds itself by a cell-wall, which  then secretes the
contents of the cell in successive layers.  This view combines that of Schleiden
with the one offered by Raspail.  (Grundy,  Ibid, p. 447.)  In accordance with
it, the hylum may be considered as the effete nucleus in the cell-wall.  The cell-
wall has been  supposed to have a different composition from the interior, as,
when  separated, as above stated, by the  action of  boiling water, which leaves
it alone undissolved, it is not coloured blue by iodine. (Ibid,,  p. 448.)  If the
granule be really a  cell,  it probably contains nitrogenous matter;  and this
may exist in  the envelope.   This  idea is supported by the  fact that, when
treated with boiling solution of potassa, starch gives out  a little nitrogen in
the state  of ammonia. (Journ. de Pharm. et Chim., Juin, 1855, p.  409.)
   The tegumentary portion of starch, for  which the name of  amylin has been
proposed, is, when  entirely freed from the interior soluble matter, wholly in-
soluble in water even by prolonged boiling, insoluble  in  alcohol,  and said  to
suffer no  change by the action of diastase.   The acids, however, act upon it as
they do upon  starch.  It is thought to approach nearer in properties to lignin
than to any other principle.
   Varieties.   Starch, as obtained from different substances, is somewhat differ-
ent in its characters.   Wheat starch, when examined with a microscope, is found
to consist of granules of various sizes, the smaller being spheroidal, the larger
rounded and flattened, with the hylum in the centre of the flattened surface, and
 surrounded by concentric rings, which often extend to the edge.  The granules
 are mixed with loose integuments, resulting from the process of grinding. This
 variety of starch has a certain degree of hardness  and adhesiveness, owing, oc-
 cording 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 portion 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 amy-
 laceous substances,  such as  arrow-root and sago.  In its ordinary state, it is
 more pulverulent than wheat starch, has a somewhat glistening 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 
PART I.
Amylum.—Anethum.
101
or tous les mois.   They are exceedingly diversified in size and shape, though
their regular form is thought to be ovate.  They are characterized by concentric
rings or rugas, which are most readily distinguishable in 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 con-
sists of carbon, hydrogen,  and oxygen; its formula, from whatever source it
may be derived, being, according to the latest opinions, C13H100]0.
  According to Chevallier, starch is sometimes adulterated with carbonate and
sulphate  of lime; and the fraud is also practised of saturating it with moisture,
of which it will absorb 12 per cent, without any obvious change.
  Medical Properties, &c.  Starch is nutritive and  demulcent, but in its ordi-
nary form is seldom administered internally.  Powdered and dusted upon  the
skin, it is sometimes used to absorb irritating  secretions, and prevent excoria-
tion.  Dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, it is  often employed in ene-
mata, either as a vehicle of other  substances, or as a demulcent application in
irritated  states of  the  rectum.  It may be used as an antidote to iodine taken
in poisonous quantities.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Amyli; Enema Opii vel Anodynum; Mucilago Amyli;
Pulvis Tragacanthas Compositus; Trochisci Acacias.                  W.

                      ANETHUM.  Lond.,  Ed.

                               Dill Seed.

  Fruit of Anethum graveolens. Lond,, Ed,
  Aneth a odeur forte, Fr. ; Dill, Germ.; Aneto, Ital.; Eneldo, Span.
  Anethum.   Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia. — Nat. Ord.  Umbelliferas or
Apiaceas.
  Gen, Ch.  Fruit nearly ovate, compressed, striated. Petals  involuted, entire.
Willd.
  Anethum  graveolens. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1469;  Woodv. Med Bot. p.  125,
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 bipinnate or tri-
pinnate, 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, Portugal, 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 yellowish 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.
  Medical 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; Oleum Anethi.                           W. 
102
Angelica.
part I.
                  ANGELICA.  U.S. Secondary.

                               Angelica.

  "The root and herb of Angelica atropurpurea."  U.S.
  Angelica.   Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord, Umbelbferas  or
_A T)ltlCG£G
  Gen.  Ch.  Fruit elliptic, compressed, somewhat  solid and corticate, ridges
three, dorsal acute, intervals grooved, margin alated.   Gen. involucre  none.
(Sprengel.)   Umbel large, many-rayed, spreading; umbellet dense, subhemi-
spheric; involucell about eight-leaved.   Calyx five-toothed.  Petals inflected.
(Nuttall.)                                           _, .  .   ,.
  Angelica atropurpurea.  Wild.  Sp. Plant, i.  1430.   This indigenous spe-
cies  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 by 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, &c.  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.  Ed.

                          Garden Angelica.

   Root of Angelica Archangelica.  Ed.
   Angelique, Fr.; Engelwurzel, Germ. ; Arcangelica, Ital.;  Angelica, Span.
   Angelica.   See ANGELICA.  U.S.
   Angelica Archangelica.  Willd. Sp. 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-
 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. 
PART I.
Angelica.—Angustura.
103
  1. The root should be dug up in the autumn of the first year, as it is then
least liable to  become mouldy and worm-eaten.  It is spindle-shaped, an inch
or more thick  at top, and beset with 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 properties of the plant.
The dried root is  grayish-brown  and much wrinkled externally, whitish  and
spongy within, and breaks with a starchy fracture, exhibiting 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
Buchner, are volatile oil, a volatile acid which he calls angelicic 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 s£r. ii.  124.)  Five hundred parts yield  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.   Garden  angelica is an elegant aromatic tonic, but is
little employed in the United States.  The  Laplanders, in whose country it
flourishes,  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.                                                 W.

                        ANGUSTURA.  U.S.

                           Angustura Bark.

   The bark of Galipea officinalis. Hancock.  U. S.
   Off. Syn,  CUSPARIA.  Galipea Cusparia.  Cortex. Lond.;  CUSP ARIA.
Bark of Galipea officinalis.  Ed.
  Angusture, Fr.; Angusturarinde,  Germ.; Corteccia dell' Angustura, Ital.; Corteza
de Angostura, Span.
   The subject of Angustura bark, in  its botanical relations, has been involved
in some confusion.  The drug was at first  supposed to be derived from a species
of  Magnolia,  and was referred by some to Magnolia glauca  of this country.
Humboldt and Bonpland were the first to  throw light upon its true source.
When at Angustura, a  South American city on the  Orinoco, they received
specimens  of  the foliage of  the  plant from which the bark was obtained;
and afterwards believed that they had found the same plant in a tree grow-
ing in the vicinity of Cumana.   This latter  they had the opportunity of per-
sonally 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 ap-
pellation offebrifuga.  On their authority 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 it was subsequently adopted by Humboldt and Bonpland 
104
Angustura.
PART I.
themselves, in their great work on equinoctial plauts.   Hence the title of Bon-
plandia trifoliata, by which the tree is described in many works on Materia
Medica.   De Candolle, however, having  found in the description all  the  cha-
racters of the genus Galipea of Aublet,  rejected both these titles, and substi-
tuted that of  Galipea  Cusparia,  which  has been adopted  by the London
College.   But, after all these  commutations, 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 probably another species of the same genus.  Among
other striking differences between them is that of their size; the tree described
by Humboldt and Bonpland being not less than sixty or eighty feet in height,
while that from which the bark  is  obtained is never more than  twenty feet.
Hancock proposes for the latter the title of Galipea officinalis, which has been
adopted in the U.S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias.
   Galipea.  Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia. — Nat, Ord. Rutaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla inferior, irregular, four or five cleft, hypocrateriform.  Sta-
mens four; two sterile. Loudon's Encyc.
   Galipea officinalis.   Hancock,  Trans.  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 unplea-
sant 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.  The 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 Indies packed in casks; but,
 according to Mr. Brande, the original package, as it comes from Angustura,
 consists  of the leaves of a species of palm,  surrounded by a network 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  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 Angustura bark is  pecu-
 liar and disagreeable when fresh, but becomes fainter with age; the taste is bit-
 ter 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 bit-
 ter 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
 with the odour of the bark.  Cusparin is the name given by Saladin to  a prin- 
PART I.
Angustura.
105
ciple, deposited in tetrahedral crystals, when an infusion of the bark is treated
with absolute alcohol, at common temperatures, and allowed to evaporate spon-
taneously.   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.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 662.) The virtues of the bark proba-
bly 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 to determine.
   False Angustura.   Under this title, European  writers  describe a bark
which was introduced on the continent mixed with true Angustura bark, and,
being  possessed of poisonous properties, has  produced in some  instances un-
pleasant 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, sometimes is  yellowish-gray, and marked with pro-
minent white spots; by the brownish colour and smoothness of its internal sur-
face, which is not, like  that of the genuine bark, separable into laminas; 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 poisonous operation depends.  (See Nux Vomica.) In consequence of
the presence of this principle, a drop of nitric acid  upon the internal surface of
the bark produces a deep-red spot.   The same acid,  applied to the external
surface, renders it  emerald-green.   In 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 antidysenterica; and was afterwards re-
ferred to some  unknown species of Strychnos, in consequence of containing bru-
cia, which is a characteristic ingredient  of that genus of plants.   At  present,
it is ascribed to  Strychnos  Nux vomica, the  bark of  which, according to Dr.
O'Shaughnessy, exactly corresponds with the description of Angustura, and like
it contains brucia.   Little of this bark reaches the United States.
   Medical Properties and  Uses. Angustura bark had been long used by the
natives of the country where it grows, before it became known elsewhere. From
the continent its employment extended to the West Indies, where  it acquired
considerable reputation. It was first taken to Europe about seventy years since.
It is now ranked among the officinal remedies throughout Europe and America;
but it has not sustained its early reputation, and  in the United States is  not
 much prescribed.   Its operation is that  of a stimulant tonic.  In  large doses
it also evacuates the stomach and bowels, and is often employed for this pur-
 pose in South America.  It was at  one time considerably 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 peculiarly efficacious in
bilious diarrhoeas and dysenteries; and has been recommended in dyspepsia, and
 other diseases in which a tonic treatment is demanded.   The testimony, how-
 ever, 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 
106
Angustura.—Anisum.
PART I.
intermittent fevers, dysenteries, 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 may be given in powder, infusion, tincture,  or extract.   The dose in sub-
stance is from ten to thirty grains.  In larger quantities it is apt to produce
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  Angusturas; Tinctura Cusparias.                W.


                ANISUM.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                                 Anise.

  The fruit of Pimpinella Anisum. U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.
  Graines d'anis, Fr.; Anissame, Germ.; Semi d'aniso, Ital. ; Simiente de anis, Span.;
Anison, Arab.
  Pimpinella.  -Sex. Syst. Pentandria  Digynia.—Nat.  Ord.  Umbelliferas or
Apiaceas.
  Gen. Ch. Fruit ovate  oblong.  Petals  inferior.    Stigma nearly globular.
Willd.
  Pimpinella Anisum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1473; Woodv. Med. Bot.ip.  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, incised-serrate, the middle pinnate-lobed with cuneate or lanceolate lobes,
the upper  trifid, undivided, linear.  The  flowers are  white, and in  terminal
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 conti-
nent.  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  (botanically fruit) are about a  line in length,  oval, striated,
somewhat  downy, attached to their  footstalks, and of a light greenish-brown
colour,  with  a  shade of yellow.   Their odour is fragrant, and increased by
friction; their taste, warm, sweet, and aromatic.  These properties, which de-
pend 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 substance 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 un-
dergo 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,  moreover,
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,0 plant,
being the  fruit  of Illicium 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 
PART T.
Anisum.—Anthem is.
107
containing a brown shining seed.  It is much used in France to flavour liquors;
and the volatile  oil, upon which its aromatic properties depend, and of which
it is said to yield about 2-3 per cent., is imported into this country from the
East Indies, and sold as common oil of anise, to which, however, it is thought
by some to be much superior.
  Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Anise is a grateful aromatic carminative;
and 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 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 volatile  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.                                          W.


              ANTHEMIS.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Chamomile.

   The  flowers of Anthemis nobilis.  U S., Lond., Dub.   The simple flowers.
 Ed,
   Camomille  Romaine, Fr.; Romische Kamille,  Germ.; Camomilla Romana,  Ital.;
 Manzanilla Romana, Span.
   Anthemis.  Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Composites Sene-
 cionideas. De Cand.   Asteraceas. 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  mayweed,  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. arvensis, a native of  this  country and  of
 Europe, bears flowers  which have  an acrid bitter taste, and possess medical
 properties, analogous  though  much inferior to those of common chamomile.
 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 bipinnate,
 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  hemispherical form,
 and  composed  of several  small  imbricated hairy  scales.   The receptacle is
 convex, prominent, and furnished with rigid bristle-like palese.  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.   By cultivation the yellow disk florets are often converted into the
 white ray florets.   Thus altered, the  flowers are said to be double, while those
 which remain unchanged are called single; but, as the conversion may be more 
108
Anthemis.
PART I.
or less complete, it generally happens that with each of the varieties there are
intermingled some flowers of the other kind, or in different stages of the change.
The double flowers are generally preferred;  though, as the sensible  properties
are found in the greatest degree in the  disk, the single are the most powerful.
On this account, the latter were formerly exclusively directed by the  London
College, and still  are so by the Edinburgh  College.   It is rather, however, in
aromatic flavour than in bitterness, 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 pre-
ferred.  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 the flowers of Matricaria Chamomilla are  also oc-
casionally imported, under the name  of chamomile. (See Matricaria.)
  Properties.  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. Hence the name  chamse-
melum (xapai  on the ground, and wh6v an apple) ;  and it  is  somewhat sin-
gular that the Spanish name manzanilla (a little apple) has a similar signi-
fication.   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 contain  a volatile oil,  a bitter principle,  resin,  gum, a
small quantity of  tannin, and various salts.  The first two  are probably their
active ingredients.  (See Oleum Anthemidis.)  A  volatile  acid, in minute pro-
portion, has been  obtained from them by Schendler, 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 consequent
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 formerly possessed much reputation, and
was employed in intermittents and remittents ;  but we have remedies so much
more efficient, that it is now seldom used in this capacity.   The tepid  infusion
is very often given to promote the operation of emetics,  or to assist the stomach

  * To those who maybe disposed to cultivate the flowers for the shops, the following
statements made by Mr. Jacob Bell, from  observations at the flower gardens at Mitcham,
in Surrey, England, may not be without  interest.  The plant is  usually propagated by
dividing the root, though the seeds are employed when it is desired to  introduce new
varieties.  Each root will serve as the source of thirty or forty plants.  They are set
in rows a yard apart, at intervals of about eighteen inches.   The proper period for
planting is March;  and the flowers are  in perfection in July, but continue to appear
throughout the season.   Extremely wet or extremely dry weather is injurious to the
crop.   It is more productive in a rather heavy loam, than either in light sandy soil,
or in stiff clay. It requires little manure, but attention to weeding is necessary.   Over-
manuring  increases  the leaves  at the expense of the flowers.  When gathered  the
flowers are dried upon canvass trays in a drying room, artificially warmed, where they
remain about a day. The crop varies from three to ten  hundred weight per acre.  The
single flowers are more productive than  the double by weight;  but, as they command
a less price, the value of the crop is  about the same.  {Pharm. Journ.  and Trans, x.
118.) —Note to the ninth edition. 
PART I.
Anthemis.—Antimonium.
109
in relieving itself when oppressed by its contents.  The flowers are sometimes
applied externally, in the form of fomentation, in cases of irritation or inflam-
mation of the abdominal viscera, and as  a gentle incitant in flabby, ill-condi-
tioned 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.   The infusion is usually
preferred.  The decoction and extract cannot exert the full influence of the
medicine ; as the volatile oil is driven off at the boiling temperature.
   Off. Prep.   Extractum Anthemidis; Infusum Anthemidis; Oleum Anthe-
midis.                                                              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 com-
position 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.   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 with an iron rake.
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  anti-
monious acid; while nearly all  the sulphur  is dissipated in the form of sul-
phurous acid gas : a portion of tersulphuret,  however,  remains undecomposed.
The matter is then mixed with charcoal impregnated with a concentrated solu-
tion 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
scoriae, which cover the reduced metal, and diminish its loss by volatilization.
   The purest  commercial antimony is  not  entirely free from foreign metals,
chiefly iron, lead, and arsenic.   M. Lefort purifies it for the purposes of phar-
macy, by gradually adding twenty-five parts of the metal, in fine  powder, to
fifty parts of  nitric  acid, by the action of which the antimony precipitates as
antimonious acid, while the foreign metals remain in solution.  The precipitate
is then thoroughly washed with water, containing  a hundredth part of nitric
acid,  drained  completely, mixed with three  or four parts of powdered sugar,
and reduced to the metallic state by being heated to redness in a Hessian cru-
cible.  (Journ. de Pharm., Aoiit, 1855, 93.)
   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 one
side and convex on the other; 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 Antinwnii, published towards the end of 
110
Antimonium.
PART i.
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, svmbol Sb, sp. gr.  6'7, and fusing point  810  , or
about a red heat.  Recent experiments of Schneider, confirmed by \\ ebcr, make
the eq. of antimony 120-2 ; but we shall adhere to 129, until the new number
is fully confirmed.  On cooling  after fusion, antimony assumes  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 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 is
saidto exist, which, according to Marchand, has a composition represented by
the formula, Sb304.  The teroxide will be noticed under the head of Antimonii
Oxidum.   Antimonic  acid is a lemon-coloured powder, which  may be pre-
pared 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 propor-
tion of the preparation called antimonial powder.  (See Pulvis Antimonialis.)
   Antimony is officinal in the following states of combination.
   I. Sulphuretted.
       Antimonii Sulphuretum, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Antimonii Tersulphuretum,
            Lond.
       Antimonii Sulphuretum Prasparatum, Dub.
       Antimonii  Sulphuretum Prascipitatum, U. S., Dub.;  Antimonii Oxy-
            sulphuretum, Lond,; Antimonii Sulphuretum Aureum, Ed.
 II. Oxidized.
        Teroxide.  Antimonii Oxidum, Ed.; Antimonii Oxydum, Dub.
        Teroxide, combined with tartaric  acid and potassa.  Antimonii et
            Potassas Tartras, U S.; Antimonii  Potassio-tartras,  Lond,; An-
            timonium Tartarizatum, Ed.,  Dub.   Dissolved  in wine.  Yinum
            Antimonii, U. S.;  Vinum  Antimonii Potassio-tartratis,  Lond,;
            Vinum Antimoniale, Ed,  Dissolved in dilute alcohol. Antimonii
            Tartarizati Liquor,  Dub.  Mixed with lard, Unguentum Anti-
            monii, U. S.;  Ung. Antimonii Potassio-tartratis, Lond; Ung.
            Antimoniale, Ed.; Ung. Antimonii Tartarizati, Dub.
        Teroxide and antimonious acid, mixed with phosphate of lime.  Pulvis
            Antimonialis,  Ed., Dub.; Pulvis  Antimonii Compositus, Lond.
III. Combined with chlorine.
        Antimonii Terchloridi Liquor, Dub.
   The  antimonial preparations are  active  in  proportion to  their solubility in
the gastric juice.   According to Mialhe, those antimonials which contain the
hydrated  teroxide,  or are easily converted into it, are most  active.  Hence
metallic antimony in  fine powder, and tartar emetic act with energy.   The
teroxide is much more active when prepared in the moist than in  the dry way.
According to Serullas, all the  antimonial preparations, except tartar emetic
and butter or terchloride of antimony, contain a minute proportion of arsenic.
Tartar emetic is an exception, because it separates entirely, in the act of crys-
tallizing, 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.                                                            Tj. 
part I.  Antimonii Sulphuretum.—Apocynum Androssemifolium.  Ill

      ANTIMONII  SULPHURETUM. U. S., Ed., Dub.

                     Sulphuret of Antimony.

  Native tersulphuret of antimony, purified by fusion. U. S.
  Off Syn. ANTIMONII TERSULPHURETUM.  Lond.
  Artificial sulphuret of antimony; Antimoine sulfure, Fr.; Schwefelantimon, Schwe-
felspiessglanz, Germ.; Solfuro d'antimonio, Ital.; Antimonio crndo, Span.
  Preparation, &c.   The sulphuret  of antimony of the Pharmacopoeias  is
obtained from the native sulphuret, called antimony ore, by different processes
of purification ; the following being an outline of that generally pursued.  The '
ore is placed in melting pots in a circular reverberatory furnace, and these are
made to connect, 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 sul-
phuret without interrupting the fire, and, consequently, without loss  of  time
or fuel.
  Properties, &c.  Sulphuret of antimony is mostly prepared in France and
Germany.   It is called in commerce, antimony, or crude antimony, and occurs
in fused conical masses, denominated  loaves.   These are dark-gray externally,
and exhibit internally, when broken, a brilliant steel-gray colour, and a striated
crystalline 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, is decomposed with the production  of a white powder
(oxychloride 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 Arseniosum.)
   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 medicinal
use. (See Antimonii Sulphuretum Prseparatum.)
  Off. Prep.  Antimonii  et Potassas Tartras  ; Antimonii Oxidum ; Antimonii
Sulphuretum Prascipitatum ; Antimonii Sulphuretum Prasparatum; Pulvis An-
timonialis.                                                         B.

  APOCYNUM  ANDROSSEMIFOLIUM.  U. S. Secondary.

                             Dog's-bane.

  The root of Apocynum androsasmifolium.  U. S.
  Apocynum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat, Ord, Apocynaceas.
  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.
  A}X)cynum  androssemifolium.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  i. 1259;  Bigelow,  Am. 
112     Apocynum Androssemifolium.—A. Cannabinum.     part I.

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 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 pedun-
cles have 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 numerous 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 the
Carolinas.  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 hisexperiments
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 practi-
tioners in the country for this purpose.  By Dr. Zollickoffer it is considered 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 Hemp.

   The root of Apocynum cannabinum. U. S.
   Apocynum.  See APOCYNUM ANDROSSEMIFOLIUM.
   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, ob-
 long-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 an erect border; the internal parts
 of the flower are  pinkish or  purple.   The  plant  grows in similar  situations
 with A. androssemifolium,  flowers about the same period, and bears a similar
 fruit.   It  abounds in a  milky juice,  and has a tough fibrous bark, which, by
 maceration, affords a substitute for hemp.  From this  circumstance its common
 name was derived.
    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  resembling caoutchouc.  In the
 dried state, it is brittle and readily pulverized,  affording a powder like that of
 ipecacuanha.  Dr. Knapp  found it to contain a bitter principle, extractive,
 tannin,  gallic acid, resin, wax, caoutchouc, fecula, lignin, and a peculiar active
 principle which he proposed to call apocynin.  (Am. Med.  Review, iii. 197.) 
 parti.           Apocynum  Cannabinum.—Aqua.               113

 Dr. Griscom, by a subsequent analysis, obtained similar results, with the addi-
 tion of gum.   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 ca-
 thartic, sometimes diuretic, and, like other emetic substances, promotes diapho-
 resis  and expectoration.   It produces much nausea, diminishes  the frequency
 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. Sci-
 ences, 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 fluidounces may be given two  or three times a day, or more fre-
 quently 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.
   Off. Syn. AQUA FONTANA. Spring Water.  Dub.
  *YS<w£, Gr.; Eau, Fr.; Wasser, Germ.;  Acqua, Ital.; Agua, Span.
   Water has  always been included in the  United States  Pharmacopoeia, on
 account of its great importance as a medical  and pharmaceutical agent.  It was
 not admitted into the officinal lists of the British Pharmacopoeias until the year
 1839, when it was first recognised by the Edinburgh College.   Since then it
 has been made  officinal by the Dublin College, in its revised Pharmacopoeia of
 1850.  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 diver-
 sified agency, our limits will allow of a sketch only of its properties and modi-
 fications.  We  shall speak of it under the several heads of pure water, common
 wafer, and mineral waters.
  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 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 incontestable manner, by
 Perkins.  Reduced 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 about 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 eq.  of hydrogen 1, and one of oxygen 8=9; or, in
       8 
114
Aqua.
PART I.
volumes, of one volume of hydrogen and half a volume of  oxygen, condensed
into one volume of aqueous vapour or steam.   On these data, it is easy to cal-
culate 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.   By reason of its extensive  solvent powers, water, in its
natural state, must be more or less contaminated with foreign  matter.   Thus,
it becomes variously impregnated, according to the nature of the strata through
which it percolates.   When the foreign substances present  are in so small an
amount as not  materially to alter its taste and other sensible qualities, it con-
stitutes the different varieties of common  water.
  Common water possesses almost innumerable shades of difference, as obtained
from different localities and sources; but all its  varieties may be conveniently
arranged under the two heads of soft and  hard.  A soft water is one which con-
tains 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 calcareous or magnesian salts, curdles and, therefore, wastes soap, and
is unfit for domestic purposes.  Tincture of soap  is a convenient test for ascer-
taining the quality of water.   In distilled water it  produces no  effect; in soft
water, only a slight opalescence ; but in hard water, a milky appearance.   The
milkiness is due to the formation of an  insoluble compound between the oily
acids of the soap, and the lime or magnesia of the foreign  salt.
  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 pre-
sence of sulphate of lime is shown by precipitates being produced by nitrate of
baryta, and, after ebullition, by oxalate of ammonia.   The former  test shows
the presence of sulphuric acid, and the latter,  after boiling  the water, 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, ordinarily, the one present may be assumed to be  common salt.
    Dr. Clark has proposed to purify hard water, when the hardness arises  from
 the bicarbonate of lime, by a process which he calls liming.   This consists in
 adding to the  water, sufficient lime-water to convert the bicarbonate into the
 very sparingly soluble carbonate.  This procedure renders the water soft, and
 gets rid of all the lime, except that in  the minute portion of carbonate dis-
 solved.   The merit of this process chiefly consists,  not in the removal of lime,
 but in preventing the formation of organic matters, principally confervas, the
 decomposition of which renders the water offensive and  unwholesome.   Dr.
 Clark's process has  been for some time in successful operation on the water,
 obtained by boring, at the Plumstead water-works near Woolwich. (See Pharm.
 Journ. and Trans, for June, 1856.) River water containing the usual amount
 of calcareous matter, if allowed to stagnate in open reservoirs, in the  summer,
 will become contaminated with myriads of microscopic plants and animals.  Now
 this change is prevented, according to  Dr.  Clark, by his peculiar treatment,
 which deprives the living organisms of the nutriment, derived from loosely com-
 bined carbonic acid.
    The oxygen and nitrogen present in natural waters are not usually in the 
PART I.
Aqua.
115
same proportion as in atmospheric air; the oxygen in atmospheric air amount-
ing to  about 20 per cent, in volume, while the usual gaseous mixture, expelled
from fresh water by boiling, contains about 32 per cent.
   Common water is also divided into varieties according to its source.   Thus
we have rain, snow, spring, river, well, lake, and marsh water.
   Rain and snow ivaters are the purest kinds of  natural water.   Rain 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 at-
mosphere, and  with other  impurities derived from roofs.   The  rain water of
large cities contains nitrogenized organic matter, as shown by the odour pro-
duced by burning the residue, left after the water  has been evaporated.
   Rain water ordinarily contains atmospheric air; and, according to Liebig, a
little nitric acid, the amount of which is increased when the  rain descends during
a storm.  According  to an analysis, made by M.  Martin,  of  rain water which
fell at  Marseilles during a violent storm,  1000 parts by weight contained 0-004
of chlorine, and 0-003 of ammonia.   Not a trace of iodine or of nitric acid was
discovered.   Boussingault  has ascertained  that the rain which falls in towns,
contains considerably more ammonia  than that  which falls  in the country.
Thus, the rain  of Paris was found by him to contain three  or four parts of am-
monia per  million; while  that collected in a mountainous  region  contained
about  four-fifths of one  part only in a million." The average results  of Mr. J.
B. Lawes  and Dr. J. H. Gilbert give one  part of ammonia  to the million of
rain water. (See Chem. Gaz., Nov.  1, 1854.) Snow water  has a peculiar taste,
which  was supposed to depend on the presence of air more oxygenous  than that
of the  atmosphere; but in point of fact it contains no air, and this accounts for
its vapid taste.  Both  rain and snow water are  sufficiently pure for employ-
ment in most chemical operations.
   Spring water (aqua foutana) 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 impuri-
ties, which vary according to the locality of the spring.
   River water (aqua fluvialis) is,  generally speaking, less impregnated with
saline matter than spring water, because made up  in considerable part of rains,
while its volume bears  a larger proportion to the surface  of its bed.   It is,
however, much more apt to have mechanically suspended in it 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 a large  amount of impurity, both organic and inorganic.   Dr.
R. D. Thomson found 14*76 grs., per imperial gallon,  of impurity in a  well in
London.  From the organic matter he extracted much nitric acid and ammonia,
evidently the product of animal excretions.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., July
1856, p. 27.)  The presence of nitrates in water prevents  the formation of
organic beings, 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 pure water.
   Lake water cannot be characterized as having any invariable qualities.  That
of most of  the lakes in  the United States, is pure and wholesome.
   Marsh water is generally stagnant, and contains vegetable remains undergo-
ing 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 
116
Aqua.
PART I.
of ulmin or gein.  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 slightly yellow tint.
The liquid  is then boiled.  If  the water contain the  ordinary proportion of
organic matter, the yellow tint will remain unchanged; but if its quantity be
greater  than this, the  liquid will  at first become brownish, and afterwards violet
or bluish, in consequence of the  reduction of the gold.
   The term Aqua, in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, may be considered as designating
any natural water of good quality.  In the Ed. Pharmacopoeia 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  inodorous.   It answers well for cooking, 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 lead.   This risk is greater in proportion to the
softness and purity of the water; for it is found that the presence of a minute
proportion of saline  matter, as  for example of sulphate of lime, protects the
water from the  slightest metallic-impregnation.  According to Mr. R. Phillips,
jun., the chlorides are  not protective; as they give rise to chloride of lead, which
is  slightly  soluble.  The  protection has been ascribed  to an insoluble  film on
the surface 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.   It  contains, on an average, in a  wine gallon, according to an analysis
by Prof. M. H. Boye, of Philadelphia, 4-42 grains of solid matter, nearly one-
half of  which is carbonate of lime,  with only a trace of organic matter.  It is
perfectly free from lead, even after standing in leaden pipes for thirty-six hours.
(Prof.  E.  N Horsford.)   The  solid matter in the same quantity of the Dela-
ware  water at Philadelphia, is 3-53 grains,  a little over one-third of  which ,is
carbonate of lime.  (Henry Wurtz.)   The Croton water of New York  is also a
good water.  It contains 10-93 grs. of solid matter to the gallon.   Brackish
or hard water ought never to be employed in compounding prescriptions.  For
some pharmaceutical  purposes, no natural water is sufficiently pure;  and hence
the necessity of resorting to distillation. (See Aqua Destillata.)
   Matters,  mechanically  suspended in a natural  water,  may be removed by
filtration through sand.  On a  large  scale  they may be separated by causing
the water to percolate a bed of gravel  and sand.   Rest, causing subsidence,
effects the  same purpose, but in  a less perfect manner, and requires time.
   Mineral Waters.  When  natural  waters are  so far impregnated with
foreign substances as to have a  decided taste and a peculiar operation on the
economy, they  are called mineral  waters.   These  are conveniently arranged
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 
PART I.
Aqua.
117
precipitate with the salts of lead or silver.   Examples of this kind  are  the
waters of Aix La Chapelle and Harrogate 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 ferrocyanuret 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 carbonic 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 Wiesbaden in Germany, and of Bed-
ford, Pittsburg, and Brandywine in the United States.  The sediments of many
of the chalybeate springs of Germany have been  ascertained 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 pro-
portion 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.  According to M. Lassaigne, the ar-
senical impregnation exerts no poisonous action on the inferior animals, a re-
sult which he ascribes to the antidotal  power of the  iron.  The mineral water
of Mont Dore, in France, was found by Thenard to contain arseniate of soda,
in the proportion of  about one-fifteen thousandth of a grain to two pints.
   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, and other salt springs of Ger-
many.   Bromine is found in the saline at Theodorshalle, in Germany, as also
in the salt wells of  western  Pennsylvania.  The mineral  springs at Saratoga
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; carbonate
of lime 3; chloride  of sodium 17.  Total 29 grs.  (Bergmann.)
   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 F5; 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 2b75  grs. (Bergmann.)
   Harrogate old sulphur well.   Sp.  gr. 1-01113; temp. 48-2°.  In  an Im-
perial gallon.  Gaseous contents;—carbonic  acid  22-03  cubic inches; carbu-
retted hydrogen 5-84; sulphuretted hydrogen 5-31; nitrogen 2-91. Total 36-09
cubic inches.  Solid contents;—sulphate of lime 0-181 grs.; carbonate of lime
12-365;  chloride of calcium 81'735;  chloride of magnesium 55-693; chloride
of potassium 64"701; chloride of sodium 866-180;  sulphuret of •sodium 15-479;
silica 0'246; with traces of fluoride of calcium, bromide and iodide of sodium, 
118
Aqua.
PART i.
ammonia, carbonate of iron,  carbonate  of  manganese, and organic matter.
Total 1096"580 grs.  (Hofmann. Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiv. 123.)
   White sulphur.  Gaseous contents in a wine gallon;—sulphuretted hydrogen
2-5 cubic inches; carbonic acid 2; oxygen 1-448;  nitrogen 3-5f>2.  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 0-204; chloride of sodium
0-180; oxide of iron a trace; loss 0-410.  Total 15-276 grs. (W. 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 1-41; carbonate of lime 0-27; oxide of iron 2 22; manganese,
vegetable fibre,  silica,  &c.  0-44; loss 0-13.  Total 7*61 grs.  (Scudamore.)
   Brighton.  In a wine pint. Carbonic acid 2-5 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 0-14; loss 019.  Total  8-5 grs.  (Marcet.)
   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 4P3;
oxide of  iron 0-8.   Total 73"8 grs. (Brande and Partes.)
   Bedford,  In a wine pint.  Carbonic acid not estimated. Solid contents;—car-
bonate of lime 2-120 grs.;  sulphate of lime 11-274; sulphate of magnesia 3*974;
sulphates of alumina  and sesquioxide of iron 1-280;  sulphate of soda 3-092;
chloride of sodium 0-343;  free  sulphuric acid [?] 0-128; silica and organic mat-
ter a trace.  Total 22-211 grs. (-7.  Cheston Morris. Med, Exam., June, 1852.)
   Rockbridge alum spring.   In a wine gallon.   Carbonic acid  7-536 grs.
Solid contents;—sulphate of potassa  1-765 grs.;  sulphate of lime 3*263; sul-
phate of magnesia 1-763; protoxide of iron 4-863;  alumina 17-905; crenate
of ammonia 0-700; chloride of sodium 1-008; silica 2*840; free sulphuric acid
15-224.  Total 49-331. (Hayes.)  In this analysis a free acid and free bases
are made to coexist.
   Church Hill alum water, Richmond, Va.  Sp. gr. 1-0069.  In a wine gallon.
Solid  contents;—sulphate of  potassa 2444  grs.; sulphate of  soda  1*943;
chloride of sodium 4-627 ;  sulphate of ammonia 0-643; sulphate of lime 88*836;
sulphate of magnesia 86-064;  tersulphate of alumina 72-928; sulphate of prot-
oxide  of iron 24-991; tersulphate of sesquioxide of iron  51-270;  bisulphate
of sesquioxide  of iron 83-355; silica  10-429;  phosphoric acid a trace.   Total
427-530 grs. (J. C. Booth.  Am. Journ, of Pharm,, May, 1854.)
   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  80-5 grs. (Parkes and Brande.)
   Bath.  King's well.  Sp. gr. 1-0025; temp. 115°.  In  an Imperial gallon.
 Solid contents;—carbonate of lime 8-820 grs.; carbonate of magnesia 0*329;
carbonate of iron  1*064;  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., 1846, 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 con- 
PART I.
Aqua.
119
tents;—chloride of sodium  187 grs.; carbonate of magnesia 75; carbonate of
lime 26;  carbonate of soda 2; carbonate of iron 1;  iodine 35.  Total 294-5
grs.  (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; carbo-
nate of lime 52-84; carbonate of magnesia 56-92; carbonate of iron 3-51; sulph-
ate 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 31F71 grs.  (Chilton.)
   Saratoga.   Union spring.   In a wine gallon.   Gaseous contents;—carbonic
acid 314-16 cubic inches; atmospheric air 4-62.   Total  318-78 cubic  inches.
Solid contents;—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 and iodine  3*600; silica  and alumina  1-570;
bromide  of potassium a trace.   Total 392*907 grs. (J. R. 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 1-6256; 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 mag-
nesia 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 3-667;  bromide of magnesium 0-029; sulphate of magnesia  2-296; sul-
phate of lime 1-407 ;  carbonate of lime 0-033.   Total 1000 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  amount; 100
pounds of sea water yielding  only 3^ grs. of this element.  According to Balard,
iodine exists in the water of the Mediterranean; but it has not  been  detected
in the water  of  the ocean,  the bromine being supposed to mask its presence.
Besides  these ingredients,  others are alleged to exist in minute proportion in
sea  water; as fluorine  by Dr. G. Wilson; lead,  copper, and silver,  by MM.
Malaguti,  Durocher, and Sarzeau; and iron  and manganese by M. Uziglio.
Anterior to  Wilson's researches, Mr.  Middleton and Prof. Silliman, jun. had
inferred  the existence of fluorine in sea water, from its presence  in marine ani-
mals.   The lead and copper, above mentioned, were found in  certain fuci only;
the  silver, in the sea water itself.  The presence of silver in sea water has been
rendered probable by Mr. F. Field, by a comparative analysis of  the same
copper sheathing, when new, and after having been on a vessel for many years.
The old sheathing was  always found  to contain more  silver  than  the new.
(Chem.  Gaz., March 2,  1857.)  Schweitzer's analysis gives a  small propor-
tion of carbonate of  lime; but  Bibra could not detect any.   Dr. John Davy's
examinations of sea water show that carbonate of lime does not exist at a great
distance from land, except in very minute proportion; but becomes quite evident
in water, taken  at a distance of from fifty to a hundred miles from coasts.
   Sea water, filtered, and charged with five times its volume of carbonic acid,
forms, according to Pasquier, a gentle purgative, which keeps very well, and is
not disagreeable to take.   The dose is from half a pint to a pint.
   Medical Properties  of Water.  Water is  a remedy  of great importance.
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 
120
Aqua.
PART I.
sensation either of heat or cold; between 60° and 45°, it creates a cool sensa-
tion; 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 temperature.   By its bulk and solvent powers, it
allays irritation by diluting the acrid contents of the stomach and bowels,  and
favouring their final expulsion; and by its absorption, it promotes the secretion
of urine and cutaneous transpiration.  Indeed, its influence is so great in  the
latter 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 temperature
at which it may be applied.  When this is above 97°, it constitutes the vapour
or hot bath;  when between 97°  and 85°, the warm bath;  between  85° and
65°, the tepid bath; and between 65° and 32°, the cold bath.
  The general action of the vapour bath is to accelerate the circulation, and pro-
duce profuse sweating.  It acts locally on the skin by softening and relaxing its
texture.   In stiffness of  the joints and in 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 constitu-
tion 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 produces profuse perspiration.
  The warm bath, though below the animal heat, nevertheless produces a sensa-
tion of warmth; as its temperature is above that of the surface.   It diminishes
the frequency of the pulse, renders the respiration slower, lessens  the heat of
the body, and relaxes the skin.   It cannot,  therefore, be deemed a stimulant.
By relieving certain diseased actions and states, accompanied by  morbid irrita-
bility, it often acts as a soothing remedy,  producing a disposition to sleep.  It
is proper  in febrile exanthematous diseases, in which the pulse is frequent,  the
skin hot and dry, and the general  condition  characterized by restlessness.  It
is contra-indicated in diseases of the head and chest.
   The tepid bath is not calculated to have  much modifying influence on  the
heat of the body.  Its peculiar effects are  to  soften  and cleanse  the' skin, and
to promote insensible perspiration.
  The cold bath  acts differently according to its temperature and manner of
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.  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, that the stock of vitality  shouldMbe suf-
ficient to create, immediately after its use,  those feelings of warmth and invigo-
ration, included under the term reaction.   Currie used it with  advantage by
affusion, in certain febrile diseases, especially typhus and scarlatina.   To niake
it safe, the heat must be steadily above the natural standard, and the patient
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 inflam-
mations of the chest,
  Pharm, Uses.  Water is used in a vast number of preparations  either as a
menstruum,  or as a means for promoting chemical action by its solvent power.
  Of. Prep. Aqua Destillata.                                          p> 
part i.          Aralia Nudicaulis.—Aralia Spinosa.             121
          ARALIA NUDICAULIS.  U. S. Secondary.

                          False Sarsaparilla.

   The root  of Aralia nudicaulis.  U S.
   Aralia.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Pentagynia. — Nat, Ord. Araliaceas.
   Gen. Ch.   Flowers umbelled.   Calyx five-toothed,  superior.   Petals  five.
 Stigma sessile, subglobose.  Berry five-celled, five-seeded.  Torrey.
   Aralia nudicaulis.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1521; Rafinesque, Med. Flor. i. 53.
 False sarsaparilla, wild sarsaparilla,  or small spikenard, as this plant is va-
 riously 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 footstalk, is twice
 ternate, or once aud quinate, with oblong-oval, acuminate leaflets, rounded at
 the base, serrate on the margin, and  smooth on  both surfaces.   The scape or
 flower-stem  is naked, shorter than the leaf, and terminated by three small um-
 bels, 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 the
 Carolinas, inhabiting shady and rocky woods, and delighting in a rich soil. It
 flowers in May and June.
   The  root, which is the  officinal  portion, 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,  aro-
 matic, sweetish taste.  It has not been analyzed.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  False sarsaparilla is a gentle  stimulant and
 diaphoretic, and is thought to have an alterative influence, analogous to that of
 the root from which it derived its name.  It is used in  domestic practice,  and,
 by some practitioners in the country,  in rheumatic, syphilitic, and cutaneous
 affections, in the same manner and dose as genuine sarsaparilla,   A strong de-
 coction has  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 hispida,
 called in Massachusetts dwarf elder, as a diuretic in dropsy.  He used it in the
 form of decoction, and finds it pleasanter to the taste and more acceptable 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 spiyiosa. 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 Xanihoxylvm
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 termi- 
122                 Aralia Spinosa.—Argentum.               part I.

nates 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 most  abundantly and of the largest growth
in the Southern  States,  where it is said sometimes to attain a height of from
thirty to sixty feet.  It grows also in the Western States, and as far north as
New York.  It is sometimes cultivated in the gardens of the north as a curious
or ornamental plant.  It  flourishes in  low, fertile woods, and flowers in Au-
gust and September.  The bark, root, and berries are  medicinal; but the first
only is directed by the Pharmacopoeia.
  The bark, as in the shops, is usually in small quills or half-quills, from two
or three lines to half an inch in diameter, thin, fibrous, grayish externally, and
armed with prickles or  the remains of them, yellowish within, of  an odour
somewhat aromatic, and a bitterish taste, which becomes slightly acrid on chew-
ing, and leaves a lasting sense of pungency upon the tongue.  It yields its vir-
tues 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  rheumatism
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 re-
markable for relieving rheumatic pains;  and a  similar tincture is said to be em-
ployed 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.


                 ARGENTUM. U. S., Lond., Ed.

                                 Silver.

   Off. Syn. ARGENTUM PURIFICATUM. Refined  Silver.  Dub.
   Argent, Fr.; Silber, Germ.; Argento, Ital.; Plata, Span.
   Silver is occasionally found in the metallic state, sometimes crystallized, at
 other times combined with gold, antimony,  arsenic, or mercury ; but 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 is  the  sulphuret.  The mineral containing
 silver, which is  most disseminated, is argentiferous galena, which is 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, N. C.   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. (Eckfeldt and Du Bois. Manual
 of Coins.)
    Extraction.   Silver is  extracted from its  ores  by two principal processes,
 amalgamation  .and cupellation.  At  Freyberg,  in Saxony, the ore, which is
 principally the  sulphuret, is mixed with a tenth  of chloride of sodium, and
 roasted in  a reverberatory furnace.   The  sulphur becomes acidified, and com-
 bines with sodium and oxygen, so as to form  sulphate of soda, while the chlo-
 rine 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 subjected, for sixteen
 or eighteen hours, to constant agitation in barrels turned by machhiery.   The 
part I.                 Argentum.—Armoracia.                     123

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 is left in the form of  a porous mass.   In Peru  and
Mexico the process  is similar to that  above given, 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, oval, shallow
vessel 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, in the form of litharge.
The operation being continued on successive portions of argentiferous lead, the
whole of the lead is separated, and the silver, not being  oxidizable, accumulates
on the test as  a brilliant fused  mass, until its amount is sufficient to be re-
moved.   The time required for the separation is much abridged by the process
of Mr.  Pattinson, of Newcastle,  England.   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 contracts a superficial
tarnish of sulphuret of silver by the  action of sulphuretted hydrogen in the
atmosphere.  It is entirely soluble  in diluted nitric acid.  If any gold be pre-
sent, 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 precipitate of chloride  of  silver, characterized by being completely
 soluble in ammonia.   If the remaining solution contain copper or lead, it will
 be precipitated  or discoloured by sulphuretted hydrogen.
   Pharm. Uses.  The only  officinal preparations of silver are the oxide, nitrate,
 and cyanuret.  The chloride will be noticed in the third part of this work.
   Off. Prep. Argenti Nitras ; Argenti Nitras Fusus.                   B.


                  ARMORACIA.  U. S.,  Lond., Ed.

                              Horse-radish.

   The fresh root of Cochlearia Armoracia. U. S., Lond,, Ed.
   Raifort sauvage, Fr.; Meerrettig, Germ.; Rafano rusticano, Ital.; Rabano rusticano,
 Span.
   Cochlearia.  Sex. Syst.  Tetradynamia Siliculosa.—Nat. Ord.  Brassicaceas
 or Cruciferas,
    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,  branching stem
 rises two or three feet in height.  The radical leaves are lance-shaped, waved, 
124
Armoracia.
PART I.
scolloped on the edges, sometimes pinnatifid, and stand upon strong footstalks.
Those of the stem are much smaller, without footstalks, sometimes  divided at
the edges, sometimes almost entire.  The flowers are numerous, white, pedun-
cled, and form  thick  terminal clusters.  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 persistent 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 purposes
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, at top conical, then
nearly cylindrical for some  inches,  at  last tapering, whitish  externally, very
white within, fleshy, of a strong pungent odour when scraped or bruised, and
of a hot, biting, somewhat sweetish and sometimes bitterish taste.  Its virtues
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.  Hubatka considers
it as identical with the volatile oil of mustard. (Journ. de Pharm.,  3e ser., v.
42.)  According to Gutret,  only 6 parts of it are obtained from 10,000 of  the
root.   Besides  this principle, the fresh root contains, according to the same
chemist, a bitter resin in  minute quantity, sugar, extractive, gum, starch, albu-
men, acetic acid, acetate  and sulphate  of lime,  water, and lignin.   From  ob-
servations made by F. L.  Winckler, it may be inferred that myronic acid exists
in the root combined with potassa, and that it is from the reaction  between
this acid, myrosine also existing in the root, and water, that the volatile oil is
produced, in  the same manner as  oil of mustard from mustard  seed. (See
Sinajris.)  Horse-radish, when distilled with alcohol, yields none  of  the  oil.
(Journ, fur Prakt, Pharm., xviii. 89.)  The root  may be kept for  some time
without material injury, if buried in sand in a cool place.
   It is said that if, to the powder  of the dried  root, which has become appa-
rently  inert, the  emulsion of white mustard seed  containing myrosine be added,
it reacquires its original irritant properties; so that it is the myrosine  and  not
the myronate of potassa which is injured  by drying.   Hence, the  powdered root
may be added with  advantage to mustard in  preparing cataplasms, pediluvia,
&c.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xxvii. 268.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Horse-radish  is highly stimulant,  exciting
the stomach when swallowed, and promoting the secretions, especially that of
urine.  Externally, it is  rubefacient.  Its chief  use is as a condiment to pro-
mote appetite and invigorate digestion; but it is also  occasionally employed as
a medicine, particularly in dropsy attended with enfeebled digestion and general
debility.  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
prepared from an infusion of horse-radish and sugar, and slowdy 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 o-rated or cut
into small pieces.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Armoracias;  Spiritus Armoracias Compositus.   W. 
PART I.
Arnica.
125
                     ARNICA.  U. S.  Secondary.

                             Leopard''s-bane.

   The flowers of Arnica montana. U. S.
   Arnique, Fr.; Berg Wolverly, Gemeines achtes Fallkraut, Germ.; Arnica montana,
Ital., Span.
   Arnica.  Sex.  Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.-^-Vatf. Ord. Compositas-Senecio-
nideas. De Cand,   Asteraceas. 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.   Receptacle
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, hori-
zontal 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 fourteen 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 mi-riif no
doubt be  cultivated in this country;  but it is little  used in regular practice,  and
in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is placed in the secondary list.   The flowers, leaves
and root  are employed;  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 Las-
saigne discovered  in  the flowers, gallic acid, gum, albumen, yellow colouring
matter, an odorous resin, and a bitter principle which they considered identical
with cytisin, discovered by them  in the  seeds  of the laburnum tree (Cytisus
Laburnum), which  are  possessed of  poisonous properties.   (See Lond. Med.
Times and Gaz., Nov., 1856, p.  446.) Cytisin is yellow, of a bitter and nause-
ous  taste, deliquescent, readily soluble in water and diluted  alcohol, but with
difficulty in  strong alcohol, and insoluble in ether.   In the dose of five grains
it is powerfully emetic and cathartic; and it has been supposed to be the active
principle  of the plant.  The flowers also contain a small proportion of a blue
volatile oil.   Pfaff obtained  from the  root a volatile oil, an acrid resin, extrac-
tive, gum, and  lignin.   Mr. Wm. Bastick, of London, has separated an organic
alkali from the flowers, and names it arnicina.  It is solid, slightly bitter, but
not acrid, of the  odour of castor,  slightly soluble in water, and  much more
soluble in alcohol and  ether. (Pharm,  Journ. and Trans., x. 389.)*  The

  * Mr. Bastick obtained the  alkaloid by the following process.   The flowers were
macerated with  alcohol acidulated with sulphuric acid; the tincture was filtered,  and
treated with lime until it evinced an alkaline reaction ;  the liquid was then filtered, and
the filtrate treated with sulphuric acid  in slight excess; the acid solution was filtered
and concentrated by evaporation; to the residue a little water was added, the liquid was
evaporated until all the alcohol was driven off, and was then again filtered; the filtered
liquor was saturated with carbonate of potassa, and after filtration was mixed with a 
126
Arnica.— Arsenicum.
PART I.
alkali, however, appears  to have been  previously obtained by M. Lebourdais
by the charcoal process.  (See Am. Journ, of Pharm. xxiii. p. 213.)       _
  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
resulting headache, spasmodic contractions of the limbs, and difficulty of respi-
ration. °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 capable of acting as a poison  in overdoses, causing
burning in the stomach, violent abdominal pains, an intense headache, and great
nervous disturbance.   A  case of tetanic spasm  of one side, and ultimate death
under its use, is on record; but there is reason to doubt whether arnica was the
real  cause  of the fatal issue. (Ann. de Therap., 1854, p. 46.)   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 service-
able in that disordered condition which succeeds concussion of the brain from
falls, blows, &c.; and from this  circumstance has received the title of panacea
lapsorum.  It has also been recommended in paralytic affections, chronic catarrh
of the old,  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 is peculiarly  useful in diseases attended
with a debilitated or typhoid state of the system.   The powdered flowers and
leaves are employed as a  sternutatory;  and the inhabitants of Savoy and the
Vosges are said to substitute them for tobacco.  They are best given in sub-
stance  or infusion.   The dose of the powder is from five to twenty grains fre-
quently repeated.  The infusion may be prepared by digesting an ounce  in a
pint of water, of which from half a fluidounce 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; but the stomach should be first
thoroughly emptied.
   A tincture prepared from the  flowers has come into use in this country as a
domestic remedy in sprains, bruises,  &c.  It is employed externally.   The
Prussian and other German Pharmacopoeias direct  it to  be made by digesting
the flowers for four  days in diluted alcohol, in the  proportion of  about two
ounces to a pint. (Pharm. Univers., i.  284.)                          W.


                         ARSENICUM.  U.S.

                                 Arsenic.

   Off. Syn,  ARSENICUM PURUM.  Dub.
   Arsenic, Fr.; Arsenik, Germ.; Arsenico, Ital., Span.
   This metal was made  officinal in the U. S.  and  Dublin  Pharmacopoeias of
 1850,  for the purpose of being used  to form  the  iodide of arsenic, and the
solution of the iodide of arsenic and mercury, two new officinals of those works.
It is placed in the Materia Medica of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, but among the
preparations in the Dublin, with the following formula,
   "Take of White Oxide of Arsenic of Commerce two drachms [Dub. weight].
Place the Oxide at the sealed end of a hard German glass tube, of about half

considerable excess of carbonate of potassa ; finally, the liquid was  agitated with suc-
cessive portions of ether until this fluid ceased to dissolve anything, and the ethereal
solution obtained was left to spontaneous evaporation. Arnicina remained. 
PART I.
Arsenicum.
127
an inch in diameter and eighteen inches long, and, having covered it with about
eight inches of dry and coarsely pulverized charcoal, and raised the portion of
the tube containing the charcoal to a red heat, let a few ignited coals be placed
beneath the Oxide, so as to effect its slow sublimation.   When this has been
accomplished,  the metallic arsenic will be found attached to the interior of  the
tube at its distant  or cool extremity.
   "In conducting this process, the furnace used in the performance of an organic
analysis should be employed, and the fuel should be ignited  charcoal.  It will
be proper also to conuect the open extremity of the tube with a flue, for  the
purpose of  preventing the possible escape  into  the  apartment of arsenical
vapours; and,  with the view of keeping it from being plugged by the metal, to
introduce occasionally into it, as the sublimation proceeds, an iron wire through
a cork, fixed (but not air-tight) in its open extremity."
  In the  above process, the white  oxide (arsenious acid)  is reduced by  the
agency of ignited charcoal, which attracts the oxygen  of the  acid, and revives
the metal.   On the large scale, metallic arsenic is generally obtained by heating
arsenial pyrites (FeAs,FeS2) in earthen tubes;  when the metal sublimes, and
two eqs. of  protosulphuret of iron are  left.
   Projierties.   Arsenic is a brittle, crystalline metal, of a steel-gray colour, and
possessing much brilliancy when recently broken or sublimed.   Exposed to  the
air, its surface becomes dull and blackish.  Its texture is granular, and some-
times a little scaly.  Rubbed on the hands, it communicates a peculiar odour;
but it is devoid of taste.  Its sp. gr.  is  about  5-8.   When  heated to about
356°, it sublimes without fusing, giving rise to white vapours having a garlicky
odour.  Its  equivalent number is  75.  It forms two combinations with  oxygen,
both  having acid properties, called arsenious  and arsenic acids, and three with
sulphur, namely, bisulphuret of arsenic or realgar; tersulphuret or orpiment,
corresponding in composition with arsenious acid; and  quinto-sulphuret, cor-
responding  with  arsenic acid.  (See Acidum Arseniosum;  also realgar and
orpiment in the third  part of this work.)  Arsenic acid is  obtained by dis-
tilling a mixture of twelve parts  of nitric and  one of muriatic acid  off four
parts of arsenious acid, until the whole has acquired the consistence of a thin
syrup.  The liquid is  then poured into a porcelain dish, and  evaporated at a
moderate heat.  Suddenly the  arsenic acid, in  the anhydrous state, concretes
into an opaque white mass, which should be transferred, while warm, to a well
stopped bottle.  Arsenic acid is white, solid, deliquescent, and soluble in  six
parts  of cold  and two of boiling water.  It forms  several hydrates, corre-
sponding  to  those  of phosphoric acid,  to  which it  bears  a close analogy.
With nitrate of silver  it gives a brick-red precipitate of arseniate of silver.  As
a poison it is  even more virulent than arsenious acid.  It consists of one eq. of
arsenic and  five of  oxygen (As05).
   The story of arsenic-eaters in  Styria may be considered  as fabulous. (See
Ranking1 s Abstract, no. xxiv., p. 25.)
   Arsenic is much diffused.   Besides being present in a great many minerals,
it has been detected, in minute proportion, in the earth of grave yards by Orfila;
in certain soils and mineral waters by M. Walchner; in the ashes of various
plants by M.  Stein; and in various kinds  of mineral coal, as also in the incrus-
tation formed in the boiler of a sea-going steamer,  by M. Daubree.
   Arsenic is officinal:—
     I. In the metallic state.
          Arsenicum,  U S.;  Arsenicum Purum, Dub.
    II. Combined with oxygen.
          Acidum  Arseniosum, U. S., Lond.; Arsenicum Album, Ed.; Arsenici
            Oxydum Album Venale,—Acidum Arseniosum Purum, Dub. 
128
Arsenicum.—Arum.
PART I.
  III. Combined with chlorine.
         Liquor Arsenici Chloridi, Lond.
  IV. Combined with iodine.
         Arsenici Iodidum, U. S.
   V. Combined with iodine and mercury.
         Liquor Arsenici et Hydrargyri Iodidi, U. S.; Arsenici et Hydrargyri
           Hydriodatis Liquor, Dub.
  VI. In saline combination.
         Liquor Potassas Arsenitis, U.S., Lond.;  Liquor Arsenicalis, Ed.,
           Dub.                                                     B.

                     ARUM.  U. S. Secondary.

                             Dragon-root.

  The cormus of Arum triphyllum.  U S.
  Arum.  Sex. Syst.  Monoscia Polyandria, — Nat, Ord.  Araceas.
  Gen. Ch. Spiathe one-leafed, cowled.  Spadix naked  above, female  below,
stamineous in the middle.  Willd.
  The root or cormus of Arum maculatum is occasionally used as a medicine
in Europe, and formerly held a place in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia,   Its pro-
perties so closely resemble those of our A. triphyllum,  that the  substitution
of the latter in our Pharmacopoeia was obviously proper, independently of the
consideration that the root is efficient only in the recent state.  The root of A.
esculentum, which abounds in starch, is much used by the natives of the Sand-
wich and other islands of the Pacific, as an article of food, having been previ-
ously deprived of its acrimony by heat.
  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, has a perennial root or cormus, which, early in spring, sends up a large,
ovate, acuminate, variously coloured spathe,  convoluted 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
portions  of the spadix gradually decay, while the  germs are converted into a
compact  bunch of shining, scarlet  berries.  The leaves, usually one or two in
number,  and upon  long sheathing 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,  dis-
tinguished by the colour of the spathe, which in one is green, in another dark
pnrple, 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.  Accord-
ing to Dr. Bigelow, its action does not readily extend through  the  cuticle, as
the bruised root may lie upon the skin till it  becomes dry, without  producing
pain or redness.  The acrid principle is extremely volatile, and is entirely driven 
PART I.
Arum. —Asarum.
129
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. mac id at um 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 small quantities, in the Isle  of Portland on
the  south  coast of England,  and  called  Portland  arrow-root,  or Portland
sago.  The Indian turnip may be preserved fresh for a year, if buried in sand.
  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 acrimony,
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 gradu-
ally 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.  U. S.  Secondary.

                          Canada  Snakeroot.

   The root of Asarum Canadense.  U. S.
   Asarum.  Sex. Sy*t. Dodecandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Aristolochiaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx three  or four-cleft, sitting on the germen.  Corolla none.
 Capsule coriaceous, crowned.  Willd.
   Asarum Canadense. Willd. Sp.  Plant, ii. 838; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i.
149; Barton, Med. Bot, ii. 85.  This species of Asarum very closely resembles
A.  Europseum or  asarabacca, in appearance and botanical character.  It has
a long, creeping, jointed, fleshy, yellowish  root or rhizoma, furnished with radi-
cles 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 con-
cealed by the loose  soil or decayed vegetable matter; so  that  the leaves with
their petioles are the only parts that appear.  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 greenish  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 attached to them.   Near the divisions of the calyx are
three filamentous bodies, which may be considered as nectaries.  The pistil con-
sists of a somewhat 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  dinger, is an indigenous plant, inhabiting woods
       9 
180            Asclepias Incarnata.—Asclepias Syriaca.        part i.

and shady places from Canada to the Carolinas.   Its flowering period is from
April to July.   All 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, pun-
gent, and fragrant volatile 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 alco-
hol,  and less perfectly  to water.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Canada snakeroot 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 Asarum,  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 infusions and de-
coctions.  It may be given in powder or tincture.  The  dose in  substance is
twenty or thirty grains.                                            W.

        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 aboye, 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 gene-
rally in pairs.   The nectary is  entire, with its horn exserted.  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. Syriaca; 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. Col. of Pharm,-, iv. 283.)
Dr.  Tully, of New Haven, has found it useful in  catarrh, asthma, rheumatism,
syphilis, and worms.                                                vy


           ASCLEPIAS SYRIACA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                          Common Silk-weed.

   The root of Asclepias Syriaca.  U. S.
   Asclepias.   See ASCLEPIAS  TUBEROSA.
   A. Syriaca.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  i. 1265.   The silk-weed has simple stems,
 from three to five feet high, with opposite, lanceolate-oblong, petiolate leaves, 
part I.         Asclepias Syriaca.—Asclepias Tuberosa.            131

downy on their under surface.  The flowers are large, of a pale purple colour,
sweet-scented, and arranged in two or three nodding umbels.   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 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 England
to Virginia.   It flowers in July and August.   Like the  preceding  species, it
gives out a  white juice when wounded, and has hence received  the name of
milk-weed, by which it is  frequently called.   This juice  has a faint  smell, a
sub-acrid taste, and an acid reaction.   According to Shultz, 80 parts of it con-
tain 69 of water, 3*5 of a wax-like fatty matter, 5 of caoutchouc,  0'5 of gum,
1  of  sugar with salts of acetic acid, and  1 of  other  salts.  (Pharm.  Central
Blatt, 1844, p,  302.)   Dr. C. List has found the  chief solid ingredient of the
juice to be a peculiar crystalline substance, of a resinous character,  closely allied
to lactucone, and which he proposes to call asclepione. To obtain it, the juice
is coagulated by heat, filtered so as to  separate the liquid portion, and then
digested with ether, which dissolves the asclepione, and yields it by evapora-
tion.  To purify  it, the residue must be treated repeatedly with anhydrous
ether, which  leaves  another  substance  undissolved.   It  is white, crystalline,
tasteless, inodorous, fusible, insoluble ii/water and alcohol, soluble in ether, oil
of turpentine, and concentrated acetic acid.  A strong hot solution of potassa
does not affect  it.   Its constituents are  carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and its
formula C40H34O6. (List, Liebig's Annalen, Jan., 1849.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Dr. Richardson, of Massachusetts,  found
the root possessed of anodyne properties.  He gave it with  advantage  to an
 asthmatic patient, and in a case  of typhus  fever attended with  catarrh.  In
both instances it appeared to promote 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.   In a letter to
one of the authors, dated Jan. 22d, 1850, Dr. A. E. Thomas, of Rocky Spring,
Mississippi, stated that he had employed the root in scrofula with great suc-
cess, and in dyspepsia with advantage.  He found it cathartic and  alterative,
but'observed no anodyne  property.   He was  induced to try it by having no-
ticed that  it was much used by the planters in scrofula and other  diseases, and
by the recommendation of Dr. McLean,  of Kentucky, who  had employed it in
scrofula for twenty  years, with the most satisfactory results.*  The bark  of the
root has also been used successfully by Dr. R.  S. Cauthorn, of Richmond, Va,,
in several cases of intermittent fever,  and is considered  by him as a  most
valuable antiperiodic.  He  gave from  four to six grains in the  form of  pill,
every two or three  hours, augmenting the dose to three times  the quantity,
two or three hours before  the  paroxysm.  ( Va. Monthly Stethoscope and Med,
Reporter, i.  7.)                                                      ™*

          ASCLEPIAS  TUBEROSA.  U S. Secondary.

                              Butterfly-iveed.

   The root of Asclepias tuberosa.  U S.
   Asclepias.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord.  Asclepiadaceas.

   * In a letter subsequently received from Dr. McLean himself, this account  of the
virtues of the asclepias root  is confirmed.   Dr. McLean has also found it an excellent
alterative in hepatic affections ; but he seems to be of the opinion that the root he em-
ployed was from a different species of Asclepias, and one not described in this Dispen-
satory.  (Note to the tenth edition.) 
132               Asclepias  Tuberosa.—Assafcetida.            part I.
   Gen. Ch,  Calyx small,  five parted.   Corolla  rotate, five parted, mostly
reflexed.   Staminal 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.   Pollinia five distinct
pairs.  Torrey.
   Asclepias tuberosa.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1273;  Bigelow, Am.  Med, Bot. ii.
59;  Barton, Med. Bot.  i. 239.  The  root of the  butterfly-weed  or pleurisy-
root  is perennial, and gives origin to numerous stems, which are erect, ascend-
ing,  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 lan-
ceolate, 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 follicle, 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
juice when wounded.  It is indigenous, growing throughout the United States
from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia, and  as far west as Texas, and, when in full
bloom, in June and July, having 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.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The root of Asclepias  tuberosa is diaphoretic
and expectorant, without being stimulant.  In large doses it is often also ca-
thartic.  In the Southern States it has long been employed by regular practi-
tioners in catarrh, pneumonia, pleurisy, consumption, and other pectoral  affec-
tions ; and appears to be decidedly  useful,  if applied in the early stage, or,
after sufficient depletion, when the complaint is  already formed.   Its popular
name of  pleurisy root expresses the estimation in which it is held as a remedy
in that disease.  It has also been useful in diarrhoea, dysentery, and acute and
chronic rheumatism.   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 from flatulence and indigestion.
 _ From  twenty grains to a drachm of the root in powder may be given several
times a day;  but as  a diaphoretic it is best administered in decoction or infu-
sion, made in the proportion  of an ounce to a quart of water, and given in the
dose of a teacupful every two or three hours till it  operates.             W.


            ASSAFCETIDA. U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                                Assafetida.

   The concrete juice of the root of Narthex Assafcetida. U S   The CTm resin
from the shcedroot, Lond,   The gum-resinous exudation.  Dub   Gummv-
resinous  exudation of Ferula Assafetida, and probably Ferula persica. Ed.
   Assafcetida, Fr.; Stmkasant, Teufelsdreck, Germ ■  Assafptirln  7>„7   a  t *-a„
Span.; Ungoozeh, Persian;  Hitteet, Arab.          '  ASSafetlda> ItaL i Asafetida,
   Narthex.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia.-^. Ord. Apiaceas or Umbel-
liferas.                                                   x 
PART I.
Assafcetida.
133
   Gen. Ch,  Umbels compound.  Involucres none.  Calyx obsolete. Fruit thin,
compressed at the back, with a dilated border. Ridges three only, dorsal. Vittse
one to each dorsal furrow, and two to the laterals. Albumen thin, flat.  Lindley.
   Narthex Assafcetida. Falconer, Royle>s Mat. Med. Am. ed., p. 407.—Ferula
Assafcetida. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1413; Kcempfer, Amcenitat. Exotic. 535, t.
536.  This  plant was  first described by Kcempfer, who wrote from actual  ob-
servation.  By him and others after him it was considered  as belonging to  the
genus Ferula; but Dr.  Falconer, from a careful examination of the plant in its
native site, as well as of specimens cultivated in the Saharunpore Botanic Gar-
den, came to the conclusion that, though allied to Ferula,  it belongs  to a dis-
tinct  genus, which  he denominated Narthex, and which is now generally  ad-
mitted by botanists.   The root is perennial, fleshy, tapering, simple or divided,
a foot or more in length, about three inches thick at top, where it is  invested
above the soil with numerous small fibres, dark-gray and transversely corrugated
on the outside, internally white, and abounding in an excessively fetid, opaque,
milky juice.  The leaves, which  spring from the root,  are numerous, large and
spreading, nearly two feet long,  light-green above, paler beneath, and  of a lea-
thery texture.   They are three parted, with bipinnatifid segments, and oblong-
lanceolate, obtuse, entire or variously sinuate, decurrent lobes, forming a narrow
winged channel on the divisions of  the petiole.   From the  midst of the leaves
rises a luxuriant, herbaceous stem, from six to nine feet high, two inches in dia-
meter at the base, simple, erect, round, smooth, striated, solid, and terminating in
a large head of compound umbels, with from ten to twenty rays, each surmounted
by a roundish partial umbel.   The  flowers are pale yellow, and the fruit oval,
thin, flat, foliaceous, and reddish-brown.  The  plant  is said to differ, both in
its leaves and product, according to the situation and soil in which it  grows.
   It is a native of Persia,  Affghanistan, and other neighbouring regions;  and
flourishes abundantly in the mountainous  provinces of Laar and Chorassan,
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. Persica is admitted among
its probable sources by the Edinburgh College.   This plant grows also in Per-
sia, 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 obtain a fresh surface for exudation.
This process is repeated at intervals till the root ceases to afford juice,  and per-
ishes.  During the whole  period of collection, which occupies nearly six weeks,
the solar heat is as much  as possible excluded.  The  juice collected from  nu-
merous plants is put together, and allowed to harden in the sun.   The fruit is
said to be sent to India, where it is highly esteemed as a medicine.
   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 containing
eighty or ninety, the latter from two hundred to four  hundred  pounds.  It is
sometimes also imported in casks.
   Properties.  As found in the shops, assafetida is in irregular masses, softish
when not long exposed, of a yellowish or reddish-brown colour externally,  ex-
hibiting  when  broken an irregular, whitish, somewhat shining surface, which 
134
Assafcetida.
PART I.
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 ap-
pear as if composed of  distinct portions agglutinated  together, sometimes of
white, almost  pearlv tears, embedded in a darker, softer, and  more fetid paste.
Occasionally the tears are found separate, though very rarely in the commerce
of this country.  Thev are roundish, oval, or irregular,  and generally flattened,
from the size of a pea to that of a large almond, sometimes larger, yellowish
or brownish externally and white within, and not unlike ammoniac tears, for
which they might be mistaken except for their odour, which, however, is weaker
than that of the masses.
   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 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. (Berze-
lius.)  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 ad-
dition of water.   Macerated in water it  produces a turbid red solution, and tri-
turated with that fluid gives a white or pink-coloured  milky emulsion of con-
siderable permanence.   In  100 parts, Pelletier found 65 parts  of resin, 19-44
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 impurities 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, accord-
ing to Stenhouse, from  15-75 to 23 per cent, of sulphur.  Hlasiwetz considers
it as a mixture,  in variable proportions, of  the sulphuret and bisulphuret of a
compound radical, consisting of carbon and hydrogen (C.JI,,).   It boils at
about 280°, but suffers  decomposition, yielding sulphuretted hydrogen.  When
long exposed  to the air it becomes slightly acid, and acquires a somewhat dif-
ferent odour.  (Chem. Gaz, No. 178, p.  108, from Liebifs Annalen.)  The vol-
atile oil and 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 various
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 portion.  It is sold chiefly for horses. Chevallier states that a factitious
substance, made  of  garlic juice and white  pitch with  a  little assafetida, has
occurred in commerce.
   Assafetida is sometimes kept in the powdered state; but this is objectionable;
as the drug is  thus necessarily weakened by the  loss of volatile oil, and is besides
rendered more liable to  adulteration.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   The effects of assafetida on the system are 
part I.             Assafcetida.—Aurantii Cortex.                 135

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 numerous
other nervous disorders of a merely functional character.   From the union of
expectorant with antispasmodic powers, it is highly useful in spasmodic pectoral
affections, such as hooping-cough and asthma, and in 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 consumption;  in fact, in all
cases of  disease of the chest in which there is want of due nervous energy, and
in which inflammation is absent or has been sufficiently subdued, assafetida may
be occasionally prescribed  with advantage.   In the  form  of enema, it is useful
in cases of inordinate accumulation  of air in the bowels, and, in the same form,
is most conveniently administered in the hysteric paroxysm, and other kinds of
convulsion.  Its laxative  tendency  is generally advantageous, but must some-
times be counteracted by opium.  It may often be usefully combined with
cathartics 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
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 Assafcetidse.)  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 ismot apt to affect the brain injuriously,  it may be given very freely
when not contra-indicated by the existence of inflammatory action.
   Off. Prep.  Assafcetida Prasparata; Emplastrum Assafoetidas; Enema Assa-
foetidas ; Mistura Assafoetidas; Pilulas Aloes et Assafoetidas; Pilulas Assafoetidas;
Pilulas Galbahi Compositas; Spiritus Ammonias Foetidus; Tinctura Assafoetidas;
Tinctura Castorei Ammoniata.                                        W.

              AURANTII  CORTEX. U.S., Lond.

                             Orange Peel.

   The outer rind of the fruit of  Citrus vulgaris  or  Citrus Aurantium.  U S.
The outer rind of the fruit of Citrus Bigaradia.  Lond.
   Off. Syn.  AURANTII CORTEX.  Rind  of  the fruit  of Citrus vulgaris.
AURANTII  OLEUM.   Volatile  oil of the flowers of Citrus vulgaris, and
sometimes of Citrus Aurantium. Ed.; CITRUS  AURANTIUM.  The  fruit.
AURANTIUM. Citrus Bigaradia.  The rind of the fruit. The volatile oil, Dub.
  Ecorce  d'orange, Fr. ; Pomeranzenschale, Germ.; Scorze del frutto dell'arancio, Ital.;
Corteza de naranja, Span.
   Citrus.  Sex. Syst.  Polyadelphia Icosandria. — Nat. Ord. Aurantiaceas.
   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 shining  leaves, odoriferous flowers, and fruits  which
usually combine beauty of colour with a  fragrant  odour and  grateful  taste. 
136
Aurantii Cortex.
PART I.
They are all natives of warm climates.  Though the species are not numerous,
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, ft
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,
though not entirely constant, serve as the basis of subdivisions.  C.  Decumana,
which yields the shaddock, agrees with C.  Aurantium in the form of its  petiole.
   Citrus Aurantium. Willd. Sp. Plant,  iii. 1427; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 532,
t. 188.   The orange tree grows to the  height of  about fifteen feet.  Its stem
is round, much branched, and 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 vesicles, filled with volatile oil; and when rubbed
between  the fingers, are  highly fragrant.   Their footstalks  are  about an inch
long, and have wings  or lateral appendages.  The flowers, which have a de-
lightful 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 por-
tions, and  support yellow anthers.  The germen is roundish, and bears a cylin-
drical  style, 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, each containing from two
to four seeds, surrounded by a pulpy matter.   The rind of the fruit consists of
a thin exterior layer, abounding in vesicles filled with a fragrant volatile oil,
and of an interior  one,  which is thick, white,  fungous, insipid, and inodorous.
There are  two varieties of' C. Aurantium, considered by some as  distinct spe-
cies.  They differ  chiefly in the fruit, which in one is sweet, in the other sour
and bitterish.  The first retains the original title, the second is called Citrus
vulgaris by De Candolle and C. Bigaradia by Risso.   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, has been applied to numerous purposes
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 its first
 settlement, and is  now found in  every civilized country where  the  climate is
favourable.  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  portions
 of our own country, especially near St. Augustine in Florida, where very fine
 oranges are produced.  The tree also grows in the gardens about New Orleans,
 but is sometimes 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 plant 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 
PART I.
Aurantii Cortex.
137
their  peculiar fragrance ; and the preparation thus obtained is  much esteemed
in the south of Europe for its antispasmodic virtues.  It is recognised as offici-
nal by the London and Edinburgh Colleges.
   Aurantii Floris Aqua. Lond.  Aurantii Aqua. Ed.  Orange-flower
water is not prepared in this  part of  the United  States, though the flowers
might be imported for the  purpose, if  previously incorporated with one-third
or one-quarter of their weight of common salt.  It is made in Italy and France,
and the flowers of the bitter orange are preferred, as yielding the most fra-
grant product.  It is nearly colourless, though usually of a pale yellowish tint.
From being kept in  copper bottles, it  sometimes contains  metallic impurity.
This  is chiefly carbonate of lead, derived from the lead used as a solder  in
making the bottles.  The Edinburgh College, therefore, directs that it should
not be  affected by sulphuretted hydrogen, which, if lead or copper were  pre-
sent,  would cause a  dark  precipitate.   Much colour, an offensive odour,  or
mouldiness indicates impurity derived from the flowers in distillation.  Orange-
flower water is used exclusively as a perfume.
   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 composition 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 Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, with the title  of Aurantii
 Oleum, to  serve for  the preparation of orange-flower water.   Soubeiran  con-
 siders this  oil rather as a  product of the distillation, than as pre-existing in
 the flowers.   The fact  may thus be explained, that orange-flower water, made
by dissolving even the finest neroli in water,  has not the precise odour of  that
procured by distillation from the flowers.
   The  fruit is applied to several purposes.   Small unripe oranges, about  the
size  of a cherry or less, previously dried, and rendered smooth by a turning
lathe, are sometimes employed to  maintain the  discharge from issues.   They
are preferred  to peas on account  of their agreeable odour, and  by some  are
thought to  swell less with  the moisture;  but this 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, fragrant odour, and bitter taste, and
are said to be used  for flavouring cordials.  A volatile 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 from the leaves,
and those of the bitter orange  yield the best.   The Dublin College recognises
the ripe 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 employed
in the same manner as lemon-juice, which it resembles in containing citric acid,
though in  much smaller proportion.  The sweet orange is  more pleasant to
the taste, and is extensively used as a light refrigerant article of diet in inflam-
matory diseases, care being  taken to reject the membranous portion.  The rind
of the mature fruit is the only  part directed in the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.  The
outer portion is that considered officinal; as the inner is destitute of activity,
and by its affinity for moisture renders the peel liable 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,
as we pare  an apple.  When  the object is  to  apply the fresh rind to  certain
pharmaceutic purposes, as  to the preparation of the confection 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. 
138               Aurantii Cortex.—Avense Farina.            part i.

  Properties.   Orange peel has a grateful  aromatic odour, and a warm bitter
taste, which depend upon the volatile 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 oil may be obtained
by expression from  the fresh grated rind, or by distillation with water.  It is
imported into  the United States in tinned copper cans.   It has properties re-
sembling those of the oil of lemons, but spoils more rapidly on exposure to the
air, acquiring a terebinthinate odour.   The perfumers use it in the preparation
of Cologne water, and for  other purposes ;  and  it is also employed by the con-
fectioners.   This oil  is recognised by the Dublin College.   According to Dr.
Imbert-Gourbeyre, they who are much exposed  to the inhalation of the oil of
bitter oranges are  apt to  be  affected with cutaneous  eruptions,  and various
nervous disorders, as  headache, tinnitus aurium, oppression o'f the chest, gas-
tralgia,  want of sleep, and even muscular  spasm.   He thinks the  oil of the
aurantiaceas has much resemblance to  camphor in its effects.  (Chem.  Pharm.
Cent. Blatt, Feb., 1854, p. 128.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Orange peel is a mild tonic, carminative, and
stomachic, but is seldom used alone.   It is chiefly employed to communicate a
pleasant flavour to other medicines,  to correct their nauseating properties, and
to assist their stimulant impression upon the stomach.  It is a frequent and
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 volatile 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 sometimes productive of mis-
chief, 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 orange peel is used simply for its agreeable flavour, the  rind of the
sweet orange is preferable; as a tonic, that of the Seville orange.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Aurantii Corticis; Infusum Aurantii Compositum;
Infusum Gentianas Comp.; Spiritus  Armoracias Comp. ; Syrupus Aurantii
Corticis; Tinctura Aurantii; Tinct. Cinchonas Comp.; Tinct. Gentianas Comp.;
Vinum Gentianas.                                                    W.
       **

                     AVENGE  FARINA. U.S.

                               Oatmeal.

   Meal prepared from the seeds of Avena sativa.  U. S.
   Of. Syn. AVENA. Avena sativa. Semen tunicisnudatum. Lond.; AVENA.
Seeds of Avena sativa. Ed.; AVENA SATIVA.  The seeds. Dub.
   Farine d'avoine, Fr.; Hafermehl, Germ.; Farina dell'avena, Ital.; Harina de avena,
Span.
   Avena.  Seer. Syst. Triandria Digynia. — Nat,  Ord.  Graminaceas.
   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. 
PART I.
Avense Farina.—Azedarach.
139
  This  grain, though cultivated chiefly for horses, is very nourishing, and  is
largely consumed as food by the inhabitants of Scotland, the north of Ireland,
Brittany, and some other countries.  A  decoction of them  is said to possess
decided  diuretic properties, and to be useful in dropsy. (Lond.  Med. Times
and Gaz., Sept.,  1854, p. 263.)  The seeds deprived of their husk are  called
groats, and are directed by the  London College; but are not officinal 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.  Professor Nor-
ton thinks there may have been some error in the  proportion  of the nitroge-
nous compounds, in consequence of the  difficulty of separating them  from
starch; and concludes,  from the  quantity of nitrogen obtained by  ultimate
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 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.  Oatmeal  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.                             W.

                 AZEDARACH. U.S.  Secondary.

                               Azedarach.

  The bark of the root of Melia Azedarach. U S.
  Melia.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord, Meliaceas.
   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 in beautiful axillary clusters near the
extremities  of the branches.  The fruit  is a round drupe, about as large as a
cherry,  and yellowish when ripe. 
140
Azedarach.—Balsamum Peruvianum.
PART I.
  This species of Melia is variously called pride of India, pride of China, and
common  bead tree.  It is a native of  Syria, Persia, and the north of India,
and is cultivated as an ornament in different parts of the world.   It is abund-
ant in our Southern States, where it adorns the streets of cities, and the environs
of dwellings,  and has even 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, and, though said by
some to be poisonous, is eaten by children without inconvenience, and is reputed
to be powerfully vermifuge.   But  the bark of the root is the part chiefly em-
ployed.   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, espe-
cially if gathered at the season when the sap is  mounting.  It is considered 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.                                                           "•

      BALSAMUM  PERUVIANUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                           Balsam  of Peru.

  The juice of Myrospermum Peruiferum. U S.  "Myrospermi species incerta.
Balsamum ex inciso trunco fusum." Lond.   Fluid balsamic exudation. Ed.
  Baume  de Peru, Fr.; Peruvianischer Balsam, Germ.; Balsamo del Peru, Ital.; Bal-
samo negro, Span.
  Myrospermum.  Sex. Syst.  Decandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Leguminosas.
De Cand.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx campanulate, five-toothed, persistent.  Petals five, the upper
one largest.   Stamens ten, free.   Ovary stipitate,  oblong, membranous, with
from two to six  ovules;  the  style  originating near  the  apex, filiform lateral.
Legume with the stalk naked at the base, broadly winged above, samaroid, inde-
hiscent, one-celled, one or two seeded,  laterally somewhat pointed by the style.
Seed covered over  with balsamic juice.   Cotyledons  thick, flat. De Candolle.
  Botanists now agree in  uniting the genera  Myroxylon  and Toluifera of
Linnaeus, and Myrospermum of Jacquin, into  one,  and follow De Candolle in
adopting the last mentioned title.   In  relation to the particular species which
yields the balsam  now under  consideration, there has been much  uncertainty.
After the death of Linnasus, specimens of a plant were sent to  the younger
Linnaeus by Mutis, from New Granada, which was said by this botanist to yield
the balsam of Peru.   A  description of the plant was published in the Supple-
mentum  Plantarum with the name of  Myroxylon Peruiferum; and pharma-
cologists have generally referred the balsam to it.  But considerable doubt has
existed as to  the identity of the species; nor have these doubts been satisfac-
torily settled up to the present time.   Specimens of a plant were  received by
Dr. Pereira from Central America,  which, there is no reason to doubt, is the real
source of Peruvian  balsam.   Upon comparing  these  with the  specimen  of
Mutis's plant, preserved in  the Herbarium of the Linnasan Society, he found a 
PART I.
Balsamum Peruvianum.
141
 sufficiently close resemblance in the leaves; but unfortunately this specimen is
 not perfect; and a certain conclusion does not seem to be attainable.  A species
 of Myrospermum was described by Ruiz, in his Quinologia, as the true Peruvian
 balsam plant, which he believed to be identical with  Myroxylon Peruiferum  of
 Linn., and named accordingly.  But this identity is denied by  Kunth and De
 Candolle, who consider Ruiz's plant to be the Myrospermum pubescens.  (Pro-
 drom. ii. 95.)   Lambert, in his  Illustrations  of the genus Cinchona,  trans-
 lated the description of Ruiz, and gave a figure of the plant (p. 97); but, ac-
 cording to Dr. Pereira, he drew the figure from Pavon's  specimens,  contained
 in the British Museum, which were not those of Ruiz's plant, and werev marked
 in Pavon's own handwriting Myroxylon balsamiferum.   With this  figure the
 real plant corresponds most closely; and it would appear, therefore, not to be
 the M. Peruiferum of Ruiz, the 31. pubescens of Kunth and De Candolle.   In
 this uncertainty, we shall give a brief account of the plant described and figured
 by  Pereira, with the designation of "Myrospermum of Sonsonate,^ leaving its
 proper botanical place to be determined by further observation.
   The Myrospermum of Sonsonate, for which Dr. Royle proposes the name  of
 Myrospermum Pereira, in  honour of the late Dr. Pereira (Manual of Mat,
 3Ied,, 2d ed., p. 414), is a handsome tree, with  a  straight, round, lofty stem, a
 smooth ash-coloured bark, and spreading branches at the top.   The leaves are
 alternate, petiolate, and unequally pinnate.   The leaflets are from five to eleven,
 shortly petiolate,  oblong, oval-oblong,  or ovate,  about three  inches long by
 somewhat less than an inch and a half in breadth,  rounded  at the base, and  con-
 tracting abruptly at top into an emarginate point.  When held up to the light,
 they exhibit, in lines parallel with  the  primary  veins, beautiful  rounded  and
 linear pellucid spots.   The common and partial petioles and midribs are smooth
 to the naked eye, but, when examined with a microscope,  are found to be  fur-
 nished with  short  hairs.  The fruit, including the  winged footstalks,  varies
 from two to four inches in length.  At its peduncular extremity it is rounded
 or  slightly tapering; at the top enlarged, rounded, and swollen, with a small
 point at the side.   The mesocarp, or main investment of the fruit, is fibrous,
 and contains in distinct receptacles a balsamic juice, which is most abundant in
 two long receptacles or vittas, one upon each side.
  This tree grows in Central America,  in the  State  of Saint  Salvador, upon
 the Pacific Coast.  The balsam is  collected from it exclusively by the aborigines,
 within a small district denominated the Balsam Coast, extending from Acajutla
 to Port Libertad.   Incisions are made into the  bark, which is slightly burned,
 so as to cause the juice to flow.   Cotton or woollen rags are then inserted  into
 the  apertures,  and, after saturation,  are  removed  and  replaced by others.
 When sufficient is collected,  the rags are boiled  in water in large jars, and  the
 liquid allowed  to stand; whereupon the water  rises to the top, and is poured
 off,  leaving  the balsam, which is put into  calabashes or bladders.  (Pharm.
 Journ. and Trans., xi. 205.)  It is then taken for  sale to the neighbouring
 town of  Sonsonate, where it is purified by subsidence and straining, and  put
 into jars for exportation.  The annual average produce  is  said  to  be  about
 25,000 pounds.
  A substance called white balsam  is procured from the fruit  by expression.
 This has been confounded by some with the balsam of Tolu, but is wholly  dis-
 tinct.  It is  of a semifluid or soft solid consistence,  somewhat granular, and,
 on standing, separates into a white resinous crystalline deposit,  and a superior
 translucent more fluid portion.  The smell, though quite distinct from that of
 the  balsams of Tolu and Peru, is not disagreeable.   Dr.  Stenhouse has  ob-
tained from it a peculiar resinous body, readily  crystallizable, and remarkably
indifferent in  its  chemical  affinities, which he denominates myroxocarpin,
 (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., x. 290.) 
142
Balsamum Peruvianum.—Balsamum Tolutanu
PAl'T I.
  Another substance obtained from the same tree, and  much  used  m Centra
America, is  a tincture of the fruit, made by digesting it  in ruin  It  is called
balsamito by the inhabitants, and is  said  to be stimulant, anthelmintic, and
diuretic.   It is also used as an external application to gangrenous or indolent
ulcers, and as a wash to the face to remove freckles.   Neither the white balsam
nor the balsamito reaches the markets of this country.         _             .
  The balsam of  Peru was named from its place of exportation; and  it was
Ions? thought to be  a  product  of Peru.   It is  now shipped  partly from the
Pacific coast, and  partly from the Balize or other ports on the Atlantic side,
whither it is brought across the  country.   It was Guibourt who  first made
known the fact of  its exclusive production in Central America,   As imported
it is usually in tin  canisters, with a whitish scum upon its surface, and more or
less deposit, which is dissolved with the aid of heat.
  The balsam is said to be adulterated in Europe with castor oil, copaiba, &c.
(Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii. 549); and a  factitious substance has been
sold in this  country  for the genuine balsam, prepared by dissolving balsam of
Tolu in alcohol.  This may be distinguished by taking fire readily, and burning
with a blue  flame.  (N. Y. Journ. of Pharm., i. 133.)
  Properties.  Balsam of Peru is viscid like syrup or honey, of a dark reddish-
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 1-16.  When  exposed to flame it takes fire, diffusing a white  smoke
and fragrant odour.  Containing resin,  volatile oil, and either  benzoic or
cinnamic acid, it is  properly considered a balsam, though probably somewhat
altered  by heat.   Alcohol 'in large proportion  entirely dissolves it.  Boiling
water extracts the 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.  Fremy gives the following views
of the composition of the balsam.   The acid is cinnamic and not benzoic acid,
The oily substance is named by him cinnameine.  It is decomposed by caustic
potassa into cinnamic  acid, which unites with the alkali, and a light oily fluid
called peruvine.   The resin is a hydrate of cinnameine, and increases at the ex-
pense of the latter principle as the balsam hardens.   Cinnameine often holds in
 solution a crystalline substance called metacinnameine,  isomeric with hydruret
 of cinnamyl, and  by its oxidation producing cinnamic acid.  When  none exists
in the balsam, it is presumed to have been wholly converted into that acid.
   Medical 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, leucorrhoea,  amenorrhoea,  chronic rheuma-
 tism, and palsy.   At present, however, it is little employed by American phy-
 sicians.   As an external application it has been found beneficial  in chronic in-
 dolent 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.                           W.


     BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM. U. S., Lond,, Ed,, Dub.

                            Balsam  of Tolu.

   The juice of Myrospermum Toluiferum. U S.  Concrete balsam, from incisions
  in the bark. Lond,   Concrete balsamic exudation. Ed., Dub. 
TART I.
Balsamum Tolutanum.
143
  Baume de Tolu, Fr.; Tolubalsam, Germ.; Balsamo del Tolu, Ital.; Balsamo de Tolu,
Span.
  Myrospermum. See BALSAMUM PERUVIANUM.
  For a long time the tree from which this balsam is derived retained the name
of Toluifera Balsamum, given to it by Linnasus;  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 genus Myroxylon,  or, as it is now de-
nominated, Myrospermum.  Ruiz, one of the authors of the Flora Peruviana,
considered it identical with Myroxylon Peruiferum; but M. Achille Richard
determined that it was a distinct species, and gave it the  appropriate specific
name of Toluiferum, which is now recognised by the Pharmacopoeias. Sprengel
and Humboldt  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 31. Peruiferum are thick, coriaceous,
acute, blunt at the apex, and all equal  in size;  while those of  31.  Toluiferum
are thin, membranous, obovate, with a lengthened and acuminate apex, and the
terminal one  is longest.  31. Peruiferum is found in Peru and the southern
parts of New Granada; 31. Toluiferum grows in Carthagena, and  abounds
especially in the neighbourhood of Tolu.  The wood of the latter species, ac-
cording to Humboldt, is of a deep-red colour, has a delightful  balsamic odour,
and is much used for building.
  The balsam is  procured  by making  incisions into the trunk.  The juice is
received in vessels of various kinds, in which it concretes.   It is brought from
Carthagena in calabashes or baked earthen jars, and sometimes in glass vessels.
G. L. Ulex gives as a test of the purity of the balsam,  that, if heated in sul-
phuric acid, it dissolves without disengagement of sulphurous acid, and  yields
a cherry-red liquid.  (Archiv. der Pharm., Jan., 1853.)
  Properties.  As first imported, balsam of Tolu has a soft, tenacious consist-
ence, which varies considerably with the temperature.   By age it becomes hard
and brittle 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 agreeable odour while burning.  It is entirely dissolved by alcohol
and the volatile oils.  Boiling water extracts its acid.  Distilled with water it
affords a small proportion of volatile oil; and, if the heat be continued, an acid
matter sublimes.   Mr. Hatchett states that, when dissolved in the smallest
quantity of solution of potassa, it loses  its  own characteristic odour, and ac-
quires that of the clove pink.   Its ingredients are resin, cinnamic acid, and vol-
atile oil,  the  proportions of which vary in different specimens.  The acid was
formerly thought  to be 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, this 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 (C10H8), which is denominated by Kopp tolene.
According to the  same chemist, the resinous  matter is of two kinds, one very
soluble in alcohol, the other but slightly so. (Journ. de Pharm.,  3e ser., xi.
426.)  Guibourt observed that the balsam contains more acid, and is less odor-
ous 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 
144               Balsamum Tolutanum.—Barium.            part i.

crystals, upon cooling.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 77.)  According to
Fremy, this balsam is closely analogous in constitution to  that of the balsam
of Peru, being composed of cinnameine, cinnamic acid, and resin.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Balsam of Tolu is a stimulant tonic, with a
peculiar tendency to the pulmonary organs.   It is given with some advantage
in chronic catarrh and other pectoral complaints, in which a gently stimulating
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 ob-
stinate coughs are said to  be sometimes  greatly relieved  by the inhalation 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 balsam with muci-
lage of gum Arabic and loaf sugar,  and afterwards with water.
  Off. Prep. Syrupus Tolutanus; Tinctura Benzoini Composita; Tinctura To-
lutana,                                                              W-

                              BARIUM.

                                Barium.

  This is the metallic radical of the earth baryta, and the basis of several offi-
cinal compounds.   It was first  obtained in 1808 by Sir H. 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. is 68-7, and sym-
bol Ba,   When exposed to the air, it  instantly becomes 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).
  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 sulphuret
in nitric acid, and strong ignition of the nitrate formed  to dissipate the acid.
As thus obtained, it is an  anhydrous solid,  caustic, alkaline, difficultly 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 anhydrous earth
is made into a paste with water, and exposed  to a red heat in a platinum cru-
cible.  The excess  of water is expelled, and the  hydrate, undergoing fusion,
may be poured out and allowed to congeal.   Baryta dissolves in water, and
forms the re-agent called baryta-water.   A boiling saturated solution, as it cools,
yields crystals of baryta, containing much water of crystallization.
   An economical process for obtaining baryta in crystals has been published
by Dr. Mohr, of Coblentz.  It consists in adding to a boiling solution of caustic
soda, an equivalent quantity of  chloride of barium or nitrate of baryta. In con-
sequence  of the usual impurities in  caustic soda, a precipitate is formed of some
carbonate and sulphate of baryta, which is easily separated by subsidence from
the solution of caustic baryta,  kept hot.  This, when clear, is drawn off by a
syphon, and put in a suitable  covered vessel to cool and crystallize;  when the
whole liquid is often converted into a solid mass of acicular crystals.  (Pharm.
Journ. and Trans., Dec, 1856.)
   Baryta consists of one eq. of barium 68'7, and one of oxygen 8=76-7.  Its
symbol is, therefore, BaO.                                            B. 
part i.          Barytse Carbonas.—Barytse SulpJfas.             145
           BARYTA CARBONAS.  U S, Ed., Dub.

                         Carbonate of Baryta.

   Carbonate de baryte, Fr. ; Kohlensaurer Baryt, Germ. ; Barite carbonate, Ital.; Car-
 bonato de barito, Span.
   The officinal carbonate of baryta is  the native carbonate, a rare mineral,
 discovered in 1783 by Dr. Withering, in  honour of whom it is called Witherite.
 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.
 It is generally translucent, but sometimes opaque.  It effervesces with acids,
 and, before the blowpipe, melts into a white enamel without losing its carbonic
 acid.  It consists of one eq. of acid 22, and one of baryta 76-7 = 98-7.  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 muriatic solution.  If strontia
 be present, the reddish flame will detect it.
   When pure, carbonate of baryta is entirely soluble in muriatic acid.  Any
 sulphate of  baryta present, is  left undissolved.   If  neither ammonia nor sul-
 phuretted hydrogen produce discoloration or a precipitate in the muriatic solu-
 tion, the absence of alumina, iron, copper, and  lead is  shown.   Lime may be
 detected by adding 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  acts as a poison on the  animal  economy.   Its only
 officinal use  is to prepare chloride of barium.
   Off. Prep. Barii Chloridum.                                        g_


                 BARYTSE 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 chloride of barium.  The U.S. Pharma-
 copoeia directs for this  purpose the carbonate of baryta; while the Ed. and Dub.
 Colleges give a separate formula  for the use  of either  the  carbonate or sul-
 phate, at 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 very flat rhombic prisms.  Before the blowpipe it strongly decrepi-
 tates, and melts into a white enamel, which, in the course of ten or twelve hours
 falls to powder.   It is thus partially converted into sulphuret of barium, and^
 if applied to  the tongue, will give a taste like that of putrid eggs, arising'from
 the formation of sulphuretted hydrogen.  It consists of one eq.  of acid 40
 and one of baryta 76-7 = 116-7.
   This salt,  on  account of its great insolubility, is  not poisonous.   Ground
to fine powder, it is sometimes  mixed with white lead, but impairs the quality
of that pigment.  The artificial sulphate of baryta, under the name of permanent
white or blancfix, is much used in the arts as a water colour.   It is made from
both  the  native sulphate and native carbonate.   It forms  a dazzling  white 
146
Belladonna.
part i.
colour, unalterable by light, heat, air, or  sulphuretted hydrogen   It is  used
by the manufacturers of paper hangings, and for mixing with  other colours,
the tone of which it does not impair. (Chem. Gaz., Feb. 1, 1857.)
   Off. Prep. Barii Chloridum.                                        B-

            BELLADONNA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                              Belladonna.

   The leaves of Atropa Belladonna. U. S.,Lond., Ed. The leaves and root. Dub.
  Belladone, Fr.; Gemeine Tollkirsche, Wolfskirsche, Germ.; Belladonna, Ital.; Bella-
dona, Belladama, Span.                      _
   Atropa  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynm.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla bell-shaped.   Stamens  distant.   Berry  globular,  two-

C6 Atropa Belladonna,  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1017; Woodv. 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 on their upper
surface, and paler beneath.  The flowers  are large, bell-shaped, pendent, of a
dull reddish colour,  with solitary peduncles, rising 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 deep purple, bearing considerable  resemblance
 to a cherry, and containing, in two distinct cells, numerous seeds,f 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 June and July, and ripening its fruit in Sep-
 tember.  It grows  vigorously, under cultivation, in this country, and retains
 all its activity, as shown by the observations of Mr. Alfred Jones. (Am. Journ.
 of Pharm., xxiv. 106.)   All parts of it are  active.  The  leaves  are the only
 part 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.  Leaves which have been kept long should not be used,
 as they undergo change through absorption of atmospheric moisture, emitting
 ammonia, and probably  losing, by decomposition, a portion of their  active
 nitrogenous matter. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvii. 455.)
    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.
 Brandes rendered it probable that these  properties reside 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 malate of atropia, Bran-
 des found in the dried herb two azotized  principles, a green resin (chlorophylle),
  wax, gum, starch,  albumen, lignin, and  various salts.  The alkaline  principle
  was afterwards detected by M. Runge; and the fact of its existence was estab-
  lished beyond question by Geiger and Hesse, who  obtained it from an extract
  prepared from the stems and leaves of  the plant.  It was first, however, pro-
  cured in a state of purity by Mein, a German apothecary, who extracted it from
  the root.  Liibekind has described, under the name of belladonnin, a volatile
  alkaline principle,  wholly distinct from atropia,  which he  obtained from bella- 
PART I.
Belladonna.
147
donna; but it yet remains to be seen whether  this was not the product of  the
process. (See Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 127.)
   Atropia is placed by the London College  in its Materia Medica catalogue.
It crystallizes in white, silky prisms;  is inodorous and of a bitter taste; dis-
solves easily in absolute alcohol and ether, but very slightly in water, and more
freely in all these liquids hot than cold ; melts at 194° F., and at 284° is vola-
tilized,  a portion being unchanged, but the  greater part  destroyed.   Heated
with potassa or soda, it gives out ammonia.  It restores the colour of reddened
litmus paper; forms soluble and crystallizable salts with sulphuric, nitric, mu-
riatic, and acetic acids; and, in a very dilute  solution, produces, when applied
to the  eye, a  speedy and  durable dilatation  of the pupil.  In  composition it
resembles the other vegetable alkalies, its formula being NCg^H^O,..*

   *  The following is the process employed by Mein for procuring atropia.  The roots
of plants two or three years old were selected.  Of these, in extremely fine powder, 24
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 24 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  sul-
phate of lime having been separated by a new filtration, the alcoholic liquid was dis-
tilled 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 evaporated 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 atro-
pia, 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  made so by evaporating the excess of alcohol,
and, in the course of 12 or 24 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.  From 12 oz. of
the root, Mein obtained 20 grs. of the alkali. {Journ. de Pharm., xx. 87.)
   M. Rabourdin, of Orleans, in France, prepares atropia by means of chloroform  in the
following manner.   To each litre  (about 2 pints) of the  expressed juice of the fresh
leaves, deprived of its albumen by heat and filtration, or to  a filtered  solution of 60
grammes (about 15 drachms) of extract in 200 grammes of distilled water, 4 grammes
of potassa, and 30 grammes of chloroform are added, the whole is shaken for a minute,
and then set aside.  In half an hour, the chloroform, holding the atropia in solution,
is seen at the  bottom of the vessel, resembling a greenish oil.   The supernatant liquor
is decanted, and small portions of water successively added and removed, until it is no
longer rendered turbid.   The  chloroformic solution is then distilled, by means of a
salt  bath, until all the chloroform has passed.   The  residue  is treated with a little
water acidulated with sulphuric acid, which dissolves the atropia, leaving a green resin-
ous  matter.   The solution  is then filtered, the atropia precipitated  by carbonate of
potassa in slight excess, and the precipitate dissolved in rectified alcohol, which, upon
evaporation, yields it in beautiful groups of needles. ( Gaz. M6d. de Paris, Oct. 19,1850.)
   Mr. W. T. Luxton obtains atropia by adding a little sulphuric acid to a strong decoc-
tion of the leaves so as to precipitate the albumen, filtering, and either passing gaseous
ammonia through the  clear liquor, or suspending  in it a lump of carbonate of ammo-
nia.  Atropia slowly crystallizes, and in a day or two may be separated on a filter, and
deprived of colour by washing with spirit of-ammonia.  Mr. Luxton obtained between
5 and 6 grains from 1000 of the leaves.  (See Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xxvii. 156.)
   An account of the effects of numerous re-agents upon the muriate of atropia, by Dr.
A. Von  Planta, maybe found in the American Journal of Pharmacy (xxiii. 38). 
148
Belladonna.
PART I.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The action of belladonna is that of a power-
ful narcotic, possessing also diaphoretic and diuretic properties, and somewhat
disposed to operate upon the bowels.   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 occa-
sion dilatation of the pupil, decided frontal headache, slight delirium, colicky
pains and purging, and a scarlet efflorescence on the skin ; but this last effect
is 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 attained; 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 produces the most  deleterious effects.   It is
in fact a powerful  poison, and many instances are recorded, in which it has been
taken with fatal consequences.  All parts of the  plant' are  poisonous.   It is
not  uncommon, in countries where it 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, burning hi the throat and stomach, great thirst, difficult deglutition,
nausea  and ineffectual retching, loss  of vision, vertigo, and intoxication or
delirium, attended with  violent  gestures and sometimes fits of laughter, and
followed by coma.   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 pros-
trated and paralyzed.    A feeble pulse, cold extremities, subsultus tendinum,
deep coma or  delirium, and sometimes  convulsions precede death.   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.   The poi-
sonous  effects  of atropia are of the same character, but  more quickly induced,
showing themselves violently in fifteen  or twenty  minutes, while those of the
belladonna itself are seldom  experienced in  less than half an hour.   In a case
recorded by Dr. James  Andrew, two-thirds of a  grain occasioned the  most
alarming symptoms, which continued for several days, though the patient ulti-
mately recovered under treatment.  (Ed, Month. Journ. of Med,  Sci., xiv. 34.)
Severe poisonous  effects  are said to have followed the administration of one-
tenth of a grain; and the application of a solution to the conjunctiva has caused
alarming constitutional symptoms.   To obviate the poisonous influence of bel-
ladonna, the  most effectual method is to evacuate the stomach as  speedily as
possible, by means of emetics or the stomach pump, and afterwards to cleanse
the bowels by purgatives and enemata.  The shocks of an electro-magnetic bat-
tery have been found useful in the comatose state. (N. Y.  Journ. of Med., N. S.,
v. 172.)   The infusion of galls may be serviceable 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 remaining in the stomach inert.  Bouchardat
recommends the  ioduretted solution of iodide of  potassium; and a case is re-
corded  in which it seems to have been useful. (Ann, de Tlxerap., 1854, p. 14.)
   Belladonna has been used as a medicine from early times.  The leaves were
 first employed externally to discuss  scirrhous tumours, and heal cancerous and
 other ill-conditioned ulcers;  and  were  afterwards administered internally for
 the same purpose.   Much evidence of their usefulness in these affections is on
 record, and even Dr. Cullen spoke in their favour; but this  application of the
 medicine has fallen into disuse. It is at present more esteemed in nervous diseases. 
PART I.
Belladonna.
149
 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 it may be employed to give relief in
 other painful affections.  Hufeland recommends it in the convulsions dependent
 on scrofulous irritation.  It has been prescribed also  in nervous colic, chorea,
 epilepsy, hydrophobia,  tetanus, mania, delirium  tremens, paralysis,  amaurosis,
 incontinence of urine, rheumatism, gout, dysmenorrhcea, obstinate intermittents,
 scarlatina, dropsy, and jaundice; 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 employed in several cases of strangulated hernia.  It has acquired
 considerable credit as a preventive of  scarlatina; an application of the remedy
 first suggested by the author of the homoeopathic doctrine; but its efficiency in
 this way is at best doubtful.  In the form of tincture, it has been recently employed
 by Dr. Thomas Anderson, with supposed benefit, in the  coma with contracted
 pupil attendant on the over-action of opium.  (Ranking's Abstract,  xxii. 246.)
   Applied to the eye, belladonna has the  property of dilating the pupil exceed-
 ingly, and for this purpose it is employed by 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  crystalline  lens,  confined to  the
 centre  of  that body, vision is temporarily improved  by a  similar use of  the
 remedy; and it  may also be beneficially employed, 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 has been recommended in morbid sensibility of the  eye.
 The extract, rubbed upon the areola of the breast, has been found  quickly to
 arrest the secretion of milk ; and, upon the abdomen, to relieve the vomiting of
 pregnancy, and other irritations sympathetic with the gravid uterus.  The decoc-
 tion or extract, applied to the  neck  of the uterus, is asserted to have hastened
 tedious labour dependent  on rigidity of the os tineas;  and spasmodic stricture
 of the urethra, neck of  the bladder, and sphincter ani, anal fissures, and painful
 uterine affections, have been relieved by the local use of the extract, either
 smeared upon bougies,  or administered by injection.  In the latter mode it has
 relieved strangulated hernia.   It is asserted, also to be useful in paraphimosis.
 The inhalation of the vapour  from a decoction of the leaves or extract  has
 been 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 characteristic effects are experienced.   An infusion may be prepared by
 adding a scruple of the  dried  leaves to ten fluidounces of boiling water, of
 which from one to two fluidounces  is the dose for an  adult.   The  extract  is
 generally preferred in the United States.  (See Extractum Belladonnse.)
   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.  Glycerin and  olein have  also been recommended as vehicles of 
150
Belladonna.—Benzoinum.
PART I.
the alkaloid for external use.  The dose for internal use, to begin with, is about
one-thirtieth of a grain, which may be gradually increased.  But it is almost
too powerful for prudent employment  in this way; especially, as the effects of
belladonna can be readily obtained from' the extract.  The sulphate and vale-
rianate of atropia have been employed; but their action differs in nothing from
that of the pure alkaloid, and the dose is the same.
   Off. Prep.  Atropias Sulphas ; Extractum Belladonnas; Extract. Belladonnas
Alcoholicum; Tinctura Belladonnas.                                  W.

             BENZOINUM.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Benzoin.

   The concrete juice of Styrax Benzoin. U S.  The balsam from incisions in
the bark, hardened in the air. Lond.   Concrete balsamic exudation. Ed.   The
concrete exudation.  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 Linnasus, who, however, committed an-
other, in ascribing the drug to Croton Benzoe, a shrub which he afterwards de-
scribed under the name of  Terminalia Benzoin.   Mr. Dryander was the first
who ascertained the true benzoin tree to be a Styrax; and his description, pub-
lished in  the 77th  vol. of  the English Philosophical Transactions, has been
copied by most subsequent  writers.
   Styrax.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Styraceas.
   Gen. Ch, Calyx inferior.  Corolla funnel-shaped.  Drupe two-seeded. Willd.
   Styrax  Benzoin.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 623; 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.  By wounding  the bark near the origin of the lower branches, a
juice exudes, which  hardens upon exposure, and forms the benzoin of commerce
A tree is deemed 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 fra-
grant benzoin.   It  is exported chiefly from Acheen in Sumatra, and comes into
the western markets in large masses packed in chests and casks, and showing ex-
ternally 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 valuable, 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 consisting
 exclusively of  yellowish-white homogeneous fragments, which, when broken,
 presented a smooth, 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 
PART I.
Benzoinum.
151
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 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.  When 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 solu-
tions partially dissolve it, forming benzoates, from which the acid may be pre-
cipitated by the addition of other acids.  Its chief constituents are resin and
benzoic acid; and it therefore belongs to the balsams.   The white tears and the
brownish connecting medium are said by Stolze to contain 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 per cent.  (Journ.
de Pharm., 3e ser., iv. 46.)  The resin is of three 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.   Benzoin is said
to have the property of retarding the oxidation  of fatty matters, and thus pre-
venting rancidity.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Benzoin is stimulant  and expectorant, and
was  formerly employed in pectoral  affections ; but, except as an ingredient of
the compound tincture of benzoin, it has  fallen into  disuse.   Trousseau  and
Pidoux recommend strongly its  inhalation 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 ;  Tinctura Benzoini Composita.        W.

  * A  styptic liquid, prepared by a  Roman pharmaceutist  named Pagliari, and kept
secret for a  time, has acquired some  reputation among the French army surgeons.  It
is made by boiling, for six hours, eight ounces of tincture of benzoin (containing about
two ounces  of the balsam), a pound of alum, and ten pounds  of water, in  a  glazed
earthen vessel, stirring constantly, and supplying the loss with hot water.  The liquor
is  then strained and kept  in  stopped bottles.  It is limpid, styptic, of an  aromatic
smell, and said to have the property of causing an instantaneous coagulation of the
blood.   (See Am. Journ. of A Jed.  Sci.., N. S., xxv. 199.)—Note to the tenth edition.
  Fumigating pastiles are made from 16 parts of benzoin,  4  of balsam of Tolu, 4 of
yellow saunders, 1 of labdanum, 48  of charcoal, 2 of nitre, 1  of tragacanth, 2 of gum
Arabic, and 12 of cinnamon water, by reducing the solid ingredients to powder, and
mixing the whole into a plastic mass, which is to be formed into cones, flattened at
the base, and dried first in the air, and then in a stove.  (Soubeiran,  Trait, de Pharm.,
3e ed. i. 463.) 
152
Bismuthum.—Brominium.
PART I.
             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 Corn-
wall, and has been found at Monroe in Connecticut.   It  is obtained  almost
entirely from native bismuth, which  is heated by means of wood or charcoal,
whereby the metal is fused and  separated from  its gangue.  Almost  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, brilliant metal,
of a crystalline texture, and of a white colour with a slight reddish 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°, eq. number 213, and symbol Bi.  When
impure bismuth solidifies after fusion, globules  of the metal, nearly pure, are
thrown up from the mass.  This takes place  when the metal contains as much
as fifty per  cent, of impurity.   The same phenomenon does not occur when
pure bismuth is melted. (R. Schneider.)  At a high temperature, in close ves-
sels, bismuth 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 teroxide, and consists of one eq. of
bismuth 213, and three of  oxygen 24=237.   Formerly the equivalent of this
metal was deemed to be 71; but the best authorities now make it three times
that number, and, consequently, the former protoxide becomes a teroxide. Bis-
muth  is acted on feebly by muriatic acid, but violently by nitric acid, which
dissolves 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 ex-
trication of sulphurous acid.  As it occurs  in commerce, it is generally con-
taminated with a little  arsenic.  It  may be purified from  all  contaminating
metals, by dissolving the bismuth of commerce in diluted nitric acid, precipi-
tating the clear solution by adding it to water, and reducing the white  powder
thus obtained with  black flux.   The same precipitate is obtained by adding
ammonia to the nitric solution; and, if the supernatant liquor be blue, the pre-
sence of copper is indicated.  If the  precipitate be yellowish, iron is present.  .
   Pharmaceutical  Uses, &c.  Bismuth is not used in medicine, in an  uncom-
bined  state, but is employed pharmaceutically 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.                                     B.


                        BROMINIUM. U.S.

                                Bromine.

   Brome, Fr.; Brom, Germ.; Bromo, Ital.
   Bromine is an elementary body, possessing  many analogies to chlorine and
iodine.   It was discovered  in 1826 by M. Balard, 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 various aquatic plants, as the water-cress, in numerous salt springs, 
part i.                       Brominium.                           153

and, in two instances, in the mineral kingdom—in an ore of zinc, and in the
cadmium of Silesia. It has also been detected by M. M&ne in the coal-gas liquor
of the Paris gas works.   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 wells, near Freeport, Pa., by Dr. David
Alter, who has been engaged for several years in manufacturing it on a large
scale.  The bittern of the salt wells of this locality contains the bromine,  com-
bined with sodium and magnesium, and  affords an average product of nine
drachms of  bromine to the gallon; though the yield of different wells varies
greatly. Bromine has been detected also in the waters of the Saratoga springs.
   Preparation.  Bromine is obtained from bittern, rich  in this element, on the
same principle that chlorine is procured from chloride of  sodium;  that is, by the
action of diluted sulphuric acid and deutoxide  of manganese.   As manufac-
tured near Freeport,  the reaction takes place with  the bromides  of sodium
and magnesium, with the result of  forming  a residue,  consisting of the sul-
phates of soda  and magnesia,  mixed  with sulphate of deutoxide of manganese.
The distillation should be performed  at a gentle heat, by means of a water bath,
into a refrigerated receiver, containing water.  We are informed by Dr. Thomas
Magill, of Allegheny Co., Pa., that Dr. Alter first heats the bittern in an iron
boiler, and then introduces it hot into the retort, thus facilitating the process.
   The bittern  of the salt works of Schoenbeck, in Germany, which contains
only  seven-tenths of one part  of bromine in 1000 parts, is subjected to several
successive evaporations, whereby the  solution is reduced in bulk, and so far puri-
fied as to  contain chiefly the bromide and chloride of magnesium.   The chlorine
is separated, in the form of muriatic acid gas, by heating the liquid with sul-
phuric acid, at  a temperature not exceeding 259°; the sulphates are crystallized
out;  and the bromine is evolved  in the usual manner by sulphuric acid and
deutoxide of manganese. The last operation, which occupies six hours, is per-
formed in a leaden still, of sufficient capacity to contain  a charge of 84 pounds
of the concentrated bittern, 60 or 70 pounds of weak sulphuric acid from the
leaden chambers, and  40 pounds of deutoxide of manganese. The product is 4
pounds of bromine. (Moritz Herman., Journ. de Pharm., Janv., 1854.)
   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 den-
sity is very nearly 3.  At 4° below zero it becomes  a hard, brittle, crystalline
solid, having a dark  leaden colour,  and a 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.   Its 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 chlorine,
destroys the colour of sulphate of indigo, and decomposes organic matters.   Its
combination with starch has a yellow colour.   It corrodes  the  skin and gives
it a deep yellow stain.  Bromine  is  intermediate in its  affinities between chlo-
rine and iodine; since its combinations 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 hydro-
bromic acids, which are analogous in properties and composition to the corre-
sponding  acids of chlorine and iodine. It also combines with chlorine, forming
chloride of bromine, which probably  has the formula BrCl5.  This is prepared
by passing chlorine through bromine, and condensing the resulting vapours at 
154
Brominium.
PART I.
a low temperature.   It is a reddish-yellow liquid, very fluid and volatile, soluble
in water, and having a penetrating odour and disagreeable taste.
   Commercial bromine sometimes^contains as much as 6 or 8 per cent, of bro-
mide of carbon, as  ascertained by M. Poselger.  He discovered the  impurity
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 be added in excess.   Bromine may be detected in marine
vegetables by carbonizing them  in a covered crucible, exhausting the  charcoal,
previously pulverized, with boiling distilled  water, precipitating any alkaline
sulphuret present in the solution by sulphate of zinc, and then  adding succes-
sively 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 dissolve in the  ether,
to which it will communicate an orange colour. (Dupasquier.)   According to
Reynoso, a  more  delicate test is furnished by oxidized water, which liberates
bromine from its compounds, without reacting on it when free.   The  mode of
proceeding is as follows.  Put a piece of deutoxide of barium  in a test tube,
and add to it  successively distilled water, pure muriatic acid, and ether.   The
materials are here present for generating oxidized water;  and so soon as bub-
bles  are seen to rise to the surface,  the substance suspected to contain bromine
is added, and the whole  shaken together.   If a bromide be present, the muriatic
will  give rise to hydrobromic acid;  and the oxidized water, acting on this, will
set free the  bromine, which will  dissolve in the ether, and  give it a yellow tint.
   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 promoting absorp-
tion.  It  has been  employed in bronchocele, scrofulous  tumours  and ulcers,
amenorrhcea, chronic diseases of the skin, and hypertrophy of the ventricles.
For  a list  of the  diseases  in which bromine and its preparations have been
tried, the  reader is  referred to  an  essay by Dr. Glover in  the  Ed. Med. and
Surg. Journ.  for Oct.  1842, an  abstract of which is given in the Med. Exam.,
v. 712.   Magendie  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, containing one part of bro-
mine to forty of distilled water, is  about six drops taken 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 used.  See these titles in the second and third
parts of this work.  The chloride of bromine has been used in cancer by Lan-
dolfi, of Naples, both externally as a caustic, and internally.  The caustic was
usually formed of equal parts of the chlorides of bromine, zinc, gold,  and anti-
mony, made into a paste with flour.   To assist the  local  treatment, he gave
a pill, composed of a tenth of a drop of chloride of bromine, half a grain of
extract of hemlock, and a grain of phellandrium seed, daily, for  two months,
and  twice a day for two months more.  (Arch. Gen., Mai, 1855, p. 609.)
   Bromine, in an  overdose, acts as an irritant  poison.   The best antidote  ac-
cording to Mr. Alfred Smee, is  ammonia.  A case of poisoning by this  sub-
stance, which  proved fatal  in  seven hours and a half, is related by Dr. J. R. 
PART I.
Brominium.—Buchu.
155
Snell, of Long Island, K Y.  The amount swallowed was about an ounce, and
the symptoms generally were those produced by the irritant poisons, such as
violent inflammation of the lips, mouth, tongue, and oesophagus, with incessant
burning pain, followed, in  two  hours and a half, by prostration, which soon
ended in death.  (New York Journ. of Med. for Sept., 1850.)
  Bromine is extensively used in the art of the daguerreotypist.
   Off. Prep. Potassii Bromidum.                                     B.

                    BUCHU. U.S., Lond., Dub.

                                Buchu.

  The leaves of Barosma crenata, and other species of  Barosma, U. S.   The
leaves of  Barosma crenulata, and B. serratifolia. Lond.  The leaves of Ba-
rosma crenata.  Dub.
   Of. Syn. BUCKU. Leaves of various species of Barosma.  Ed.
   This medicine consists of the leaves of different plants growing at the Cape
of Good Hope, formerly ranked in the genus Diosma, but transferred by bota-
nists to the genus Barosma, so named from the strong odour  of the leaves
(Pae.v; and oaprf).   B. crenata, B. crenulata, and B. serratifolia are described
by Lindley as medicinal species.  The leaves of these and other Barosmas, and
of some Agathosmas, are collected by the Hottentots, who value  them on ac-
count of their odour, and, under the name of bookoo or buchu, rub them, in the
state of powder, upon their greasy bodies.
   Barosma.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord.  Rutaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-cleft or five-parted.  Disk lining the bottom of the
calyx generally with a short scarcely prominent rim.  Petals  five, with short
claws.  Filaments ten ;  the five opposite the petals sterile, petaloid; the other
five  longer, subulate.   Style as long  as the petals.   Stigma minute, five-lobed.
Fruit composed of five cocci, covered with glandular  dots at  the back. ( Con-
densed from Lindley.)  These plants are all small shrubs, with opposite leaves
and  peduncled flowers.
   Barosma crenata. Lindley, Flor. 3Ied. p. 213.—Diosma crenata. De Cand.
Prodrom. i. 714;  Woodv. Med. Bot. 3d ed. v. 52.   This is a slender shrub,
with smooth, somewhat angular branches, of a purplish colour. The leaves are
opposite, ovate or  obovate, acute, serrated and  glandular at  the edge, coria-
ceous, and full  of  small  pellucid  dots on the under surface.   The flowers are
white  or  of a reddish tint, and stand solitarily at the  end of  short, lateral,
leafy shoots.  The leaves of this species are now most largely imported.
  Properties.  The leaves, as found in the shops, are from three quarters of an
inch to an inch long, from three to five lines broad, elliptical, lanceolate-ovate,
or obovate, sometimes slightly pointed, sometimes blunt at the apex, very finely
notched and glandular at the edges, smooth and of a green colour on the upper
surface, dotted and paler beneath, and of a firm consistence.   Their odour is
strong, diffusive, and somewhat aromatic; their taste bitterish, and analogous
to that of mint.  These properties will distinguish them from senna, with which
they might be confounded upon a  careless inspection.   They are sometimes
mixed with portions of the stalks and fruit.   Cadet de Gassicourt found them to
contain in 1000 parts, 6-65 parts of a  light, brownish-yellow, and highly odorous
volatile oil, 211-7  of gum,  51*7 of extractive, 11 of chlorophylle, and 21-51  of
resin.   Water and alcohol extract their virtues, which probably depend on the
volatile oil and extractive.  The latter is precipitated by infusion of galls.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Buchu is gently stimulant, with a peculiar
tendency to the urinary organs, producing diuresis, and, like all similar medi-
cines, exciting diaphoresis when circumstances favour this mode of action. The 
156                      Buchu.—Calamina.                   part I.

Hottentots have long used it in a variety of diseases.   From these rude prac-
titioners the remedy was borrowed by the resident English and Dutch  physi-
cians, by  whose recommendation it was employed in Europe, and  has come
into general use.   It is  given chiefly in complaints of the urinary organs, such
as gravel, chronic catarrh of  the bladder, morbid  irritation of the bladder and
urethra, disease of the prostate, and retention or incontinence of urine from a
loss of tone in the parts concerned in its evacuation.  It has also been recom-
mended in dyspepsia, chronic rheumatism, cutaneous affections, and dropsy.
From twenty to thirty grains of the powder may be  given two or three times
a day.   The leaves are also used in infusion, in the proportion of an ounce to
a pint of boiling water,  of which the dose is one or two fluidounces.  A tinc-
ture has been employed as a stimulant  embrocation  in local pains.  A fluid
extract may be prepared by a process similar to that for fluid extract of valerian
(see Extracta  Fluida), eight ounces of the coarsely powdered leaves being used
for procuring a pint of  the extract.  The odour  of mint  becomes very  strong
in this fluid extract when kept for some  months.   The dose is a fluidrachm.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Buchu; Tinctura Buchu.                       W.


                         CALAMINA.   U.S.

                               Calamine.

   Native impure carbonate of zinc. U S.
   Lapis calaminaris, Lat.; Calamine, Fr.; Galmei, Germ.; Giallamina, Pietra calami-
naria, Ital.; Calamina,  Span.
   The term calamine is applied by mineralogists  indiscriminately to two mine-
rals, scarcely  distinguishable by their external characters, the carbonate and
silicate of zinc.  The term, however, in the pharmaceutical sense, refers to  the
native carbonate only.  The silicate is sometimes called electric calamine.
   Properties,  &c.   Calamine is found in the United  States, but more abund-
antly in Germany and England.  It usually occurs in compact or earthy masses,
or concretions, of  a dull appearance, readily scratched by the knife, and break-
ing with an earthy fracture; but sometimes it is found crystallized.   Its colour
is very variable; being, in different specimens, grayish, grayish-yellow, reddish-
yellow,  and, when very  impure, brown, or brownish-yellow.   Its sp. gr. varies
from 3-4 to 4-4.  Before the blowpipe  it  does not melt, but  becomes  yellow
and sublimes.  When  of good quality, it is almost entirely soluble in the dilute
mineral acids; and, unless it has been previously calcined, emits a few bubbles
of carbonic acid.  If soluble in sulphuric acid, it can contain  but little car-
bonate of lime, and no  sulphate of baryta.  Ammonia, added to the sulphuric
solution, throws down the oxide of zinc, mixed with the subsulphate, and takes
it up again when added  in excess.  If copper be present, the ammonia will give
rise to a blue colour;  if iron, the alkali will  throw down the sesquioxide,  not
soluble in an excess of the precipitant.   The  officinal calamine is distinguished
from the  electric calamine, which is a silicate of zinc, by dissolving in warm
nitric acid without gelatinizing, and by not being rendered electric by heat.
   Impurities.   According to Mr.  Robert Brett,  calamine, as sold in the Eng-
lish shops, is frequently a spurious mixture containing only traces of zinc.  He   '
analyzed six specimens, and  found them to contain from 78 to 87-5 per cent.
of sulphate of baryta, the rest consisting of  sesquioxide of iron, carbonate of
lime, sulphate (sulphuret ?) of lead, and mere traces of zinc.   When acted on
by muriatic acid, the spurious calamine, in powder, evolved sulphuretted hydro-
gen, and was  only in  small part dissolved, the great bulk of it remaining be-
hind as sulphate of baryta.  (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 173.)  The results 
PART I.
Calamina.—Calamus.
157
of Mr. Brett have been confirmed by Dr. R, D. Thomson, Mr. D. Murdock,
and Mr. E.  Moore.  Dr. Thomson  thinks the spurious calamine is made of
sulphate of  baryta and chalk, coloured with Armenian bole.  Mr. Jacob Bell,
of London,  holds the more probable opinion that it is  the native sulphate of
baryta, deriving its colour from iron, which is a mineral having some resem-
blance to calamine.  Mr. Midgley, indeed, states that the miners  in England
distinguish two calamines, brass calamine, which is sold to the makers of brass,
and baryta calamine, which is really the native amorphous sulphate of baryta,
and which is furnished to the druggists in the place of the genuine native  car-
bonate of zinc.  Even  the genuine calamine of the shops is impure, usually
containing iron and copper, and various earthy matters.  That which has been
calcined, to  render it more readily pulverizable, contains little or no carbonic
acid.   In view of  these facts, the revisers of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850
deemed it proper to  introduce, as a new  officinal, the pure carbonate of zinc,
obtained by  precipitation.  (See Zinci Carbonas Prsecipitatus.)
   Composition.   The crystallized variety is anhydrous,  and consists of one eq.
of carbonic  acid 22,  and one of protoxide of zinc 403=62-3.   The compact
and earthy varieties  are said to contain one eq. of water.
   Calamine must  be reduced to an impalpable powder before being used in
medicine.  In this state it forms prepared calamine, under which head its
medical properties will be noticed. (See Calamina Prseparata.)
   Off. Prep.  Calamina Prasparata.                                   B.

                    CALAMUS.  U.S. Secondary.

                              Sweet Flag.

   The rhrzoma of Acorus Calamus. U S.
   Off. Syn. CALAMUS AROMATICUS. Rhizoma of Acorus Calamus,  var.
a, vulgaris.  Ed,
  Acorus vrai, Acorus odorant, Fr.; Kalmuswurzel, Germ.; Calamo aromatico, Ital., Span.
  Acorus.  Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Acoraceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Spadix  cylindrical, eovered with florets.  Corolla six-petalled, na-
ked.   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 com-
pressed 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, varie-
gated with triangular stains 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, tapering
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 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 va-
riety is found in India.   The European plant differs slightly from the American.
The  leaves  as well as root have  an  aromatic odour; but the  latter only is em-
 ployed.   It should be collected late in the autumn, or in the  spring.   After re- 
158
Calamus.—Calcium.
PART I.
moval from the ground, the roots are washed, freed from their 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 kept 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  yellowish-white, and  their fracture
short and rough.  A variety imported from Germany consists exclusively of the
interior portion of the root.   The pieces are usually long,  slender, irregularly
quadrangular, and of a grayish-white colour.
  The odour of calamus is strong and fragrant; its  taste warm, bitterish, pun-
gent, and aromatic.  Its active principles are taken up by boiling water. From
100 parts of the fresh root of the European  plant,  Trommsdorff obtained O'l
of volatile oil, 2*3 of soft resin, 3-3 of extractive with a little chloride of po-
tassium, 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 Neumann about two scruples of volatile  oil.   The oil is at first yel-
low, but ultimately becomes red, and has. the  smell and taste of calamus.   The
extractive matter has an acrid and sweetish taste.   The root is sometimes at-
tacked 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.
   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 useful ad-
juvant to tonic or purgative medicines, in cases of torpor or debility of the ali-
mentary canal.  It was probably known  to the ancients, and is supposed to
have been the axopov of the Greeks; but the calamus aromaticus of Diosco-
rides was a different product, having been derived, according 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 propor-
tion of an ounce of the root to a pint of boiling water, is  sometimes given in
the dose of a wineglassful or more.                                    W.

                              CALCIUM.

                                Calcium.

   This is the peculiar  metal of  lime, and, consequently, of all  calcareous sub-
stances.  It was obtained by Dr. Matthiessen, in 1855, in masses of the size of
a pea, by the electrolysis,  with a Bunsen battery, of chloride of calcium. It is  a
pale-yellow metal, remarkably glittering  when freshly filed.   Its fracture is
jagged, becoming granular.   It is malleable  and very ductile.   In a  dry air it
remains unaltered; but it  soon tarnishes in a moist one.  It melts at a red heat,
and afterwards burns with splendour, forming lime.    Its eq. number is 20, and
symbol Ca.  (See Chem. Gaz., June 15, 1855.)
   Calcium is  a very abundant element in nature, existing in the mineral king-
dom chiefly as a carbonate, in the form  of  limestone, marble, chalk, and cal-
careous spar; and as  a phosphate and  carbonate  in the  bones and shells of
animals.  It  is the  peculiar metal in the officinals, lime, chloride of calcium,
and carbonate, phosphate, and hypochlorite of lime.                    B. 
PART I.
Calcii Chloridum.
159
          CALCII  CHLORIDUM.  U. S., Lond., Dub.

                          Chloride of Calcium.

   Off. Syn, CALCIS MURIAS.  Ed,
   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 U. S.  and
London Pharmacopoeias; but processes for preparing it are given by the Edin-
burgh 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 calcium  and water,
the latter  of which is dissipated at a red  heat.  In making this prepartion, 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.   The process of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia
of 1850 is as follows, Imperial measure being used.
   "Take of Chalk, in small fragments, two pounds  [avoir d,'];  Pure Muriatic
Acid  two  pints and a half; Distilled Water six pints; Slaked Lime as much as
is  sufficient.  Into the Acid, first diluted with the Water, introduce the Chalk
in  successive portions, and, when  the  effervescence has  ceased, boil  for  ten
minutes.  Add now, stirring well, a very slight excess  of slaked Lime, and throw
the whole upon a calico filter.  Acidulate the filtered solution slightly by adding
a few drops of muriatic acid; then evaporate to dryness, and expose the residuum
to a low red heat in  a Hessian crucible.  Finally, reduce the product rapidly
to a coarse powder in a warm mortar, and enclose it in a well stopped bottle."
   Properties.   Chloride of  calcium, in  the fused or anhydrous state, as it is
directed or understood to be in theU. S., London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias,
is  a colourless, slightly translucent, hard and friable solid, of an acrid, bitter,
saline taste, extremely 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.
The crystallized  salt, as directed by the Edinburgh College, is  also very deli-
quescent, and has the form of colourless,  transparent, striated, six-sided prisms.
The crystals, on exposure to heat, first dissolve in their water of crystallization,
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 ferrocyanuret
of potassium dissolved in a large quantity of water.    The non-action of these
tests shows the absence of magnesia, sulphuric acid,  and iron.
   Chloride of calcium exists 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.  It consists of one  eq. of chlorine 35-5, and  one
of calcium 20=55-5.   When crystallized, it contains six eqs. of water=54.
   Chloride  of calcium is used medicinally in solution only.   In this state it
forms the  officinal Liquor Calcii Chloridi, under  which title its  medicinal
properties are given.  As a chemical  agent  it is employed by the  Edinburgh
College for  purifying ether and spirit of nitric ether; by the Dublin, for pre-
paring morphia ; and by the London, in making chloroform.
   Off. Prep.  Calcis Carbonas Prascipitatum; Liquor Calcii Chloridi; Mor-
phias  Murias ;  Pulvis Antimonialis, Dub.                              B. 
160
Calx.
PART I.
                      CALX.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed.

                                  Lime.

   Lime recently prepared by calcination.  U.S., Lond.
   Off. Sun CALX RECENS USTA. Fresh-burned Lime; Quicklime. Dub.
   Quicklime-  Chaux, Chaux vive, Fr.;  Kalk, Germ.; Calce, Ital.; Calviva, Span.
   Lime which is ranked among the alkaline earths, is a very important phar-
 maceutical agent, and forms the principal ingredient in several standard prepara-
 tions   The Edinburgh College gives a process for its preparation ;  but m the
 United States, London, 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, by a strong heat,  some form
 of the native carbonate.   The carbonic acid is thus expelled, and the lime re-
 mains behind. When the lime is intended for nice chemical operations, it should
 be obtained from pure white marble, or from oyster  shells.  For the purpose
 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, London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias
 is the lime of commerce, and therefore impure.  That obtained by  the process
 of the Edinburgh College is purer.   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.  On account of its
 liability to change by being kept, lime intended for pharmaceutical  purposes
 should be recently prepared.   It acts upon vegetable colours like an alkali.
 Upon the addition of water, it cracks and falls into powder, with the evolution
 of heat, forming hydrate of lime.  In this state lime dissolves freely in syrup.
 (See Syrup of Lime.)   If it dissolve in muriatic acid without effervescence, the
 fact shows the absence of carbonic acid, and that the lime has been well calcined.
 If any silica be  present,  it  will remain  undissolved.   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 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 in excess is mixed with water, so as
  to form a thick liquid, the mixture is called milk of lime.
    Lime is the protoxide  of calcium, and consists  of one eq. of  calcium 20, and
  one of oxygen 8 = 28.  (See Calcium.)  It is distinguished from the other alka-
  line earths by forming a very deliquescent salt (chloride of calcium) by reac-
  tion with muriatic acid,  and a sparingly soluble one with sulphuric acid.  All
  acids  acidulous, ammoniacal, and  metallic salts, borates, alkaline carbonates,
  and astringent vegetable infusions are incompatible with it. 
PART I.
Calx.—Calx Chlorinata.
161
   Medical Properties.  Lime acts externally as an escharotic, and was formerly
 applied to ill-conditioned ulcers.  The lime ointment of  Spender is made by
 incorporating four pints of washed slaked lime with one part of fresh lard and
 three parts of olive oil, previously warmed together.  Mixed with potassa, lime
 forms an officinal caustic.  (See Potassa cum Cake.)  As  an internal remedy
 it is  always administered in solution. (See Liquor Calcis.)
   Pharm. Uses.   Lime is used as a chemical agent to prepare iEther Sulphu-
 ricus, Dub.;  Alcohol, Ed., Dub.;  Ammonias Aqua Fortior; Chloroformum;
 Ferri Pulvis; Liquor Ammonias; Liquor Potassas;  Liquor Sodas; Potassas
 Sulphas;  Quinias Sulphas;  Spiritus ^Etheris Nitrici; Spiritus Ammonias;
 Strychnia; Sulphur Prascipitatum.
   Off.  Prep. Calcii Chloridum ; Liquor Calcis ; Potassa cum Calce.    B.


        CALX CHLORINATA. U.S., Lond.,  Ed,, Dub.

                           Chlorinated Lime.

   A compound resulting from the action of chlorine  on hydrate  of lime,  and
 containing at least twenty-five per cent,  of chlorine. U S.
   Chloride of lime, Hypochlorite of lime, Oxymuriateof lime, Bleaching powder; Calcis
 chloridum, Calcis hypochloris, Lat.; Chlorure de chaux, Fr.; Chlorkalk, Germ.;  Clo-
 ruro de calce, Ital.
   This compound was originally prepared and brought into notice as a bleach-
 ing agent, in 1798, by Tennant of Glasgow.   Subsequently it was found to
 have valuable properties as a medicine and disinfectant; and, accordingly, it has
 been successively introduced into the London, Edinburgh, United States,  and
 Dublin Pharmacopoeias.
   The  following is an outline of the process for preparing  chlorinated lime on
 the large scale.   An oblong square chamber is constructed, generally of silice-
 ous sandstone, the joints being secured by a cement of pitch, rosin, and dry gyp-
 sum.  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  pro-
 gress.  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 the 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 chlorine.  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
 leading  off the chlorine terminates  under water, 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 cei"-
iug of the chamber containing the lime.   The process  of impregnation gene'-
ally lasts four  days, this time being necessary to form a good bleaching pc wdcr.
       11 
162
Calx Chlorinata.
PART I.
If it be hastened, heat will be generated, wdiich will favour the production of
chloride of calcium, with a proportional diminution of chloride of lime.
   The proportions of the materials 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, di-
luted 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 manufac-
tories in which sulphuric acid is also made, the acid intended for this process is
brought to the sp. gr. of 1-65 only, whereby the expense of further concentra-
tion is saved.
   Properties. Chlorinated lime is a dry, or but slightly moist, grayish-white,
pulverulent substance, possessing an acrid,  hot, bitter, astringent taste, and an
odour resembling that of chlorine.  It possesses powerful bleaching properties.
When  perfectly saturated with chlorine,  it dissolves  almost  entirely 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 incompatible with the mineral acids,
carbonic acid, and the alkaline carbonates.  The acids evolve chlorine copiously,
and the alkaline  carbonates cause  a precipitate  of carbonate of lime.  (See
Liquor Sodas Chlorinatse.)
   Chlorinated lime acts as a powerful oxidizing agent, the  oxygen being de-
rived from decomposed water, the hydrogen of which unites with  the  chlorine
to form muriatic acid.  It has a  powerful action  also on organic matter, con-
verting sugar,  starch, cotton, linen, and similar substances  into  formic  acid,
which  unites with the lime.  (W.  Bastick.)  It also acts powerfully on the vol-
atile oils,  including  oil  of turpentine, producing chloroform.  (J. Chautart.
Journ, de Pharm. Mars, 1855.)
   Composition,  According to Dr. Ure, bleaching powder consists of hydrate
of lime and chlorine, united in variable  proportions,  not  correspondent to
equivalent quantities.  According to Brande, Grouvelle, and Phillips, the com-
pound obtained when chlorine ceases to be absorbed, consists of one eq. of chlo-
rine 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 lime and chlorine,
and are almost entirely soluble in water.   Its ultimate constituents, exclusive of
the elements of water, may, therefore, be considered to be one eq. of calcium, one
of oxygen, and one of chlorine.   Three views may be taken  of the manner in
which these elements are united to form the bleaching powder. The first makes

it a chloride of lime, CaO,Cl; the second, oxychloride of calcium, Ca Yr«, an<l
the third, hypochlorite of lime with  chloride of calcium, CaO,C10 + CaCl, formed
by doubling the equivalents of the  elements present.
   The simplest view of the nature of bleaching powder is that which supposes
it to be a compound of chlorine and lime.   The view which  makes it  a hypo-
chlorite with chloride of calcium is  that of Balard, and is  supported by the
fact that the compound smells of hypochlorous acid.  But, if it contain chloride
 of calcium, it ought to deliquesce; unless it can be shown that the metallic chlo-
ride is in such a state of combination as to prevent this result.  The second view,
 that it is an oxychloride, which assimilates its nature to that of the deutoxide
 of calcium, is held by Millon.  According to this chemist, the quantity of chlo-
 rine, taken up by a metallic protoxide, is regulated by the nature of its per-
 oxide.   The peroxide  of  calcium is a deutoxide (Ca02); and Millon contends
 that, in forming bleaching powder, the  lime takes up but one eq. of chlorine, 
PART I.
Calx Chlorinata.
163
corresponding to the second eq. of oxygen in  the deutoxide, thus generating

the compound Ca -j p,. Again, the peroxide of potassium is represented by K03,

and Millon states that the bleaching compound which potassa (KO) forms with

chlorine is K •< p, . If further observation should show that the number of equiva-

lents of chlorine, necessary  to convert a protoxide into a bleaching compound,
is always  equal to the number of equivalents of oxygen required to convert it
into a  peroxide, the fact will go far to prove the correctness of Millon'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 com-
bines 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.   'When long and
insecurely kept, it deteriorates from the gradual formation of chloride 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 va-
riable  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 Prof. Procter of this city, that the amount
of  disengaged gaseous matter is  not in proportion to the decolorizing power.
Dalton recommended, 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 dis-
engaged 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 solu-
tion of ferridcyanuret of potassium (red prussiate  of potassa).  So long as any
protoxide of iron remains in the liquid, this salt will occasion a blue precipitate
(TurnbulVs Prussian blue), but not afterwards.  This test for chlorinated
lime has been adopted in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850, and is applied  as
follows.   "When 40 grains of it, triturated with a fluidounce of distilled water,
are well shaken with a solution of 78 grains of crystallized sulphate of prot-
oxide of iron, and  10 drops of sulphuric acid, in two fluidounces of distilled
water,  a liquid is formed which  does not  yield a blue precipitate with ferrid-
cyanuret of potassium (red prussiate of potassa)."  The chlorinated lime of
the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia is  directed to contain  at  least twenty-five per cent, of
chlorine.   If it be  to this extent chlorinated, 40 grains will contain enough
chlorine to cause the sesquioxidation of all the protoxide of iron in 78 grains
of crystallized sulphate of iron;  but, if impregnated with chlorine to a less ex-
tent, some of the protoxide will  remain unchanged, and, consequently, a blue
precipitate will be formed with the ferridcyanuret,  According to Wittstein and
Claude, however, the test of sulphate of iron is not reliable.
   The following is the test given by the  Edinburgh  College.  "Fifty grains
are nearly all soluble in two fluidounces  of water,  forming a  solution of the
density 1-027, and  of which one  hundred  measures, treated with an  excess of
oxalic  acid, give off much  chlorine, and,  if then boiled  and allowed to rest 
164
Calx  Chlorinata.
PART I.
twenty-four hours, yield a precipitate which occupies nineteen measures of the
liquid."  The principle of  this test is to infer the amount of lime, and, there-
fore, of chlorine present, from the bulk of the oxalate of lime precipitated;  and,
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 present, and, therefore, to the chlorine combined with it,   But it is
well known that chloride of calcium is a common impurity in chlorinated lime;
and, whenever present, the precipitated oxalate of lime  would be increased in
amount,  without indicating a proportional increase of chlorine united with lime.
   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 eruptions,
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  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 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 in-
duce sleep.  The dose internally is from three to six grains, dissolved in one or
two fluidounces of water, filtered, and sweetened 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 ap-
plied,  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 applied 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 solution.   When used as an ointment, to be rubbed upon scrofu-
lous enlargements of the lymphatic glands, it may be made of a  drachm of the
chloride to an  ounce of lard.   Chlorinated lime is less  eligible for some  pur-
poses  than  the solution of chlorinated soda.  (See Liquor Sodse Chlomnatse.)
   In consequence of its powers as a disinfectant, chlorinated lime is a very im-
portant  compound in its application to medical police.   It possesses the  pro-
perty of preventing or arresting animal and vegetable putrefaction, and, perhaps,
of destroying pestilential and  infectious miasms.   It may be used with advan-
tage for preserving bodies from exhaling an unpleasant odour, before 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 disinfecting dissecting rooms,
privies,  common sewers, docks, and other places which exhale offensive effluvia.
In destroying contagion and infection, it 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 virulent disease,
may be  more or less disinfected by its use, after having undergone the ordinary
processes of cleansing.
   Chlorinated lime acts exclusively by its chlorine, which,  being loosely com- 
part I.              Calx Chlorinata.—Camphora.                 165

bined, is disengaged by the slightest affinities.  All acids, even the carbonic,
disengage it; and, as this acid is a product of animal and vegetable  decompo-
sition, noxious effluvia furnish the means, to a certain extent, of their own dis-
infection.   But the stronger acids disengage the chlorine far more readily, and,
among these, sulphuric acid is the most convenient.  Accordingly,' the powder
may be  dissolved in a very dilute solution of this acid; or a small quantity of
the acid may be added to an aqueous solution ready formed, if 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
effected, the water must be exposed for  some time to the air and allowed to
settle, before it is fit to drink.
   Off. Prep. Calcis Chlorinatas Liquor;  Chloroformum;  Liquor  Sodas Chlo-
rinates.                                                             B.

              CAMPHORA.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.

                               Camphor.

  A peculiar concrete substance derived from  Camphora officinarum, and puri-
fied by sublimation. U S., Lond.   The camphor. Ed., 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
chemical change in their volatile oil.  But commercial camphor is derived ex-
clusively from two plants, the Camphora officinarum of Nees or Laurus Cam-
phora of  Linnasus, 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 considerable
quantity of camphor, said to be identical with the officinal,  was a few years since
obtained upon the Tenasserim coast, in further India, by subliming the tops of
an annual plant, abundant in that region, and thought to be a species of Blu-
mia,  This product, however, has not been introduced  into  general commerce.
(Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 56.)  The Rev. Mr. Mason, an American mission-
ary in Burmah, states, in a letter to Mr. Vaux of Philadelphia, that the Chinese
settlers informed him that the same  plant abounds in China, and that camphor
is made from it there.  (Proceed, of the Acad, of Nat.  Sci. of Phil., May 13th,
1851, p. 201.)   The following observations apply to the officinal camphor.
  Camphora. Sex. Syst.  Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lauraceas.
  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  oyate glandular head.   Fruit placed on the obconical base of
the calyx.   Leaves triple-nerved, glandular in the axils of the principal 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 bota-
nists have been induced to arrange them in new  genera.  The camphor, cinna-
mon, and sassafras trees have been  separated from  the proper laurels by Nees, 
166
Camphora.
PART I.
and made the types of distinct genera, which have been adopted by most recent
writers, and may be considered as well established.
   Camphora officinarum.   Nees, Laurin. 88 ; Carson, Illust. of Med,  Bot,
ii. 29, pi. lxxiv. — Laurus Camphora. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 478; Woodv. 31ed.
Bot.  p.  681, t. 236.   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 yellowish-green colour on their upper
surface, paler on the under, and two or three  inches in length.   The flowers
are small, white, pediceled, and collected in clusters, which are supported by
long axillary peduncles.   The fruit is a red berry resembling that of the cinna-
mon.   The tree is a native of China, Japan, and other parts of eastern Asia.
It has been introduced into the botanical gardens of Europe, and is occasionally
met with in our own conservatories.
   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  capitals, furnished with a
lining of rice-straw.   A moderate heat is then applied, and the camphor, vola-
tilized by the steam, 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.
   Commercial History.  Camphor, in the crude state,  is brought to this coun-
try 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,  or 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  purposes.
The process for refining camphor was first practised in Europe by the Venetians,
who probably derived it from the Chinese.   It was  afterwards transferred 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 establishments

  * The camphor tree sometimes attains a great age and an enormous size. A tree seen
byKampfer, in Japan, in 1691, with a trunk 36 feet in circumference, was in the year
1826 described by Siebold as having a circumference of 50 feet.  {Japan as it was and
is, by R. Hildreth.  Boston, 1855, p. 337.)— Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Camphora.
167
is equal to  any that was formerly imported.   Crude camphor  is mixed with
about one-fiftieth of quicklime, and exposed, in an iron vessel placed in a sand-
bath, to a gradually  increasing heat, by which it is melted, and ultimately con-
verted 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,
slightly convex on one side and concave on the other, and perforated in the centre.
   Properties.   Camphor has a peculiar, strong, penetrating,  fragrant  odour;
and a bitter, pungent taste,  with a  slight sense of coolness.   It is beautifully
white and pellucid, somewhat unctuous to the touch,  brittle, and yet possessed
of  a tenacity which renders  its reduction to  a fine powder very difficult, unless
its cohesion be overcome by the 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 the tincture  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.   When thrown  in small fragments upon
water, it assumes singular circulatory movements, which cease upon the ad-
dition of a drop of oil.   Its volatility is so great that, even  at ordinary tem-
peratures, it is wholly dissipated if left exposed to the  air.   When it is confined
in bottles, the vapour condenses upon  the inner surface,  and,  in large  bottles
partially filled, sometimes forms, after long standing,  large and beautiful  crys-
tals. It melts at 288° F., boils at 400° ( Turner), and, in close vessels, sublimes
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, burning with a brilliant  flame, with  much  smoke, and with-
out residue.   Water triturated with camphor dissolves, according to Berzelius,
not more than a thousandth  part; which, however, is  sufficient to impart  a de-
cided odour and  taste to the solvent.   By the  intervention of sugar or mag-
nesia, a much  larger proportion is dissolved. (See Aqua Gamphorae.)   Car-
bonic acid increases the solvent power of water, as also does the spirit of nitric
ether.  Ordinary alcohol will take  up 75 per oent. 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
without change  in ether, the volatile and fixed oils, strong  acetic acid, and
diluted mineral acids, and is  extremely soluble in chloroform.   By strong sul-
phuric and nitric  acids it is decomposed; the former carbonizing and convert-
ing  it into artificial tannin, the latter, with the aid  of repeated distillation,
into camphoric acid.  Alkalies produce very little effect upon it.  Resins unite
with it, forming  a soft tenacious mass, in which the  odour of the camphor is
sometimes almost extinguished, and frequently diminished; and a similar soften-
ing effect results when it is triturated with  the  concrete  oils.f  Exposed to a

  * We are informed  that the process is conducted in the following manner, in the
laboratories of Philadelphia. The vessels in which the camphor is put are of cast iron,
circular, from 12 to 15 inches or more in diameter, and 4 inches deep, with perpendicu-
lar sides, and a ledge at top on which the cover rests. This  consists of sheet iron, with
a hole through the centre  about  an inch in diameter, over which a  small hollow cone
of sheet iron is placed loosely.   The crude camphor, mixed with the lime, the object
of which is said to be to combine with the moisture  present, which interferes with the
due  solidification of the camphor vapour, is placed  in the iron vessels  described, of
which from 20 to 50 are arranged in a long sand-bath.  Heat is then applied until the
camphor melts, after which it is kept as nearly uniform as  possible, so that the vapo-
rization may take place regularly, without violent ebullition.  The vapour condenses
on the lower surface of the lid ; and care is taken, by the  occasional removal of the
iron cone, and clearing of the opening by means of a knife,  to allow the escape of any
accidental excess of the vapour.—Note to the ninth edition.
  f As  this property of  camphor may have a bearing, injuriously or otherwise, on
pharmaceutical processes, it is desirable tha't the operator as well as  prescriber should 
168
Camphora.
PART I.
strong heat in close vessels, camphor is resolved into a volatile oil and charcoal.
It is closely analogous in character to the essential oils; and is thought to con-
sist of a radical called  camphene united with  oxygen.  Camphene, which  is
represented by pure oil of turpentine, is composed  of twenty eqs. of carbon and
sixteen of  hydrogen  (C,nHl6).   With  two  eqs.  of oxygen it forms_ camphor,
with eight eqs. of the same element, hydrated camphoric acid, and with one eq.
of hydrochloric acid, artificial camphor.*

be aware of  the degree of  effect produced by different resinous substances which may
be mixed with  it.  M.  Planche has  found that  mixtures, formed by triturating
powdered 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 animt, assume a permanently semi-liquid form; with
olibanum, opopanax, gamboge, euphorbium, bdellium, myrrh, and amber, remain pulveru-
lent  though somewhat grumous ; and with tacamahac, resin of jalap,  sandarac, and
resinoid matter of cinchona, preserve the form of powder indefinitely.  The same exper-
imenter observed that  camphor loses its odour entirely, when mixed with assafetida,
galbanum, sagapenum, animi, and tolu; retains a feeble odour with dragon's blood, oliba-
num, mastic, benzoin, opopanax, 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.  226.)
  In mixing camphor with other  substances in the  form  of powder, it is best first to
pulverize the camphor with the aid of a little alcohol, then to pulverize the other sub-
stances together, and lastly to mix the two powders gently; much rubbing with the
pestle having the effect of consolidating  the granules of the camphor. (Procter, in
Mohr and Redwood's Pharmacy, Am. ed., p. 492.)
  *  Sumatra Camphor. Borneo Camphor.   Dryobalanops  Camphor.  It has long been
known that a variety of camphor is produced in the Islands of Sumatra and Borneo,
by a forest tree, which  remained until a recent period undetermined. It was at length,
however, described by  Colebrooke, and is now recognised in systematic works as Dryo-
balanops Camphora, or  D.  aromatica.  It is a very large tree, often exceeding one hun-
dred feet in height, with a trunk six or seven feet in diameter, and ranking among the
tallest and largest trees of India.*  It is found in Sumatra and Borneo, and is abund-
ant on the N. W. coast of the former island.  The camphor exits in concrete masses,
which occupy longitudinal 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 be-
fore  this  object is attained.  When discovered, the tree  is felled and cut into  logs,
which are then split,  and the camphor removed by means of  sharp-pointed instru-
ments.   It is stated that the masses are sometimes  as thick as a man's  arm ; and that
the product of a middling sized  tree is nearly eleven pounds ;  of a large one, double
that quantity.   The trees which have been wounded, and left standing, often produce
camphor seven or eight years afterwards. Mrs. Ida Pfeiffer states, in her Second Journey
round the World {Am.  Ed., p. 183), that the camphor is also found in a concrete  state
under the bark, and is swept down with long brooms.  The Dryobalanops yields also
a fragrant straw-coloured 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 development of this substance ; as it occupies the cavities in the
trunk, which are afterwards filled with the camphor. It has  been stated to hold a
large portion of this principle 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.  A
specimen examined by Professor  Procter deposited a small quantity of the camphor at
a temperature near the zero of Fahrenheit.  By the action of  nitric  acid, it may be
  * For a particular description of this tree, see a paper by Dr. W  H. De Vriese, of Leyden, in the
American Journal of Pharm. (xxiv. 329), taken from Hooker's Journal of Botany. In this paper it is
stated, on the authority of Dr. .Tuughuhn, who witnessed the process of coUection, that the camphor is
deposited in very small quantities in minute Assures between the fibres, from which it is scraped off by
small splinters of wood, or by the nail; and the thickest and oldest trees seldom  yield more than two
ounces. This account as to the productiveness of the tree ditfers greatly from that of Colebrooke, as stated
in the note above.—Note to the tenth edition. 
part I.                        Camphora.                             169

   Medical Properties and Uses.   Camphor does not seem to have been known
to the ancient Greeks and Romans.  Europe probably derived it from the Ara-
bians,  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 sys-
tems ;  and the circulation, though usually affected to  a greater or less  extent,
is probably involved, for the most part, through 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 measure secondarily excite the
pulse.   The effects  of the medicine vary with the quantity administered.   In
moderate doses it produces, in  health, mental  exhilaration, increased heat of
skin, and occasional diaphoresis.   The pulse  is usually increased in fulness,
but little, if at all, in force or frequency. According to the experiments of cer-
tain Italian physicians, it has a tendency to the urinary and genital organs, pro-
ducing a burning sensation along the urethra, and exciting voluptuous dreams
(N  Am. 3Ied. and Surg. Journ,, ix.  442); and these  experiments have been
confirmed by the observations of Dr. Reynolds in a case of  poisoning by cam-
phor (Brit, Am.  Journ. of Med., June, 1846).   Cullen, however, states that
he has employed it fifty times,  even in large  doses, without  having  ever ob-
served  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 rest-
lessness, and produces  a general placidity of feeling, and is  thus 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
of less giddiness  and  mental confusion, with  a disposition to sleep;  and, in
morbid states of the system, relieving pain and allaying spasmodic action.   In
immoderate doses it occasions nausea, vomiting, anxiety, faintness, vertigo, de-
lirium,  insensibility, coma,  and convulsions, which  may end  in  death.  The
pulse, under these circumstances, is at first reduced in frequency and force (Alex-
ander,  Experimental Essays, p. 227)  ; but, as  the action  advances,  it some-
times happens that symptoms of strong sanguineous determination to the head
become evident, in the  flushed countenance, inflamed and fiery  eyes, and highly

combined with oxygen, and converted into camphor of the same character as that de-
posited by refrigeration.   The whole tree  is pervaded more or less by the camphor or
the oil.  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
chests,  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
markets 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  texture, 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, more-
over, much less disposed  to rise in vapour, and to condense on the inside of the bottle
containing it.  Like ordinary camphor, it is fusible, volatilizable, very slightly soluble
in water, and freely soluble in alcohol and in ether.  Dr. Gregory considers it as the
bihydrate of camphene (C20H18O2). 
170
Camphora.
part I.
excited pulse. (Quarin.)  In three cases of poisoning by camphor, reported by
Schaaf, of Strasburg, the symptoms produced were violent and incessant con-
vulsions,  paleness and coolness of the  surface, vomiting and frequent micturi-
tion, and finally stupor or coma.  The patients were children, and the youngest,
a girl of  about eighteen months, died from the effects of the poison,  of which
she took  about ten grains.  (3Ionthly Journ. of Med. Sci., Oct., 1850, p. 377.)
There can be no doubt that camphor is absorbed;  as its odour is observed in
the breath and  perspiration, and,  according to Dr. Reynolds, in the urine also,
though the contrary has been asserted.
  By its  moderately stimulating powers, its diaphoretic tendency, and its influ-
ence over the nervous system,  camphor is  admirably adapted to  the treatment
of diseases of a typhoid character, which combine, with the enfeebled condition
of the system, a frequent irritated pulse, a  dry skin, and much nervous derange-
ment, indicated by restlessness, watchfulness,  tremors,  subsultus, and  low mut-
tering delirium.   With a view to its anodyne and narcotic influence, it is also
used in diseases of an inflammatory character;  as  in  our  ordinary remittents,
and the phlegmasias, particularly rheumatism, when the increased vascular action
is complicated with  derangement of  the nervous system.   In such cases, how-
ever, it should not be given until after  proper depletion, and even then should
be combined with such medicines  as may obviate the slight  stimulation it pro-
duces, and increase  its tendency to  the skin; as, for  instance, tartarized anti-
mony, ipecacuanha, or nitre.   In a great number  of spasmodic and nervous
disorders, and complaints of irritation,  camphor has been extensively employed.
The cases of this nature to which experience has  proved it to be best adapted,
are dysmenorrhea,  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 strangury produced by cantharides.
   It is  much used  locally as an anodyne, dissolved  in alcohol, oil,  or acetic
acid, and frequently combined with  laudanum.  In rheumatic and gouty affec-
tions, and various  internal spasmodic and inflammatory complaints,  it often
yields relief in this  way.   The ardor urinas of gonorrhoea may be alleviated by
injecting an oleaginous solution of camphor into the urethra; and the tenesmus
from ascarides and dysentery, by administering the same solution in the form
of  enema.  Twenty or thirty grains of camphor, added to  a poultice, and ap-
plied to the perineum, allay the chordee, which  is a painful attendant upon
gonorrhoea.  Its vapour has been inhaled into the lungs with benefit in asthma
and spasmodic cough ; and  a lump of it held to  the nose is  said to relieve
coryza.  It has been employed for the  same purpose, and for nervous headache,
in the form of powder snuffed up the nostrils.  It enters  into the composition
of certain tooth-powders ;  but is asserted, when employed in this way, to injure
the enamel of the teeth.
   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
liquor, 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 membrane.
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, from its liability to become
speedily sour.  The  aqueous solution is often employed where only a slight 
PART I.
Camphora.— Canella.
171
impression is desired.   For this purpose, the Aqua Camphorse of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia is  preferable to  the solution made by simply pouring boiling
water upon a lump of camphor,  which is sometimes prescribed under the name
of camphor tea.  "When chloroform is not inadmissible, an elegant preparation
may be made by dissolving camphor in that liquid, in the proportion of two
drachms of the former to a fluidrachm of the latter, and then mixing the solu-
tion with water by the intervention of the yolk of an egg.
   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  be  best counteracted, after
clearing out the stomach, by the use of opium.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum  Aceticum Camphoratum; Aqua Camphoras; Ceratum
Hydrargyri Compositum;  Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis; Linimentum  Cam-
phoras; Liniment.  Camphoras Comp.; Liniment.  Hydrargyri; Liniment. Opii;
Liniment. Saponis  Camphoratum; Liniment. Terebinthinas; Mistura Camphoras;
Mist. Camphoras cum Magnesia  ; Tinctura Camphoras ;  Tinct. Opii Camphor-
ata ;  Tinct. Saponis Camphorata.                                    W.


               CANELLA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Canella.

   The bark of Canella alba, U S.,  Lond., Ed,, Dub.
   Canelle blanche,  Fr.; Weisser Zimmt, Canell, Germ.; Canella bianca, Ital.; Canela
blanca, Span.
   Canella.  Sex. Syst, DodecandriaMonogynia.—Nat. Ord, Meliaceas. De Cand.
Canelleas. 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 wToods where it grows.  The leaves are alternate, petio-
late, 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.
  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, occasionally 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 powder.
Boiling water extracts nearly one-fourth of its weight; but the infusion, though
bitter, has comparatively little  of the warmth and pungency of  the bark.  It
yields all its virtues to alcohol, forming a bright-yellow tincture, which is ren-
dered milky by the addition of water.   By distillation with water it affords a
large  proportion of a yellow or  reddish, fragrant, and very acrid volatile oil. 
172
Canna.—Cantharis.
PART I,
It contains, moreover, according to the analysis of MM. Petroz and Robinet,
mannite, a peculiar very bitter extractive, resin, gum, starch, albumen, and va-
rious 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. (See 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.  (See Wintera.)
  3Iedical 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 digestive
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  reputation
as an antiscorbutic.
  Off. Prep.  Pulvis Aloes et Canellas; Tinctura Gentianas Composita; Yinum
Aloes; Yinum Gentianas; Yinum Rhei.                                W.


                             CANNA.  Ed.

                             Canna Starch.

  Fecula of the root of an imperfectly determined species of Canna. Ed.
  Off. Syn,  "CANNA EDULIS.   The root is supposed to furnish the fecula
called tous les mois." Dub.
  Under the French name of tous les  mois,  a variety of fecula was some years
since 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 troublesome
process, from the root or rhizome of Canna coccinea, although this botanical
origin  is uncertain.
  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 properties of starch, and forms, when pre-
pared with boiling water, a nutritious and  wholesome food for infants and in-
valids.   It may be prepared in the same manner as arrow-root, and is said to
form even a  stiffer jelly with boiling water.  (See 3Iaranta.)            W.


             CANTHARIS.   U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                             Spanish Flies.

  Cantharis vesicatoria. U. S., Lond,, Ed,, Dub.
  Cantharide, Fr.; Spanische Fliege, Kantharide, Germ.; Cantarelle, Ital.; Canthari-
das, Span.
  The term  Cantharis was employed by the ancient Greek writers to designate
many coleopterous insects.   Linnasus  gave the title to a genus not including
the officinal blistering fly, and placed this insect in the genus Meloe,  which, how-
ever, has been divided by subsequent naturalists into several genera.  Geoffroy
made the Spanish fly the prototype of a new one called Cantharis, substituting 
PART I.                         Cantharis.                            173

Cicindela as the title of the Linnasan genus.  Fabricius altered the arrange-
ment of Geoffroy, and substituted Lytta for Cantharis as the generic name.  The
former was adopted by the London College, and at one time was in extensive
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, corresponding
very nearly with the Linnasan genus Meloe, and distinguished by the title Can-
tharidese.  This tribe he divided into eleven genera, among which is Cantharis.
Two others of these genera, 3Ieloe properly so called, and 3Iylabris, have been
employed as  vesicatories.   Mylabris  cichorii is thought to be  one  of the in-
sects described by Pliny and Dioscorides under  the name of cantharides, and
is to this day employed in Italy, Greece, the Levant, and  Egypt; and another
species, M. pustulata, is used for the same purpose in China.  Mr. U. R, Warner
has found 500 parts of M. cichorii to  yield 2-13 parts of cantharidin, which
somewhat exceeded the yield of  Spanish flies. (Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxviii.
195.)  Meloe proscarabseus and 31. majalis have been occasionally substituted
for cantharides in Europe, and M. trianthemse is used in the upper provinces of
Hindostan.  Several species of  Cantharis, closely analogous in  medical proper-
ties, are found in various parts of the world; but C. vesicatoria is the only one
recognised by the  Pharmacopoeias of  France and Great  Britain.  A second spe-
cies, C. vittata, has been introduced into that  of the United States, and will be
noticed under a distinct head.   At present we shall confine our observations to
 G. vesicatoria, or the common  Spanish fly.
   Cantharis. Class Insecta. Order Coleoptera. Linn.—Family Trachelides.
 Tribe Cantharideas.  Latreille.
   Gen. Ch.   Tarsi  entire;  nails bifid; head not produced into a rostrum;
elytra flexible, covering the whole abdomen, linear semicylindric; wings perfect;
maxillae with two membranous  lacinise, the  external one acute within, subun-
cinate; antennae longer than the head and thorax, rectilinear; first joint largest,
the second transverse, very short; maxillary palpi larger at tip. Say.
   Cantharis vesicatoria.  Latreille,  Gen.  Crust, et Insect,, 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 quadri-
lateral;  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 detected at a con-
siderable  distance.  They attach themselves  preferably to certain  trees and
shrubs,  such  as the white poplar, privet, ash, elder, and lilac, upon the leaves
of which they feed.  They abound most in  Spain,  Italy, and the south  of
France;  but are found also 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 May and June,  when 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. It has been proposed by M. Lutrand to destroy them by the vapour 
171
Cantharis.
part I.
of chloroform.  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 cer-
tain extent, the disagreeable odour of the living insect.   They have an acrid,
burning, and urinous taste.   Their  powder is  of a grayish-brown  colour, in-
terspersed 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
retain their activity for a great length  of time.  A portion which had  been
preserved by Yan Swieten for thirty years, in a glass vessel, was found  still to
possess vesicating properties.   But, exposed to a  damp air, they quickly un-
dergo  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 immediately after pulveriz-
ation,  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 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 stated by M.  Farines 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 extracted 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 at-
tempt was repeated by Dr. Beaupoil in 1803;  but  no very interesting  or  valu-

  * 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
 exposing them, for half an hoar, 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.
 Lutrand recommends chloroform as the best preservative  that he has tried. {Journ. de
 Pharm. et de  Chim., xviii. 214.) 
PART I.
Cantharis.
175
 able result was obtained till 1810, when  Robiquet discovered in them a crys-
 talline substance, which proved to be the vesicating principle  of the insect, and
 received the name of cantharidin.   The constituents, according to  Robiquet,
 are, 1. a green oil, insoluble in  water, soluble in alcohol, and inert as a vesi-
 catory; 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 afterwards  discovered  a volatile principle, upon which the
 fetid odour of the fly depends. It is  separable by distillation with water.   Can-
 tharidin is a white substance, in the form  of crystalline  scales, of  a  shining
 micaceous appearance, inodorous, tasteless, insoluble in water, nearly so in cold
 alcohol, but  soluble in  ether, chloroform, benzole,  the oils, and  in hot alcohol
 and acetic acid, which deposit it upon cooling.*   It is fusible and volatilizable
 by heat without  decomposition, and its vapour condenses in  acicular  crystals.
 It may be obtained by macerating powdered flies in ether for several days; intro-
 ducing the mixture into a percolation apparatus;  adding, after the liquid has
 ceased to pass, fresh portions of ether, till it comes away nearly colourless; dis-
 placing 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  qf 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 sepa-
 ration of which from the cantharidin is the most difficult  part of the  process.
 By this plan, M. Thierry  obtained  from  1000 parts of  powdered flies, 4 parts
 of pure cantharidin. Notwithstanding the insolubility of this principle in water
 and cold alcohol, the decoction and tincture of cantharides  have the  peculiar
 medicinal properties of the insect; and Lewis ascertained that  both the  aqueous
 and alcoholic extracts acted as effectually in exciting vesication as  the flies them-
 selves, while the residue was  in each case inert.    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 Cantharis vittata,
 Mylabris cichorii, and different species of  Meloe. f

   * The solubilities of cantharidin have been examined with great care by Professor
 Procter, with the following results.  It  is insoluble in water.  Cold alcohol dissolves
 it slightly, hot alcohol freely.  It is more soluble in ether, which also dissolves it more
 freely hot than cold.   Chloroform, cold  or hot, is its best solvent; and acetone  ranks
 next to it in this respect.  Olive oil, at  250° F., dissolves one-twentieth of its weight,
 and oil of turpentine, boiling hot, one-seventieth; and both deposit the  greater portion
 on cooling.  The olive oil solution  after deposition vesicates, the terebinthinate does
 not.  Strong acetic, sulphuric, and nitric acids  dissolve it, with the aid of heat, and
 deposit it unchanged on cooling.  It is also dissolved by solutions of potassa and soda,
 and to  a small extent by strong solution of ammonia. {Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiv. 296.)
 —Note to the tenth edition.
   f Professor Procter informs us that  he has succeeded, by means of chloroform, in
 isolating cantharidin  with great  facility. He treats the flies with chloroform by per-
 colation, displacing the last portions by means of alcohol, and allows the resulting
 solution to evaporate spontaneously.  Cantharidin is thus obtained in  crystals mixed
with the green  oil, the greater portion  of which may be removed by bibulous paper.
 The residuary crystals are dissolved in a mixture of ether and alcohol, which, by the
spontaneous evaporation of the ether, yields the cantharidin nearly  pure.— Note to the
ninth edition.
  Wittstein obtains it by digesting coarsely powdered flies repeatedly with water, strain-
ing through  linen and expressing, allowing the liquid to settle for a day, separating the
supernatant oil, adding a little wood charcoal, evaporating  to  dryness, treating the
residue with sulphuric ether so long as  the solution affords a laminated substance on 
176
Cantharis.
part I.
  Adulterations.  These are not common.  Occasionally other insects are added,
purposely, or through carelessness.  These may be readily distinguished by their
different shape or colour.  Flies exhausted of their cantharidin by ether are said
to have been substituted for the genuine.  An account has been published of
considerable quantities of variously coloured glass beads having been found in
a parcel of the drug; but this would  be too coarse a fraud to be  extensively
practised.  Pereira states that  powdered flies are sometimes adulterated with
euphorbium.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Internally administered, cantharides  are a
powerful stimulant, with a peculiar direction to the urinary and genital ogans.
In moderate doses, this medicine sometimes acts as a diuretic, and generally ex-
cites some irritation in the urinary passages, which, if its use be persevered in,
or the dose increased, often amounts to violent strangury, attended  with excru-
ciating 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 respiration, a hard  and frequent pulse,
burning thirst,  exceeding difficulty of deglutition, sometimes a dread of liquids,
frightful convulsions, tetanus, delirium, and death.  Orfila has known twenty-
four grains of the powder to 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.  (Journ. de Pharm.,
Be ser., iii. 167.)  The poisonous effects  are to be counteracted  by emetics,
cathartics, bleeding, and opiates by the stomach and rectum.   Dr.  Mulock, of
Dublin, recommends the  officinal  solution of potassa  as  an antidote, having
found  thirty drops given every hour an effectual remedy in strangury from blis-
ters. (Dub.  Quart. Journ. of Med, Sci,, N. S., vi. 222.) From the experiments
of Schroff it appears that oils somewhat accelerate the  poisonous action, pro-
bably by dissolving the cantharidin. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii.  365.)
Notwithstanding their exceeding violence, cantharides have been long and bene-
ficially used in medicine.   Either these or other vesicating insects appear to have
been given by Hippocrates in dropsy and amenorrhcea, in the  latter  of which
complaints,  when properly prescribed, they are a highly valuable remedy.  In
dropsy they sometimes prove useful when the system is in an atonic condition,
and the vessels of the kidneys feeble.   They are  also useful in  obstinate gleet,
leucorrhoea, and seminal weakness; and afford one of the most certain means of
relief in incontinence of urine, arising from debility or partial paralysis of  the
sphincter of the bladder.  A case of diabetes is recorded in the N. Am,  Archives
(vol. ii. p. 175),  in which recovery took place under the use of tincture of can-
tharides.  They are used also in certain cutaneous eruptions, especially those
of a scaly character, and in chronic eczema.   Dr. Irven has employed them in
scurvy (Ann. de Therap., 1845); and they have been  found useful, internally
administered, in obstinate ulcers.  Their unpleasant effects upon the urinary pas-
sages are best obviated by the free use of diluent drinks; and, when not conse-
quent  upon  great abuse of the medicine, may almost always be relieved  by an
anodyne injection, composed of laudanum, with a small quantity  of mucilagin-
ous fluid.   The dose of Spanish flies is one or two grains of the powder,  which

evaporation, evaporating the ethereal solution, treating the residue with cold alcohol
of 80 per cent, for one day with frequent shaking, and finally drying the scales. (See
Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 231.)  Mr. Williams has obtained it by means of ben-
zole. {Ibid., xxvi  340.)—Note  to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Cantharis.
177
 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 ter-
 minates in a copious secretion of serum under the cuticle.   Even thus employed,
 they not unfrequently give rise to strangury or tenesmus; and this, in fact, is
 one of the most troublesome attendants upon their operation.   It probably re-
 sults from the absorption of the active principle of the fly.  For various methods
 which have been employed for obviating strangury from blisters, see Ceratum
 Cantharidis.
   The blistering fly may be employed either as a  rubefacient, or to produce a
 blister.   In the former capacity it is seldom used, except in low states of dis-
 ease, where external stimulation is required to support the  system; but as an
 epispastic it is preferred to all other substances.
   Blisters are calculated to answer numerous indications.   Their local effect is
 attended with a general excitement, which renders them valuable auxiliaries to
 internal stimulants in low 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 are  useful in a vast variety of complaints.   Drawing  both the nervous en-
 ergy and the circulating fluid to the seat of their immediate action, they relieve
 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 be reduced before the remedy is resorted to.
 Blisters  are also capable of substituting their own 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 cutaneous 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 re-
 sults in erysipelas and various other local inflammations,  in the immediate vi-
 cinity 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.
 What is the  precise condition of system in which these effects result, it is im-
 possible, to determine.  They probably  arise from the absorption of the active
 principle, and depend on individual peculiarities of constitution.   In  this re-
 spect Spanish flies are analogous to mercury;  and any argument drawn from
 this  source against the use of the one would equally apply to the other.  The
 general good resulting from their use far overbalances any partial  and uncer-
 tain  evil.   For some rules relative to the application of blisters, the reader is
 referred to the article Ceratum Cantharidis.  Under the same head will be no-
 ticed the blistering preparations from cantharides, and among them cantharidal
 or blistering collodion.
   Off. Prep. Acetum Cantharidis;  Ceratum Cantharidis; Emplastrum Can-
tharidis; Emplast.  Cantharidis Compositum; Linimentum Cantharidis; Tinc-
tura  Cantharidis;  Unguentum Cantharidis; Unguent. Infusi Cantharidis.
                                                                    W.
       12 
178
Cantharis Vittata.
PART I.
                   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 C. vesicatoria, and found to be equally
  efficient.   Of these, only G. vittata has been adopted as officinal; 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 that have been submit-
  ted 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
  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 yel-
  low 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 very
  abundantly.  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 afterwards  carefully dried in the
  sun.  They are natives of the Middle and Southern 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 with the inconvenience of producing
  strangury.  But  this statement has been ascertained to be incorrect; and, as
  the vesicating property of all these insects probably depends on the same proxi-
  mate principle, their operation may be 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 owing 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.   Professor Procter  obtained  cantharidin
  from this species; and Mr. W. R. Warner has shown that the  proportion of
  this ingredient is but  slightly less than in Spanish  flies, the  former yielding
  1-99, the latter 2-03 parts in  500. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii.  195.)
     2. Cantharis cinerea. Latreille, Gen, Crust, et Insect.;  Durand, Journ. of
  the Phil, Col. of Pharm., ii.  274, fig. 5.   The ash-coloured cantharis closely
  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 characterize 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, proper-
  ties, and medical use, apply equally well to that at present under consideration.
  Illiger in  1801 discovered its vesicating properties;  but Dr. Gorham was the
  first to  call 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 C. vittata. 
 part I.             Cantharis Vittata.—Capsicum.                 179

   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 G.
 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.   The insect
 is usually found, in the latter part of summer, upon different species of Clematis,
 and frequents especially the lower branches which trail along the ground. Pro-
 fessor Woodhouse, of Philadelphia, first ascertained its vesicating properties;
 but it had previously 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 the genus.
   4. Cantharis atrata. Latreille, Gen. Crust,  et Insect; Durand, Journ. of
 the Phil.  Col. of Pharm., ii. 274, fig. 7.    The black 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 Prunella vulgaris, Ambrosia
 trifida, and some other plants.  Mr. Durand met with considerable numbers
 of this insect  near 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, satisfactorily ascer-
 tained their vesicating powers.  They are probably identical with the insect
 noticed as vesicatory by Prof. 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 C. ssneas,  a native of Pennsylvania,
 discovered by  Mr. Say; C. politus and C.  aszelianus, inhabiting the Southern
 States; C. Nuttalli, a large and beautiful insect of Missouri, first noticed by
 Mr. Nuttall, and said to surpass  the  Spanish  fly in magnitude and splendour;
 and C. albida, another large species, found by  Mr. Say near the Rocky  Moun-
 tains.  Of these, C. Nuttalli  (Lytta  Nuttalli,  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 purplish.   The exploring party under Colonel Long
 ascertained the vesicating powers of this insect.  It was found in the plains of
 the Missouri, feeding on a scanty grass.  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., Ed., Dub.

                           Cayenne Pepper.

   The fruit of Capsicum annuum, and of other species of Capsicum. U S., Ed.
Fruit of Capsicum fastigiatum. Lond.
  Poivre de Guinee, Poivre  d'Inde, Fr.;  Spanischer Pfeffer, Germ.;  Pepperone, Ital;
Pimiento, Span.
   Capsicum.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Solanaceas.
   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.   C. baccatum or bird
pepper, and C.frutescens, are said to yield most of the Cayenne pepper brought 
180
Capsicum.
part i.
from  the West Indies and South America;  and Ainslie  informs  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, C. annuum.   The first two are shrubby plants, the
last is annual and herbaceous.
   Capsicum annuum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1052;  Woodv. 3Ied.  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 culti-
vated 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  extre-
mity,  which is  much used in the green state for pickling.  The medicinal va-
riety is  that  with  long, conical,  generally pointed, recurved fruit, usually not
thicker  than the finger.    Sometimes we meet  with  small, spherical, slightly
compressed berries, not greatly exceeding a large cherry in size.   When per-
fectly 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 sup-
plied  from the West Indies.  A variety of capsicum,  consisting of very  small,
conical, exceedingly pungent berries, is  imported from Liberia.   In England
the fruit of C. annuum is frequently  called chillies.
   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 farther evaporation afforded an extract, from which ether dissolved the cap-
sicin.  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

   * Professor Procter informs us that, if the substance called capsicin be dissolved in
alcohol, and treated with subacetate of lead, an abundant precipitate is obtained, which, 
PART I.
Capsicum.
181
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 powder
in  diluted nitric  acid, filtering, and  adding a solution of sulphate of soda,
which will throw down a white precipitate  if there be any oxide  of lead pre-
sent.  Capsicum  is  said to be sometimes adulterated with coloured saw-dust.
It is occasionally attacked by insects.
   Medical 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. t It is much em-
ployed as a condiment, and  proves highly useful in correcting the flatulent ten-
dency of certain vegetables, and aiding their digestion.  Hence the advantage
derived from it by the natives of tropical 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 oc-
casionally prescribed in dyspepsia and atonic gout,  particularly when attended
with much flatulence, or occurring  in persons of intemperate habits.  It has
also been given as a stimulant in palsy and certain  lethargic affections.   To
the sulphate of quinia it forms an excellent addition in some cases of intermit-
tents, in which there is a great want of gastric susceptibility.   Upon the same
principle of rousing the susceptibility of the  stomach, 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 sorethroat
and scarlet fever, in  which it is used both internally and as a gargle.  The fol-
lowing formula was employed in malignant scarlatina, with great advantage,
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, with inflamed or
ulcerated throat, much relief and positive advantage often follow the employ-
ment of  the pepper  in a more diluted state.   Capsicum has also been advan-
tageously 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 impression
upon the surface is demanded. It has the advantage, under these circumstances,
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 rcontact with a relaxed
uvula, often acts very beneficially.   The  tincture  has also  been used advanta-
geously in chilblain.  The ethereal extract, which  has a fluid consistence,  is
powerfully rubefacient.
  The dose of the powder is from  five to ten grains, which may be most con-
veniently 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  fluidounce.
A gargle may be  prepared by infusing half a drachm of the powder  in a pint

when washed with alcohol, is quite tasteless, while the liquid from which it was thrown
down affords, upon evaporation, a brownish substance much more pungent than the
capsicin itself.—Note to the ninth edition. 
182
Capsicum.—Carbo.
PART I.
of boiling water, or by adding half a fluidounce of the tincture to eight  fluid-
ounces of rose-water.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Capsici;  Tinctura Capsici.                      W.

                                CARBO.

                                 Carbon.
   Pure charcoal; Carbone, Fr., Ital.; Kohlenstoff, Germ.; Carbon, Span.
   Carbon is an element of great importance, and very extensively diffused in
nature.   It exists in large quantity in the mineral kingdom, and  is the  most
abundant constituent  of  animal and  vegetable  matter.   In  the  crystallized
state, it constitutes the diamond; and, more or less pure, it forms the substances
called plumbago or black lead, anthracite, bituminous coal, coke, animal  char-
coal, and vegetable charcoal.  Combined with oxygen it forms 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  minerals.
   The diamond is found principally in India and Brazil.  Several  diamonds
have been found in the gold region of Georgia.   This gem is perfectly trans-
parent,  and the hardest and most brilliant substance in nature.  Its sp. gr. is
about 3-5.   It is fixed  and unalterable in the fire,  provided  air be excluded; but
is combustible 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 in the  mine of Borrowdale, in  Eng-
land; but it also occurs very pure in this country, especially near Bustleton, 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.   Bituminous coal is a form of the carbona-
ceous principle, in which the carbon is associated with volatile matter of a bitu-
minous 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.   When peat is  charred, it  is converted into
peat charcoal, which forms a cheap disinfectant  and deodorizer, applicable to
the purification of hospitals,  dissecting rooms,  factories, privies, &c.   It is
employed on the continent of  Europe in the manufacture of iron.
   Carbon may be obtained in a state approaching to purity by several pro-
cesses.   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 hydrogen and oxygen of
the oil  will be dissipated, and the charcoal left in the tube.   A 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 uncrystallized state,  is an insoluble, infusible  solid,
generally of a black colour, and without taste  or smell.   It burns when  suffi-
ciently heated, uniting with the oxygen of the air, and generating carbonic acid
gas.  Its sp. gr. in the solid state, apart from its pores when in mass, is 3-5;
but with the pores included, it is only 0*44.   It is a very unalterable' and in-
destructible  substance,  and  has great  power in resisting and correcting putre-
faction in other bodies.  When properly prepared, it possesses the property of
destroying the colouring  and odorous principles  of most liquids.  (See Carbo 
part T.                 Carbo.—Carbo Animalis.
183
Animalis.)   Its other physical properties  differ according to its source, and
peculiar state of aggregation.  Its equivalent number is 6, and  its symbol C.
As a  chemical  element it enjoys a very extensive range of combination.  It
forms several combinations with oxygen, the principal of which  are  carbonic
oxide, and carbonic and oxalic acids.  With hydrogen it forms  a number of
compounds,  called  carbohydrogens, of which  the  most interesting, excluding
hypothetical radicals, are light carburetted hydrogen or fire damp, defiant 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 aeid; and united  with iron in  minute proportion informs 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 wood charcoal.   B.

         CARBO  ANIMALIS.   U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                           Animal  Charcoal.

   Charcoal prepared from bones.  U S.  Charcoal prepared from ox blood by
ignition. Lond. Impure animal charcoal obtained commonly from bones. Ed.
 °Charbon animal, Fr.; Thierische Kohle, Germ.; Carbone animale, Ital; Carbon animal,
Span.                                                                .
   The animal  charcoal, employed in pharmacy and the arts, is usually obtained
from bones, by subjecting them to a red heat in close vessels.  The residue of
the ignition is a black matter, which, when reduced to powder, forms bone-black,
sometimes incorrectly called 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.
   In manufacturing bone-black, the bones, first boiled in water to separate the
fat,* are subjected to destructive distillation in  iron cylinders, connected with
vessels which receive the ammoniacal liquor, called bone spirit; this being a se-
condary product of the operation.  When  the bone spirit ceases to come over,
the residue is  charred 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 cylinder, intermingled with
the calcareous  salts.  In this form of  animal charcoal, the  carbon necessarily
contains phosphate and carbonate of lime.
   Properties.  Animal charcoal, in the  form of bone-black, is a black powder,
possessing a slightly alkaline and bitterish  taste,  and  having a general resem-
blance to powdered vegetable charcoal.  It is, however, more dense and less
combustible than vegetable  charcoal; from  which, moreover, it may be distin-
guished 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
vegetalile charcoal readily dissolve in this acid, forming a bitterish solution.
   Animal charcoal by no means necessarily possesses the decolorizing property;
as this  depends upon its peculiar state of aggregation.  If a piece of pure ani-
mal matter  be carbonized, it usually enters into fusion, and, from the gaseous
matter which is extricated, becomes porous and cellular.  The charcoal formed

   * E. Deiss, of Paris, who manufactures bisulphuret  of carbon at the moderate price
of about five cents per pound, proposes this substance as a solvent for the fat of bones ;
as it has the advantage of furnishing a larger and better product of fat, and of render-
ing the bones fitter  for producing a good bone-black.  (Chem. Gaz., Apr. 1,1856.)—Note
to the eleventh edition. 
184
Carbo Animalis.
PART I.
 has generally a metallic lustre, and a colour resembling that of black lead.  It
 has, however, little or no decolorizing power, even though finely pulverized.
   The decolorizing power of vegetable charcoal was first noticed by Lowitz of
 St.  Petersburg; and that of animal  charcoal, by Figuier, of Moutpellier, in
 1811.  In 1822 the subject was  ably investigated by Bussy, Payen, and Des-
 fosses.  The power is generally communicated to charcoal by igniting it in close
 vessels, but not always.  The kind of charcoal, for example, obtained from sub-
 stances which undergo fusion during  carbonization, scarcely possesses the pro-
 perty, even though it may be  afterwards finely pulverized.  The property in
 question is possessed to a certain extent by wood charcoal; but is developed in
 it in a much grfearer degree  by  burning it with some chemical substance, which
 may have  the effect of reducing it to an extreme degree of fineness.   The most
 powerful of all the charcoals for discharging  colours  are those obtained from
 certain animal matters, such as dried blood, hair, &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 a state of extremely
 minute division, and is, therefore, very porous.  The next most powerful de-
 colorizing  charcoal is bone-black, in which the separation  of the carbonaceous
 particles is effected by the phosphate  of  lime present in the bone.  Yegetable
 substances also  may be made to yield  a  good charcoal for destroying colour,
 provided, before carbonization, they be well comminuted, and mixed with pum-
 ice stone, chalk, flint,  or other similar substance 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 char-
 acter 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 chemi-
 cal 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 the animal charcoal and
 the decolorizing power.   Bone-black,  for instance, has  this property, not be-
 cause it is an animal charcoal, but because, in consequence  of the phosphate of
 lime  present in the bone, the favourable state of aggregation is imparted.*
  The following table, abridged from one drawn up by Bussy, denotes the re-
lative decolorizing power of different charcoals.
KINDS OF CHARCOAL.
Bone-black,  ----_.__.._
Bone charcoal treated with 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 from bone deprived of phosphate of lime by
  an acid, and subsequently ignited with carbonate of potassa
Blood ignited with carbonate of potassa,                   I
  * Dr. Stenhouse divides decolorizing charcoals into three classes.   First, pure char-
coals  which, being ma state of minute division, decolorize by their porosity alone.
Second  those wluch, like alumimzed charcoal and  artificial bone-black, decolorize
solely by the bases they contain, acting as mordants. (See pages 187 and 188.) Third,
those which, hke bone-black, decolorize, partly by the mineral matter, and partly by 
PART I.
Carbo Animalis.
185
   E. Filhol has shown that charcoal is not  the  only decolorizing  agent; but
 that many substances, such as iron reduced by hydrogen, sulphur, arsenic, deut-
 oxide of manganese, sulphate and artificial sulphuret of lead, possess the same
 property.   The property varies not only in different  substances in  relation to
 the same colouring matter, but in the same substance in respect  to different
 colouring matters. (Chem. Gaz., Apr. 15, 1852.)
   In order to determine the commercial  value of animal charcoal, M. Coren-
 winder has proposed to ascertain its  power of absorbing lime from a solution
 of saccharate of lime of determinate strength.   The value is in proportion to
 the absorbing power of the charcoal.  A given  weight of the-^charcoal to be
 tested is left in contact, for an hour, with a given volume of the ablution of the
 saccharate, taken in excess.  The liquid is then filtered, and a small measure of
 it saturated with dilute sulphuric acid of known strength.   The less the  acid
 necessary for this purpose, the greater  the  amount of  lime absorbed, and the
 better the animal charcoal.  (See Chem. Gaz., Jan. 1,  1854, p.  16.)
   Spent animal charcoal, which has been used by the sugar refiners, may have
 its decolorizing power restored by subjecting it to a weak solution of carbonate
 of potassa or of soda.  In removing the colouring matter, the alkaline solution
 becomes yellow.   After its action the animal charcoal must be carefully washed,
 first with boiling water, and afterwards with acidulated water.  (Pelouze, Journ.
 de Pharm. xxvi. 443.)
   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 de-
 cided  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 Purificatus.)
   Bone-black consists, in the hundred parts, of about ninety of phosphate  and
 carbonate of lime, and ten of  charcoal.
   Pharmaceutical Uses,  So.   Animal  charcoal  is used in pharmacy for de-
 colorizing vegetable principles, such  as gallic  acid, quinia,  morphia, veratria,
 &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 fusel
 oil, which imparts to them an unpleasant smell and taste as first distilled.  (See
page 66.)   The manner in which it is used as a decolorizer, is to mix it with
 the substance to be  decolorized, and  to allow the mixture  to  stand  for some
 time.   The charcoal unites with  the colouring  matter, 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; since  it has  been  shown by the experiments of M. Lebourdais,
 mentioned under the head of purified animal charcoal, that several of these prin-
ciples  may be obtained by the sole action of charcoal.   For most pharmaceuti-
cal operations, and for use as an antidote, animal charcoal must be  purified by
 muriatic acid from phosphate and carbonate  of lime.  (See Carbo Animalis
Purificatus.)  In the U.S. and Dublin formulas for sulphate  of quinia, how-
ever, it is employed without purification.  (See Quinise  Sulphas.)   According
to Guthe, a German chemist, bone charcoal, without purification, is to be pre-
ferred  as a decolorizer, in all cases in which the calcareous salts exert no injuri-
ous effect.
   Off. Prep. Carbo Animalis Purificatus.                              B.

the minutely divided charcoal they contain. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Jan., 1857,
p. 366.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
186
Carbo Liyni.
PART I.
                CARBO LIGNI. U. S., Ed., Dub.

                                Charcoal.

   Off. Syn, CARBO. Lond.
   Vegetable charcoal;  Charbon de bois, Fr.; Holzkohle, Germ.; Carbone di legno,
Ital.; Carbon de lena, Span.
   Preparation on the Large Scale.  Billets  of wood are piled in a conical form,
and covered wM-|£arth and sod to prevent the free access of air;  several holes
being left at tfepottom,  and one at the top of the pile, in order  to produce 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 have pervaded the whole pile, those at  the bottom are stopped also.
The  combustion taking place with a smothering flame, the volatile portions of
the wood, consisting of hydrogen and  oxygen, are  dissipated; while the carbon,
in the form of charcoal, is left.
   In this process for the carbonization  of wood,  all the volatile  products are
dissipated; and a portion of the charcoal itself is  lost 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 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 Aceticum,) A method of preparing charcoal by
subjecting wood to  over-heated steam  has been invented by M. Yiolette.  When
the temperature of  the steam is 572°, the wood is  converted into a peculiar
charcoal, called  red charcoal, which  is intermediate  in  its qualities between
wood and ordinary charcoal.  When the temperature is lower, the carbonization
is  incomplete; when higher,  the product is black charcoal.  The steam process
yields a uniform charcoal for a given temperature, which may be easily regu-
lated, and a product about double that obtained in closed cylinders.   Charcoal,
prepared in closed cylinders, contains  ten  times as much ash  as that made by
the ordinary process.   Charcoal contains carbon, in proportion to the temper-
ature at which  it is formed; varying from 65 per cent, when made at 482°, to
80 per cent, when  made at 752°.  The gaseous  matter  present is  always  in-
versely as the temperature of carbonization. Thus, for charcoal made at 572°,
it  is one-third of its weight; at 662°, one-fourth of its weight.  (See Journ. de
Pharm., Juillet, 1851, p. 35.)
   Preparation for Medicinal  Use.   M. Belloc recommends  charcoal for this
purpose to be obtained from poplar shoots, cut at the time the sap rises, and
deprived of their bark.  The carbonization  should  be performed in cast-iron
vessels at a red-white heat.  The product is  a light and brilliant charcoal, which
must be purified by being macerated for three or four days in water, frequently
renewed.   It is then dried, powdered, and placed in bottles which  should be
well stopped.   The charcoal most esteemed in Philadelphia, for medicinal pur-
poses, is that prepared by the Messrs. Dupont, near Wilmington,  Delaware, for
the manufacture of gunpowder.   It is made from young willow shoots of two
or three years' growth.
   Properties.   Charcoal is  a black, shining, brittle, porous substance, tasteless
and  inodorous, and insoluble in water.  It is a good conductor  of electricity,
but a bad one of heat. It possesses  the remarkable property of absorbing many
times its own bulk of certain gases.   When  exposed to the air after ignition,
it increases rapidly in weight, absorbing from  twelve to  fourteen per cent, of
moisture.  As  ordinarily prepared, it contains the  incombustible part of the 
part i.                       Carbo Ligni.                           187

wood, amounting to one or two per cent., which is left as ashes when the char-
coal is burnt.   These may be removed by digesting the charcoal in diluted mu-
riatic acid, and afterwards washing it thoroughly with boiling water.
   3Iedical Properties,  &c.   Powdered charcoal is disinfectant and absorbent.
It is employed with advantage in diarrhoea as an absorbent, and in dyspepsia,
with fetid breath and eructations.   It was given in dysentery by the late Dr.
Robert Jackson, who found it to have the effect of soothing the patient, and
improving the character and consistence of the  stools.   It is also useful, in
the form of injection, in putrid discharges from the uterus.  M. Belloc recom-
mends it  strongly in gastralgia, and especially pyrosis, in wjych, if it fails to
remove the disease, it abates the pain, nausea, and vomiting. \H>s observations
have been confirmed by a committee  of the French Academy of Medicine, and
extended  by Mr. James Bird,  in  his work on  the 3Iedicinal Properties of
 Charcoal (London, 1855).  As a remedy in obstinate constipation, Dr. Daniel,
of Savannah, speaks of it in high terms.   He also found it useful in the nausea
and constipation of pregnancy.  On the other hand, some practitioners have
found charcoal to  confine the  bowels.   Dr. Wilson,  of New Zealand, speaks
highly of it in the diarrhoea of measles, and in epidemic cholera.   Dr.  New-
man  recommends it as a dressing to wounds and ulcers.  Mr. Wormald, of
St. Bartholomew's hospital,  has made a useful application of  the disinfecting
power of dry charcoal, in what he calls  the charcoal quilt.   This consists of
two  sheets of cotton wadding,  quilted  together in small segments,  with a
tolerably thick layer of powdered charcoal between  them.  The  quilts,  thus
prepared, may be of any size, so as to fit a gangrenous sore or stump.  Its use
 as an ingredient of poultices is noticed under Cataplasma Carbonis.   Several
 of its varieties are  used as tooth powder.  Those generally preferred  are the
charcoals of the cocoa-nut shell  and of  bread.  The dose of charcoal varies
from one to four teaspoonfuls or more.   Dr. Daniel gave it, in his  case of con-
stipation, in doses of a tablespoonful, repeated every  half hour.
   Schonbein has observed the power  of charcoal  to absorb chlorine, iodine, and
bromine, both in the gaseous or vaporous state,  and in aqueous solution.  He
has also noticed its deoxidizing effects, when shaken with certain  salts of per-
oxides, reducing them to salts of protoxides.   The power of  charcoal to pre-
cipitate gold and other metals on its surface has long been known.
   Charcoal has recently been employed  with  good effect, as  a deodorizer, in
dissecting  rooms, placed in open  pans in different parts of the room.  It has
the advantage over the chlorides that it has no smell.   When  it loses its effect,
it requires merely to be re-calcined.   Water, intended for long voyages, is pre-
served sweet by having a small quantity of powdered charcoal added to each cask.
   Dr. Stenhouse  has devised a process for combining  alumina with common
vegetable  charcoal, forming what he calls aluminized charcoal, which is an
economical substitute for purified animal charcoal, and equally efficacious as a
decolorizer.  It is prepared by digesting finely powdered charcoal with sufficient
of the solution of sulphate of alumina, to give an impregnation of seven and
a half per cent, of  alumina.  The whole is evaporated to dryness,  and heated
to redness in  a  covered Hessian crucible, until all the water and acid  have
been dissipated.   Aluminized charcoal is perfectly black, though  thoroughly
impregnated  with anhydrous alumina, and  only requires  to  be carefully pul-
verized to be ready for use. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Jan., 1857, p. 364.)
On similar principles, Dr. Stenhouse prepares what  he calls  artificial  bone-
black, by impregnating powdered wood charcoal with 7*5 per cent, of phosphate
of lime, by digesting it in a solution of this salt in muriatic acid, evaporating
to dryness, and igniting in covered vessels, to drive off the acid and water.  This
charcoal decolorizes  well,  but can  only be used for neutral solutions.
  Charcoal may act either as  an oxidizer, or deoxidizer; and these contrary 
188                 Carbo Ligni.— Cardamomum.              part i.

powers seem to depend upon its having, for oxygen, a. medium affinity, which
enables it to take that element from some bodies, and to yield it to others. Thus,
it is known to reduce several oxides;  while, on the other hand, it powerfully
oxidizes animal matter.   The bodies of two dogs, having been laid in an open
box on a bed of charcoal, a few inches deep, and covered by the same material,
were kept by Mr. John Turnbull, of Glasgow,.for six months in his laboratory,
without  emitting any perceptible effluvium;  and, when they were examined at
the end of this time, scarcely anything remained but the bones.  Dr. Stenhouse,
who relates  this experiment, has confirmed it by observations of his  own; and
believes that the Jinimal  matter, thus treated, undergoes putrefaction, though
the products, JtaJheir  rapid oxidation, are prevented from  contaminating  the
air.  He, therefore, considers charcoal not to be antiseptic, but the very oppo-
site. Facts  are yet wanting to clear up this subject.  It will probably be found
that charcoal  may prevent putrefaction, but not decay.  (Chem. Gaz., April,
1854, p.  132.)
  The study of the absorbent and oxidizing properties of charcoal has led Dr.
Stenhouse to apply it to the purpose of preventing the access of noxious efflu-
via to the lungs in respiration.   This object he proposes to effect by covering
the nose  and mouth with what he calls the charcoal respirator.  The instru-
ment consists  of  a layer  of coarsely powdered charcoal, a quarter of an inch
thick, between two sheets of silvered wire gauze, covered  with thin woollen
cloth, by  means of which the temperature of the inspired air is greatly increased.
The frame is made of thin sheet copper; but the edges of lead, padded and
lined with velvet, so  as to fit the lower part of the face.   Dr.  Stenhouse con-
siders his respirator to  act as an air filter, and to be peculiarly  adapted to pro-
tect the wearer against infectious diseases. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Jan.,
1855, p.  328.)   This instrument must  not be confounded with Jeffreys's wire
ventilator, which is intended solely to warm  the air before entering  the lungs.
  Off. Prep. Cataplasma Carbonis.                                   B.

           CARDAMOMUM.  U S,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                              Cardamom.

  The fruit  of Elettaria Cardamomum.  U. S.   The seeds. Lond, Dub.  Fruit
of Renealmia Cardamomum. Ed.
  Petit cardamome, Fr.;  Kleine Cardamomen, Germ.; Cardamomo minore, Ital.; Car-
damomo menor, Span.; Ebil, Arab.; Kakelah seghar, Persian ; Capalaga, Malay; Gu-
jaratii 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 Scitamineas.   Three varieties have long been  designated by  the
several titles of the lesser, middle, and larger—cardamomum minus, medium,
and majus;  but these  terms have  been used differently by different writers, so
that their precise signification remained doubtful.   To the late Dr. Pereira we
are mainly indebted for the clearing up of 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.*  The  following remarks have  reference exclu-
sively to  the genuine Malabar or officinal cardamom.

  * The following is a  sketch of the non-officinal cardamoms, chiefly condensed from
the account of Pereira.
  1. Ceylon Cardamom.  This has been  denominated variously cardamomum medium, 
PART I.
Cardamomum.
189
   Linnaeus confounded, under the name of Amomum Cardamomum, two dif-
 ferent vegetables—the genuine plant of Malabar, and another growing in Java.

 cardamomum majus, and cardamomum longum,&ri& is sometimes termed in English com-
 merce wild cardamom.  It is the large cardamom of Guibourt.   In the East it is some-
 times 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 cardamom, and is de-
 signated by Sir James  Edward Smith, Elettaria  major.   This plant was described by
 Pereira in the Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions (ii. 388).  The fruit is a lan-
 ceolate-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 longT^lindrical, 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.
   2. Round Cardamom.  This is  probably the"' Apv/xov of Dioscorides, and the Amomi
 uva of Pliny, and is believed to be the fruit of Amomum 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 fla-
 vour.   They are sometimes, though very rarely,  met  with connected together in their
 native clusters, constituting 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 appear-
 ance.   They are strongly ribbed, and,  when soaked  in water, exhibit from nine  to
 thirteen ragged  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 Amomum angustifolium of Sonnerat, which
 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 or Mallaguetta 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 peppery taste.  Two kinds of them are known in the English market,
 one, larger, plumper, and more warty, with a short conical projecting tuft of pale fibres
 on the umbilicus ; the other, smaller and smoother, and without the fibrous tuft.  The
 latter are the most common.   It is probable that one of the varieties is produced by
 Amomum Grana Paradisi of Sir J. E. Smith, and the other by  Roscoe's Amomum Mele-
 gueta.  (Pereira's Mat. Med., 3d ed., p. 1134.)  Dr. W. F. Daniell, who has published
 {Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiv. 312 and 356) an elaborate paper on  the Amoma of
 Western Africa, states that  the true Mallaguetta  pepper is obtained exclusively from
 varieties of the same  species, to which belong the Amomum Grana Paradisi of Afzelius,
 and the A. Melegueta of Roscoe; while the A. Grana  Paradisi of Sir J. E. Smith is a
 different plant, and yields a different product.  Tfcese grains are imported from Guinea,
 and other parts of the western  coast of Africa.  Similar grains are taken to England
from Demerara, where they are obtained from a plant  cultivated by the negroes, sup-
posed to have been brought  from Africa, and believed by Dr. Pereira to be the Amomum
Melegueta of Roscoe.  {Ibid., vi. 412.)  Their effects on the system  are analogous  to
those of pepper ; but they  are  seldom used except in  veterinary practice, and to give 
190
Cardamomum.
PART I.
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 volume of the Linn. Trans-
actions, 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 Sci-
tamineas, could not  be  considered an Amomum;  and, as he was unable to
attach it to any other known genus, he  proposed to construct a new one with
the name of  Elettaria, derived from elettari, 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
U. S. Pharmacopoeias.   The celebrated  Dr.  Roxburgh described the  Malabar
cardamom  plant  as  an  Alpinia,  with  the specific name Cardamomum.  As
doubts were entertained  of the necessity  for the new genus proposed by Maton,
Roxburgh  was followed in  the London and  U. S. Pharmacopoeias,  and the
fruit was referred  to Alpinia Cardamomum.  This decision, however, has been
revised in the  latest editions of  these works, in  which  the plant  is entitled
Elettaria Cardamomum.  Finally, Roscoe has arranged it with the abandoned
genus Benealmia of Linnasus, which he has restored ;  and the Edinburgh Col-
lege has recognised this  arrangement.
  Elettaria.  Sex. Syst. Monandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord.  Scitaniineas.
Brown. Zingiberaceas. Lindley.
  Gen. Ch.  Corolla  with the  tube filiform and the inner limb  one-lipped.
Anther naked.  Capsule  often berried, three-celled, three-valved.  Seeds numer-
ous, arillate.  Blume.
  Elettaria  Cardamomum.  Maton.—Alpinia Cardamomum. Roxburgh.—
Amomum Bepens. Sonnerat; Willd. Sp. Plant, i.  9.—Benealmia Cardamo-
mum. Roscoe,  3Ionandrous Plants. Figured in Linn.  Trans, x.  248,  and
Carson's  Illust. of Med.  Bot. ii. 55.   The  cardamom plant  has  a tuberous
horizontal  root or  rhizorna, furnished 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 sur-
face, glossy and pale sea-gre,en beneath,  with strong  midribs, and  short  foot-
stalks.  The  flower-stalk proceeds from the base of the stem, and lies upon the
ground, with the  flowers arranged in 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 many 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

artifical strength to spirits, wine beer, and vinegar.  In the same journal (ii. 443),
Dr.  Pereira points out seven distinct scitamineous fruits, to which the name of grains
of paradise has been applied by different authors.
  Other Products of different ScitamineaB, which have received the name of cardamom,
are described by  Pereira; but the above are all that are known in commerce, or likelj?
to be brought into our drug markets.'                                 '     J
  In the Pharm. Journ  and Trans (xiv.352) is a paper  by Mr. Daniel Hanbury on
some rare kinds of cardamom of Siani, Cochin China, Tonquin, and China  in which
new information  is given on varieties already known, and one is noticed which appears
hitherto to have  escaped the attention of European writers.           wmen d,ppe<*.= 
PART I.
Cardamomum.—Carota.
191
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 con-
tinues 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 two
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 con-
stitute about 14 parts by weight in the hundred.  According to Pereira, three
varieties are distinguished in British  commerce:—1. the shorts, 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 pro-
perties  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 con-
tain, 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 1-73 of ligneous fibre.
The volatile oil is colourless, of an agreeable and very  penetrating  odour, and
of a strong, aromatic, burning,  camphorous, 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,;leses its peculiar odour and taste.   (Tromms-
dorff, Annal. der Pharm.,  July, 1834.)  If ether be allowed to percolate
through the powdered seeds, and the liquor obtained be deprived of the ether
by  evaporation,  a light'*gree#ish-brown fluid remains, consisting almost exclu-
sively of the volatile and fixed oils.   It has the odour of cardamom, and keeps
better than the oil obtained by distillation.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm,,  xxi. 116.)
The seeds should be powdered  only when wanted for immediate use; as they
retain their aromatic properties best while enclosed within the eapsules.
   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;  Extractum  Colocynthidis Compositum;
Pilula Colocynthidis  Comp.; Pulvis Aromaticus; Pulvis Cinnamomi Comp.;
Tinctura  Cardamomi;  Tinct. Cardamomi Comp.; Tinct. Cinnamomi. Comp.;
Tinct.  Gentianas Comp.;  Tinct. Quassias Comp.; Tinct.  Rhei; Tinct. Rhei
Comp.; Tinct. Rhei et Aloes; Tinct. Sennas Comp.; Tinct. Sennas et Jalapas;
Vinum Aloes.                                                      W.

                     CAROTA.  US. Secondary.

                             Carrot Seed.
The fruit of Daucus Carota. U S. 
192
Carota.—Baud Radix.
PART i.
                       DAUCI RADIX.  Ed.

                         Garden Carrot Boot.

  Root of Daucus Carota, var. Sativa. Ed.
  Off. Syn,  CAROTA.  Daucus  Carota, var. sativa.   Badix recens. Lond.
DAUCUS CAROTA.  The root. Dub.                              .
  Carotte  Fr • Gemeine Mohre, Gelbe Rube, Germ.; Carota, Ital.; Lanahona, Span.
  Daucus.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Pigynia. — JVorf. Ord.  Umbelliferas, or Apia-

  Gen.Ch. Corolla somewhat rayed. Florets of the disk abortive. Fruit hisy-
id 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, fur-
rowed, 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 foot-
stalks 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 com-
pound 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 surfaces.
  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 introduced 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.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.  Carrot  seeds  are moderately excitant and
diuretic, and are employed in  chronic nephritic affections, and  in dropsy.   As
they possess 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 ounee 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 culti-
vated variety is reddish, fleshy, thick, conical, rarely branched, of a pleasant odour,
and a peculiar sweet, mucilaginous taste. The constituents of the root are crys-
tallizable and uncrystallizable sugar, a little starch, extractive, gluten, albumen,
volatile oil, vegetable jelly or pectin, malic acid, saline  matters, lignin, and a
peculiar crystallizable, ruby-red, neuter principle, without odour or taste, called 
PART I.
Carota.— Carthamus.
193
 carotin.  The substance called vegetable jelly was by some considered a modifica-
 tion 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 (nrixtii),
 expressive of its characteristic property of gelatinizing.  It exists more or less
 in all vegetables, and is abundant in certain fruits and roots from which jellies
 are prepared.   It may be 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
 ichthyocolla.  Immersed in 100 parts of cold water, it swells like bassorin, and
 ultimately forms a homogeneous jelly.  With a larger proportion it exhibits a
 mucilaginous consistence.  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  peculiarity 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 base and separates the pectic acid.   Pectic acid thus obtained
 is in the form of a colourless jelly, slightly acidulous, Avith the property of red-
 dening litmus  paper, scarcely soluble in  cold  water, more  soluble in boiling
 water, and forming with the latter a solution, which, though  it does not be-
 come solid on cooling, is coagulated by alcohol, lime-water, acids, or salts, and
 even by sugar if allowed  to stand for some time.   With the alkalies it forms
 salts, which are also capable of gelatinizing.   With the earths and metallic
 oxides it forms insoluble salts.  Braconnot thinks  that pectic acid  exists in
 many plants already formed.   M. Fremy found that pectin results, 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.
    3Iedical 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,
 sloughing,  and cancerous ulcers, the fetor of which it is supposed to correct,
 while it sometimes changes the character of the  diseased action.   It is also use-
 ful in the ulcers which follow fevers.  The root is brought to the proper con-
 sistence by scraping.  In this state it retains a portion of the active principles
 of the plant, which render it somewhat stimulant.   Boiled and  mashed, as usu-
 ally recommended,  the  root is perfectly mild,  and  fit  only to  form  emollient
 cataplasms.*                                                        W.

                  CARTHAMUS.  U.S.  Secondary.

                             Dyers' Saffron.

   The flowers of Carthamus tinctorius. U. S.
   Fleurs de carthame, Safran batard, Fr. ; Farber Saffor, Germ.; Cartamo, Ital, Span.
   Carthamus.  Sex. Syst, Syngenesia ^Equalis. — Nat. Ord. Composites Cyna-
 reas. De Cand,   Cynaracese. Lindley.
   Gen. Ch,  Receptacle paleaceous, setose. Calyx ovate, imbricated, with ovate
 scales, leafy at the end.  Seed-down paleaceous, hairy, or none. Willd.

  * Carrot Ointment.  The following formula for this ointment has been handed to us
by Professor Procter, who has long been in the habit of preparing it.  Take  of grated
carrot root half a pound, lard a pound, wax four ounces.  Melt the lard and wax, add
the carrot  root, evaporate with a moderate heat the moisture of the root, and strain.
It may  be used in excoriated or ulcerated  surfaces, requiring a gentle stimulation.—
Note to the tenth edition.
       13 
194
Carthamus.— Carum.
PART I.
   Carthamus tinctorius. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. IT06.  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 India, the Levant, and Egypt, and is cultivated in
those countries, as well as 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 fila-
ments contained within the floret.   It has a peculiar slightly aromatic odour,
and a scarcely perceptible bitterness. Among its ingredients are two colouring
substances—one reel, insoluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol, very soluble
in alkaline liquids, and called carthamine, or  carthamic acid by Dobereiner,
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 powder called rouge.  For more
detailed information in relation to these principles, the reader is referred to the
Journal de Pharmacie (3e ser., iii. 203.)
   These flowers are sometimes fraudulently mixed with saffron, which they re-
semble in  colour, but from which they may be distinguished by their tubular
form, and the yellowish style and filaments which they enclose.
   3Iedical 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, scarlatina,
and other exanthematous diseases, in order to promote the eruption.  An infu-
sion 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.  Carum Carui. The fruit. Lond, Ed, The seeds. Bui.
   Carvi, Fr., Ital.; Gemeiner Kummel, Germ.; Alcaravea, Span.
   Carum.  Sex. Syst, Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferas or Apiacea;.
    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 furnish-
 ed with doubly  pinnate, deeply incised leaves, the segments of which  are linear
 and  pointed.   The flowers  are small and white,  and terminate 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 pas-
 tures, 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 improved by culture, re- 
 PART I.                 Carum.—Caryophyllus.                    195

 sembles the  parsnip, and is used as food in 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.
   3Iedical Broperties and Uses.   Caraway is  a  pleasant stomachic  and car-
 minative, 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 of
 boiling water.  The volatile oil, however, is most employed.  (See Oleum Cari.)
 The seeds are baked in cakes, to which they communicate an agreeable flavour,
 while they stimulate the digestive organs.
   Off  Prep.  Aqua  Carui;  Confectio Opii;  Confectio Rutas; Emplastrum
 Cymini;  Oleum Cari; Spiritus Carui; Spiritus Juniperi  Compositus; Tinctura
 Cardamomi  Composite ;  Tinct. Sennas Comp.;  Tinct. Sennas et Jalapas.
                                                                   W.

              CARYOPHYLLUS.  U.S., Ed., Dub.

                                 Cloves.

   The  unexpanded flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus.  U S., Ed., Dub.
   Off.  Syn.  CARYOPHYLLUM. Caryophyllus aromaticus.  The flower not
 yet expanded. Lond.
   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.  Myrtaceas.
   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
 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. SI.—Eugenia caryophyllata.  Willd.'
 Sp.  Plant, ii. 965; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 538, t.  193.   This small tree is one
 of the most  elegant of those inhabiting the islands of India.  It has a pyra-
 midal form, is always green, and is adorned throughout the year with a succes-
 sion of beautiful rosy flowers.   The stem is of hard wood, and 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 on long footstalks, and
 opposite.  They have a firm consistence, and 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 
196
Caryophyllus.
part i.
commercial  people, the trees were extirpated in nearly all  the  islands except
Amboyna and Ternate, which were under their immediate inspection.  Notwith-
standing, however, their jealous  vigilance, a  French governor  of the Isle of
France and of Bourbon, named Poivre, succeeded, in the year 1710, in obtaining
plants from the Moluccas, and introducing  them into the colonies under his
control.  Five years afterwards, the clove-tree was introduced into Cayenne and
the West Indies, in 1803 into 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 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 immersed
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 introduced
into Europe by the  Arabians, and were distributed by the Venetians.  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 thrown open the commerce in cloves to
all  nations.   The  United States  derive much of their  supply from the West
Indies and Guiana.  The Molucca cloves are said to be thicker, darker,  heavier,
more oily, and more highly aromatic than those cultivated elsewhere.  They
are known by the name of Amboyna cloves.   The Bencoolen cloves, from Su-
matra, 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.  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 neither alkaline nor  acid 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.  To obtain it, the ethereal extract of cloves
is treated with water, and the white substance formed is separated by filtration,
and  treated  repeatedly with ammonia to deprive it of impurities.  Thus  pro-
cured, Dr. Muspratt found it to  consist of  carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in
the proportion represented by the  formula C10H80 or C^O,.' (Pharm. Journ.

  * The peduncles of the flowers have been sometimes  employed.  They possess the
odour and taste of  the cloves though m a less degree, and furnish  a considerable
quantity of essential oil.  The French call them griffcs de girofles. 
PART I.
Caryophyllus.— Cascarilla.
197
 and Trans., x. 343.)   It is an oxide of the neutral oil of cloves.   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.)  It is said to be isomeric with eugenic acid, or the acid
 constituent of oil of cloves. (Gregory.)  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 if  deprived  of  the oil  by distillation with water,  while
 the oil which comes over is mild.  Hence it has  been  inferred that  the pun-
 gency of this aromatic depends on a union of the essential oil with the  resin.
 For an account 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  yields the same results with these  reagents.
    Croton.  Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia. — Nat. Ord.  Euphorbiaceas.
    3Iedical 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 sometimes ad-
 ministered in substance or infusion to relieve nausea and vomiting, correct flatu-
 lence,  and excite languid digestion;  but their chief  use is to assist or modify
 the action of other medicines.  They  enter into several officinal 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; Confectio Scammonii; Infusum  Aurantii
 Compositum; Infusum  Caryophylli; Mistura Ferri Aromatica;  Oleum Caryo-
 phylli; Spiritus  Ammonias Aromaticus;  Spiritus  Lavandula  Compositus;
 Syrupus Rhei Aromaticus;  Vinum  Opii.                              W.


             CASCARILLA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Cascarilla.

   The bark of Croton Eleuteria. U  S.,  Lond., Dub.  Bark probably of Croton
 Eleuteria, and possibly other species of the same genus. Ed.
   Cascarille, Fr.;  Cascarillrinde, Germ.;  Cascariglia, Ital.;  Chacarila, Span.
   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 writers to different species of Croton;
 but authorities now generally  agree in  referring it to C. Eleuteria.   It is not
 impossible that C. Cascarilla of  Linnasus contributes a portion of the drug,
 but we have no proof of the fact.  The London College has corrected the error,
 committed in  a former edition of  its  Pharmacopoeia,  of recognising the C.
 Cascarilla of Don  as the source  of it.  This botanist  mistook the Copalchi
 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 pro-
posed to transfer  the specific nametof Cascarilla to the Mexican plant; an un-
fortunate error, to which the London  College formerly gave  authority by its
sanction.   No fact  is better ascertained than that the proper cascarilla bark  is 
198
Cascarilla.
PART I.
a West India product, and is never brought from Mexico.  The Copalchi oark
has been mistaken also for a variety of cinchona.*
   Croton Eleuteria. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv.  545; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot, ii.
34, pi. 78.   This species of Croton is a small tree or shrub, said by Browne to be
foiir 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 sur-
face, downy and of  a silvery whiteness on the under.  They are placed  alter-
nately 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 Paraguay.  Browne
describes it as hot and pungent to the taste.   The Croton lineare of Jacquin,
considered by Willdenow as  a variety of 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 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 por-

  * Portions of Copalchi bark  have been taken to Europe, and attracted  the attention
both of pharmacologists and medical practitioners. Two kinds of it have been noticed;
one, in small slender quills, of an ash colour, bearing  some resemblance to a variety
of pale cinchona, but having  the flavour of cascarilla,  and  burning with  a similar
odour; the other, in  larger quills, with a thick cork-like epidermis, very bitter, and
yielding an aromatic odour when burnt.  The former is the product of C. Pseudo-China;
the latter is of unknown origin, but conjecturally referred to Croton suberosum.   Mr. J.
E. Howard states that the quilled copalchi bark contains a bitter alkaloid, soluble in
ether,  and precipitable as a white hydrate from its acid solution.  {Pharm. Journ. and
 Trans., xiv. 319.)  Copalchi bark is an aromatic tonic, employed in Mexico in intermit-
tents, and capable of useful application in all cases requiring a mild aromatic bitter. Dr.
 Stark has employed it advantageously in feeble states of digestion with irritable bowels,
 and found it, in one or two cases, to exhibit antiperiodic properties.  It may be given
 in infusion made with half an ounce of the bark to a pint of water, in the dose of one
 or two fluidounces three times a day. {Ed. Med. and Surg. Journ., April, 1849, p. 410.)
 —iSiote to ninth and eleventh editions.
   Since the publication of the last edition of this work, we have received from Dr.
 Pleasants,  U. S. Consul at Minatitlan, Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, a box of bark
 which it was  thought might  prove to be Peruvian bark, and had  some reputation
 as  an antiperiodic.   It is  in large quills, or partially rolled pieces, sometimes nearly
 flat, with a white or  whitish epidermis, and a ^ark-brown colour of  the proper bark,
 the outer surface of which appears irregularly striated  on the removal of the cuticular
 covering.  It has a bitter, aromatic taste, gives out when burnt the characteristic odour
 of cascarilla similarly treated and, though much larger than the  specimens we have
 seen of copalchi bark is probably derived either from the same tree, or from some other
 species of Croton.—JSote to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Cascarilla.—Cassia Fistula.
199
tions 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 sur-
face, 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, closely  resembling that of
musk, but weaker and more agreeable.  This property serves to distinguish it
from 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 cas-
carillin, 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 bark, 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 boiling 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 rela-
tions, and without nitrogen. (Journ. de Pharm.,  3e ser., viii.  96.) Either alco-
hol 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 substitute for
Peruvian bark by those who were prejudiced against that febrifuge in the treat-
ment 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. Infusum Cascarillas; Tinctura Cascarillas.                W.

                    CASSIA FISTULA.  U.  S.

                           Purging Cassia.
   The fruit of Cassia Fistula.  U. S.
   Off. Syn. CASSIA. Cassia Fistula, The fruit. Lond.; CASSLE PULPA.
Pulp of the pods of Cassia Fistula. Ed. 
200
Cassia Fistula.
PART i.
  Casse, Fr.; Rohrenkassie, Germ.; Cassia, Ital.; Cana Fistula, Span.
  Cassia.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia. — Nat.  Ord.  Fabaceas or Legumi-
nosa\
  Gen. Ch,  Calyx five-leaved.  Petals five.  AntJiers, three upper sterile, three
lower beaked.  Lomcntum.  Willd.
  The tree which yields the purging cassia  is ranked by some botanists as a
distinct genus, separated from  the  Cassia, and denominated  Cathartocarpus.
(Sse Lindleifs Flor. Med., 262.)
  Cassia Fistula. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 518; Woodv. 3Ied. 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 con-
sists of long, cylindrical, woody, dark-brown, pendulous pods, which,  when agi-
tated 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 AVest 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, ex-
tending from one end to the other, two of which are in close proximity, appear-
ing to constitute a single band, and  the third is on the opposite 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  furrows.  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 es-
teemed than those 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,  exceedingly rough
on  the outer  surface, and  marked by three  longitudinal very  elevated ridges,
corresponding to the bands or furrows of the  common cassia.   The pulp was
rather nauseous, but  in other respects seemed to have the properties of the
officinal  purging cassia.  They corresponded  exactly with a  specimen of the
fruit of 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 bruisin- them,
then boiling them in water, and afterwards evaporating the decoction- or when 
part I.          Cassia Fistula.—Cassia Marilandica.              201

the pods are fresh, by opening them at the sutures, and removing the pulp by
a spatula.  (See Cassias Fistulse Pulpa.)
   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  laxative, and may be advan-
tageously 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 rarely prescribed, except as an ingredient in the confection of senna, which
is a 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.  Cassias Fistulas Pulpa; Cassia Prasparata.               W.

                CASSIA  MARILANDICA.  U.S.

                           American Senna.

   The leaves of Cassia Marilandica.  U. S.
   Cassia.  See CASSIA. FISTULA.
   Cassia  3Iarilandica. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 524; Bigelow, Am,  Med.  Bot.
ii. 116; Barton,  3Ied.  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-lanceo-
late, smooth, mucronate leaflets, green on their upper surface, pale beneath,
and connected by short petioles with  the common footstalk, which is  com-
pressed, 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 termi-
nating in a hairy stigma.  The fruit  is a pendulous legume, from two to four
inches  long, linear, curved, swelling at the seeds,  somewhat  hairy, and of  a
blackish colour.
   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  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, is most abundant and luxuriant in the flat ground on the
borders of rivers and ponds.  It is sometimes  cultivated in gardens for medical
use.   In the months of July and August, when  in full bloom, it has a rich  and
beautiful appearance.   The leaves should be collected in August or the begin-
ning of September, and carefully dried.
   They are sometimes brought into the market, compressed into oblong cakes,
like 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, 
202         Cassia Marilandica.—Castanea.—Castoreum.      part i.

of Philadelphia, and found to contain a principle analogous to cathartin, albu-
men, 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.)
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.   American  senna is an efficient and safe ca-
thartic, 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 close at least one-third larger.  It is habitually used by many practitioners in
the country.  Like senna it is most conveniently given in the form of infusion,
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, Cupuliferas.
  Gen. Ch.  Male. Anient naked.  Calyx none. Corolla  five-petalled. Stamens
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;  Michanx,  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 chest-
nut, which belongs to the same genus, by their whitish and downy under sur-
face.  The barren flowers are grouped upon  axillary peduncles,  three or four
inches long; the fertile  aments are similarly disposed, but  less  conspicuous.
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 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. U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Castor.

  A peculiar concrete substance obtained from Castor fiber. U. S  The follicles
of  the prepuce filled with a peculiar  secretion. Lond,   A peculiar secretion in
the prasputial follicles.  Ed., Dub.
  Castoreum, Fr. ,-  Bibergeil, Germ.; Castoro,  Ital; Castoreo, Span.
  In  he 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 
PART I.
Castoreum.
203
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
America, or from Russia; and is distinguished,  according  to  its source, into
the Canadian or American, and Russian castor.  It is supposed by some that
the American and Russian beavers are distinct species, the former being  a
building, the latter a  burrowing  animal;  and additional  ground for the sup-
position is afforded by the fact, that the products of the two differ considerably.
Of  the Russian 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 flattened
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  internally 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 con-
tents,  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, de-
scribed by Pereira under the name of chalky Bussian castor, is in smaller and
rounder sacs than the American, has a peculiar empyreumatic odour very dif-
ferent from that of the other varieties, breaks  like starch under the teeth, and
is characterized by effervescing with dilute muriatic acid.   In a  specimen ex-
amined by  Miiller, 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.   According 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 February 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.
   Properties.   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 to
Brandes, are volatile oil; a resinous matter; albumen; a substance resembling
osmazome; mucus;  urate,  carbonate,  benzoate, phosphate, and sulphate of
lime; acetate and muriate of soda; muriate, sulphate, and benzoate of potassa;
carbonate of ammonia;  membranous matter; and a peculiar  proximate prin-
ciple discovered by M. Bizio, an  Italian chemist, and called by him  castorin.
This principle crystallizes in long, diaphanous, fasciculated prisms, has the smell
of castor, and a copperish taste.  It is insoluble in cold water and cold alcohol;
but is  dissolved by 100 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 cool.  The
castorin is slowly deposited, and  may be purified by means  of cold alcohol.  It
has been thought to be the active principle of castor; but its claims are at best
doubtful.   The volatile oil  may be obtained by repeated distillation with the
same portion of water.  It is pale yellow, and has the smell and taste of castor. 
204
Castoreum.— Cataria.
PART I,
  F. Wohler has ascertained the existence of salicin in castor; also that it con-
tains a small quantity of carbolic acid, one of the products of the distillation
of coal-tar, to which he ascribes its odour.   This acid is poisonous, and has a
special action on the nervous system.  (See Chem. Gaz., Jan.  1, 1849.)
  Dr. Pereira found that a portion of water distilled from American castor
gradually lost its  own  peculiar odour, and acquired that of the  flowers of
Spirsea ulmaria, and afterwards presented  no trace  of the  presence of oil of
castor.   Upon testing  it,  he ascertained the existence  in it of hydruret of
salicyle (oil of Spirsea ulmaria),  and concluded that the oil of castor had been
converted into that principle. He farther inferred that the oil is probably a vola-
tile product of the salicin of the castor, and ascribes  the carbolic acid to the
same source.  (Pharm.  Journ. and Trans., xi. 200.)  The salicin  of the castor
probably proceeds from the willow and poplar on which the beaver feeds.
  Alcohol  and 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 de-
composition.   It should not, therefore, be kept in damp cellars.   In a dry cool
place it may be kept for a  long time without  material deterioration.  When
(jjiite black, with little  taste or  smell, it is unfit for use.   The  castor follicles
are sometimes partly deprived of the castor, and its place supplied with saw-
dust.  A factitious preparation has been 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 detected by the comparatively
feeble odour, the absence of other characteristic sensible properties,  and the
want of the smaller follicles containing fatty matter, which are  often attached
to the real  bags  of castor.
  Medical 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 symptoms of gene-
ral  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 amenorrhoea.   In Europe,
especially on the continent, it is  still  frequently prescribed 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.   It is less used
in this country.  The dose in substance is from ten  to thirty grains, which
may be given in bolus or emulsion.   The tincture is sometimes employed.
   Off. Prep. Tinctura Castorei; Tinctura Castorei Ammoniata.        W.

                    CATARIA.  U. S. Secondary.

                                 Catnep.

  The leaves of Nepeta Cataria.  U S.
  Cataire, Fr.; Katzenmiinze, Germ.,- Cattara, Ital,- Gatera  Span
  Nepeta.  Sex. Siyst,  Didynamia Gymnospermia, _ iVa*. Ord.  Lamiaceas or
Labiatas.
  Gen Ch   Calyx dry,  striate,  five-toothed.  Corolla with the upper lip un-
divided, the  under lip three-parted,  the  middle division crenate.   Stamen*
approximate. 
PART I.
Cat aria.—Catechu.
205
  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 supposed to
have been introduced from Europe.
  The whole herb is used;  but the leaves only are recognised in the U.  S.
Pharmacopoeia.   They have a strong, peculiar, rather disagreeable odour, and
a pungent, aromatic, bitterish, camphorous taste.  They yield  their virtues to
water.   The active constituents are volatile oil, and tannin of  the kind 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.   It has had the reputation 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  amenorrhoea, chlorosis, hysteria,
the flatulent  colic of infants, &c.; but  is scarcely known in regular practice.
Some of the older writers speak favourably 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. I^S., Dub.   Extract of the
inner wood of Acacia Catechu ; or of the leaves of Uncaria  Gambir. 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.
  Cachou, Fr.; Catechu, Germ.; Catecu, Catciu, Catto, Ital.;  Catecu, Span.;  Cutt,
Hindoostanee.
  Acacia. See ACACIA.
  Acacia Catechu. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1079; Woodv. 3Ied.  Bot, p. 433, t.
157 ; Carson, Illust. of 3Ied. Bot. i. 32, pi. 24.   According to Mr. Kerr, whose
description has been followed by most subsequent  writers, 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 pinnas 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  mar-
gin, 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  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. 
206
Catechu.
PART i.
  This druf had been long known before its source was discovered.  It was at
first called terra Japonica, under the erroneous impression that it was an earthy
substance derived from Japan.  When ascertained by analysis  to be of vege-
table  origin, it was  generally considered by writers on the Materia Medica to
be an extract of the betel-nut, which is the fruit of a  species of palm,  denomi-
nated Areca Catechu.  Its true origin was made known by Mr.  Kerr, assistant-
suroeon of the civil hospital in Bengal, who had an opportunity of  examining
the"tree from which it was obtained, and of witnessing the process of extrac-
tion.   According to Mr. Kerr, the manufacturer, having 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 decoction 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 Acacia Ca-
techu in the vicinity of Prome, in Burmah.   Two kinds, he  observes,  are pre-
pared 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  submitted to decoction.
  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 and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, however, the term
is properly restricted to the extract of Acacia Catechu; as it was not intended
to recognise all the astringent products which are floating 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  exception to the  general rule.  A
minute account of the diversified forms and exterior characters, which the offici-
nal catechu presents as  produced in different 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 Burnian  dominions.  We
derive it directly from Calcutta, or by orders from London, and it is sold in
our markets without reference 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, in the
form of a note, the following observations upon the varieties of catechu; those being first
considered which are probably derived from Acacia Catechu, and, therefore, recognised
as officinal in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
                          1.  Officinal  Catechu. U. S.
  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.
  1.  Plano-convex  Catechu.  Cake 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 
PART I.
Catechu.
207
   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,

the flat surface exhibited impressions as if produced by  coarse matting.   The colour
internally 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
almost 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 resin-
ous, indicating the consolidation of the extract in layers.  This variety of  catechu is
often of good quality.   It is common  at present in our market; but we have been un-
able to 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, in-
dicate this particular 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 inconsiderable 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 and breadth,  and somewhat less  in thickness, of a rusty-brown  colour exter-
nally, and dark-brown  or brownish-gray within, with a somewhat rough and dull frac-
ture, 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 remblance 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  brought, when drying, into the
quadrangular form.  It has been called Bengal  catechu, because exported from that
province.
   Pale catechu, so far as the term is not applied  to gambir, may be considered as be-
longing to this variety.  A specimen with  this name, which was sent from India to the
great London exhibition, and which we have had an opportunity of examining, was in
oblong rectangular pieces, or fragments of  such pieces, about three  and a half inches
long by an inch and a half in breadth, of a dirty yellowish colour within, and an earthy
fracture, quite free from gloss, and bearing a much stronger resemblance to gambir
than to ordinary catechu.
   4.  Catechu in Balls.   We have seen this in two forms—one  consisting of globular
balls about as large as  an orange, very hard and heavy, of a ferruginous aspect exter-
nally, 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 dimen-
sions, but flattened and otherwise pressed out of shape  before being  perfectly dried,
sometimes adhering two together, as  happens  with the lumps of Smyrna opium, and
closely resembling, in external and internal colour, and in the character of  their frac-
ture,  the quadrangular variety last described.   The former kind is rare, and the spe-
cimens we have seen had  been  twenty years in the shop, and had very much the ap-
pearance of a factitious product.  The latter is in all probability the kind known for-
merly as the Bombay catechu; as Dr.  Hamilton, and more recently Major  Mackintosh,
in describing the mode of preparing catechu on the Malabar  coast, of which Bombay
is the entrepot, say that, while the extract is  soft, it is shaped into balls  about the
size of an orange. 
208
Catechu.
PART I.
others cubical or oblong,  or quite irregular,  and of  every grade  in size, from
small  angular  pieces, which are  evidently fragments of  the original cakes, to

          2. Catechus not recognised as officinal in the U. S. Pharmacopceia.
  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  Rubiacem of Jussieu, Cincho-
nacea. 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 evaporating the decoction either by artificial or solar heat.   When of a pro-
per 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.
  Gambir is in 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 externally,
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 a minute proportion  of ashes  when burnt.  It is partially
soluble' in cold water, and almost wholly so in boiling water, which deposits 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 per cent, of tannic acid, a peculiar principle, called cate-
chuin or catechuic acid, gum  or gummy extractive, a deposit like the cinchonic red, and
two and a half per cent, of lignin.  Catechuic acid, 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 either. It
very slightly reddens litmus  paper, and, though it colours the solution of chloride of iron
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 re-
lations to the metallic salts, but does not, according to Neubauer, bear the same rela-
tion  to the tannic acid  of catechu that gallic acid does to that of galls.  On the con-
trary, instead  of resulting from the oxidation of  tannic acid, it  is by heat converted
into  a substance analogous to tannin. {Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 329 and 331, from
Liebig's Annalen, xcvi. 337.)  Neubauer gives the composition as CI7H)2Ol0, with the
loss of one eq. of water at 212° F.  To prepare it, the precipitate which falls  upon the
cooling of the decoction of  gambir, is 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 re-
ceiver  with sulphuric acid.  ( Wackenroder, Annal. der Pharm., xxxi. 72.)  The sweet
taste of gambir is thought to depend on this constituent.
  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 ; some-
times 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  extent 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  Itis 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
medicinally employed in the United States.
  2. Areca  Catechu. This is obtained from the areca nut or betel nut, which is the seed
of Areca Catechu, a palm cultivated m all parts of India.  (See Part Third.)  It is pre- 
PART T.
Catechu.
209
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 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, followed
by a sense of sweetness.  It is brittle, and breaks with a fracture which is rough
in some specimens, in others uniform, resinous, 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.   From 200
parts of Bombay catechu, Sir  H. Davy obtained 109 parts of tannic acid,  68
of extractive, 13 of mucilage, and 10 of insoluble residue.   The same quantity
of Bengal catechu yielded 97. of tannic acid, 73 of extractive, 16 of mucilage,
and 14 of insoluble residue.   Other experimenters have obtained results some-
what 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
catechuin or catechuic acid. (See note, page  208.) The tannic acid is of the
variety which precipitates iron of a  greenish-black colour.  It precipitates gela-
tin, but not tartar emetic (Kane), and is not, like the tannic acid of galls, con-
verted into gallic acid by exposure to  the  air.   It may be  distinguished by the
name of catechu-tannic acid, or, as proposed by Berzelius, mimo-tannic acid,
from its source in one of the 3Iimosese.  Catechu is almost entirely soluble in a
large quantity of water, to which it imparts a brown colour.  The extractive or
catechuic acid is much less soluble than the astringent principle, which may be
almost entirely separated from it by the frequent application of small quanti-

pared by boiling the nuts in water, and  evaporating the decoction. There are two
varieties ; one of a black colour, very astringent, mixed with paddy husks and other
impurities, 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 coury. {Heyne,  Tracts, Arc, on India.)  They are prepared in Mysore, and Ainslie
states that both varieties are sold in the bazars of Lower India, and used for the same
purpose 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 extract 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-
coloured,  like that of hepatic  aloes ; in  other  respects it resembles Pegu catechu.
Another is the black mucilaginous catechu of Guibourt, in parallelopipeds an inch and a
half in length, by an inch in breadth.   Internally it is black and shining, and its taste
is mucilaginous and feebly astringent.  A third is the dull 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 it is not now in the
market.  Lastly, there is a pale or whitish catechu, in small roundish or oval lumps,
with an  irregular surface, dark or blackish-brown  externally, very pale  and dull in-
ternally, and  of a bitter, astringent, and sweetish taste, with  a smoky flavour.   It is
unknown in commerce.
       14 
210
Catechu.-— Centaurium.
part I.
ties of cold water.   Boiling water dissolves it 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, and are soluble also in ether.  For the
important reactions of catechu, see Acidum  Tannicum.'
   3Iedical  Properties and Uses.  Catechu  is gently tonic, and  powerfully
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 aromatics
and a small proportion of lime, and wrapped in the leaf  of the Piper  Betel.
Catechu may be advantageously used in most cases where astringents are indi-
cated, and, though less employed in this country than kino, is"not inferior to it
in virtues.   The complaints to which it is best adapted are diarrhoea dependent
on debility or relaxation of the intestinal exhalants, 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 4he
irritation of the fauces and troublesome  cough which depend upon it.   Ap-
plied to spongy gums,  in the  state of powder, it  sometimes proves useful; and
it has been recommended as a dentifrice in combination with powdered char-
coal, 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, in
the form of an ointment.  An infusion of catechu may be  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. Electnarium Catechu; Infusum Catechu  Compositum;  Pulvis
Catechu Compositus;  Tinctura Catechu.                     .         W.


                       CENTAURIUM.  Ed.

                    Common European  Centaury.

  The flowering heads of  Erythrasa Centaurium.  Ed.
  Petite centaure, Fr. ; Tausengiildenkraut, Germ.; Centaurea minore, Ital.; Centaura
minor, Span.
  Erythrjea.  Sex. Si/st. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord,  Gentianaceas.
   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, p. 130. — Chironia 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 branch-
ing 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 steins,
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 pastures, towards
the close of summer, with its delicate flowers.
  The herb though without odour, has a strong bitter taste, which it imparts
to water and alcohol.   The flowering summits are the officinal part.  The name
ol centaurin has been proposed 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 
PART I.
Cera Alba.—Cera Flava.
211
 in the same natural family.   It is employed on the other side of the Atlantic in
 dyspeptic complaints, and formerly had considerable reputation in the treatment
 of fever.  It was one of the ingredients of the Portland powder.  In the United '
 States it has been superseded by the Sabbatia angularis, or American centaury.
 The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a drachm.  Another species
 of Erythrasa (E. Chilensis)  possesses similar properties, and is employed to a
 considerable extent in Chili as a mild tonic.  An elaborate account of it may
 be seen in the Journal de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e ser., xxv. 434.       W.


              CERA ALBA.   U.S.,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                              White Wax.

   Bleached yellow wax. U.S., Bond, Ed., Dub.
   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 con-
 cretion of Apis mellifica. Ed.   A secretion of  Apis mellifica. Dub.
   Off-Syn.  CERA.  Apis mellifica.  The prepared comb. 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 larvas'are de-
 posited.   It was  at one time doubted whether the insect elaborated the wax by
 its own organs, or merely gathered it from vegetables.   The  question was set
 at rest by Huber, who fed a swarm of bees exclusively on honey and water, and
 found that they formed a comb consisting of wax.  This, therefore, is a proper
 secretion of the insect.  It is produced 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.  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 melting 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 considerable 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 softened and ren-
dered tenacious by a moderate heat.  Its point of fusion is 142° F.; its specific 
212
Cera Alba.—Cera Flava.
PART I.
 gravity from 0-960 to 0-965.   The colour, odour, and taste of yellow wax de-
 pend upon some associated principle or principles.
   Various adulterations have been practised, most of which may be readily de-
 tected.  Meal, earth,  and  other insoluble  substances  are at the same time dis-
 covered and separated by melting and straining the wax.   When the fracture
 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 con-
 cretes, 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 par-
 tially 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 some-
 times contains one  or  more free fatty acids, consequent probably upon the em-
 ployment of alkalies in bleaching it, which render it an unfit ingredient in the
 unctuous  preparations of certain salts.  Of these acids it may be deprived by
 means of alcohol.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., 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 ductile
 at 95° F., and fusible at about 155°, retaining its fluidity  at a lower tempera-
 ture.   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 volatile  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 or-
 dinary temperatures, but is converted into a black mass when boiled with con-
 centrated  sulphuric acid.    Its ultimate  constituents are carbon  hydrogen  and
 oxygen   Dr. John found  it to consist  of two distinct 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°, dis-

  * The following process for purifying wax by steam has  been patented  by M. Cass-
 grand, in France  and is said to have been employed advantageously.  Wax melted
 by steam is passed along with the steam through a coiled tube or worm, is received
 into a double  bottom heated  by steam, where it is washed by water, and is then raised
 by a pump into another pan, also heated by steam, where it is again washed with
 7« Zi S . WWW °Pfi   °n 1StreP.eat?d three or four times ; the w§aX blfng allowed
 L last one an 1 or Z f™ TM^ 7 ^ UPP6r paU after each operation, and, after
 the last one, an hour or two for the subsidence of impurities  The w-ix is then eranu-
 SthTandTir ^wC' "^^ ** ^ ^ ^e'e da/s, and' h"n"^ ed
 Phafm   Sxvi  52?£om dJT* " ^  eted in a few day*. (See Am. Join, of
eddion.'                            0/ Indnstnal  Progress.)-Note to the eleventh 
PART I.
Cera Alba.—Cera Flava.
213
 solves in 16 parts of boiling alcohol, and is saponifiable with potassa, yielding
 margaric acid, a little oleic acid, and a fatty matter insusceptible of saponifica-
 tion called cerain; the latter melts at 149°, is dissolved by 200 parts of boiling
 alcohol, and is not saponifiable by potassa.  M. Lewy inferred from his experi-
 ments that cerin and myricin are isomeric with each other and with wax; that
 by a boiling  solution of potassa wax is wholly saponified, without the forma-
 tion of glycerin;  that both wax and cerin are converted into  stearic  acid by
 saponification;  and that this, by a further  oxidation, is changed into margaric
 acid. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., iii.  315.)  Messrs. Warrington and Francis,
 however, have found that the substance supposed to be  stearic acid, though
 similar 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.
 (Philosoph. Mag., Jan., 1844, p.  20.)*
   White wax has been adulterated with white lead, tallow, suet, spermaceti, stea-
 rin, stearic acid, and starch.   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 the detection of stearin and stearic acid,
 M.  Lebel  dissolves the suspected wax in two parts of  oil, beats the cerate thus
 formed with its weight of pure water, and then adds a few drops of solution  of
 subacetate of lead.  If stearin be present, there is an immediate decomposition,
 and the mixture acquires  an extraordinary solidity from  the  formation  of
 stearate of lead.  (Journ, de Pharm. etdeGhim., xv. 302.)  Yogel proposes
 chloroform as a means of detecting the adulteration with fatty  matters. That

   * New views have  been put forth as to the constitution of wax, in communications
 from B. Collins Brodie to the  Royal Society of London.  Cerin, when  quite pure, he
 considers as a peculiar acid, having the constitution C34H5404, which he names cerotic
 acid.  This he procures by precipitating  a boiling alcoholic solution of cerin by means
 of an alcoholic solution of acetate of lead, treating the precipitated cerotate of lead by
 hot alcohol and ether until everything soluble  is removed, then decomposing it with
 concentrated acetic acid, washing the separated cerotic acid with boiling water, and
 still further purifying it by solution in boiling absolute alcohol and refrigeration.  The
 acid is deposited pure.   It melts at 172° F., and on cooling concretes into a crystal-
 line mass.   When distilled alone, the greater portion of it passes unchanged ; where-
 as, if mixed with the other constituents of wax, it is wholly decomposed ;  and it is,
 consequently, not found in the results of the distillation of wax itself.  It is a singular
 fact that cerotic acid was not found in some beeswax brought from Ceylon, showing that
 wax varies much according to the circumstances under which it is produced.  Myricin,
 when entirely separated from the cerotic acid, is saponifiable, but with difficulty;  and
 from the results of saponification palmitic acid  (C32H3204) was isolated, and a peculiar
 body, called by Mr. Brodie melissine, having the  composition (C60H62O4), and considered
 by him as a wax-alcohol, convertible by the loss of two eqs. of hydrogen and the gain of
 two of oxygen, into melissic acid, as alcohol is converted into acetic acid.  (See Acetum.)
   In the examination of a variety of wax from China, Mr. Brodie found a substance
 called by him cerotine (CS4H560jj), which he regards as the alcohol of cerotic acid, into
 which it was convertible by loss of hydrogen and gain of oxygen as above; that is by
 oxidation, two eqs. of the hydrogen being converted into water.
   According to these views, the varieties of wax are composed of substances having
 to each other similar relations to those which characterize alcohol and acetic acid re-
 sulting from fermentation.  {Chem. Gaz., vi. 225, and vii. 46.)
   The China wax, above referred to, called pe-la by the Chinese, resembles spermaceti
 in whiteness and crystalline appearance, but is  distinguished by greater hardness and
 friability, and a somewhat fibrous fracture.  It melts at about 181° F., is very slightly
 soluble in alcohol or ether, is insoluble in cold oil of turpentine and rectified petroleum,
 but is dissolved by these fluids with the  aid of heat.   These solubilities distinguish
 it from spermaceti.  {Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiv. 9.) It was formerly supposed to
 be of vegetable origin ; but has been ascertained to be the product of an insect belong-
 ing to the genus Coccus, which fixes itself to the branches of a certain tree, and, in-
 vesting them closely, becomes  imbedded in a waxy material, which is scraped off
with the insects, and constitutes the crude wax- It is purified by melting and strain-
ing.  (Hanbury, Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii. 476.) 
214
Cera Alba.—Cera.Flava.
PART I.
liquid dissolves only 25 per cent, of wax, but stearin and stearic acid completely.
If therefore wax, treated with 6 or 8 parts of chloroform, loses more  than
one-quarter of its weight, it may be considered as impure. (Ibid, xvn. 374)
Overbeck detects stearic acid by the abundant effervescence produced, from the
escape of carbonic acid, when a small portion*of the suspected wax is; boiledin
a solution, composed of one part of carbonate of soda and fifty of distilled
water  (Pharm. Journ.  and Trans., xi.  128.)   Starch remains  behind when
the wax is  dissolved in oil of turpentine, 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, 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  men-
tioned by Dioscorides as a remedy in the  latter com'plaint.   By Poerner it is
highly recommended in excoriations  of the bowels, attended with pain and ob-
stinate 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 the soap would be the most energetic ingredient.
Wax is also used to fill cavities in carious teeth.   Its chief  employment^ how-
ever, is in the formation of ointments, cerates, and plasters.  It is an ingre-
dient  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 numerous plants; and forms the bloom or glaucous powder which
 covers certain fruits, and the  coating  of  varnish with which leaves  are some-
 times supplied.  In some plants it is so abundant as to be profitably extracted
 for use.   Such is the Ceroxylon Andicola, a lofty palm growing 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 manufacture of tapers.
 It contains, according to Vauquelin, two-thirds  of a  resinous  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 ser., v. 154.)   But the form  of vegetable  wax best
 known in  this  country is that derived from 3Iyrica cerifera, and commonly
 called myrtle wax.  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
 Louisiana.  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 medical
 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 process
 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  strained, 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, North Carolina, and Xew England, and particu-
 larly in Rhode Island.
    Myrtle wax  is  of a pale grayish-green colour, somewhat diaphanous, more
 brittle and unctuous to the touch than beeswax, of a feeble odour, and a slightly 
parti.    Cera Alba.—Cera Flava.— Cerevisise Fermentum.        215

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 exception
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.   It is said to consist, like beeswax, of cerin and myricin,
containing 87 parts of the former and 13 of the latter in the 100.   The green
colour and bitterness depend upon a distinct principle, which may be separated
by boiling the wax with ether.  On cooling,  the wax is deposited colourless,
while the ether remains green.
  3Iedical Properties  and Uses.   This variety of wax has been popularly em-
ployed 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,  Scien.,  ii.  313.)  It is occasionally  substituted by
apothecaries for beeswax in the formation of plasters, and is used in the pre-
paration  of tapers and candles.   It is  somewhat fragrant when burning, but
emits a less brilliant light than common lamp oil.                      W.

           CEREVISISE  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 during the process of fermentation.   A similar substance is pro-
duced during the fermentation of other saccharine liquids.          ?
  It is fiocculent, frothy, somewhat  viscid,  semi-fluid, of a dirty yellowish
colour,  a sour vinous odour, and a bitter taste.  At the temperature of 60° or
10°, 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 sacks, washing it with water, then submitting it to pres-
sure, and ultimately drying it.*
  Yeast is insoluble in alcohol or water.  It was analyzed by Westrumb, and
found  to  contain  in 15,142  parts,  13 of potassa, 15 of carbonic acid, 10  of

  * M. C. Gutkind,  of Paris, recommends the following process for preparing bakers'
yeast.  Barley, having been slightly malted, is dried in a rapid current of heated air,
then reduced to fine  flour without bolting, and placed in a vat, where  it is made  into
dough with water of 104° F., and afterwards brought with water at the same tempera-
ture to the  consistence of porridge.  For each pound of flour about a pint and a half
of water is  required  (100 kilogrammes and 2 hectolitres).  The  porridge is heated in
a boiler to 178° F., beyond which degree the temperature is not to be raised, and in-
troduced into canvas  bags, in which it is submitted to expression.   The expressed
liquid is put into large vats where it cools.  The solid matter is again put into a vat,
mixed with 2 pints of water at 114° F. for each pound, and stirred into a porridge,
which is then heated to 201° F., and kept so for an hour.   The  mass  is put into bags
and expressed;  and the  two  expressed liquids  are mixed, and  exposed to the air in
large vats for a period of time varying from two to ten days according to the atmo-
spheric temperature. To cause the liquid to ferment, it is heated to 90° F., and  a little
fresh yeast  added.  During the whole period  of fermentation, which may be conducted
in vats or vessels, an exterior temperature of at least 59° F. must be maintained.  The
yeast thus obtained  is free from bitterness or acidity,  is  extremely white, and conse-
quently does not require  washing, and is superior in raising power to all others.  The
residuary liquid after fermentation  may be used for making vinegar.  {Lond. Pharm.
Journ. and Trans., xiv. 331.)—Note to the eleventh  edition. 
216               Cerevisise Fermentum.— Cetaceum.            parti.
 acetic acid,  45 of malic acid, 69 of lime,  240 of alcohol, 120 of extractive, 240
 of mucilage, 315 of saccharine matter, 480 of gluten,  13,595 of water, besides
 traces of silica and phosphoric acid.  Its bitterness is attributable to a principle
 derived from  the hops.   The property for which it is  chiefly valued is that  of
 exciting the vinous fermentation in  saccharine liquids, and in various farina-
 ceous substances.   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 temperature
 it is  decomposed, affording products similar to  those which result from the
 decomposition of animal matters.
  Examined with a microscope, yeast is  seen to abound in minute transparent
 vesicles, which appear to contain one  or more granules.   These  are now be-
 lieved to be a fungous plant, which has the power of propagating itself at the
 expense of  organic proximate principles with  which it may be brought  into
 contact; and attempts have been made to solve the mysteries of fermentation
 by the conjecture, that  the sugar or other fermenting  substance, while contri-
 buting to the nourishment of the fungus, 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 move-
 ment of decomposition going on in the ferment.  Mulder considers the cell-wall
 of the yeast plant to consist of a substance analogous to cellulose, and its  con-
 tents to be 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 low fevers of a typhoid character, and is said  to have  been given with ad-
 vantage in hectic.   It is, however, little employed ; as its somewhat tonic and
 stimulating effects, ascribable 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 Philadel-
 phia, informed the authors that,  in a case of typhoid fever, attended with great
 irritability of  the stomach, the patient was benefited and sustained by taking
 a pint of  yeast daily for five  days, during which period no other remedy  was
 employed.   We have used it with apparent advantage in diabetes.  (See Trans.
 of Col.  ofPhys. of Phil/Hi. S., i. 390.)   It has also been recommended inter-
 nally in boils.  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 stimulus to the debilitated tissue.   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.                                   w.


              CETACEUM. U.S., Land., Ed., Dab.

                              Spermaceti.

  A peculiar concrete substance obtained from Physeter macrocephalus. U. 5,
Dub.   A  concrete substance prepared from the  oily matter of the head.  Lond.
The cetme nearly pure.  Ed, 
PART I.
Cetaceum.
217
   Blanc de baleine, Spermaceti, Cetine, Fr.; Wallrath,  Germ.; Spermaceti, Ital.; Es-
perma de bellena, Span.
   The spermaceti whale is from sixty to eighty feet long, with an  enormous
head, not less in its largest part than thirty feet in circumference, and consti-
tuting one-third of the whole length of the body.  The upper part of the head
is occupied by large cavities, separated by cartilaginous partitions, and contain-
ing an oily liquid, which, after the death of the animal, concretes into a white
spongy mass, consisting  of spermaceti mixed with oil.   This mass is  removed,
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 contains much oily matter and other impurities, from
which it is freed by expression, washing with hot water, melting, straining, and
lastly by repeated washing with a weak boiling ley of potash.  Common whale
oil and the oil of other cetaceous  animals contain small  quantities of sperma-
ceti, which they slowly deposit on  standing.
   Spermaceti is in white, pearly, semitransparent masses, of a crystalline folia-
ceous texture; friable, soft, and somewhat unctuous to the touch; slightly odor-
ous;  insipid;  of the  sp. gr. 0'943; fusible at 112° F. (Bostock); volatilizable
at a higher temperature  without change in vacuo, but partially decomposed if
the air is admitted; inflammable;  insoluble in water; soluble in small propor-
tion iu 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; rendered yellowish  and
rancid by long exposure  to hot air, but capable of being again purified by wash-
ing with a warm ley  of potash.   As found in the shops it is not chemically
pure,  containing a fixed  oil,  and  often a peculiar colouring principle.  From
these  it is separated by boiling  in alcohol, which on cooling deposits it in crys-
talline scales.   Thus  purified, it does not melt under 120° F., is soluble in 40
parts  of  boiling alcohol  of the sp. gr. 0-821  (Thenard), and is harder, more
shining, and less unctuous than ordinary spermaceti.  The name of  cetin was
proposed for pure spermaceti by Chevreul.  Its ultimate constituents are carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen.  By the  agency of the alkalies, it is  with  difficulty
saponified, yielding an acid, called  by MM.  Dumas and Stass ethalic  acid, and
a peculiar principle named ethal by Chevreul.   From a more recent  analysis,
however, by Dr. Heintz,  it would appear that  the ethalic acid of Dumas  and
Stass  is a complex substance, consisting of not less than  five distinct acids,
viz. the margaric, palmitic, cetic, myristic, and cocinic, and that consequently
pure spermaceti is a mixture  of the salts which these acids form with ethal.
(See Chem.  Gaz., x. 321.)  Ethal is now considered  as bearing  to a hypo-
thetical carbo-hydrogen called  cetyle (C3aH3S) the  same  relation that alcohol
bears to ethyl;  that is, to be a hydrated  oxide of cetyle, and in accordance with
this view is denominated  cetylic alcohol (C33H330,H0).
   Medical Properties and Uses. Like the fixed oils, spermaceti has been given
as a demulcent in irritations of the  pulmonary and intestinal mucous mem-
branes ; but it possesses no peculiar virtues, and its internal use has been gene-
rally 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.   A convenient mode of forming an emulsion with sperma-
ceti, is to mix it first with half its weight of olive oil, then with  powdered gum
Arabic, and lastly with water gradually added.  Externally it is much  employed
as an  ingredient of ointments and  cerates.
   Off. Prep.  Ceratum Cetacei; Ungiientum  Aquas Rosas; Unguentum Can-
tharidis;  Unguentum Cetacei.                                        W. 
218                            Cetraria.                         part I.
                  CETRARIA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.

                             Iceland Moss.

   Cetraria Islandica, U S., Bond., Ed,
   Off. Syn.  LICHEN ISLANDICUS.  Cetraria Islandica,  Dub.
   Lichen d'lsiande, Fr.; Islandisches Moos, Germ.; Lichene Islandico, Ital; Liquen
 Islandico, Span.
   Cetraria.  Sex. Syst, Cryptogamia Lichenes. — Nat. Orel.  Lichcnaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Plant  cartilagino-membranous, ascending or  spreading, lobed,
 smooth, and naked on both sides.   Apothecia shield-like, obliquely adnate with
 the margin, the disk coloured, plano-concave; border inflexed, derived from the
 frond. Loudon's Encyc.
   The genus Lichen of Linnasus 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.  Acharius, Lichenog. Univ. 512. — Lichen Islandicus.
 Woodv.  Med. 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, channelled, and 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 dif-
 ferent parts, with less of the green tint than in the recent state.  It is inodor-
 ous,  and has a mucilaginous, bitter taste.  Macerated in water, it absorbs
 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 decoction
 thickens upon cooling, and acquires a gelatinous consistence, resembling  that
 of starch in appearance, but without  its viscidity.  After  some time the dis-
 solved matter separates, and when dried forms semitransparent masses, insolu-
 ble in cold water, alcohol, or ether, but soluble in boiling water, and in solution
 forming a blue compound with iodine.  This principle resembles 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 chlorophylle,  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 excess being 1-6 parts.
  The name of cetrarin has been conferred on the bitter principle.   The fol-
 lowing process  for obtaining it is that of  Dr. Herberger.   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
 dilute 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 possi- 
PART I.
Cetraria.
219
ble, 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, leav-
ing the other organic principles  by which it has been hitherto accompanied.
The greater part is deposited as the liquor cools,  and the remainder may be ob-
tained by evaporation.  By this process one pound of moss yielded to Dr. Her-
berger 133 grains of cetrarin.   This principle is white, not crystalline, light,
unalterable in the air, inodorous, and exceedingly bitter, especially 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 precipi-
tated by the acids, and rendered much more  soluble by the  alkalies.   Concen-
trated 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 intermittent fever.  (Journ, de
Pharm,, xxiii. 505.)  Drs. Schnedermann  and Knopp have ascertained  that
the cetrarin above referred to consists of three distinct  substances;  1.  cetraric
acid, which is the true bitter principle, is crystallizable, and intensely bitter;  2.
a substance  resembling the fatty acids, called lichstearic acid; and 3. a green
colouring substance, which they name thallochlor.   These principles are ob-
tained perfectly pure with great difficulty. (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 pow-
dered and made into bread, or boiled with milk, having first partially freed it
from the bitter principle by repeated maceration in water.  The bitterness  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.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.    Iceland moss  is demulcent, nutritious, and
tonic, and well calculated for affections of the mucous  membrane of the lungs
and bowels,  with debility of the digestive organs, or of the system generally.
Hence it has been found useful in chronic catarrhs, and other  chronic pulmo-
nary affections attended with copious puruloid expectoration, in dyspepsia, in
chronic dysentery and diarrhoea, and in the debility succeeding acute disease, or
dependent on copious purulent discharge from external  ulcers.  At one time it
possessed much reputation as a remedy in pulmonary consumption.   It  had
long  been employed in  this disease, and  in hasmoptysis, by the Danish  physi-
cians, before it became generally known.   In the latter half of the last century
it came into extensive use, and numerous cures supposed to have been effected
by it are on record.   But now that the  pathology of  phthisis is better under-
stood, physicians have ceased to expect material advantage from it  in that dis-
ease ; and there is reason to believe that the cases which have recovered under its
use,  were simply chronic bronchitis.  It acts only as a  mild, nutritious, demul-
cent tonic ; and can exercise 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 ma-
ceration in water or a weak alkaline  solution, before preparing the decoction;
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  sub-
stances 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 
220
Chenopodium.
PART I.
which the ground moss was incorporated with chocolate, and used at the morn-
iilg and evening meal as an ordinary beverage.
  Off. Prep. Decoctum Cetrarias.                                      W.

                      CHENOPODIUM.  U.S.

                               Wormseed.

  The fruit of Chenopodium anthelminticum. U S.
  Chenopodium. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. — Nat. Ord. Chenopodiaceas.
  Gen, Gh.  Calyx  five-leaved, four-cornered.  Corolla none.   Seed one, len-
ticular, superior.  Willd:
  Chenopodium anthelminticum.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1304; Barton, 3Ied. 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 numer-
ous, small, of the same colour with the leaves, and arranged in long, leafless,
terminal  panicles, composed of slender, dense, glomerate, alternating  spikes.
  This species of Chenopodium, known commonly by the  names of ivormseed
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 open grounds
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, offen-
sive, 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 brown-
ish  colour,  a bitterish, somewhat aromatic, pungent  taste, and  possessed  in
a high degree of the peculiar smell of the  plant.  These grains,  when de-
prived, 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 de-
pend,  and which is obtained  by distillation.  (See Oleum Chenopodii.)  The
same oil  impregnates to a greater or less extent the whole plant.
  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 the round  worms  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 successively, 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

  * C. anthelminticum is cultivated to a considerable extent in Maryland, twenty or
thirty miles north of  Baltimore.  The seeds are sown in small beds of rich mould early
in spring, and during the month of June the young plants are pulled up, and set out
in ridges three feet apart, with intervals of from six to ten inches.  The plants do not
require to be renewed oftener than once in four or five years.   Trie crop of the second
year is more productive than the first.  The plant is fit for dist  llation during the first
half of September.   The distillation  is carried on in the same neighbourhood. The
whole herbaceous part of the plant is used.  It is said to yield from 1-5 to 2 per cent.
of the  oil, and the produce of an acre will yield 20 pounds. (See  Am. Journ.  of Pharm.,
xxii. 304.)                                                         J 
part I.              Chenopodium.— Chimaphila.                  221

scruples.  The volatile oil is more frequently given than the fruit in substance;
though its offensive odour and taste sometimes render it of difficult administra-
tion.   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  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.
   The fruit of Chenopodium ambrosioides, which is also an indigenous plant,
and very prevalent in the Middle States,  is said to be used indiscriminately with
that of 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,  after having resisted the ordinary
means, yielded 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.
   C. Botrys, known by the vulgar  name  of  Jerusalem oak, is another indi-
genous species, possessing anthelmintic virtues. It is said to have been used in
France with advantage  in catarrh and humoral asthma.
   Off. Prep.  Oleum Chenopodii.                                    W.

                   CHIMAPHILA.   U.S., Lond.

                              Pipsissewa.

   The leaves of Chimaphila  umbellate. U S.  The herb. Lond.
   Of. Syn.  PYROLA.  Herb of Chimaphila umbellate.  Ed, Dub.
   Chimaphila.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat.Ord. Pyrolaceas.
   Gen. Gh.  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 sum-
mits, margins unconnected. Nuttall.
   This genus was  separated from Pyrola by Pursh.   It embraces two species,
C. umbellata and  C. maculata, which are both indigenous, and known by the
common  title of winter green.  The generic title is formed of two Greek words,
%sipa winter, and ^ao? a friend.  C.  umbellata only is officinal.
   Chimaphila umbellata. Barton, Med. Bot. i.  17;  Carson, Illust. of Med.
Bot. i. 62, pi. 53..—Pyrola umbellata. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 622; Bigelow, Ajn.
Med. Bot. ii. 15.   The pipsissewa is a small evergreen plant,  with a perennial,
creeping, yellowish root (rhizoma), which  gives  rise to several simple, erect
or semi-procumbent stems, from four to  eight inches in height, and ligneous
at their base.  The leaves are wedge-shaped, somewhat lanceolate, serrate,  co-
riaceous, 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 nume- 
ooo
Chimaphila.
PART I.
rous, linear, chaffy, and enclosed in a roundish, depressed, five-celled, five-
valved capsule, 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,
extending even to the Pacific Ocean.   It grows under the shade of woods, and
prefers  a loose sandy soil, enriched by decaying leaves.  The flowers appear in
June and July.  All parts of the plant are endowed with active properties.
The leaves and stems are kept in the shops.
   C. maculata, or spotted winter green,  probably possesses similar virtues.
The character of the leaves of the two plants will serve to distinguish them.
Those of C. maculata are lanceolate, rounded at the base,  where  they are
broader  than near the summit, and  of a  deep olive-green, veined with green-
ish-white ; those of the officinal species are broadest near the summit, gradually
narrowing to the base, and of a uniform shining green.
   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.   Boiling
water extracts  the active properties of the plant, which are also imparted to
alcohol.   The constituents, so far  as known, are bitter extractive, tannin, resin,
gum, lignin, and saline  matters.  The active  principle has not been isolated,
though probably contained in the substance called bitter extractive.
   3ledical 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 treatise
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 volume  of the London Medico-Chi-
rurgical 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 pro-
perties  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 produces an increased flow
of urine, it  has  seldom effected cures.  Other disorders, 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 ad-
vantageous  in  obstinate ill-conditioned  ulcers and cutaneous eruptions, sup-
posed to be  connected with the 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.  Prof. 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 perco-
lation 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  Chimaphilas.                                   \y 
PART I.
Chiretta.— Chondrus.
223
                      CHIRETTA.  Ed., Dub.

                                Chiretta.

   Herb and root of Agathotes Chirayta,  Ed.   The herb.  Dub.
   Agathotes. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord.  Gentianaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla withering, rotate, in asstivation 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 spongy
placentas upon the sutures. Seeds indefinite, minute.  (Lindley.)
   Agathotes Chirayta. Don, Lond. Philos. Mag. 1836, p. 16.—Gentiana Chi-
rayta. Fleming, Asiat. Besearch. xi. 161—Ophelia  Chirata. Grisebach.  The
chirayta or chiretta is an annual plant, about three feet high, with a branching
root,  and an erect, smooth, round stem, branching into an elegant leafy panicle,
and furnished with opposite, embracing, lanceolate, very acute, entire, smooth,
three or five-nerved leaves.   The flowers are numerous, pecluncled, yellow, with
a four-cleft calyx having linear acute divisions, the limb of  the corolla spread-
ing and four parted, four stamens, a single style, and a two-lobed stigma.  The
capsules are shorter  than the permanent  calyx and corolla.   The plant is a
native of Nepaul, and other parts of northern India.   The whole of it is offi-
cinal.  It is gathered when the flowers begin to decay.
   The dried plant is imported into Europe in bundles, consisting mainly of the
stems, with portions of the root attached.  The stems are  as above described,
and contain a yellowish pith.   All parts of the plant have a very bitter taste,
which is strongest in the root.   It is without  odour.  It imparts its virtues to
water and alcohol; and they are retained in  the extract.   According to Las-
saigne 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 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 family of Gentianaceas.  (See  Gentiana.)   Like these, in  over-
doses it nauseates and oppresses the stomach.   Some have supposed that, in
addition to its tonic properties, it exerts a peculiar influence over the liver, pro-
moting 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.  It has been  used in dyspepsia, in the debility of
convalescence, and generally in cases in which corroborant  measures are  indi-
cated.  In India it has been successfully employed in intermittents and remit-
tents, combined with the seeds of  Guilandina Bonduc.  It may be given in
powder, infusion, tincture, or extract.   The dose in substance is twenty grains.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Chirettes; Tinctura Chirettas.                   W.

                        CHONDRUS. U.S.

                              Irish Moss.
   Chondrus crispus. U. S.
   Chondrus. Sex. Syst.  Cryptogamia Algas. — Nat. Ord. Algaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Frond cartilaginous, dilating upwards into a flat, nerveless, dicho-
tomously divided expansion, of a purplish or livid-red colour.   Fructification, 
224                    Chondrus.—Cimicifuga.                 part i.

subspherical capsules in the substance of the frond, rarely supported on little
stalks  and containine a mass of minute free seeds. Greville.
   Chondrus crispus^ Greville, Alg. Brit. 129, t. \b. — Sphserococcuscnspus.
Avardh.—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-shaped
segments, and more  or less curled up so as to diminish the  apparent length.
The capsules are somewhat hemispherical, and are embedded 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 Ireland, 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 fresh state it  is of a purplish
colour, but, as found in the shops, is yellowish or yellowish-white, with occasion-
ally purplish portions.  It is translucent, of a feeble odour, and nearly tasteless.
It swells in cold water, but does not dissolve.   Boiling water dissolves a large
proportion  of  it, and  the  solution, if sufficiently  concentrated, gelatinizes  on
cooling.   According to Feuchtwanger, it contains  starch and pectin, with com-
pounds of sulphur, chlorine, and bromine, and some oxalate of lime.  Herberger
found  79-1 per cent, of pectin, 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 elements, 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., Be ser., iii. 113.)  The pectin Pereira thinks peculiar, and proposes
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 acetate 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 cases in which the fari-
naceous preparations, such as tapioca, sago, barley, &c,  are usually employed.
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 con-
tact of foreign substances is thus removed.                             W.


                        CIMICIFUGA.  U.S.

                           Black Snakeroot.

   The root of Cimicifuga racemosa. U. S
   Cimicifuga. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Di-Pentagynia. — Nat.  Ord.  Ranuncu-
laceas.
    Gen. Ch.  Calyx four or five-leaved. Petals four to eight, deformed, thickish,
 sometimes wanting.  Capsules  one to five, oblong, many-seeded.  Seeds squa-
mosa Nuttall.
    Cimicifuga racemosa. Torrey, Flor. 219; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i.  9,
pi, 3.— C. Serpentaria. Pursh, Flor. Am. Sept., p. 312.—Actsea  racemosa. 
PART I.
Cimicifuga.
225
 Willd. Sp. Plant, ii.  1139. — 3Iacrotys racemosa.  Eaton's Manual, p. 2S*S.
 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,  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 or 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 contorted
 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 rendered 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 frequently attached to the root.
 The colour is externally dark brown, almost black, internally whitish; the odour,
 though _ not strong, is peculiar  and rather disagreeable, and is gradually lost
 by keeping; 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, tannic  and gallic acids, a black colouring matter, a greeii
 colouring matter, lignin, and salts of potassa, lime, magnesia, and iron. (Journ.
 of Phil. Col, of Pharm., vi. 20.)  It no doubt also contains, when fresh, a volatile
 principle, with which its virtues may be in some degree associated;  as we are con-
 fident that it is more  efficacious in the recent state, than when long kept.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The effects of cimicifuga in health have not
 been fully investigated.  It was at one time 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 character; but this influence, so
 far as our observation has gone, is shown more in morbid states of  that system
 than in health.   Dr.  Hildreth,  of Ohio, found it, in large  doses,  to produce
 vertigo, impaired vision, nausea and vomiting,  and a reduction of  the circula-
 tion ;  but from very large quantities he observed no alarming narcotic effects.
 Dr. N. S. Davis  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 as
 an antidote  to the bite of the  rattlesnake.  It was originally employed in
 domestic practice in rheumatism, dropsy, hysteria, and various affections  of the
 lungs, particularly those resembling  consumption.   The first published notice
 of its  use in phthisis was by Dr. Thomas J. Garden, of Charlotte, Virginia.
 (Am. Med. Becorder, October, 1823.)* Several cases of chorea were  recorded by
 Dr. Jesse Young, in which it effected cures; and the editor of the Am. Journ.
 oftJie  Med. Sci.  stated that he had been 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 that complaint in several instances. Dr. Young gave a teaspoonful of the
 powdered root three times a day.  (Am. Journ. of Med. Sciences, ix.  310.)  We

  * In a letter from Dr.  Garden to the authors, dated May 15th, 1850, that practitioner
 states that thirty years'  use of the medicine has fully realized the favourable anticipa-
tions produced by  the first trials.
       15 
226
Cimicifuga.—Cinchona.
PART I.
have administered the medicine in chorea with complete  success,  and have de-
rived the happiest effects from it in a case of  periodical convulsions connected
with uterine disorder.   Dr. Hildreth has found it, in combination with iodine,
very advantageous in the early stages of phthisis. (Ibid., N. S., iv.  281.) Dr.
F. X. Johnson has employed it with extraordinary success in acute rheumatism;
the disease generally yielding completely within eight or ten days.  ( Trans, of
Am, Med. Assoc, i.  352.)
   It may be given in substance, decoction, tincture, or extract,   The dose of
the powder is from a scruple to a drachm.  The decoction has been much used,
but is thought by some not to contain 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 decoc-
tion may be taken without inconvenience during  the day.   The  tincture may
be made in the proportion  of four ounces to  the pint of diluted 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.)  Dr. Brundige speaks, in the strongest terms, of
the efficacy of a  saturated  tincture of the dried  root, as an application about
the eye and to the outer surface of the eyelids in ophthalmia.  (Med. Exam., N.
 S., vii. 809; from the N Y. Med. Gaz.) A fluid extract and a dry extract have
been prepared by Professor Procter, of which the  dose is a fluidrachm of the
former, and from four to eight grains of the latter.*  The practitioners calling
themselves eclectics  use, under the name  of  cimicifugin,  an impure resin ob-
tained by precipitating a saturated tincture of the root with water.   It is given
in the dose of a grain or two.  The name, however, is inappropriate, as it should
be reserved for the pure active principle when discovered. (See N. J. Med, Re-
porter, viii. 241.)                                                     W.

                          CINCHONA.   U.S.

                             Peruvian Bark.

   The bark of different  species of  Cinchona from the western coast of South
 America.  U S.
                                 Varieties.

    CINCHONA FLAYA. U.S., Lond, Ed, Dub.  Yellow Bark.  The vari-
 ety of Peruvian Bark derived from Cinchona Calisaya, and called in commerce
  Calisaya bark.  U S.   The bark  of Cinchona  Calisaya.  Lond.  Bark of an
 unascertained species of Cinchona.  Ed., Dub,

   * The following is the process for the fluid extract.   Sixteen ounces of the recently
 dried root, in powder, are put into a percolator for volatile liquids, and a mixture of a
 pint of  alcohol and  half a  pint of ether is gradually added.  After the liquid has
 ceased to pass, diluted alcohol is  poured in until the filtered liquid equals a p;nt and
  a half, which is set  aside in a warm place, and allowed to evaporate spontaneously
  until reduced to  half a pint.  The percolation is continued with diluted alcohol until
  two pints of tincture are obtained, which is evaporated in a water bath to half a pint,
  and then very gradually added to the former liquid  so as to avoid precipitation. After
  a few hours, the  mixed liquid is  filtered, and brought to the measure of  a pint, if ne-
  cessary, by the addition of alcohol.  The dry extract is obtained by preparing the two
  concentrated tinctures as above, and continuing the evaporation separately till they
  have the consistence of syrup, when they are to be mixed, and carefully evaporated
  to dryness by means of a water-bath. {Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 107.)—Note to
  the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
227
  CINCHONA PALLID A. U.S., Bond.  Pale Bark.  The variety of Peru-
vian Bark derived from Cinchona  Condaminea  and Cinchona micrantha, and
called in commerce Bo.ra and Lima bark. U S.  Bark of Cinchona Condaminea.
Lond,   CINCHONA CORONiE.  Crown Bark.  Bark of Cinchona Conda-
minea.  CINCHONA C1NEREA. Gray Bark.  Silver Bark.  Bark of Cin-
chona  micrantha.  Ed,   CINCHONA CONDAMINEA.   Crown or Boxa
Bark.   CINCHONA MICRANTHA. Gray or Huanuco Bark. Dub.
  CINCHONA  RUBRA.  U. S., Bond, Ed, Dub.  Bed Bark.   The variety
of Peruvian Bark  called  in commerce red bark. U.S.  The bark of an unde-
termined species  of Cinchona. Lond., Ed., Dub.
  Quinquina, Fr.; China, Peruvianische  Rinde, Germ.; China, Ital; Quina, Span.

                          Botanical History.

   Though  the Peruvian bark was introduced into  Europe so early as 1640, it
was not till the year 1131 that the plant producing it was known to naturalists.
In  that year, La Condamine, on a journey to  Lima, through the province  of
Loxa, had an opportunity of examining  the tree, of which,  upon his return,
he  published a  description in the Memoirs  of the  French Academy.   Soon
afterwards Linnasus gave it the name of Cinchona officinalis, in honour of the
Countess of Oinchon, who is said to have first taken the bark to Europe; but,
in his  description of the plant, he united the species discovered by La Conda-
mine with  C. pubescens, a specimen of which had been sent to him from Santa
Fe de  Bog-ota.   For a long time it was not known that more than one species
existed; and C.  officinalis continued, till  a comparatively recent period, to be
recognised by the  Pharmacopoeias as the only source of the Peruvian bark of
commerce.   But a vast number of plants belonging- to the Linnasan genus Cin-
chona  were in the course of time  discovered;  and the list became at length so
unwieldy and heterogeneous, that botanists were  Compelled to distribute the
species into several  groups, each constituting  a distinct genus, and all asso-
ciated in the natural family of Cinchonaceas. Among these genera, the Cinchona
is that which embraces the proper  Peruvian  bark trees, characterized by the
production of the alkaloids, quinia, cinch on ia,  &c, as well as by certain botanical
peculiarities, among.which the most distinctive is probably the dehiscence of
the capsule from the base towards the apex, or from below upward.   The new
genera Exostemma and Buena embrace species which have been, perhaps, most
frequently  referred to as Cinchonas -, but they are sufficiently characterised, the
former by the projection of the stamens beyond the corolla, a peculiarity which
has given name to the genus, the latter by the different shape of the corolla;,
the separation of the calyx from the fruit at  maturity, and the opening of the
capsule from above downward.   More recently Wedded has  separated'several
generally admitted species from Cinchona, and instituted  a  new genus, which
he proposes to name Caseurilla.   This  includes the former Cinchona magni-
folia of Ruiz and Pavon  (0.  oblonc/ifolia  of Mlitis), the C. stenocarpa of
Lambert, the C. acutifolia of Ruiz and Pavon, the C. oblongifolia of  Lam-
bert, the C. macrocarpa of A'ahl, and the C.  cava of Pavon, whoch differ from
the  true Cinchona in  having  the dehiscence of the capsules f?toin the apex
towards the base,  or from above  downward,  and the barks of which contain
neither of the alkaloids above referred to.  (Weddell, Hist, Nat. des Qteiaquinas,
p. 11.)  With this brief preliminary notice, we shall 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 11,39
explored the country about Loxa, and gathered specimens still existing, in tlu?. 
228
Cinchona.
PART I.
cabinets  of Europe;  3Iutis,  who  in 1112 discovered Cinchona  trees in New
Granada, and afterwards, aided  by his pupil Zea, made further  investigations
and discoveries in the same region; Buiz and Pavon, who  in  1111 began a
course of botanical inquiries in the central portions of Lower Peru, and dis-
covered several new species ; Humboldt and Bonpland, who visited several of
the Peruvian bark districts, and published  the results of their observations after
1792; Poppig, who travelled in Peru as late as 1832, and published an account
of his journey about the year 1835; and finally Weddell, whose recent researches
in Bolivia are so well known, and have been so productive of valuable informa-
tion in relation to the Calisaya bark.
   Cinchona. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Cinchonaceas.
   Gen. Ch.   Calyx with a turbinate tube, and a  persistent five-toothed limb.
Corolla with a round  tube, a five-parted limb, and oblong lobes valvate in
asstivation.   Stamens with short filaments inserted into the middle of the tube,
and linear anthers entirely enclosed.  Stigma  bifid, subclavate.  Capsule ovate
or oblong,  somewhat furrowed on each side, bilocular, crowned with the calyx,
septicidal-dehiscent, with the mericarps  loosened from the base towards the
apex, the introflexed  part disjoined.   Placentse elongated.  Seeds numerous,
erect, imbricated upward, compressed, winged, with a membranous margin, and
a fleshy albumen.—The plants composing this genus are trees or shrubs. The
leaves are opposite, 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.)
   The  genuine cinchona trees are  confined exclusively  to  South America.  In
that continent, however, they are widely diffused, extending from the 19th degree
of south latitude, considerably south of La Paz,  in Bolivia, to the mountains
of Santa Martha, or, according to Weddell, to the vicinity of Caracas,  on the
northern coast, in about the 10th degree of north latitude.   They follow, in this
distance, the circuitous course of the great mountain ranges, and for the most
part  occupy  the eastern  slope of the second  range of the Cordilleras.  Those
which yield the bark  of  commerce  grow at various elevations upon the Andes,
seldom less than 4000 feet above the sea; and require a temperature consider-
ably  lower than that  which usually prevails in tropical countries.*
   There has been much difficulty in properly arranging the species of Cinchona.
One source of the difficulty is the  varying shape of  the leaves of the same spe-
cies,  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 from 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 1821, after
admitting with Humboldt the identity of several varieties which had received
specific names from  other botanists, described  nineteen species.   De Candolle
enumerated  only sixteen.  Lindley admits twenty-one known species, and five
doubtful.  Weddell describes twenty-one species, including eight new ones of

   * There  can be little doubt that  the Cinchona might be successfully transplanted
into  other  mountainous regions within the tropics; and attempts have already been
 made to introduce one or  more of the species into the highlands of Algeria and Java.
 In the latter  region some of the plants imported from Peru have lived and are now
 flourishing;  but a long time must elapse before the question of the profitable cultiva-
 tion of Peruvian bark  in climates foreign to it can be determined. (See Am. Journ. of
 Pharm., xxviii. 325.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
229
his own, and  two doubtful,  and excluding several before admitted by other
writers, which he joins to his new genus Cascarilla.
   Until very recently, it was impossible to decide from which species of Cin-
chona the several varieties of bark were respectively derived.  The former re-
ferences of the yellow bark to C. cordifolia, of the pale to C. lancifolia, and
of the red to C. oblongifolia, have  been very properly abandoned in  all the
Pharmacopoeias.  It is now universally admitted that the officinal barks, known
in the market by these titles, are not the product of the species mentioned.   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 these alone.  All
those with smooth corollas belong to the genus Cascarilla of Weddell. Within
a few years much light has been thrown upon the botanical history of the dif-
ferent varieties of bark, and at present most of them can be traced to their
sources.   The following  species are acknowledged by the Pharmacopoeias  of
the United States and Great Britain.
   1.  Cinchona Calisaya.  Weddell, Hist. Nat des  Quinquinas, p. 30, t. 3.
This is a lofty tree, with a trunk often two feet or more in diameter, and  a sum-
mit usually rising above the other trees of the forest.   The leaves are petiolate,
oblong or lanceolate-obovate, from three to six inches long, and one or  two in
breadth, obtuse, acute  or slightly attenuated at the base, softish, above smooth,
of a velvety aspect, and obscurely green, beneath smooth and of a pale emerald
hue, with serobiculi at the axils of the veins, but scarcely visible on the upper
surface.   The stipules are about as long as the petioles, oblong, very obtuse, and
very smooth.   The flowers are in ovate or subcorymbose panicles.   The calyx
is pubescent, with a cup-shaped limb, and short triangular teeth; the corolla is
rose-coloured, with a cylindrical tube about four lines long, and a laciniate limb
fringed at the edges; the stamina are concealed in the tube, with anthers more
than twice as long as  the filaments.   The fruit  is an ovate capsule scarcely as
long as the flower,  enclosing elliptical  lanceolate  seeds, the margin of which is
irregularly toothed, with a fimbriated appearance.  The tree grows in the forests,
upon the declivities of the Andes, at the height of 6000 or  1000 feet above the
ocean, in Bolivia and the southernmost part of Peru.
   A variety of this species, described by Weddell under the  name of Josephi-
ana, is a mere shrub, not more than  twelve feet high, with a slender stem, erect
branches, and a  bark strongly adherent to the wood.   This variety is found in
some places covering extensive surfaces, destitute of forest trees.   Weddell sup-
poses that these tracts had once been covered with forests, which,  having been
destroyed by fires, have been succeeded by  this  stunted growth springing  up
from the roots, and prevented from  receiving its natural development  by the
want of  protection from other trees.'
   By the discovery of  this species the  long unsettled point of the botanical
source of Calisaya bark has been determined.   The immense consumption of
that bark, and the wasteful methods  pursued by the bark gatherers  have  caused
the rapid destruction  of the tree;  and  already  it has disappeared from  the
neighbourhood of inhabited places, except in the form of  a  shrub.   Weddell
was compelled to make long journeys on  foot through  the forests, by paths
scarcely opened, before  he could get a sight of the tree in its full vigour.
   2. Cinchona Condaminea.  Humb. andBonpl. Plant. Equin. i.  p. 33, t. 10;
Lindley,  Flor. 3Ied. 414; Carson,  Illust.  of 3fed. Bot i.  53, pi. 45.   This
tree, when full grown,  has a stem about eighteen  feet high and a foot in thick-
ness, with opposite branches, of  which  the lower are horizontal, and the  higher
rise at their extremities.  The bark of the trunk yields when wounded a bitter
astringent juice.  The leaves are of variable shape, but generally ovate-lanceo-
late, about four inches in length by less  than  two  in  breadth, smooth, and 
230
Cinchona.
PART I.
scrobiculate at the axils of the veins  beneath.   The flowers are in axillary,,
downy, corymbose panicles.   The tree grows  on the declivities of  the moun-
tains, at an elevation of from about a  mile to a mile and a half, and in a mean
temperature of 61° F.   It was seen by Humboldt and Bonpland in  the neigh-
bourhood 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.
Weddell considers as varieties of this  species, though with some hesitation, as
he has never  seen them alive, the following; 1.  Candollii (C. macrocatyx of
Pavon and De Candolle); 2. lucumsefolia (C. lucunvrfolia of Pavon and Lind-
ley);  3. lancifolia (C. land folia of Mutis), hereafter referred to as a distinct
species; and 4. Pitayensis, growing in New Granada:
  3. C. micrantha. Ruiz  and Pavon,  Fl. Peruv. ii.  52, t. 194;  Lindley, Flor.
Med. 412;  Carson, Illust.  of Med. Bot, i. 52, pi. 44.   This is a large tree, forty
feet high, 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.  (Lindley.)   The tree grows, according to Ruiz and Pavon, in the
mountains near Chicoplaya, Monzon, and Puebla de  San Antonio, according to
Poppig, at Cuchero, and,  according  to Weddell, in the Peruvian province of
Carabaya, and in  Bolivia.  Ruiz states that its bark is always mixed with that
sent into the market from the provinces of Panatahuas, Huainilies, and Huanuco.
The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges ascribe to it the  cinchona cinerea, the gray
or silver bark of British commerce; and the U. S. Pharmacopoeia recognises it
as one of the sources of pale bark, as it undoubtedly is.
  Besides the foregoing species, several others deserve a brief notice, either as
contributing to furnish the bark of commerce,  or on account of the attention
they have received from pharmacologists.
   4. C. scrobiculata.  Humb.  and  Bonpl.  Plant.  Equin.  i. p. 165, t.  41;
Weddell, Hist Nat. des Quinquinas,  p. 42, t.  1. This species was united by
Lindley with C. micrantha; but Weddell,  who has had ample opportunities of
forming a just conclusion, considers it as one of  the best characterized species
of the genus.  According to this author, the scrobiculi  at the axils of the
veins on the under surface of the leaf, which are one of the most prominent of
its peculiarities, are not usually found in C. micrantha, as stated in  its descrip-
tion ; but that what have been taken for them, in the latter  species,  are simply
small bundles of  hairs.  The tree was seen by  Humboldt and Bonpland, form-
ing large forests near the city of Jaen de Bracomoros; and Weddell  states that
it is met with also in the Peruvian provinces of  Cuzco and  Carabaya.   Large
quantities of the  bark were formerly collected at  Jaen, and sent to the coast to
be shipped for Lima.   At present the traders  in this bark are said by Weddell
to be chiefly  at Cuzco.   The bark of the younger  branches has been ranked
with the pale or gray barks;  that of  the larger  branches has  been sometimes
employed to  adulterate the Calisaya.
   5.  C. lancifolia. Mutis, Period, de Santa Fe, p. 465; Lindley, Flor. 3Ied.
415.   This is one of the species discovered by Mutis in New Granada, and by
the disciples  of that botanist was considered  as embracing  many trees which
had received distinct specific designations.   By the London College  it was long
recognised as the source  of one of the officinal barks, under the impression,
probably, that it  was identical with C. Condaminea, which was known to yield
one  of  the most highly valued varieties.   It is, however, a  native of New
Granada; and, as none of the barks  recognised by the Pharmacopoeias come
from Carthagena, its product, which  must be  shipped from  that port, cannot
be considered as ranking among them.  It yields the orange bark of Mutis, or
fibrous Carthagena bark  of  present pharmacologists. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
231
   6. 0. cordifolia.  Mutis, in Humb. Magaz. Berlin, 1801, p. Ill; 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.  It 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 was formerly considered by the
British  Colleges as the source of their yellow bark; but has  been  ascertained
not to produce the officinal 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. cordifolia,  is identical with  hard
Carthagena bark.   "Weddell states that the  tree grows also in Peru, and yields
the white and ash-coloured barks of  Loxa.
   1.  C. Boliviana. Weddell, Hist  Nat  des  Quinquinas, p. 50, t.  9.   This
tree was discovered and named by Weddell, who found  it  growing in Bolivia
and Peru, extending somewhat  further northward than C. Calisaya, but not so
far towards the south.   In  the northern parts of  Bolivia the two species fre-
quently grow together.  The bark of C. Boliviana is generally mixed in com-
merce with the proper Calisaya, from which it cannot always be easily dis-
tinguished.   This  is less to be regretted, as, according to Weddell, the properties
of the two barks are not essentially different.
   8. C ova fa. Ruiz and Pavon, Fl. Peruv.;  Weddell, Hist. Nat. des  Quin-
quinas, p. 42, t, xi. and xii.   This species grows in close  groves, in warm places
at the foot of the  Andes, near Pozuzo and Panao,  about ten leagues from Hu-
anuco.   Lindley considers it quite distinct from  C. pubescens of Tahl, and C.
cordifolia of Mutis, with both of which it has been confouuded.  Ruiz calls its
bark cascarillopallida or pale bark, and states  that it was not to be found in
commerce.  Yon Bergen, however, upon comparing a specimen of the casca-
rillo pallida in the collection of Ruiz with the Jaen bark, found them identical.
From Weddell's statements  it would seem that  this species is widely diffused
in Peru and Bolivia, and varies extremely in the character of its bark in dif-
ferent situations.   In the parts visited by him, the finer qualities pass for Ca-
lisaya bark; and in the Peruvian province of Carabaya,  bordering on Bolivia,
it is habitually employed to sophisticate that bark.  He believes also that much
of the quilled bark of Loxa and Huanuco must be referred to this species.  It
has  recently been  rendered extremely probable that a variety of this  species,
designated by Weddell as C. ovata, var.  erythroderma (figured in the  Am.
Journ, of Pharm., xxix. 35), is the source of the  true officinal red bark; spe-
cimens having been received by Mr. J. E. Howard,  of London, from the region
whence that product is known to be derived, the  bark  of which corresponds
precisely with the  red bark in its characters, and the leaves with those of the
botanical  variety just mentioned, if, indeed, this variety is  not rather  to be
considered as a distinct species,  under the name of  C. erythroderma. (Pharm.
Journ. and  Trans., xvi. 208, &c.)
  In addition to the species above mentioned, the following,  for a description
of which we refer  to Lindley's Flora Medica, yield barks possessing febrifuge
properties.—9. C. nitida of the Flora Peruviana, incorrectly confounded, ac-
cording 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 Xuaxa, and is probably the source
of the finest variety of commercial Lima bark.—10.  C. lucumsefolia of Pavon,
confounded by Lambert with C.  Condaminea, grows near Loxa, and probably
contributes to the Loxa or pale barks.—11.  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. 
232
Cinchona.
PART I.
 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.—12. C. ovali-
 folia of Humboldt and Bonpland, the C. Humboldtiana of Homer and Schultes,
 and of De Candolle, is a shrub from six to nine feet high,  inhabiting the pro-
 vince of Cuenca, where it forms considerable forests.   It probably contributes
 to the Loxa barks, although its product is said to be of  inferior quality.—13.
 C. pubescens of Yahl, considered by Lindley as identical with 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 mountain ridges in the provinces of Loxa, Jaen, Pantahuas, &c,
 was seen by Poppig at Cuchuo, and is  stated 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 lie
 identical with the  Huamilies bark.  By Weddell it is stated to be the bark
 known in French  commerce  as Cusco bark, and closely to resemble that of C.
 cordifolia.—14. 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, now scarcely collected.—15. C. glandu-
 lifera of the Fl.  Peruv. is a shrub  of about twelve feet, flourishing on the
 mountains N. W. of Huanuco, and  yielding an excellent bark, unknown  in com-
 merce, called by the inhabitants cascarillo negrillo from its blackish epidermis.
 In its flowering season, it perfumes  the forest by the scent  of its blossoms.—16.
 C. Mutisii of Lambert (C. glandulifera of Lindley) is considered among the
 best characterized  species.  It grows in Loxa, but its bark is unknown.
   Besides the above species,  Lindley enumerates, 11.  C.  rotundifolia of  Ruiz
 and Pavon,  growing in  the  province of Loxa;  18. C. villosa of Pavon (C.
 Humboldtiana of Lambert), growing at Jaen of Loxa; and  19. C. caducifiora
 of Bonpland, growing near Jaen de Bracomoros; not  to mention the  species
joined by Weddell to his now admitted  genus  of Cascarilla.   None of the spe-
 cies  referred to  in this paragraph are known  to yield bark to commerce.  To
 these must now be added, 20.  C. amygdalifolia of Bolivia and Peru;  21. C.
 australis of Bolivia, the most southern of all the known species, growing as far
 south as the 19th degree of  latitude;  22. C. purpurascens; 23. C. Chomeli-
 ana; 24. C. asperifolia, also of Bolivia; and 25.  C. Carabayensis of Cara-
 baya ;  all of which were discovered and described by Weddell;  but from none
 of which is  commercial bark procured.   C. dichotoma of the Fl.  Peruv., C.
 macrocatyx  of  De Candolle, C. crassifolia of Pavon, in De Candolle's Pro-
 dromus, C. Pelalba of the same authority, and C. Muzonensis  of Goudot in
De Candolle's Prodromus, are considered by Lindley as uncertain species.
   Perhaps too  much importance has been attached to the  study of particular
 species of Cinchona.   The character of the product of any one  species varies
much according to the part of the plant decorticated, and the circumstances of
its growth.   Weddell has made some observations on this point, which, if con-
firmed, may lead to important practical results.*

  * The fundamental idea is, that the chemical character of the bark is connected with
peculiarities  in its intimate structure, and that by knowing the  latter we may ascer-
tain, with an approach to certainty, the former also; and thus, as the virtues of the
bark depend on its chemical constitution, we may have reliable  criteria of its value.
Now, in the different barks there are  three varieties of structure; the dead  exterior
layers being left out of the question.   First, as in the Calisaya  bark, which consists of
the inner bark or liber, the whole substance is filled with short fusiform fibres, which,
whether viewed in a longitudinal or transverse  section, are seen, with the aid of the
microscope, to be isolated by a cellular  tissue, in the midst of which they are regularly
disposed in parallel lines, lyinsf end to end without absolute junction.   It is known
that this bark abounds iii quinia, and owes its virtue to that constituent. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
233
                           Commercial History.
   For more than a century after Peruvian bark came into use, it was procured
 almost exclusively from the neighbourhood of Loxa.  In a memoir published
 A. D. 1138, La Condamine speaks of the bark of Rhiobambo, 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 Payta, whence 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 1153, a gentleman of Loxa 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 through Quito into New
 Granada, as far as two degrees and a half north of the  equator.  But no prac-
 tical 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 1112.
 A botanical expedition was afterwards organized by the Spanish government,
 with the view of exploring this part of their dominions, and the direction was
 given to Mutis.  Its researches eventuated in  the discovery of several species of
 Cinchona in New Granada; and a commerce in the bark  soon commenced, which
 was carried on through the ports of Carthagena and Santa Martha.
   To these sources another was added about the same time, A. D. 1116, 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  that region, during which
 time they discovered numerous species.   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 re-
 ceived through that city, but also upon the medicine  generally.
   Soon after the last-mentioned discovery, two additional localities of the Cha-

   in the second variety, such as the flat bark of C. srrobiculata, a cellular coat exists
 outside  of the liber.  In this, under the microscope, the inner layer is seen to consist
 of fibres more closely arranged, more numerous and much larger than in the preceding,
 and firmly attached at their extremities ;  and they suddenly diminish in number aa
 we approach the outer surface, where the bark consists solely of cells.
   The third variety, of which the bark of  C. pubescens is an example,  consists chiefly
 of cellular tissue, with a few irregular series of fibres in the inner half;  and these fibres
 are three or four times as large as in the other varieties.   In the two latter barks cin-
 chonia is the predominant alkali; but it is not very abundant in either, and least  so
 in the one last mentioned.  The inference is, that  quinia is most largely developed in
 those barks in which the fibres are short and intimately mixed with cells ; while the
 cinchonia is more  especially deposited in the tissue exclusively cellular. The fracture
 in the first variety is from its structure fibrous,  but short-fibrous throughout;  that
 of the second and third is smooth where cells exist exclusively, and with long fibres"
 where fibres exist.  A short smooth fracture, therefore, as in the young  barks, or a
 fracture partly smooth and partly long-fibrous, as  in the older barks which have not
 thrown off their cellular layer, indicates a cinchonia bark, and  one comparatively feeble;
 while a  fracture uniformly short-fibrous indicates a variety  abounding in quinia and
 energetic ; and, in proportion as a bark approaches this latter condition, will it prove
to  be efficacious.—Note to the ninth edition. 
234
Cinchona.
PART I.
 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 Cocha-
 bamba, then within the vice-royalty of Buenos Ayrcs, now in the  republic of
 Bolivia.   These latter places became the  source of an abundant  supply of ex-
 cellent 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 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 deteriorated; for, though many of the new varieties were
 possessed of excellent  properties, yet equal care in superintending the collection
 and assorting of the bark could scarcely be exercised, in a  field so much more
 extended.   The varieties now 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 pharmacologists found themselves at a loss to discover any perma-
 nent peculiarities which might serve as the basis of a proper and useful classi-
 fication.   This  perplexity has continued more or  less to  the present time;
 though the discovery of the alkaline principles has presented a ground of  dis-
 tinction  before  unknown.  The restrictions  upon  the commerce with South
 America, by directing  the trade into irregular channels, had also  a tendency to
 deteriorate the  character  of the drug.  Little attention was 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  peculiarly ill furnished.  'The  supplies, being de-
 rived chiefly, by means of a contraband trade, from Carthagena and other ports
 on the Spanish  Main,  or indirectly through the Havana, were necessarily of an
 inferior character; and most of the good  bark which reached us  was imported
 by our  druggists from London, whither it was  sent  from  Cadiz.   A great
 change, however, in this respect, took place, after the ports  on the Pacific were
 opened to our commerce.   The best kinds of  bark were thus 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 intermediate
 ports of Coquimbo, Copiapo,  Arica, Callao, Truxillo, &c, from all which they
 probably receive supplies.   Much good bark has of late also  been imported from
 Carthagena, and other ports of the Caribbean Sea,  being  brought down  the
 Magdalena river from the mountainous regions of New Granada;  and, since the
 completion of the railroad across  the Isthmus,  considerable quantities have
 readied this country by way of Panama, to which place they are brought chiefly
 from the Pacific ports  of Buenaventura and Guayaquil.*
   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 age at which  a branch should  be decorticated,  and  the
 marks by which the  efficiency or inefficiency of any particular product is indi-
 cated.   The bark gatherers begin their work with the setting in of the dry  sea-
son in May.   Sometimes they first cut down the tree, and afterwards strip off
 the bark from the branches; in other instances, they decorticate the tree while

  * An interesting history of the commerce in the Cinchona barks by Dr. H A. Wed-
 dell will be found in the American Journ. of Pharm. (xxvi. 539, Nov. 1854) originally
 from his Voyages  dans le  Nord de la Bolivie, Paris, 1853. 
PART T.
Cinchona.
235
 standing.  The former plan is said to be the most economical; as, when the
 tree is cut down, the stump pushes up  shoots which in the course  of time be-
 come fit for decortication, while, if deprived of its bark, the whole plant perishes.
 The operator separates the bark by making a longitudinal 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 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 some open place, where it is exposed to the sun.   In drying it rolls
 up, or becomes quilled; and the degree to  which this effect takes place is pro-
 portionate directly to the thinness of the bark, and inversely to the age of the
 branch from which it was derived.   In packing 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, lined within by
 a very coarse cloth, apparently 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, but are open to  the enterprise  of all wdio
 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 often adopted.
 Nevertheless, the great extent to which the Cinchona forests prevail, spreading,
 as they do, with some interruptions, over thirty degrees of latitude, and occupy-
 ing regions which can  never be applied to  agricultural purposes, almost pre-
 cludes the idea of their even remote extinction.
   The bitterness of the Cinchona is not confined to its bark.   The leaves and
 flowers also have this property, which in the former is associated with acidity,
 in the latter with a delicious aroma, which renders the air fragrant  in neigh-
 bourhoods where the trees abound.   The wood is nearly tasteless; but the bark
 of the root has the same virtues as that of the trunk; and rich mines of under-
 ground treasure may await future explorers, in regions which have been stripped
 of their trees either by fire or the axe.

                              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 basis, is
 liable to the objection, that the product of the same species may vary according
 to the age of  the bark and the situation of the tree; and, besides, is at present
 scarcely practicable; as, though our knowledge of the source  of  the  several
 varieties has very much extended, it is still defective on several points.
  The  Spanish  merchants  adopted a classification,  dependent partly on the
 place of growth or shipment, and partly on the inherent properties, or supposed
 relative value of the bark.   So long as the sources of the drug were very con-
 fined, and the  number  of varieties  small, this plan answered the purposes of
 trade; but at present  it is altogether  inadequate; and, though some of the
 names originally conferred upon this principle are still retained, they are often
 uncertain or misapplied.
  Perhaps, on the whole, the  best arrangement  for pharmaceutical  and medi-
cinal purposes is that founded  upon difference of colour.  It is  true that de-
pendence 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 
236
Cinchona.
PART I.
 Still it has been found that most of the valuable barks may be arranged, accord-
 ing 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 constitu-
 tion.   The three divisions alluded to are the pale, the yellow, and the red.  This
 arrangement has been adopted in the U. S. and London  Pharmacopoeias, and,
 with slight variation, in those also of Edinburgh and Dublin; and as, until re-
 cently, almost all the highly esteemed barks were brought from the Pacific coast
 of South America, and those from the northern coast were deemed inferior, it
 was only the former that were recognised under the three divisions referred to.
 In describing, therefore, the different kinds of bark,  we shall treat first, under the
 officinal titles of pale, yellow, and red, of those originally brought only from
 the ports of  the Pacific;  while those coming to us from the northern ports of
 New Granada and Venezuela will be subsequently considered under the heading
 of non-officinal or Carthagena barks,  by the latter of which names they have
 been generally known in commerce.  The commercial name will be given when-
 ever a knowledge of it can be useful.   It is proper to state that the different
 barks  are often mingled in the same package,  and that, in deciding upon the
 character of  a seroon, the druggist is guided rather by the predominance than
 the exclusive existence of certain distinctive properties.

                             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 kinds  which were for-
 merly  deemed the finest are about the size  of a goosequill; but experience has
 shown that the young barks are not the most efficient.  Their  exterior  surface
 is usually more or less  rough,  marked  with transverse  and  sometimes with
 longitudinal fissures, and of a grayish colour, owing to adhering lichens.  The
 shade is different in different samples.  Sometimes  it is a light gray, approach-
 ing to white, sometimes dull  and brown,  sometimes  a grayish-fawn, and fre-
 quently diversified by the intermixture  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 specimens,  of a dusky hue.   The fracture is usually smooth, with
 some short filaments 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 darker hue in
 the inferior kinds.   The taste is moderately bitter and somewhat  astringent,
 without being disagreeable or nauseous.   Authors speak also of an acidulous
 and aromatic flavour.  The better kinds have a feeble odour, which is distinct
 and agreeably aromatic in the powder and decoction.  The pale barks are chemi-
cally characterized by containing a much  larger proportion of cinchonia and
quinidia or cinchonidia than of quinia;  and  their infusion does  not yield a
precipitate with solution of sulphate of soda. Their appearance generally indi-
cates 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 Hua-
nuco, northeast of Lima, and are probably derived chiefly from Cinchona  Conda-
minea, C. nitida, and C.  micrantha.
  There are several commercial varieties of pale bark, obtained from different
sources, and differing more or less in properties.  The most highly esteemed of 
PART I.
Cinchona.
237
these is the Loxa bark, the finest specimens of which are  sometimes  called
crown 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 named either Lima bark, because taken to that city for commercial distribu-
tion, or Huanuco bark, from its place of collection.   The  former name has
been more common in this country, where, indeed, this commercial 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.*

   *  The following  description of the several varieties of pale bark has been derived
mainly from the works  of Von Bergen, Guibourt, and Pereira, probably the highest Eu-
ropean authorities on this subject; the first in Germany, the second in France, and the
third in England.  We  have  consulted also other pharmacological writers, and have de-
rived advantage from the recent observations of Dr. Weddell and M.  Delondre, and of
Mr. J. E. Howard, of London, who has carefully examined the rich collection of Pavon
deposited in the British Museum, and compared the specimens with the barks of com-
merce.   Our remarks are put in the form of a note; as the information in relation to
these varieties can be of little use to the student, though it may aid the druggist.
   For a proper understanding of the subject, the reader should have some idea of the
general structure of the bark.  In the young barks there are four layers, viz.:  1. the
epidermis or outer coat, often covered or incorporated with lichens ; 2. the periderm or
suberous coat, sometimes of a cork-like  character; 3. the  cellular coat or green layer,
often containing resin ; and 4. the liber, or inner coat, which is more or less fibrous.
   1. Loxa Bark.  Crown  Bark.—Quinquina  de Loxa, Fr.—Loxa China, Kron-China,
Germ.—The  following  is Von Bergen's  description of this  variety, contained in his
splendid work upon bark, entitled  Versuch einer Monographic der  China, published in
Hamburg in the year 1826. This bark 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 surface is more or less rough, seldom much wrinkled lon-
gitudinally, 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 iuterrupted.   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 to give it a light-gray appearance.  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.
   Guibourt, in the edition of his Histoire des Drogues published in 1850, describes four
chief varieties of Loxa  bark, under the names severally of 1. Quinquina de Loxa gris
compacte, 2. Quinquina  de Loxa brun compacte, 3.  Quinquina  de Loxa rouge flbreux  de
roi rf' Espagne, and 4. Quinquina de Loxa jaune fibreux.  Of these the first two appear
to be embraced in the  description above given from Von Bergen.  The  third is dis-
tinguished from the common Loxa bark by its eminently fibrous texture, and its slight
astringency to the taste.  It is scarcely to be found  in  commerce.  The fourth was
almost the only variety  of Loxa bark known in the French market.  It is in quills, very
thin, and usually very much rolled, but slightly rough externally, with minute trans-
verse fissures, generally covered with a thin whitish coat which gives  it a  light-gray
colour, reddish and very  smooth internally, and of a very finely fibrous fracture.  Ib-
taste is astringent and  bitter, and its odour sufficiently marked.  The pieces from the
trunk are much larger, and may even have a thickness of two lines, with some resem-
blance to the Calisaya; but its outer surface, scarcely rough, and often longitudinally
wrinkled, the fineness of  its  texture, and the smoothness of its inner surface readily
distinguish it.  Guibourt has no hesitation in referring it to C. macrocatyx.
   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,  somewhat laager 
238
Cinchona.
PART I.
   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,

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.  Dr. Pereira,
in the last edition of his work on Materia Medica, the publication of which was com-
pleted after his death (A. D. 1853), distinguishes the following varieties of Loxa bark.—
'1. Original or old Loxa Bark.  This  is the original  crown  bark, and  derived its name
from the circumstance, that parcels of  it were found on board a captured Spanish ves-
sel returning from S. America, put up with peculiar care, and marked as for the royal
family.  It  was in slender quills, thirteen inches long, tied up in bundles about three
inches in diameter.   Similar bundles were afterwards imported, and still occasionally
come in the seroons  of commercial  crown bark.  This bark is believed to have been
derived from C. Condaminea, variety vera of Weddell;  but, as the tree is nearly ex-
hausted, little is obtained from it at present;  and what is commonly called Loxa or
crown bark, is derived from  other  varieties  of  C.  Condaminea, or from other spe-
cies.—2. White  Crown Bark.  This is in small and large  quills; the former having a
silvery appearance from the presence of crustaceous lichens, and exhibiting numerous
transverse cracks ; the latter without these transverse  fissures, but ragged externally
from longitudinal rents in the  epidermis, with a satin-like lustre of the surface thus
exposed.  It is  the  produce of  C. Condaminea, var. lucum-ffolia of Weddell, C. lucu-
msffolia of Pavon. — 3. H.  0. Crown  Bark.   This  is  the variety usually found in
commerce, and has been named from the brand H. 0. with a crown, adopted in the
time of the Spanish government in S. America.  It is in quills from six to fifteen inches
long, from two lines to an inch in diameter, and from  one-third of a line to two lines
thick.   Some of the  quills are without lichens, thin, externally brown and shrivelled,
with numerous longitudinal wrinkles, but with few transverse fissures.  The internal
surface is cinnamon-coloured,  and the  fracture pale yellow. Others are larger, coarser,
grayish externally from lichens, with  many transverse fissures, some of which quite
surround the quills.   Others  again  are twisted, and have a patchy black and white
appearance from the adhering  lichens.   The botanical  origin of  this  bark is  not cer-
tainly known ; though Howard ascribes  it to C. glandulifera. {Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,
xii. 128.)   It comes  from the port of Payta. — 4. Ashy Crown Bark.   This is  in quills
about the size of the fingers, having an external surface mottled with white, gray, and
black or soot-like patches of powdery and crustaceous lichens, sometimes also marked
with rusty fungoid warts.   The  epidermis has longitudinal wrinkles and transverse
fissures ; the internal surface is of an orange or cinnamon colour.  Mr. Howard found
it  identical  with the bark,  in Pavon's collection, ascribed to  C.  rotundifolia of that
botanist, C. cordifolia, var. rotundifolia of Weddell.  It is stated to  be imported from
Lima ; and, according to Mr. Howard, large quantities are now used for pharmaceutical
purposes.  (Ibid., 126.)—5. Wiry Loxa  Bark.   This is in very slender, wire-like quills,
internally smoothish and brown, in some places slightly gray, without lichens, and al-
most destitute of transverse fissures.   Many of the quills are lined within with a thin
shaving of pale-yellow wood.  The fracture is  short and resinous.   The taste is very
astringent and but slightly bitter, and, as the bark is almost destitute of alkaloids, it is
very nearly worthless.  It is brought from Payta; but its botanical source is unknown.
  The  earlier analyses gave  as constituents of the Loxa barks cinchonia and quinia,
generally with a predominance of the former alkaloid.  Since the discovery of quinidia
and cinchonidia, these also have been found, sometimes, in considerable proportion. The
different varieties vary much in  their yield  of alkaloids ;  the larger barks, in  all the
varieties, affording more than  the smaller.  An average of several  results, stated by
Geiger, gives about 0-48 per cent, of cinchonia, and 0-06 of quinia.   In the  thickest
pieces, Thiel found 1-0 per cent,  of cinchonia, and 0-03 of quinia.  According to Sou-
beiran, one pound  of Loxa bark yields from a drachm  and a half to two drachms of
sulphate of cinchonia.  From  some fine old Loxa bark, not  now  in  the market, Mr.
Howard obtained 0-714 per cent,  of quinia, 0-514 of quinidia (or cinchonidia)  and 0-04
of cinchonia.   From  the II. O.  crovn  bark, which  is  at present the variety usually
found in commerce, he got from small quills 0-57 per cent, of quinidia and 0-6 of cin-
chonia, and  from larger 1-05 of th.-  former and 0-8 of the latter, and no quinia from
either. (Pereira J/ t.  Med., 3d ed.,  p. 1639.)   From the ashy crown bark the same
chemist got 0-418  per cent, of quinia  and quinidia jointly, and  0-914 of cinchonia.
(Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xn. 126.)  From these results it would appear either that
the older Loxa barks contained much more quinia than the modern, or that what was 
PART I.
Cinchona.
239
which has almost superseded the bark as a remedy in intermittents;  and the red
or yellow bark is preferred  by physicians when  it is necessary to resort to the

supposed to be quinia was really the then unknown  alkaloid quinidia or cinchonidia.
The strong  reaction  of a solution of gelatin with the infusion of Loxa bark indicates
the presence of much tannic acid.  >
  2. Lima or Huanuco Bark.  Cinchona Cinerea,  Gray Bark,  Silver Bark, Ed.— Quin-
quina de Lima, Fr.— China Huanuco, Graue China, Germ.—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 neighourhood of which  the trees were found.
There would seem to be two varieties of this bark, which oome either in separate pack-
ages, or mixed together in the same.  They are distinguished in England as fine  and
coarse  gray barks, and have a different botanical origin ;  the former having been ascer-
tained by Mr. Howard to belong to  C. nitida, and the latter being ascribed to  C. mi-
crantha, probably with justice.
  Fine Gray Bark.—Quinquina  Rouge de Lima.  Guibourt.  The dimensions  of  this
variety 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 cut with
a knife is  observable.   The epidermis is usually adherent.  The exterior  surface is
marked with longitudinal wrinkles or furrows, which in the thick pieces often penetrate
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 epidermis is
rubbed off, either wholly or in spots; and in a few the entire thickness of the external
layers  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
is 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 occa-
sionally a  purplish  tinge.   The transverse fracture is  smooth exteriorly, fibrous or
splintery interiorly.  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 taste is at first acidulous,  astringent, and slightly
aromatic, and  ultimately bitter and adhesive.
  Coarse or Inferior Gray Bark.  The characters of this bark as  a distinct variety were
first given by Guibourt, who calls it quinquina de Lima gris brun.  The following is his
description.  "It is  in the form of long tubes, well-rolled,  from the size  of a quill to
that of the  little finger, offering very often  longitudinal wrinkles, formed by desicca-
tion.   The exterior surface  is, moreover, moderately rugose, often nearly destitute of
transverse fissures, having a general deep-gray tint, but with black or white spots,  and
bearing here and there  the  same lichens as the Loxa barks.   The inner bark is of a
deep brownish yellow, and formed as it were of agglutinated fibres." (Hist, des Drogues,
4e ed., iii. 108.)  Mr. Howard says of this  bark that its predominant feature is its
general v;oody  texture, a feature very observable on reducing  it to powder, while  the
only hard portion of the former variety is a resinous  circle  existing between the inner
and outer coat.   He  further states, as distinctions between the  two varieties, that the
one now described is thinner  than the former; that its prevailing superficial colour,
independently of the white lichenous covering, is  glaucous green, and the  colour of its
substance rusty yellow, while the fine gray, as regards the inner surface, varies super-
ficially, from a maroon colour to rust, and as regards the outer is brown, the substance
of the  bark being red ;  that a decoction of the former is pale, and gives  a small floe-
culent  deposit on cooling, while one of the latter is brown, and lets fall a copious sedi-
ment.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii. pp. 15 and 16.)
  The  Edinburgh College refers the Lima bark, which it denominates Cinchona cinerea
or gray bark, to C. micrantha.  There  is at  present little room  to doubt,  from the ob- 
240
Cinchona.
PART i.
medicine in substance.   There is no doubt, however, that cinchonia  possesses
febrifuge properties little inferior to those of quinia; and the same is probably

servations of Guibourt, Pereira, and Howard, that it is only the coarse or inferior variety
that belongs to that species;  while the fine gray  bark must be ascribed to C. nitida,
which also grows in the neighbourhood of Huanuco.
  The Lima or Huanuco  barks contain  a considerable proportion of the  alkaloids,
though cinchonia predominates over quinia, and the latter is said to exist in a form in
which it is difficultly crystallized, at least  in the fine variety.   Howard  gives, as  the
result of his analysis of the fine gray bark (C. nitida), 1-4 per cent,  of cinchonia, 0-571
of quinia, and 0-142 of quinidia (or cinchonidia), amounting  altogether to 2-113 per
oent. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii. 12.)   It also  contains a good deal of tannic acid.
(Ibid., p. 161.)   In the inferior kind ( C. micrantha) he found 1*25 of cinchonia, 0-243 of
quinia, 0-28 of quinidia (or cinchonidia), together 1-773 per cent. (Ibid., p. 14.)  Geiger
gives as the average of several results, in relation  to  Lima or Huanuco bark, 1*72 per
cent, of cinchonia and 0-29 of quinia.  Van Santen got from the best specimens, as  the
maximum, 2*73  per cent, of cinchonia, and no quinia.  Delondre obtained from  the
different varieties from 0-2 to 0-6 per cent, of sulphate of quinia, and from 0-8 to 1-2 of
sulphate of cinchonia. (Quinologie, pp. 27, 28.)  It would, therefore, appear that this
variety  of bark must become valuable, if cinchonia should come into general use.
  3. Jaen Bark.  Ash  Bark.—  China Jaen, Blasse Ten-China, Germ.— Quinquina de
Loxa cendri 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 off, 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  brownish spots.  When the outer coat  is  rubbed, off, it
inclines still more to yellow.   Considered 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, some-
times 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
oi- 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 disagreeable.  The colour of
the powder is cinnamon-brown.   The bark is very deficient in alkalies.  Some experi-
menters have found none, or only traces, while the highest product obtained was 8€
grains of quinia and 13  grains of cinchonia from a pound.   M. Munzini, of Paris,
extracted from it an alkaline principle which he  believed to be peculiar, and named
cinchovatin; but  others believe  that it is identical with the aricina of Pelletier; and
Mr.  Howard can  discover no difference between it and quinidia. (Pharm. Journ. and
Trans.,  xii. 127.)   Mr. Howard  does not  coincide  in the general opinion of the great
poverty of the ash bark in alkaloids.  He found in a mean-looking specimen 0-86 per
oent. of cinchonia, and 0-61 of quinidia (or conchonidia).  (Ibid., p. 127.)  Delondre
obtained, on the large scale, 0-4  of sulphate of cinchonia and 1-0 of sulphate of quinia.
(Quinologie, p. 29.)  Von Bergen believes this bark to be the product  of C. ovata;
and Mr. Howard  confirms  this reference.
  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 distin-
guished 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.  Pereira considers
it identical with the ashy crown bark already described.  (See page 238.)
  4. Huamilies Bark.—China Huamilies, Germ.  This bark is little known as a distinct
variety.  Its commercial name was derived from the province of Huamilies, which lies
in the interior of Peru, northward of Huanuco, and is a part of the region explored by
the  botanical  expedition  under Ruiz and  Pavon. It came into notice  in Germany
about the beginning of the present century.  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 frag-
ments of the largest quills, are from one to  two inches broad, and six to twelve inches 
PART I.
Cinchona.
241
the case with quinidia and cinchonidia;  so that, should the source of quinia
begin to fail, the pale bark may come into more extensive use for the prepara-
tion of the other alkaloids.

                             2.  Yellow Bark.

   The  officinal term  yellow bark is  applicable only to the valuable variety of
the drug called commercially Calisaya, a name 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 sub-varieties, the quilled and the flat, which sometimes come mixed together
in the same seroon, sometimes separate.   It is called by the French quinquina
jaune royal (royal yellow bark), from  its resemblance 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 inches to  two feet 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 silvery-white, whitish, or  yel-
lowish 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 transverse
fissures, which often surround the quills, and  is composed  of several layers,
separated from each other by a reddish-brown membrane.  The epidermis yields
a dark-red powder, and is  tasteless and inert.    It is desirable, therefore, to get

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 some-
times 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 sometimes 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 fibsrous,
rarely splintery.  The colour of the surface is rusty brown, occasionally reddiah., 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  to  the other varie-
ties 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, on the authority of Beichel, has been referred to C. pubes'ens ( C. pur-
purea of the Flor. Peruv.) ; but Dr.  Pereira and Mr. Howard agree in believing it to be
the product of C. Condaminea, variety Chahuarguera of De Candolle, considered by
Weddell as identical with his C. Condaminea, variety vera.
   The bark above described is noticed by Guibourt, who names it quinquina Huamilies
ferrugineux.  The same author makes four other varieties of Huamilies bark ; viz, the
gris terne, mince et rougedtre, blanc, and jaune de Cuenga.—Note to the tenth edition.
   *  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,& rocky country.
(Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 614.) Weddell refers the  origin of the name to the words
colli and saya, which in the Quichua language signify red and sort,  and have probably
been  applied from the red colour which the outer denuded surface of the bark assumes
in drying, or from the red colour which  the leaves sometimes exhibit.
        16 
242
Cinchona.
PART I.
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, compact, of a  short-fibrous  texture, and when  broken pre-
sents shining points, apparently the termination of small fibres running longi-
tudinally, which, examined by the microscope,  are found,  when  freed  from a
salmon-coloured powder that  surrounds them,  to be yellow and  transparent.
When the bark is powdered, they readily separate, in the form of spicula, which,
like those of cowhage, insinuate themselves  into the skin,  and produce a dis-
agreeable 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 somewhat peculiar.   The external part
of the proper bark  is more bitter  and astringent, and consequently stronger in
medicinal power, than the  internal.   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 barks, but may be distinguished by their very bitter taste.
   The flat Calisaya (Calisaya plancha of the Spaniards), which is  derived
from the large branches and trunk, is in  pieces of various lengths,  either quite
flat, or but slightly curved, and generally destitute of the epidermis, which has
been obviously removed through its own want of adhesiveness to the proper bark,
and not by a knife, as  is the case with some inferior barks  in  other respects
resembling the Calisaya.   The inner surface is  like that of the quilled pieces;
the outer is irregular, marked with confluent longitudinal furrows and ridges,
and somewhat darker coloured than the inner,  being of  a brownish fawn, fre-
quently diversified with darker stains.  The bark is of uniform fracture through-
out, generally thicker than  the quilled, more fibrous in its texture, 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 officinal yellow bark is characterized by its strongly bitter taste, with
little astringency; by its fine brownish-yellow, somewhat orange colour, which
is still brighter in the powder;  and by containing a larger proportion of quinia
with very little cinchonia.   The salts of quinia  and lime are so abundant, that
a strong infusion of it instantly affords a precipitate when  crystals of sulphate
of soda are added.  (Guibourt,  Hist, des Drogues, 4eme ed. iii. 131.)*

  * Calisaya  bark is described by Von  Bergen, under the name of China Regia or
Kdnig's China.  We present  a brief abstract of his description, omitting the form and
dimensions, which are given  in the text.  The epidermis,! which in many of the small
quills  is partly wanting, in  the flat pieces  usually quite wanting, 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 often consists
of six or eight different  layers.  The quills are generally marked with longitudinal
wrinkles and furrows, and always with transverse fissures. These fissures, which ofteu
form complete circles round  the quills, have usually an  elevated border, and sink so
■deeply in many of the larger pieces, that they are  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 it is very much diversified by
lichens,  so as to present yellowish-white, ash-gray, and blackish spots.  When the
.outer layer of the epidermis 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 without 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
  f By the epidermis is here understood the whole of the external layers which are accumulated upon
the outer surlace 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 difl'erent
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 meaning. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
243
  Until the recent  most valuable researches of Weddell, nothing was known
with certainty as to  the particular species which yields Calisaya bark.  At pre-
sent there is no  variety of which, in this respect, we have such accurate know-

wood are never found adhering  to  the inner surface.  The prevailing colour of this
surface is a rather dark or full cinnamon-brown, passing sometimes into a rusty-brown,
but seldom reddish.   This bark breaks more easily in the longitudinal direction than
any other variety, exhibiting a  chestnut-brown colour in the part  answering to  the
epidermis, 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 fibrous,
or splintery.   A resinous layer may be seen beneath the epidermis,  which usually re-
mains when the latter is removed, and communicates to the flat pieces the dark colour
which distinguishes their external surface.  Small sharp splinters, which in the longi-
tudinal fracture appear like shining points, are apt to insinuate themselves into the
skin when the bark is handled.  The odour is feebly tan-like; the taste slightly acidu-
lous,  strongly but not disagreeably bitter, somewhat aromatic, feebly astringent,  and
rather durable.  The powder is of a fine cinnamon hue.
   Weddell speaks of  a variety of Calisaya bark having a dark-coloured external  sur-
face, which is often wholly of a  vinous black, and of another which has a less uneven
surface, sometimes semi-cellular, and of a  paler colour. The former he says re  de-
nominated in Bolivia Colisaya zamba, C.  negra, or C. macha; the latter Colisaya blanca.
   Thiel obtained from the flat Calisaya 2*3 per cent, of quinia, and 008 of cinchonia ;
Michaelis from the flat 3-7 per cent., and from the quill 2-0 per cent, of quinia, but no
cinchonia;  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.)   Riegel obtained, as the lowest product 2-18 per cent., and the
highest 3-8 per cent,  of quinia.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii. 249.)   MM. Delondre
and Bouchardat  have obtained from the flat Calisaya, without epidermis, from 3-0 to
3*2 per cent, of sulphate of quinia, and  0-6 to 0-8 per cent, of sulphate of cinchonia;
and from the quilled with epidermis 1-5 to 2-0 per cent,  of the former, and from 0-8 to
1-0 per cent,  of  the latter.  (Quinologie, pp.  23 and 26.)  Calisaya bark without epi-
dermis should yield from 3 to 3-5 per cent, of officinal sulphate of quinia.

                          False or  Spurious Calisaya Barks.
   The great value of Calisaya bark has led to the substitution for it, or fraudulent ad-
mixture with it,  of other varieties  bearing a more or less close resemblance to it in
character or appearance.  Some of these are not much  inferior  to the genuine bark,
others of little value ; and it is highly important that they should be distinguished.
We  give below a brief notice of such as are described  in pharmacological works, or
have come under our own observation.   Weddell states that the characters by which
the true Calisaya bark may be best distinguished from all others are, 1. the shortness
of the fibres in the whole surface of its transverse fracture, 2. the facility with which
these  may be separated, 3. the uniform fawn colour, without  any white marking in its
thickness, 4. the great density of the bark, which is such that, when the nail is drawn
 across it, a shining track is often left, 5. the depth of the depressions on its  outer sur-
 face, and the prominence of the ridges  that separate them.  These remarks refer to
 the flat variety.   The quills are not so easily distinguished, as they closely resemble
 certain  other varieties,  especially the bark of C. scrobiculata and C.  rufinervis, and
 the fracture does not afford signs so precise as in the  older barks.   The surest test is
 the greater bitterness of the genuine.  From their deficiency in compactness, spurious
 Calisaya barks are called by the French Calisaya Uger or light Calisaya.
   1.  Bark of C.  Calisaya, variety Josephiana of Weddell.  This is not known as a dis-
 tinct variety in Europe or this country;  but is very probably mingled more or less with
 the  genuine, as  it is collected in Bolivia.  It is in quills, of a brown, grayish-black,
 or slate colour on the outer surface, which is also covered with pale lichens.  The inner
 surface is irregular, in consequence of the difficulty with which it is separated  from
 the wood.  From the roots of the same variety, which are probably the remains of former
 forest trees, is  obtained another kind of bark, in short pieces, flatfish, undulai-^or more
 or less contorted, destitute of epidermis, internally fibrous or almost smooth, slightly
 cellular externally, of a uniform ochreous yellow, and of a decided bitterness, though
 not so strong  as that of good Calisaya, which  it resembles in its internal  structure.
 The Peruvians call  it ichu-cascarilla. (Weddell.)  These barks  can scarcely be con-
 sidered as adulterations, as they have the virtues of the genuine.
   2.  Bark of C.  Boliviana. Weddell states that  this is almost always  mixed in com-
 merce with genuine  Calisaya, from which it is often difficult to distinguish it.   This 
244
Cinchona.
PART I.
ledge.   The  genuine  bark is derived from the newly described  species, named
C.  Calisaya; but the bark of C. Boliviana, another of the species discovered
by Weddell, is sometimes mixed with it  in  the same seroons.   It is produced

is of the less consequence, as it is probably not much inferior in virtue.  The following
is Weddell's description.  The  quilled is in  all points similar to the quilled Calisaya.
The flat consists exclusively of the inner bark.  It  is generally not  so thick as the
Calisaya, but of equal density.   The furrows on the outer surface are  not so deep, and
the ridges which separate them more rounded.  The colour of this surface is a brownish-
yellow fawn, with here and there greenish shades ; of the inner a somewhat reddish
or orange fawn.   The fracture is like that of the Calisaya, but exhibits spots of a light
almost white colour, which are never seen in that variety.  The taste is a strong and
agreeable bitter, which is developed more quickly than in the Calisaya.
  3. Bark of C. ovata, var. rufinervis  of Weddell.  This  variety of C. ovata inhabits
Bolivia and the southern province of Peru called Carabaya, where the bark is said by
Weddell to be largely employed for adulterating the Calisaya.  It is known in Peru by
the name of Cascarilla Carabaya.  It  sometimes so closely resembles Calisaya as to be
with difficulty distinguished.  In the quilled, the outer coating  sometimes differs only
in being somewhat less thick.   In other instances it has but a  few annular fissures, is
finely wrinkled longitudinally,  and varies in colour from a light gray  to a deep brown,
being often completely covered with mosses and lichens.  It is generally easily separable
from the inner coat, the uncovered surface of which is of a light brownish fawn, and
smooth, or marked with longitudinal  depressions corresponding to rents in  the outer
coat.   The inner surface is grayish  or reddish-yellow, and finely fibrous ; the trans-
verse fracture fibrous ; the resinous circle scarcely observable ; the taste quickly bitter
and astringent.   The flat kind is of variable form, often closely resembling the Cali-
saya, but generally much lighter.  Sometimes it consists solely of the inner bark, but
more frequently has  a portion greater or less of the cellular coat attached.  The outer
surface is  sometimes smooth, with a few linear transverse depressions, and wholly
cellular; in other instances, uneven, with roundish depressions, fibrous at bottom ; and
is of a  grayish-fawn or reddish colour, sometimes marbled with darker shades.   The
inner surface is of a dull grayish-yellow, or brilliant orange, with fine parallel fibres.
The transverse fracture is more or less corky exteriorly, and fibrous-stringy within, or
of the latter character in the whole thickness.   It has considerable bitterness, which
is rapidly developed in the recent barks.
   Carabaya Bark.  Under this name a bark has within a few  years  been introduced
into the commerce of this country and Europe, derived from the province of Carabaya,
through the port of  Islay or that of Arica.  Dr. Pereira describes it as follows.—It is
thin and flimsy, of a more or less rusty colour, and in some of  the pieces very similar
to the Huamilies.  The quills are about as thick as the finger, and of  variable length,
sometimes even two feet, coated, or uncoated; the coated having a dull rusty, or grayish-
rusty, warty surface, marked by longitudinal furrows, but rarely by transverse; the
uncoated sometimes presenting a dark or more or less tea-green tint.   The flat pieces
consist of the liber alone, or of this with a portion of the cellular coat.   The outer sur-
face of the liber, in some of the uncoated pieces, is blackish, with rusty, round, flattish
warts.   Sometimes it looks as if dusted over with a yellowish powder.  The liber it-
self is more or less orange; but some pieces resemble red  bark in colour.   Whether
this is the product of C. ovata is uncertain; but, taking its source  into consideration,
and the fact stated by Weddell that  the bark  of that species  is  gathered  largely in
Carabaya, and known by the same name in  Peru, the probabilities seem to be greatly
in favour  of this opinion.  Pereira states that its total  yield  of alkaloids, including
quinia, cinchonia, and quinidia, is from 3 to 4 per cent.  In the Quinologie of MM. De-
londre and Bouchardat (p. 26), the product  of the better specimens  is stated to be from
1-5 to 1-8 per cent, of sulphate of quinia, and 0-4 to 0*5 per cent,  of sulphate of cin-
chonia.  It is, therefore, a valuable bark.
   A variety of flat bark imported into the U. States as Carabaya, is  in irregular pieces,
some very small, the largest about 9 inches in length, generally very thin; for the most
part destitute of epidermis, but sometimes  with portions of the outer coat attached;
on the outer surface, when uncoated, of a dull cinnamon hue, with  spots of a different
colour sometimes much darker, more or less irregular from slight elevations and shal-
low depressions,  somewhat furrowed longitudinally, seldom so transversely ; on the
inner surface,  of a lighter hue than on the outer, smooth and somewhat shining when
viewed obliquely, with fine compact straight fibres; with  a decided fibrous fracture,
sometimes smooth toward the outer edge ; and, when handled, readily yielding spiculae, 
PART I.
Cinchona.
245
 exclusively in Bolivia, formerly upper Peru, and in the southern portion of the
 adjoining Peruvian province of Carabaya.   Before  these countries were sepa-
 rated from Spain, it was shipped as well from Buenos Ayres as from the ports

 which penetrate the fingers  like those of Calisaya.  In  one specimen shown us by
 Messrs. Powers & Weightman, the outer surface was almost  completely covered with
 the  sub-epidermic layer, with little or none of the  epidermis itself, and was  re-
 markably uniform in its aspect, though sometimes presenting numerous slight  longi-
 tudinal wrinkles from drying, and a few shallow transverse impressions.   We are  in-
 formed that this variety contains  more cinchonia than quinia; and have little  doubt
 that it is the bark referred to by Weddell as the product of C. ovata, var.  ruflnervis.
   4.  Bark of C. scrobiculata.  The younger bark of this tree has, we think, undoubtedly
 been imported  among  the pale or gray barks.  The larger or flat  pieces have been
 fraudulently substituted for Calisaya.   Of these, according to Pereira, there are two
 varieties, derived from different varieties of the tree.
   a.  Cusco Bark.  Red Bark of Cusco. (Delondre and Bouchardat, Quinologie, p. 26.)
 Bark of St. Ann.  Bark of C. scrobiculata, var. Delondriana.   This is collected in the
 Province of Cusco, in the south of Peru; and the town of Cusco, according to Weddell, is
 the centre  of its commerce.   It is the kind to which Guibourt has especially attached
 the name of light Calisaya. Weddell thus describe* it: " Less  dense than the Calisaya ;
 consisting  generally of the liber and a thin layer of the cellulo-resinous tissue ; thick-
 ness from 5 to 10 millimetres (2 to 4 lines). Outer surface obscurely red, smooth, with
 some linear transverse impressions, or more or less  irregular; exhibiting often super-
 ficial cavities filled with fungous detritus ;  raised hi other instances into asperities or
 irregular warts, or more rarely presenting an exfoliation of the cellular coat, as complete
 as in the Calisaya, with digital confluent furrows, fibrous at bottom, and. the ridges
 which separate them.  Interior surface uniform, of  fine  and"  straight grain, and of a
 handsome reddish-orange colour.   Transverse fracture more or less cork-like on the out-
 side, according to the thickness of the cellular portion; on the inside very fibrous, with
 long, pliable, stringy fibres, and of a lighter colour than the outer part.   Longitudinal
 fracture presenting numerous splinters with shining points, less marked .than in the
 Calisaya, and medullary rays more numerous and visible.  Taste bitter, quite strong
 and quickly developed in the  middling sized barks, with very perceptible astringency.
 This bark yields from 0-7 to 0-8 per cent, of sulphate of cinchonia', and from 0-3  to 0/4
 of sulphate of quinia."  (Hist. Nat. des Quinquinas, pp. 44, 45.)
   b.  Peruvian Calisaya.   Bark of C. scrobiculata, var. genuina, Weddell.   This is im-
 ported from Lima.  Pereira describes it as occurring in flat pieces, closely resembling
 the genuine Calisaya in colour, for which it is often sold.  They are thicker and denser
 than the last  mentioned variety, from which they also differ in colour.  Externally the
 bark is smoother than the  Calisaya; and the ridges between the  furrows are  more
 rounded.  The fracture is fibrous,  and the taste, in  the larger pieces, less bitter than
 that of Calisaya.  (Mat.  Med., 3d ed., p. 1629.)
   This bark is probably the same with that referred to in the eighth and ninth editions
 of this Dispensatory (p. 236 of the 9th), as having been imported  into the TJ. States
 about the year 1848 ; 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. Villamil, and had  been gathered in the forests of  Huanuco in Peru.
 The pieces are generally without the epidermis, which appears to have separated spon-
 taneously, and, when retained, has the transverse fissures, and longitudinal 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 spiculae which characterize the
 latter, though they are less numerous, and do not so readily penetrate the fingers.  The
 taste is very bitter.   Examined chemically by Professor 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; but  he could  not detect in it a trace
 of quinia.   The only alkaloid it was found  to contain was cinchonia, of which there
 was the large proportion of 2-8 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 Prof.
 Procter in the American Journal of Pharmacy (xix. 178).
  5.  Bark of Cinchona pubescens, var. Pelleteriana of Weddell.   Cusco Bark.  Arica
 Bark.  This was first known in France by the name of Arica bark, from the  port at
which it was shipped; but, both in  French and English commerce, this name has given
way to the more appropriate one of Cusco bark, derived  from  the Peruvian province
in which it is collected. Dr. Pereira says that it was first introduced into Europe in 1829 
246
Cinchona.
PART I.
on the Pacific; but at present it comes only from the latter.  As first announced
in this work, from information derived from merchants long personally engaged
in commercial transactions on the Pacific coast of South America, the bark ia

as yellow or Calisaya bark.  From the statements of Weddell, there seems to be little
doubt that it is the product of the tree referred to at the heading of this  paragraph ;
as specimens collected by himself in the mountains  of Cusco were found identical with
the bark as known in Europe.  The following is his  description condensed.   In the
quilled, the outer coat is thin, very adherent, almost smooth, sometimes with traces of
annular fissures, of a uniform dirty gray colour, or marbled with darker shades. The
proper bark is, without, of an obscure  yellow, sprinkled with little brown spots when
artificially denuded, and marked with some superficial longitudinal wrinkles ; within,
is obscurely yellow and a little reddish, coarsely fibrous, and often rough to the  touch.
The transverse fracture is exteriorly corky and quite short, without a resinous  circle,
and inwardly with a few short thick fibres.   The flat pieces are very dense, and con-
sist about equally of cellular coat and liber.   The  outer surface is smoothish, some-
times slightly wrinkled longitudinally, of an  ochre-yellow more or less brownish, and
frequently marbled with grayish or silvery spots, which are the remains of the epider-
mis.   The inner surface is brownish or reddish, thick, and fibrous.  The transverse
fracture is cork-like outwardly, of %hort woody fibres  inwardly.  A fresh  cut surface
in the same direction  shows  inwardly rows of large  isolated semitranslucent points,
corresponding to the section of the cortical fibres, agglutinated in  bundles.  The longi-
tudinal fracture is almost without splinters.   The epidermis, when it remains  on the
large barks, is thin, unequal, sometimes warty, of an obscure gray, and more or less
brownish or even greenish in some spots.  WThen it has been scraped, the bark some-
times presents deep brown spots, which are the points where prominences in the cellu-
lar coat had raised the epidermis so as to form the little warts referred to.  These are
sometimes decayed, and upon falling leave roundish depressions.  The taste of the
bark is bitter, astringent, and somewhat pungent. (Hist. Nat. des Quinquin., p.  56.)
  Von Bergen says that this bark somewhat resembles the fibrous Carthagena.  Inex-
perienced persons might mistake it for the Calisaya.  Guibourt  says  that it may be
readily distinguished  by a more regularly cylindrical form, its smoother outer surface,
the remains of the white and fungous layer, by its  two  shades  of colour, orange or
brownish externally, and whitish or very pale internally, and by not yielding a preci-
pitate with sulphate of soda.
  Pelletier supposed  that he had found a new alkali in this bark, which he named
aricina; but the substance he obtained is now thought to have been some modification
of one of the other alkaloids.  The chief alkaloid in  the bark is cinchonia.  Frank ob-
tained 48 ounces of it from 100 lbs. of the bark, and only a trace of quinia ; Winkler,
256 grains from  16 ounces of a good specimen, and only 77 grains from the same quan-
tity of an inferior one. Guibourt estimates the proportion at a drachm for every pound,
and observes that the bark is rich in cinchonic red.
  6. Bark of C.  micrantha, var. rotundifolia of Weddell.  As this variety of Cinchona
grows in Bolivia, and  the flat bark derived from  it simulates Calisaya, it is very pro-
bable that its product has been sometimes used to adulterate the latter bark. Weddell
says of it that it has little density,  and consists of the liber alone, or of this and the
cellular coating, which is generally semi-fungous and imperfectly exfoliated.  The  ex-
ternal surface is unequal, presenting superficial concavities similar to those of Calisaya,
and separated by irregular corky eminences, but sometimes though rarely smooth from
the persistence of  the whole cellular coating, and is of  a bright and grayish orange-
yellow. The internal surface is considerably fibrous, of the same colour as the external,
but of a  more  lively  tint.   The transverse fracture is stringy;  the longitudinal but
slightly splintery, and of a dull surface.  The taste is decidedly bitter, and quickly de-
veloped,  a little pungent, scarcely astringent. (Hist. Nat. des Quinquin., p. 53.)
  7. Bark of C. amygdah'folia.   This  species also inhabits  Bolivia, and its bark may
possibly sometimes contaminate  the Calisaya, as it has been largely collected. Pereira
states that it is imported alone or mixed with  other Bolivian barks, both quilled and
fiat.   According to the same author, it is distinguished from the Calisaya  by its light-
ness, its more orange colour, the  presence of the cellular coat in the pieces deprived of
epidermis, the stringy transverse fracture, the splintery longitudinal fracture, the want
of marked annular fissures in the epidermis, and the astringent and but slightly bitter
taste.  Mr. Howard obtained from a portion of the quills 0-7 per cent, of quinidia and
a trace of cinchonia ;  from the flat 0-23 of quinidia  and the same of cinchonia.  (Pe-
reira's Mat. Med., 3d ed., p.  1629.)—Note to the tenth edition. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
247
brought from the interior  to the port of Arica, whence it  is  sent  to various
other ports  on the coast.    The interior commerce in the drug has its  centre
chiefly in the town  of  La Paz.   The trade in this bark has been much dimin-
ished, in  consequence  partly of its greater scarcity, partly  of restrictions by
the  Bolivian government, which issued a decree forbidding the cutting of it
entirely for three years, from the first of January, 1851.
   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 of quinaquina, which,  though supposed by that travel-
ler to have been derived from the Peruvian balsam tree, was very probably, as
conjectured by  Guibourt, the true  cinchona.   Besides, Pomet,  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.*

   Yellow Bark of Guayaquil.  Under this name MM. Delondre and Bouchardat de-
scribe a bark, occurring  in very long rolls, of a colour like that of Chinese cinnamon,
with the outer surface marked  by rather close  but  shallow longitudinal furrows,  with
traces of a very thin, white epidermis ; the inner surface browner, uniform, and com-
pact ; the  fracture resinous exteriorly, and shortly fibrous interiorly.  The bitterness
is strong, without astringency.  Delondre obtained from it 3-0 per cent, of sulphate of
cinchonia, and 0*3 to  0-4 of sulphate of quinia.  (Quinologie,p. 32.)  This bark is scarce
in commerce; but we have been told that portions  have recently been brought from
Guayaquil, across the Isthmus of Panama.  It will be very valuable, should cinchonia
come, as it ought to do, into general use.—Note to the eleventh edition.
   A. false bark has been  sometimes mixed with the genuine Calisaya, which  it resem-
bles so closely as not to be easily distinguished by  the eye.  According to Weddell, it
is the bark of Gomphosia chloraniha, a lofty tree, growing in the  same forests where
the C. Calisaya is found.  It is distinguished by a peculiar odour, and by exhibiting
in its transverse section, under the microscope, " a peculiar fasciculate disposition of
the cortical fibres, and some  vessels gorged with a  ruby coloured  juice."  It does not
contain a particle of  alkaloid, but yields a volatile oil on which  its odour depends.
(Howard, Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiv. 318.)—Note to the eleventh edition.
  * The great value of Calisaya bark will justify us in giving  a  brief account of its
mode of collection, as described by Weddell from personal observation.  The tree pro-
ducing it grows in the Bolivian  provinces Ehquisivi, Yungos, Larecaja, and Caupolican.
At present it is necessary to travel for eight or ten days from  the nearest inhabited
place, in order to reach the forests where it is found of a size and in numbers which
will repay the trouble of gathering the bark.   The  Cascarilleros are persons educated
from infancy to the business.  Several of them are engaged in the service of a mer-
chant or small company, by  whom  they are sent,  at  any period  of  the year except
during the rains, upon an expedition under the  charge of a leader called a Mayerdomo.
Having previously received information which  governs the direction of their journey,
they proceed  to  the vicinity  of their intended  operations, and establish a camp  in a
convenient position.  Henceforward the neighbourhood is considered as belonging ex-
clusively to the party, and no  other bark-gatherers pretend  to interfere.  From the
camp the Cascarilleros are despatched, singly or in small bands, in different directions
into the forests, through which they have to make  their way, often with great labour
and fatigue.   Each man carries with him provisions for a long absence.  The trees do
not form forests of themselves, but are scattered singly or in groups more or less close.
From some convenient point  of view the explorer  scans the top  of the forest,  and is
able to recognise, at a great  distance, from the peculiarity of its aspect, not  only one
of the Cinchonas, but the particular species of which he is in search.  Sometimes he 
248
Cinchona.
PART I.
                                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, in relation to the true red bark, 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 greatly in size, the  quill  being sometimes less  than half an
inch in diameter, sometimes as 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 fur-
rows, which in some places penetrate to the surface  of the proper bark.   In
many specimens, numerous small roundish or oblong eminences, 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 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.

is directed by the appearance of the dry leaves upon  the  ground.  Having found a
suitable tree, he first fells it, cutting  as near  the soil  as possible, then  tops off the
branches, and detaches by blows with a wooden mallet, or  the back of his axe, the
outer  or dead layers  of the bark, which easily separate.  He next makes incisions
through the bark, so as to isolate pieces usually fifteen or twenty inches long by three
or four broad, which he removes  by means  of a knife or other instrument.   The
branches are decorticated without separating the epidermis.  The pieces obtained from
these  are simply allowed to dry in the sun, and, rolling themselves up, form the quilled
variety.  The pieces from the trunk are disposed in square piles, one being placed over
the other, and the whole kept down by some heavy body.   They are thus  prevented
from rolling as they dry.  When sufficiently dried they are carried to the camp on the
back of the gatherer, who often consumes several days in his returning journey, and
undergoes incredible fatigue.  At the camp, the bark  is assorted, and  the portion
deemed fit for commerce is sent to the town, on the backs of men or of mules, where it is
packed in bales or seroons, covered with fresh hides.   The most wasteful  methods of
collecting the bark prevail, the only object being present convenience.  Not only is
the tree felled, but the bark is frequently removed from the stump down into the very
earth, so as to prevent the  growth of sprouts, which would  otherwise spring up from
the old roots, and in the course of time afford another crop.—Note to the ninth edition.
  * The red bark is described by Von Bergen under the name of China rubra, or rothe
China.  1 he following is an abstract of his description.  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 furrows, often elevate  them-
selves 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 
PART I.
Cinchona.
249
   The species of Cinchona which produces  red bark has been  unknown until
 very recently.  The notion derived from  Mutis, and formerly generally preva-
 lent, that it was obtained from  the C. oblongifolia of that botanist, was long
 since demonstrated to be  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 or the trunk.  This
 opinion received 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  vir-
 tue,  and was obtained from a tree entirely distinct from that which yielded the
 two  other varieties.   The red was superior to the yellow;  but he was assured,

 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
 pieees, 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.  The fracture ex-
 hibits the different colours of the  epidermis, the inner bark, and a resinous layer be-
 tween 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 pieces.  The fracture of the  epi-
 dermis, 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 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 Pfaff, give as
 an average product 1-7 per cent, of  pure cinchonia, and 0-44 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 1-21 per  cent, of the former, and 1-33 of the latter.  Pelletier
 and Caventou obtained 0-8 per cent, of cinchonia, and 1-7 of quinia. ( Geiger.)   Dr. E.
 Riegel, of Carlsruhe, obtained from  one specimen of the best red bark 4-16 per cent, of
 alkaloids  (2-65 of quinia and  1-51 of cinchonia), and from another 3-85 per cent. (See
 Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii. 250.)  Delondre obtained from the genuine red bark,
 "bright red," 2-0 to 2-5 per cent, of sulphate of quinia, and 1-0  to 1-2 of sulphate of
 cinchonia; from the "pale red" 1*5 to 1-8 of the former, and 0-5 to 0-6 of the latter.
 ( Quinologie, p. 30.) It appears, therefore, that the proportion of the alkalies is exceed-
 ingly different in different specimens ; and it is highly probable that some of the barks
 experimented upon were inferior red barks, not properly belonging to this variety. The
 degree of bitterness is, perhaps, the best criterion of their efficacy.
   Guibourt divides the  red bark into two principal 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 four other
 red barks ; 1. Rouge orange verruqueux, differing from the true  warty kind by its more
 orange colour, its very thin epidermis, its finer fibres, and the less thickness of  the
 large  barks ; 2. Rouge blanchissant a Pair, characterized by the whitening  of its frac-
 ture in the air, and by its little bitterness ; 3. Rouge de Lima, with a whitish epider-
 mis, an ochreous reddish liber, and of excellent qualities (see Fine Gray Bark, p. 239) ;
 and 4. Rouge pdle a surface blanche, resembling  the first of these varieties, but dis-
tinguishable by its whiter  epidermis, and generally lighter colour.  Under the same
head maybe ranked his  quinquina deJaen ou de Loxa rougedtre, which has a dark-gray
epidermis, and a uniform fibrous proper bark, reddish or deep-brown, and of  a very
astringent taste with little bitterness.—Note to the second, fourth, and ninth 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 Cuenga, has a thick epidermis like that of the
ordinary red barks, is of a very deep dark-red  colour, and possesses little bitterness. 
250
Cinchona.
PART I.
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
Condamine, 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 Pharmacopoeias, 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.  Weddell seems to be of this opinion; as he observes that
the pale barks are almost constantly nothing else than the young barks of the
same  trees which yield the  yellow and red barks.   Recently, it has been rendered
extremely probable by Mr. Howard, that the genuine red bark is derived from
the trunk and larger branches of the Cinchona ovata, var. erythroderma of
Weddell, growing on  the  western slopes of the mountains Assuay and Chim-
borazo, eastward of Guayaquil, in  about 2° of south  latitude: (See Pharm.
Journ. and Trans., xvi. 207.)

                 NON-OFFICINAL OR  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 Pitaya, Bogota, Carthagena, Maracaybo, and Santa  3Iartha barks, ac-
cording to the place in the vicinity of which they are collected, or the particu-
lar port at which they may be  shipped.   Formerly these barks were for the
most part of inferior quality,  and were therefore not recognised in the Phar-
macopoeias; but the deficient supply and consequent high price of Calisaya have
directed enterprise into other quarters; and within a few years large quantities
of very good bark have been imported from New Granada, derived chiefly from
the neighbourhood of Bogota and Popayan, and brought down the river Mag-
dalena.  Since the completion of the  rail-road  across the Isthmus of Panama,
considerable quantities have been brought to us by that route,  being  shipped
from'the port of Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast.  There can be little doubt
that the commerce in these barks will continue and increase; as some of them
are inferior in  their  yield of alkaloids only to the Calisaya, if even  to  that
variety, and the region from which they are procured is  almost virgin soil.  It
has appeared to us, from  an examination of such of them as have come under
our notice, that they may all, at least with one exception, be referred without
violence to some one or  another of the varieties of Carthagena bark already
recognised: but these better kinds formerly seldom reached the market;  because,
•partaking of the general  reputation  of the inferior  barks  from the same re-
gion, it was feared that they might not pay the cost of importation.   Most of
the Carthagena barks are characterized by 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 suffi-
cient  to indicate its character.  Those of  them which may, in  other respects,
bear some resemblance to Calisaya, are in  general readily distinguishable by this
character of the epidermis  when  it  remains, and, when  it is wanting, by the
peculiar appearance of the outer surface, showing that the exterior coating has
been scraped off, or shaved off with a knife.  They all contain the alkaloids in
greater or less proportion, though they differ much  in this respect. In reference
to the relative proportion of the different alkaloids, they have nothing in com-
 mon, except perhaps that they yield proportionally more cinchonia, cincho-
 nidia, and quinidia than the Calisaya, resembling,  in this respect, the  pale and
 red barks.   Inferior barks, with the white micaceous  epidermis, are found on
 the western coast of South America, where they are known  as white barks;
 but  they seldom reach us.   In the state of powder, the inferior Carthagena 
 part I.                        Cinchona.                             251

 barks were formerly, and are still to a certain extent, kept in the shops, and
 sold for tooth-powder, &c, under the name of common bark.   They have not
 unfrequently been substituted, either fraudulently or by mistake, for the better
 kinds.
    The Carthagena barks were formerly classified, according to their colour, into
 the yellow, orange, red,  and brown; but this mode of distinction must now be
 abandoned; for these varieties of colour may be  found  in barks identical  in
 other respects, and derived from the same species of Cinchona.  The well cha-  '
 racterized Carthagena barks may all be referred to one of  the three following
 varieties.
    1.  Hard Carthagena Bark.  Hard yellow Carthagena Bark.   Yellow Bark
 of Santa Fe.  Common  yellow Carthagena Bark. — China jiava dura. Von
 Bergen.— Quinquina de Garthagene jaune pale.  Guibourt.   This 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 dry-
 ing, being  frequently curved  longitudinally backward, and sometimes also  in
 the transverse direction or spirally.   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 and
 rarely fifteen inches long.  The flat pieces are thicker, from  half an inch  to
 two inches broad, and from four to eight and sometimes twelve  inches in length.
 As found in this market, the bark is sometimes in  small,  irregularly square  or
 oblong, flattish,  and variously warped pieces, from  one to  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 some former editions of this work, as  a distinct variety, under the
 name of Santa 3Iartha bark, which it at one time held in  the market; but a
 closer examination has convinced us that it is the same bark as the one above
 described, though collected in a different manner.  The quills are generally more
 covered with the white 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.  The colour
 of the proper bark is a pale, dull, brownish-yellow, darker in parcels which have
 been long kept;  and the surface 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 now universally ascribed to C. cordifolia.*

   * We introduce, in the form of a note, more detailed and precise information on the
 subject of the Carthagena barks than our space allows  in  the .text; because, in the
 present condition of  the manufacture of the cinchona alkaloids, it is important to be
 able to distinguish the several varieties, and  estimate their value.
   Hard Carthagena Bark.   The following is  a somewhat precise description of this
 variety, taken from Von Bergen.  The account of  the dimensions and shape of the
 pieces, given in the text, is  sufficiently particular.   The epidermis is in many pieces
 partially or almost wholly wanting.  The outer surface is on the whole rather smooth,
 though it usually exhibits 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 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 want-
 ing, the colour is between a  dark cinnamon and brownish-yellow.   These shades, how-
 ever, are seldom clear, and the flat pieces have usually a somewhat dusty aspect.  The
 inner surface of the quills is tolerably uniform, 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 cin-
namon 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. 
252                            Cinchona.                         part i.

  2. Fibrous Carthagena Bark.  Fibrous Yellow  Carthagena Bark. Spongy
Carthagena  Bark.   Bogota  Bark.  Coquetta  Bark. — Quina naranjonda.
Mutis. — Quinquina orange. Humboldt. — China filava fibrosa. Von Bergen.
—Quinquina Carthagene  spongieux.  Guibourt.   This is in  quills or( half-
quills, or is slightly rolled; and there are comparatively few pieces which are
quite flat, even among the largest barks.  The quills are from half an inch to an
inch and a half in diameter, and of extremely variable length, with a yellowish-
brown epidermis, often covered with crustaceous  lichens  so  as to  render the
surface of the bark whitish and smooth, and  exhibiting not unfrequently longi-
tudinal  and  transverse fissures.   The larger barks, which are much  the most
frequent in commerce, are usually from six to twelve inches  long, from one
to two inches broad, and from  two to five lines in thickness;  but  they often
vary much from these dimensions, being sometimes in the smallest fragments,
and sometimes forming semi-cylinders four or five inches in diameter, a foot and
a half long, and nine  inches thick.  They are usually without epidermis, which
has been scraped off,  or pared off with a knife, having the surface smooth and
uniform in the former case, and somewhat angular in  the  latter.  Sometimes,
however, the epidermis either partially or wholly remains, when it  generally
exhibits the whitish micaceous surface characteristic of most of the Carthagena
barks.   The bark is very fibrous, presenting generally,  when  broken, long,
sometimes stringy splinters, though the outer edge of the fracture is occasion-
ally short from the cellular, or remains of the suberous  coat.   Its  texture is
loose, soft, and spongy under the teeth, and the  bark itself is usually light.
The colour both of the trimmed outer surface, and the inner, and of the hark
itself, varies  from an ochreous or light  brownish-yellow,  to  orange, and red;
but, for the most part, it presents more  or less of the orange tint,  which in-
duced Mutis to give it the title of orange bark.   The  red colour is found espe-
cially in the  largest  barks.   The  larger pieces  are sometimes  marked on the
outside with a deep spiral impression, produced  probably by a  climbing plant
winding around the stem  of the tree.  The colour of  the  powder is yellowish,
with not unfrequently an  orange tint.   The  taste  is more or less bitter;  but
varies in this respect  extremely; some barks being  almost  insipid, while others
have a very decided taste.   There can be little doubt  that these barks are all
derived from the Cinchona lancifolia of Mutis.   It  is asserted that the red
variety of  the bark is obtained from trees which  grow side by side with those
which yield the yellow or orange.
  The productiveness of the fibrous bark in  alkaloids varies greatly in the dif-
ferent specimens.  Thus,  while some  have scarcely yielded any product,  others
have been  found to afford more  than three per cent.   They probably contain
all  the  cinchona alkaloids ; but  some have been found more abundant in  one,
and others in another.   Thus, the red is said to be especially rich in quinidia
(or  cinchonidia) ; a  Pitaya bark, which we believe to belong  to the fibrous
Carthagena, has yielded a very large product of  quinia; while, in  not a few*.
specimens which have been examined, the cinchonia predominates. (Am. Journ,
of  Pharm.,  xxv.  308.)   It is probable that the  richness in these  principles
depends in some ■ degree on the natural position of the plants;  those growing
in low situations being less productive than  those higher on the mountains.

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  astringent and bitter, but not
strongly so.  The powder is of the colour of cinnamon.   This bark yielded, according
to Von Bergen, on an average of two experiments, 0-57 per cent, of cinchonia, and 0-33
of sulphate of quinia.  Goebel and Kirst found in a pound 56 grains  of quinia and 43
of cinchonia.   Dr. Pereira states that it contains quinidia (cinchonidia). 
PART T.
Cinchona.
253
   A specimen labelled yellow bark of Loxa, brought from  South America
 several years since by Dr. Dillard, of the U. S. Navy, and said to  be used in
 Loxa for making extract of bark, presents characters closely analogous to those
 of fibrous Carthagena bark, and sufficient to justify the supposition that it was
 derived from the same species of Cinchona;  and we have seen a specimen  sent
 hither from Guayaquil, which has the same character, and is sufficiently rich in
 alkaloids to be worked with advantage.*

   * Fibrous Carthagena Bark.   The following is an abbreviation of Von Bergen's de-
 scription of this variety.  In shape and dimensions, it does not materially differ from
 the preceding ; but the flatter pieces are almost  always a little rolled, or  curved late-
 rally.   The epidermis is in general either in part or wholly rubbed  off.   When it is
 present, the outer surface is nearly smooth, only marked here and there with faint,
 irregular 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 almost always the case in the flat pieces, the colour is a nearly pure
 ochre yellow.  Where the whole thickness  of the  outer coat is wanting, as happens
 here and there in  spots, the surface is dark cinnamon, or dark ochre yellow, and com-
 monly dull or powdery.   The  inner  surface is usually even, but sometimes irregular
 and splintery, and always 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 pow-
 dery.  The fracture distinguishes this variety from the preceding, and from all others.
 The longitudinal fracture is strikingly fibrous, and in the flat pieces the fragments still
 hang together  by connecting fibres.   The bark, moreover, breaks obliquely, and  the
 fracture even of the outer coat, 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  highest  product  of this bark in alkaloids
 was about 0-59 per cent,  of cinchonia, and 0-52 of sulphate of quinia.
 _ The above description does  not embrace all the varieties of this bark which have
 since been introduced into commerce ; nor does it by any means represent the finest
 specimens. The highly fibrous character of the bark, its looseness of texture, relative light-
 ness, and sponginess under the teeth, are properties  common to all the specimens;  but in
 appearance and virtues they vary considerably;  so much so, indeed, that it is' only of
 late that they have been united under one name, and traced to one source.
   In the edition of this work for 1843, we described a kind of bark of which large
 quantities had then  recently been imported  in a vessel from Maracaybo, and which,
 from its possession in a high degree of the properties just referred to, we were disposed
 to rank with this variety; and subsequent observation has tended to prove the correct-
 ness_ of this reference.  In general aspect it bore some resemblance to the flat Calisaya,
 particularly in the appearance of its inner surface;  but it differed in being thicker,
 less hard, compact, and heavy, and much more fibrous, and especially  in the character
 of its outer surface, which had the appearance as though the exterior coating had been
 removed by scraping or cutting with a knife, and not spontaneously separated at the
 natural juncture, as in the Calisaya.   The pieces were considerably larger than those
 we had previously seen of the fibrous Carthagena, and differed  somewhat in colour,
 having much more of the orange tint, especially in the  outer portion, where  it  was
 decidedly reddish in some of the pieces.  Though less bitter than the Calisaya,  and
 without the property of precipitating sulphate of soda, it nevertheless had a decided
 bitterness ; and its infusion afforded a copious precipitate with infusion of galls, indi-
 cating the presence of no inconsiderable portion of the alkaline principles.
  Recently we have had  opportunities, through  the kindness  of Messrs. Powers &
 Weightman, of  examining several varieties of the fibrous bark brought from Bogota
 and Popayan, which have proved of great value as sources of the cinchona alkaloids,
 and which we propose briefly to describe, in connexion with a statement, derived from
 the same highly respectable source, of their yield of these valuable principles.
  Bogota Bark. Fusagasuga Bark.  Coquetta Bark. The first of these names is derived
 from the entrepot of  the trade  in this bark; the  second, from  the particular district
where it is collected.  Of the origin of the third, by which it is known in English com-
merce, we are not informed.  The bark is in pieces of various lengths, often exceeding
a foot, sometimes nearly flat, but generally more or less rolled, and occasionally forming 
254
Cinchona.
PART I.
  3. Hard Pitaya Bark.—Pitaya Condaminea Bark. Pereira.—Quinquina
brun de Garthagene.  Quinquina Pitaya, ou de la Colombia, ou d'Antioquia.
Guibourt.   This bark,  though seen by Guibourt so  long since as 1830, has
but recently become generally known.  Much  of it has, within a short time,
been imported into Philadelphia, coming  sometimes through Carthagena, and
sometimes over the Isthmus of Panama, whither it is brought from Buenaven-
tura.   The following description is drawn from  an examination of the bark con-
tained in several seroons that  have come under our notice.  It is in small irregu-
lar pieces, from less than an  inch to about four inches long, which are obviously
the fragments of larger pieces both quilled and. flat.    Dr. Pereira  states that
he had pieces more than a foot in length.   In thickness it varies from less than
a line to four or five lines.  Most of the fragments are covered with the whitish,
soft epidermis, characteristic of the Carthagena barks ; but some of them have
a dark-brown epidermis, rugose with innumerable cracks in all directions; and
others are partially or wholly destitute of the outer covering, presenting gene-

semi-cylinders more than an inch in diameter.  It is often either partially or wholly
covered with the whitish, soft, micaceous epidermis characteristic of Carthagena barks.
In other instances this has been removed by scraping, or sometimes by chipping, and
the deep strokes of the knife or hatchet are not unfrequently observable   The pieces
are  often of considerable  thickness,  usually  rather firm,  though  very fibrous, and
spongy under  the teeth.   The colour is  brownish-yellow  with a tinge of red.  Mr.
Weightman obtained from it from 1 to l*3«per  cent, of sulphate of quinia, and from
0-3 to 0-4 per cent, of sulphate of cinchonia.   An inferior variety of Bogota bark, not
designated as Fusagasuga, yielded him only 0-4 of sulphate of quinia.  In the Am.
Journ.  of Pharm. (xxv. 308), is  a statement of results obtained in the examination of
the Bogota (Fusagasuga) bark, which were, on the average of four specimens, 0-95 per
cent, of cinchonia or quinidia  or both, 1-45 of sulphate of quinia (equivalent to about
1-09 of the uncombined alkaloid), and 1-0 of extractive residue, which is presumed to
consist mainly of amorphous  quinia; so that the  whole  of the alkaline ingredients
amounted to about 3-04 per cent.
  Soft Pitaya Bark.  Calisaya of New Granada (Delondre and Bouchardat, Quinologie,
p. 33).  This, though said to be  brought from  the Pitaya mountain near Popayan, is
wholly different from the hard Pitaya described in the text as one of the varieties of
Carthagena bark.  It is imported from Carthagena, whither it is brought down the
Magdalena river, and from the Pacific port of  Buenaventura, whence it is sent to us
by the Isthmus of Panama.  From the specimens we have seen of the soft Pitaya, we
have no hesitation in classing it with the fibrous Carthagena  barks, though superior
to the others, probably in consequence of the more elevated site  of its growth.  It comes
broken up into small irregular fragments of larger pieces, either quilled, partially
rolled, or flat.   Few of the fragments exceed four inches in length, and many are very
minute.  Indeed, in some of the seroons, much of their contents seems to be almost in
the state of a very coarse powder.  This condition of the bark no doubt depends partly
on its  great fragility; but it is  probable that it .is purposely broken up for the con-
venience of close package in the hide seroons. The fragments are almost all destitute
of epidermis, but, when portions  of it remain, it has the usual whitish, soft, micaceous
character common to all these barks.  The outer surface, which consists of a thin sub-
epidermic suberous layer, is  remarkably uniform and smooth,  apparently from  the
careful scraping to which it has been subjected.  By far the greater  part of the bark
consists of the liber, which is  highly fibrous, though very soft, easily broken, and
yielding with great facility under the teeth.   The  colour is  externally and internally
a uniform  fine brownish-yellow, with an orange tint, and is  brighter than in most
others of the  analogous barks.   The taste is very bitter.   Mr. Weightman obtained
from ordinary specimens of this bark 2-0 per cent, of sulphate of quinia, and 0-05 of
sulphate of cinchonia;  from a very fine specimen, 3-0 per cent, of the former, and but
a trace of  the latter.  It is,  therefore, one of the most valuable  varieties  of bark,
scarcely yielding m productiveness to Calisaya.  The results stated in the Am. Journ.
of Pharm. (xxv. 308) even exceed these.  The  average yield of four different speci-
mens,  including the uncrystallizable product, was 4-42 of alkaloids, probably in the
state of sulphates, and, without  the uncrystallizable matter, about 3-4 per cent.—Note
to the tenth and eleventh  editions. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
255
rally, in the denuded part, a dark uniform or somewhat wrinkled surface.  The
inner surface is  finely and compactly fibrous, and  of a dull yellowish-brown
colour with a reddish tinge;  and the whole of the liber or  true bark has  the
same colour and texture.  But outside of the liber there is in many pieces a very
distinct resinous  layer, which is sometimes of considerable thickness, and, when
cut across by  a  knife, exhibits a  dark reddish-brown shining surface.   The
resinous layer is  the most striking peculiarity of the bark, though not present
in all of the pieces,  which sometimes  consist of the liber alone.   The fracture
is towards the interior shortly fibrous, towards the exterior often smooth, in
consequence of the layer just referred to.   The whole bark  is rather hard, com-
pact,  and heavy;  differing in this respect very decidedly from the last mentioned
variety.   It has  more resemblance to the hard Carthagena, from which, how-
ever, it differs by its deeper and redder colour,  its much more developed resinous
coat,  and its occasional grater-like epidermis.   The taste is very bitter, and  the
yield  in alkaloids considerable.   Mr. Weightman informed us that he had  ob-
tained from it an average product  of 1*6 per cent, of sulphate of quinia, and
0-34  of sulphate of cinchonia, independently of  the amorphous or uncrystalli-
zable alkaline matter.  It must, therefore, be  ranked among the efficient barks,
though not so productive as the fine variety of fibrous bark denominated soft
Pitaya.   It contains also a large proportion of resin.
   This bark comes from the mountain of Pitaya near Popayan,  and the par-
ticular seroons examined by ourselves were said to have been brought down  the
Magdalena river from the  town of Honda.  It is referred by Dr. Pereira and
Mr.  Howard to  the Cinchona  Condaminea,  var.  Pitayensis of Weddell,  of
which that author has more  recently made a distinct  species,  under the  name
of Cinchona Pitayensis.  (Ann. des Sci. Nat, May,  1849.)*

                               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

  * Hard Pitaya Bark. The following is Guibourt's description  of this bark.  " In the
young barks, the crust is fine, whitish externally, fissured, almost like the young red
Lima  bark.  In the large barks, and in the  parts not worn by rubbing, the crust is
always whitish exteriorly, but interiorly it is rust-coloured and fungous.  The liber
presents a very fine fibrous texture, joined to a considerable density and hardness ;  the
internal surface is  smooth and reddish ; its taste is very bitter and disagreeable, and
its watery infusion strongly precipitates with  sulphate  of soda. ■ It yields largely of
the alkalies, but proportionally more cinchonia than quinia."  Guibourt obtained 2-3
per cent, of crystallized cinchonia, and 1-15 of sulphate of quinia ;  or about 3-16  per
cent,  of pure alkaloids. (Hist. Nat..des Drogues, 3eme ed. iii. 141.)
   Under the title of Pitaya Condaminea bark, Pereira describes this variety as follows.
" Bark consisting of single or double quills, or half-rolled pieces.  I have specimens
which are more than a foot in length.  Some  samples, however, which I have received,
consist of pieces not more than two or three inches in length, sometimes entirely, at
others only partially coated; the partially coated pieces consist of the  suberous and
cellular coats and  liber.  Epidermis, when present, dark brown, frequently coated by
crustaceous lichens, marked by numerous, closely set, transverse cracks, with promi-
nent or slightly everted borders, which give the bark a grater-like feel;  and here and
there presenting round or oval warts or fungoid rusty tubercles, varying in size from
a grain of wheat to a seed of  coffee, and usually marked like the  latter with a longi-
tudinal, sometimes also with a transverse fissure.   The  suberous coat in some pieces
much developed, spongy or fungous, fawn-yellow, sometimes brown in the interior,
and yellow externally and internally.  Resinous tissue on the inside of the suberous
coat, from which it is definitely separated, shining, of a  dark reddish colour.   Liber
gradually  passing  into the  resinous coat, hard, dense, dark, reddish-brown:  cortical
fibres  small and short. Pitaya-Condaminea bark is firm and heavy, and has a very bit-
ter, rather disagreeable taste, which is slowly developed."   It contains cinchonia, qui-
nidia (cinchonidia), and quinia. (Mat. Med., 3d ed. p. 164d.)—Note to the tenth edition. 
256
Cinchona.
PART I.
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 com-
position and medical virtues.   These barks are generally procured from trees
formerly ranked  among the Cinchonas, but  now arranged in  other genera.
They are distinguished from the true Peruvian bark by the absence of its pecu-
liar  alkaloids.  Among them are 1. a  bark known  to the French pharma-
ceutists by the  name of  quinquina nova or new bark, which, though at one
time thought to be possessed of some virtues, has  been proved to be  worthless,
and was ascertained by Guibourt to be the produce of the C. oblongifolia of
Mutis, now ranked in Weddell's  genus Cascarilla;*  2. the Caribsean bark,
from Exostemma  Caribaea;  3. the St.  Lucia bark, or quinquina piton of the
French, derived from Exostemma  floribunda;  and 4.  a bark of uncertain bo-
tanical  origin,  called in  France quinquina bicolore, and in Italy china bicolo-
rata, and sometimes erroneously named Pitaya bark.    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 portion reached  this city.  The specimen
in our possession is in quills, for the most part singly, but in some instances
doubly rolled, from  eight  or 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  the name of bicolorata.
The colour  of the  internal surface is deep brown or almost blackish; that of
the fresh fracture, brownish-red.   The bark is hard, compact, and thin, seldom
as much as  a line in thickness, and breaks with a short rough fracture.   It is
inodorous, and has a very bitter taste, not unlike  that of some of the inferior
kinds of cinchona, f

                            Chemical History.

  In the analysis of Peruvian bark, the  attention of  chemists was  at first di-
rected exclusively to the action of water and alcohol upon  it, and to the deter-

  * This was formerly called red Carthagena bark, but must not be  confounded with
the genuine red Carthagena  bark, which belongs to the fibrous Carthagena, and has
been already noticed.  As described  by Guibourt, it is  in pieces a foot or more long,
rolled when small, open or nearly flat when larger, in general perfectly cylindrical, with
a whitish, thin, uniform epidermis, showing scarcely any cryptogamia, and but a few
transverse fissures which are sometimes entirely wanting; one to three lines thick with-
out 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 between 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  of the pale barks.  The
powder is fibrous and decidedly red.   It contains neither  quinia nor cinchonia.  Its
most interesting constituents are a peculiar tannic acid, kinic acid, kinovic acid dis-
covered by Winckler, and a peculiar  red colouring matter called kinovic red.  (Hlasi-
wetz, Chem.  Gaz., ix. 421  and 441.)
  f In previous editions of this work, it was stated that this bark had been employed in
Italy successfully in intermittents; and that Folchi and Peretti  had discovered in it a
new alkali, which they named pitayna. But there is reason to believe that this was a mis-
take, caused by the confused use of the name Pitaya bark; and that the bark employed in
Italy, and analyzed by the chemists mentioned, was that described as hard pitaya in a
preceding page.   It is conjectured that the alkaloid pitayna  may have  been either
quinidia or cinchonidia, or a mixture of the two.—Note to the tenth and,eleventh editions.
* 
part I.                        Cinchona.                            257

miuation of-the relative proportions of its gummy or extractive and resinous
matter.  The presence of tannin and of various  alkaline or earthy salts in
minute quantities was afterwards demonstrated.  Fourcroy made an elaborate
analysis, which proved the existence of other principles in the bark besides those
previously ascertained.   Dr. Westring was the first who attempted the dis-
covery of an active principle in the bark, on which its febrifuge virtues might
depend; but he was not successful.  Seguin afterwards pursued the same track,
and endeavoured, by observing the effects of various  reagents, to discover the
relative value of different varieties of  the drug; but his conclusions 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 Vau-
quelin 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, and arrived at the conclusion that those barks were 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 subsequently dis-
covered. The first step, however, towards the discovery of cinchonia and quinia
appears to have been taken  by the late Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh,  so early as
1803.   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, instituted
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. Dun-
can.  It was obtained by the action of potassa upon an aqueous infusion of the
alcoholic extract of  the bark, and was undoubtedly the  principle now univer-
sally 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. Lau-
bert afterwards obtained  the same principle by a different process, and described
it under the name of white matter, or pure white resin.  To Pelletier and Caven-
tou was  reserved the honour of  crowning all these  experiments, and applying
the  results which  they obtained to important  practical  purposes.   In 1820,-
they demonstrated the alkaline character of the principle discovered by Gomez
and Laubert, and gave it definitively the name of cinchonine.   They discovered
in the  yellow or Calisaya bark another alkaline principle which they denomi-
nated quinine.   Both these  bases they proved to exist in the barks, combined
with the kinic acid,  in the state of kinate of cinchonine and of quinine.   It
was, moreover, established by their labours, that the febrifuge property of bark
depends upon the presence of these two principles.   In 1833, MM. O. Henry
and  Delondre discovered a new alkaloid, but afterwards, finding its composi-
tion  in its anhydrous state the same as that of  quinia, concluded that it was a
hydrate of that base.   About 1844, Winckler announced anew the existence  of
the  same principle, which he considered distinct, and named chinidine; and,
under the similar title  of quinidine,  it is now generally admitted to a place
among the cinchona alkaloids.  In 1853, M. Pasteur found that what had been
considered as  quinidine consisted in fact of two  alkaloids, for one of which he
retained the name of quinidine, and called the other cinchonidine; and, on push-
ing his investigations further, he ascertained that no less than six alkaloids may
be obtained from different varieties of Peruvian bark; namely quinine and qui-
nidine isomeric with each other, cinchonine and  cinchonidine also  isomeric,
and two others, derivatives from the preceding through the agency of heat, viz.,
quinicine from quinine, and  cinchonicine from cinchonine, each being  isomeric
       IT 
258
Cinchona.
PART I.
 with the alkaloid from which it is derived. As the termination a or ia has been
 generally adopted by English and American chemists to distinguish the organic
 alkaloids from other organic proximate  principles, the  names of which termi-
 nate in in or ine, the terms quinine and cinchonine of the French writers have
 been changed with us into quinia and cinchonia.   On the same principle, qui-
 nidine,  quinicine, cinchonidine, and cinchonicine, should be called respect-
 ively quinidia,  quinicia, cinchonidia, and cinchonicia.   This method of de-
 signating the vegetable alkaloids is uniformly followed in the  present work.*
   It has before been stated, on more than one occasion, that the  three officinal
 varieties of bark  are distinguished by peculiarities of composition.   We give
 the result of  the  analysis of each variety, as obtained by Pelletier and  Caven-
 tou. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 10.  89.  92.)
   Pale  bark of Loxa contains, 1. a fatty matter; 2. an insoluble  red colouring
 matter;  3. a yellow colouring matter; 4. tannin, or soluble red colouring matter;
 5.  gum; 6.'starch; 1. lignin; 8. kinate of lime;  9. kinate of cinchonia, with
 a very minute proportion of kinate of quinia.
    Yellow Calisaya bark contains the fatty matter, the cinchonic red, the yellow
 colouring matter, tannin, starch, lignin, kinate of lime, and kinate of quinia,
 with a comparaMvely small proportion of kinate of cinchonia.
   Bed 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 as to prevent the full contact of water, or retains these
 alkalies in combination.  (Journ. de Pharm., vii.  105.)
   Besides quinia  and cinchonia, there can be little doubt that two other alka-
 loids, quinidia and cinclvonidia,  as they are denominated in this work, exist
 in Peruvian bark; and it is highly probable that, though found most abundantly
 in the pale, and  some of the Carthagena barks, they are contained at least
 occasionally, to a greater or less extent, in all; while two others, quinicia and
.cinchonicia,  if they do not pre-exist in the barks, result from  the  processes
 employed in the separation of the alkaloids  just mentioned.
   Another bitter principle has been extracted from Calisaya bark by Winckler.
 He named it kinovic  bitter; but, having been found to possess acid properties,
 it is now denominated kinovic acid.  It is thought to exist  in  the  bark in a
 free state. (Schwartz,  Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1852,  p. 194.)
   By the experiments of Henry, jun., and Plisson, it  may be considered as
 established, that the alkaloids of the different varieties of bark are combined at
 the same time with kinic acid, and with one or more of  the colouring matters,

   * Reference has  been made in a note to the discovery by Pelletier and Coriol of 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, crystal-
 lizable, and distinguishable from cinchonia, which it in many respects resembles, by
 exhibiting a green colour under the action of nitric acid, and bv 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 supposed to be  peculiar, and named cinchovatin; but the  same had been obtained
 by Bouchardat, and considered  by him, as well as by Pelletier, to be identical with
 aricina; and Winckler, having extracted a portion from the bark, and examined it with
 great care, coincides in this conclusion.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim.,  3e se'r.,ii. 95 et
 313 ; Central Blatt, A. D. 1844, p. 126.)   Much doubt, however, exists  on the subject
 of this supposed alkaloid, and by Mr. Howard it is thought most probably to have
 been quinidia. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
259
 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.)
 The compounds of quinia, cinchonia, &c. with the colouring matter are  scarcely
 soluble in water, while their kinates' are very soluble.
  _ From these statements it appears that  the three officinal varieties  of bark
 differ little except in the proportion of their  constituents.  All contain quinia
 and cinchonia; the yellow bark most of the  first,  the pale of the second, and
 the red a considerable quantity of both.  All  probably contain, occasionally at
 least, the other characteristic alkaloids.   Gum was found in the pale,  but not
 in the red or yellow.   Kinovic acid, though first discovered in  the yellow, pro-
 bably exists in others.
   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 green-
 ish  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 ether even cold, and saponifiable with the alkalies.
   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 a
 cold solution of potassa or soda, or by ammonia, lime, or baryta, with heat, and
 then precipitated by an acid, it acquires the  property of  forming an insoluble
 compound with  gelatin, and seems to be converted  into tannin.  It is precipi-
 tated by subacetate of lead.  It is most  abundant in the red bark, and least so
 in the pale.  -Berzelius supposed it to be formed from tannin by the  action of
 the  air.   According to Schjvartz it results  from the absorption by the tannin
 of three eqs. of oxygen, and the elimination  of two eqs.  of carbonic acid and
 one  eq. of water. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt,  1852, p. 194.)
   The yellow colouring matter has little taste, is soluble in water, alcohol, and
 ether, precipitates neither  gelatin nor tartar emetic, and  is itself precipitated
 by subacetate of lead.
   The tannic acid, tannin, cincho-tannic acid, or soluble red colouring matter
 of Pelletier and Caventou, has been considered as possessing all the properties
 which characterize 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 pre-
 cipitates 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 tannic acid  of galls,

  * A very careful chemical examination of several varieties of Peruvian bark has
 been made by Dr. E. Reichardt, the results of which are given in a paper, which re-
 ceived a prize from the Philosophical Society of Jena.  The following are the constitu-
ents  of the barks examined.  1.  Organic constituents;  quinia, cinchonia, ammonia,
kinic acid, kinovic acid, cincho-tannic acid, oxalic acid, sugar, wax, cinchonic red,
humic  acid, and cellulose.   2. Inorganic constituents; chloride of potassium, carbo-
nates of potassa, magnesia, and lime, phosphates of lime, alumina, and iron, silicate of
lime, sulphate of lime,  and  oxide  of manganese.  (Chem. Pharm. Cent.  Blatt, Sept.
12, 1855, p. 637.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
260
Cinchona.
part i.
which could not exist in aqueous  solutions containing cinchonia and quinia
without forming insoluble compounds with them.
  But the most interesting and important constituents of Peruvian bark  are
the alkaline  and active principles  quinia, cinchonia, &c,  and the  kinic and
kinovic acids,  with the former of which these  principles are combined.  In re-
lation to these,  therefore, we shall  be more minute in our details.
   Quinia.  As  usually prepared,  quinia is whitish,  rather flocculent, and not
crystalline; but it may with care be crystallized from its alcoholic solution in silky
needles;  and Liebig obtained it from a somewhat ammoniacal watery solution
in the same form.  It is inodorous and very bitter.   At about 300° F. it melts
without chemical change, and on cooling becomes brittle.  It is soluble in about
400 parts of cold and 250 of boiling water, is very soluble in alcohol and ether,
and dissolved by the fixed and volatile oils.  The alcoholic solution is intensely
bitter.   Quinia  is unalterable in the air.   It forms salts with the acids which
readily crystallize.   The tannate, tartrate, and oxalate are  said to be insoluble
or nearly so, but are dissolved by  an excess of acid.   When recently precipi-
tated quinia, diffused in water, is exposed to the action of a stream of carbonic
acid gas, the quinia is dissolved; and, if the solution be exposed,  acicular crys-
tals of carbonate of quinia are deposited, which effloresce in the air, are soluble
in alcohol, but insoluble in ether, have an alkaline reaction, and effervesce with
acids.  After the deposition of the crystals has ceased, the solution yields quinia
on evaporation.  (Langlois,  Comptes Bendus,  Nov. 1, 1853, p.  127.)
   Quinia and its salts  may be distinguished from all other vegetable alkalies
and their salts, 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.  The
least quantity of quinia may be detected by powdering the substance supposed
to contain it, then shaking it with ether, and  adding successively the tests just
mentioned.   Its salts are precipitated by the bichlorides of mercury and plati-
num, and of a buff colour by the terchloride of gold.
   The composition of quinia is differently given.  According to Liebig, it consists
of one eq. of nitrogen, twenty of carbon, twelve of hydrogen, and two of oxygen
(NC30H12O2), and its combining number is 162.  This  formula is based on the
supposition that, of the two salts which quinia forms with most acids, the one
containing the smallest proportion of acid  is a di-salt, consisting of two eqs.
of base and one of  acid, and the other neutral, consisting  of one eq. of each.
Another view is, that the first of these salts is  neutral, and the second a bi-salt;
and, if this be admitted, the above combining number must be doubled. Upon
the  latter supposition,  the  formula, according to Laurent, is NgCggH^O^ and
the  combining  number 310; according to Regnault and  Strecker,  the former
is N2C40HatO4 and the latter 324, being just double the number of Liebig, and
probably correct, at  least so far  as concerns the relative proportion of  the
several ingredients.*

   *  Langlois found the carbonate of quinia, deposited from a solution in carbonic acid
water, to contain one eq. of acid and  one of base,  admitting the combining number of
the latter to be  162; and if this  salt be considered neutral, the  result will tend to
confirm the view of Liebig.  ( Comptes Rendus, Nov. 7, 1853, p. 727.)  On the contrary,
Adolphus Strecker, who has made an elaborate analysis  of quinia and its  compounds,
has adopted the  formula N2C40H24O4 (eq. 324), basing his opinion  chiefly on the com-
position of the double chloride of platinum and quinia, and on the fact, that the only
crystallizable nitrate he could obtain coincides with the officinal sulphate, and that in
this compound one eq. of oxide of silver may be made to replace one eq. of water, so as
to form a nitrate of silver and quinia.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvii. 241 and 321.)
To the same point tends the fact, that the officinal sulphate of quinia is the more per-
manent of the two sulphates.  Upon the whole, I am inclined to the view which con-
siders  the formula to be N2C40H24O4, and the combining number 324.—Note to the
eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
261
   There is reason to believe that  quinia may become  uncrystallizable without
 change of composition, and impart to its salts  the  same uncrystallizable cha-
 racter.  In this state it is called  amoiphous quinia.  This  is always among
 the substances left in  the mother  waters after the crystallization of sulphate of
 quinia, in its preparation from Calisaya bark.   More will be said of this under
 sulphate  of quinia in  the second part of this work.
   Quinia  is obtained by treating its sulphate with  the  solution of an alkali,
 collecting the precipitate, 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 suljohate, the  process for
 procuring which, as well as its properties, will be  hereafter described.  The
 muriate and  valerianate have been adopted by the Dublin College, which gives
 processes for their preparation.  (See Quinise Sulphas, &c, among the Prepara-
 tions.) The phosphate, acetate, citrate, lactate, ferrocyanate, and tannate have
 also been employed and recommended; but none  of them has  yet gained admit-
 tance into the Pharmacopoeias, and none probably is  superior to the officinal
 sulphate.   The first four may be prepared by saturating a solution of the acids
 respectively with quinia, and evaporating the solutions.   The ferrocyanate 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, pouring off the liquor
 from & 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 evaporating the solution.  (Am.
 Journ. of Pharm,,  xii. 351.)  M. Pelouze, however, found this preparation to
 be pure quinia,  mixed with a little Prussian blue.  (Archives  Gen., 3e 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.  It  has  the  advantage of
 possessing little taste, while experience has  shown that it is  little if at all in-
 ferior in antiperiodic powers to the  sulphate; but its  amorphous condition ren-
 ders it more liable to adulteration.  Either of these  salts may be given in the
 same dose as the sulphate.  Arsenite  of quinia  has  been recommended by Dr.
 Ringdon, especially 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 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 un-
 crystallizable, 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.)  Antimoniale of quinia has been
 recommended by Dr. La Camera, of Naples,  as a febrifuge, being especially ap-
 plicable to cases of doubtful  periodicity.   It unites, he thinks, the evacuant
 properties  of the antimonials with the antiperiodic property of quinia.  The
 dose is two or three grains,  four times a day. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim.
 Se ser., xxv. 471.)
  Cinchonia, This, when pure, is white, crystallizable from its alcoholic solution
 in four-sided prisms with oblique terminal facets, soluble in 2500 parts of boiling
 water, almost insoluble in cold water, soluble in boiling alcohol which deposits
 a portion  upon cooling, scarcely soluble in ether, and but slightly so in 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 
262
Cinchona.                         part I.
 bitter.  By heat it is melted and partially changed, and. if the heat be cautiously
 increased,  sublimes into a matted tissue of fine crystals, which have  the  same
 formula as the pure alkaloid. (Hlasiwetz, Chem. Gaz., ix. 90.)  Its alkaline
 character is very decided, as it neutralizes the strongest acids.  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 soluble in  hot water, alcohol, or an excess of  acid.   Winckler  has shown
 that cinchonia is rendered uncrystallizable or amorphous  by sulphuric acid in
 excess,  aided by heat; a fact of importance in the  preparation of the  sulphate
 of this alkali. (Chem. Gaz., March 15, 1848.)  Cinchonia is but little  more
 soluble in carbonic acid water than in pure water, and does not, like quinia, yield
 crystals of the carbonate on exposure of its carbonic acid solution. (Comptes
 Bendus, Nov.  7, 1853, p. 727.)
   Several  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  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  made so by con-
 verting 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 deposits the cinchonia in a crystal-
 line form upon cooling.  It may be still further purified by a second  solution
 and crystallization.
   The same remarks in relation to equivalent composition apply to cinchonia,
 as those already made  in reference  to  quinia.  According to the  view which
 considers the salts as basic  and neutral, cinchonia consists  of  one eq. of nitro-
 gen, twenty of carbon, twelve of  hydrogen, and one of oxygen (NC2f) H120);
 and its  combining number is 154.   This is the formula of Liebig.   The other
 view would require these numbers to be doubled ; the formula being N^C^II^O,,,
 and the eq. 30S.
   Exposed to the air,  cinchonia does not suffer decomposition, but  very slowly
 absorbs carbonic acid, and  acquires  the property of effervescing slightly  with
 acids.   It is precipitated of a  sulphur-yellow by the terchloride of gold. Chlo-
 rine water dissolves it or any of its salts without change; but if ammonia be now
 added, a white precipitate is produced.   It is  thus  distinguishable from quinia.
   Sulphate of cinchonia (disulphate of Liebig), the only  salt of this  base
 which has  been employed in a separate state, may be prepared by heating cin-
chonia with a little water, adding dilute sulphuric acid gradually till the alkali
is  dissolved, then boiling with purified  animal charcoal, filtering the  solution
while hot, and setting it aside to crystallize.  By alternate  evaporation and
crystallization, the whole of the sulphate may be  obtained.   The salt is, how-
 ever, most frequently procured from the  mother waters of sulphate of quinia.
It crystallizes in short, oblique, shining prisms with dihedral  summits, which
melt at  212°,  and at a somewhat higher temperature lose their water of  crys-
tallization.  Its  taste is very bitter.   It is soluble in fifty-four parts of water
at common temperatures, and in  a  smaller quantity of boiling water, and is
readily dissolved by alcohol.  It  may be considered  either as  the neutral sul-
phate, consisting of  one eq. of sulphuric acid 40,  one of cinchonia  308, and 2
of water of crystallization 18=366  ; or, according to the view of Liebig, as a
disulphate, consisting of two eqs.  of base 308,  one of acid 40, and two of water. 
PART I.
Cinchona.
263
By the addition of the necessary quantity of acid, it passes into the higher
sulphate (bisulphate,  or neutral  sulphate, according to the view that  may be
adopted), which is soluble in less than half its weight of water at 58°.*
   Quinidia (quinidine) and Cinchonidia (cinchonidine).  It has been already
stated that the substance, at one time  considered as a peculiar alkaloid, and
denominated quinidia or quinidine, has  been ascertained to be generally com-
plex, and to consist of two distinct alkaloids, in variable proportions.   For
one of these, in consequence of its similarity in chemical constitution to quinia,
Pasteur retained  the name of  quinidine (quinidia), while he called the other,
from a similar resemblance  to cinchonia, cinchonidine  (cinchonidia).   It  is
unfortunate that Pasteur's quinidine is the alkaloid which in general constitutes
the smaller proportion of the complex substance formerly so  named; his cin-
chonidine  existing in it much more largely, and  sometimes, there  is  reason to
believe, constituting almost  the whole  of it.   Nevertheless, it is necessary to
adopt the  nomenclature of Pasteur, as corresponding strictly with the chemical
relations of the several  substances concerned.  The student will, therefore, take
care not to confound  the quinidia as formerly described with the pure alkaloid
of the same name, and to recollect that the former substance corresponds more
closely with cinchonidia  (the cinchonidine of Pasteur),  and  sometimes  pro-
bably consists of  it exclusively or nearly so.
   Quinidia (quinidine, Pasteur) is isomeric with quinia, having the constitu-
tion  X,C4nH2!()„  or NC20H13Oa.   It crystallizes readily in  rhombic  prisms,
which contain four eqs. of  water, and effloresce  on exposure to the air.  It
resembles  quinia  not  only in composition, but also in its  chemical relations
with chlorine  and ammonia, being rendered green by the successive action of
those agents.   According to Mr. Herapath, it resembles quinia also in giving
a  fluorescent appearance when dissolved in water, which is not the  case  with
either cinchonia or cinchonidia. (See Am, Journ. of Pharm.,  xxix. 245.)  It
differs, however, in its greater facility of crystallization, in its much less solu-
bility in ether,  and in its influence on polarized light, quinidia producing devia-
tion to the right,  and quinia to the left.   De Vry, of Rotterdam, states, as the
result of his observation, that quinidia (of  Pasteur) forms a salt of very difficult
solubility with hydriodic acid; and,  consequently, when a solution of iodide of
potassium is added to a solution of sulphate  of  quinidia, a white precipitate
takes place.  By this test quinidia may be distinguished from the other cinchona
alkaloids, and  detected when mixed with them in  solution; no  other yielding  a
precipitate  with iodide of potassium. (See  Am, Journ. of Pharm., xxix.  233.)
When the  mixture of  this alkaloid with cinchonidia is exposed to hot air, the

  * Cinchonia, quinia, quinidia,  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. Cerhardt, and which is
also called cincholin.  It has a peculiar odour, not unlike that of the bean of St. Igna-
tius,' and an extremely acrid and bitter taste, is slightly soluble in water, and freely
so in alcohol, ether, and the volatile oils ; forms crystallizable salts with the acids ;
and is characterized 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 s/r.,
ii. 341.)  Dr. A. W. Hoffmann has found that the substance called leucol, existing in
coal-gas naphtha, is identical  with cincholin.  (Chem. Gazette, June, 1845, p. 251.)
More recently Mr. C. Greville Williams has shown that the alkaline matter called cin-
cholin is complex, and that several volatile alkaloids result from the decomposition of
cinchonia by potassa with heat, analogous to those found in coal-gas tar. (Ibid,, Aug.
15,1855, p. 301.  See also Gregory's Chemistry, 4th ed. Lond., p. 400.) Dr. Stenhouse pro-
poses, as a test of the presence of alkaline principles in bark, to macerate with dilute
sulphuric acid, precipitate with solution of carbonate of potassa or soda in excess, and
distil the precipitate with a great excess of caustic potassa or soda.  Cincholin will
distil over in oily drops, recognizable by its peculiar odour and strong alkaline proper-
ties. (Philos. Mag.  xxvi. 199.) 
264
Cinchona.
PART I.
crystals of quinidia effloresce, and may be distinguished from the others by their
opaque whiteness.  For practical purposes this separation is unnecessary;  for
there is probably no appreciable difference in their effects as remedial agents.
   Cinchonidia (cinchonidine, Pasteur) is isomeric with cinchonia, having  the
constitution  N3C40H24O2, or NC20H12O, and agrees also with that alkaloid in
forming anhydrous crystals, and in not producing the green colour with chlo-
rine and ammonia.  It differs in being more soluble in ether, and in producing
deviation to  the left in its influence on  polarized light;  cinchonia  producing
deviation to the right.  (Regnault,  Cours Element, de Chim., 4e ed.,  iv. 314.)
If, on exposure to hot air, white effloresced crystals show themselves, it may be
taken for granted that  there is an admixture of quinidia.
   As the two preceding  alkaloids have not been thoroughly investigated, in
their perfectly  pure and isolated state, in  relation either to  their chemical or
practical relations, it will be proper to state what has been made known of  the
commercial quinidia, in which they are believed to exist, in general, conjointly.
   Commercial quinidia, consisting generally of proper quinidia with a much
larger proportion of cinchonidia, and sometimes,  there is reason to believe,  ex-
clusively, or  nearly so,  of the latter alkaloid, was  carefully examined by H. G.
Leers, from  whose paper,  published  originally in the Ann.  der Chem. und
Pharm. (Mai, 185*2), the following account of its properties has been chiefly
derived.  It  readily crystallizes from  its alcoholic solution,  by spontaneous
evaporation,  in hard, shining, colourless crystals, which are easily pulverized,
and yield a snow-white powder.  They melt without  decomposition or loss of
water at 347° F., and on cooling concrete  into a  grayish-white  crystalline
mass.   At a higher heat they take fire, and  burn with the odour of kinole, and
volatile oil of  bitter almonds.   Their taste  is bitter, but less intensely so than
that of quinia.  Quinidia is soluble, according to Leers, in 2580 parts of water
at 62°, and in 1858 parts at 212°, in 143 (169 Winckler) of ether,  and 12 of
alcohol of 0*835, both  at 62° F.   With the acids  it forms salts, most of which
are  beautifully crystallizable, and  much more soluble than those  of quinia.
There are, as of quinia and cinchonia, two sets of the salts of  quinidia, which
may be considered either as neutral and acid, or as basic and neutral.  When
treated first  with chlorine and then with ammonia, it does not like quinia yield
a green colour, nor like cinchonia a white  one, but  remains unaffected.*  It
differs from quinia also by its much less solubility in ether.  From the aqueous
solution of its salts, the alkalies, their carbonates, and bicarbonates throw down
pulverulent  precipitates not  soluble in  an excess of the precipitant.  With
phosphate of  soda, nitrate of  silver, and bichloride of mercury it forms white,
with terchloride of gold light-yellow, and with bichloride of  platinum orange-
yellow precipitates.  It may be obtained by first precipitating it from the solution
of one of its salts by an alkali, and then repeatedly  dissolving in alcohol  and
crystallizing, until it is entirely freed from a greenish-yellow resinous  substance
which is apt to attend it.  From quinia it may be separated by repeated washing
with ether, until  the ethereal solution no longer affords  evidence of the  pre-
sence of quinia by the  test of chlorine and ammonia.   In this state,  it must be
looked on as unmixed  cinchonidia.
   Sulphate  of quinidia (commercial)  is, according  to one view, neutral,  con-
sisting of one eq., each, of quinidia, sulphuric acid, and water; according to
another, basic, containing two  eqs. of base, one of acid, and one of water,  and
therefore a disulphate.  It is in long, shining, silky acicular  crystals, soluble

   * Mr. E. N.  Kent, of New York, proposes another test  to distinguish this alkaloid
from quinia.   If to a solution of sulphate of quinia in acetic acid, a few drops of  tmc-
 ture of iodine be added,  and the mixture be heated, and then allowed to cool, a beau-
tiful emerald-green compound is  formed; while sulphate of quinidia, treated in the
 same manner, furnishes  a brown precipitate. (N. Y. Journ. of Pharm., ii. 129.) 
PART I.
Cinchona.
265
 in 130 parts of water at 62° F., in 16 parts at 212°, readily soluble in alcohol,
 but almost  insoluble in ether.  It  is obtained from the  quinidia barks by the
 same  process as that by which sulphate of quinia is procured from the Cali-
 saya.   When the two alkaloids are contained in the same bark, the sulphate of
 quinidia remains in the mother waters in consequence of its greater solubility.
 By the  addition to its solution of a quantity of sulphuric acid equal  to that
 which it contains, it is  converted into the  bisulphate (sulphate on the basic
 view),  crystallizable in fine acicular crystals  like asbestos.*
   Quinicia (quinicine) and Cinchonicia (cinchonicine).  When quinia  and
 cinchonia, or quinidia and cinchonidia, or their  salts, are exposed to heat, these
 alkaloids have been found by Pasteur to be  converted into  other but isomeric
 alkaloids ; the quinia and quinidia into quinicia, isomeric with themselves;  and
 cinchonia and cinchonidia  into cinchonicia, isomeric with its own antecedents.
 These  new alkalies are, therefore, products  rather than educts, and generally
 result,  in greater or less proportion, from the processes employed in extracting
 the other alkaloids from bark; though it is not impossible  that they may pre-
 exist in bark to  a certain extent, being formed by a natural process, from  the
 same original  alkaloids, either in the living tree, or in the barks while drying,
 after separation from the tree.
   Quinicia is almost insoluble in water, but very soluble in alcohol, and  differs
 from quinia in causing deviation  of the plane of polarization  to  the  right
 instead of the left (Begnault), and in being apparently uncrystallizable.
   _ Cinchonicia is also insoluble in water  and soluble in  alcohol.   It  agrees
 with cinchonia, from which it is derived,  in  producing deviation of the  plane
 of polarization to the right; but differs from cinchonidia in this respect;  and
 differs from  both of these alkaloids in being amorphous or uncrystallizable.
   The  amorphous  quinia  of Liebig (quinoidine or quinoidia)  is probably
 when pure identical with  quinicia;  but, as it occurs in commerce, is generally
 a  mixture of this with  cinchonicia.   For a particular  account of it, see sul-
phate of quinia, in the second part of  this  work.f
   Kinic Acid (called also Cinchonic or Quinic  Acid), and the Kinates of
 Cinchonia and Quinia.—It may be desirable to procure the alkaline principles

 _  *  Guibourt gives as the result of his.examinations, that quinia and quinidia are  dis-
 tinct alkaloids, possessing different physical and chemical properties.  1. Quinia sepa-
 rates from its hydro-alcoholic solutions in the form of a syrupy liquid, which preserves
 its transparency in the air.   Nevertheless, when in a very thin layer upon  glass, it
 becomes opaque, assuming a very fine and indeterminate crystalline structure.  In the
 first state it contains 3  eqs. of water, corresponding to Van Heijningen's a quinia; in
 the second, only 1 eq., corresponding to the y quinia of that chemist.   Quinidia sepa-
 rates from its hydro-alcoholic and alcoholic solutions in the form of crystals,  which
 belong to the right rectangular or rhomboidal prismatic system.  These crystals are
 anhydrous  2.  Quinia is soluble in all proportions in cold ether and absolute alcohol,
 and in almost all proportions  in alcohol of  90 per cent.  Quinidia is soluble in  1^0 to
 150 parts of ether, 45 of cold  absolute alcohol, 105 of alcohol  of  90, and in 3-7 parts
 of boiling absolute alcohol.   3. Sulphate of quinia crystallized  (common sulphate)
 is  soluble, in  the cold, in 57 parts of absolute alcohol, and 63 of alcohol of 90.   The
 corresponding sulphate  of quinidia is soluble in from 30 to 32 parts of cold absolute
alcohol, and 7 of alcohol of 90.  4. Oxalate of quinia is quite insoluble in water ; oxa-
late of quinidia is very soluble, and easily crystallizable by refrigeration or evaporation.
 (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xxii. 414.)  It will be understood that these  observations
of  Guibourt were made  before the discovery of the ordinarily complex nature of com-
mercial quinidia. (Note to the tenth and eleventh editions.)
  f Wittstein has recently announced the discovery of a new alkali in a variety of bark
belonging probably to the division of barks here considered under the name of fibrous
Carthagena barks.  He calls the alkaloid cinchonidine; but it must not be confounded
with the cinchonidine of Pasteur.  Confirmatory evidence, however, is required  before
it can be admitted as a new alkaloid. (See Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 115.)—Note
to  the eleventh edition. 
266
Cinchona.
part I.
in the state of saline combination in which they exist in the bark; as it is pos-
sible that they may exert an influence over the system in this state,  somewhat
different from that produced by their combinations with the sulphuric 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 sepa-
rately, which may thus become of some practical importance.  We shall, there-
fore, briefly describe the mode of procuring it, and its  characteristic properties.
By evaporating the  infusion of bark to a solid  consistence, and  treating the
extract thus obtained with alcohol, we have in the residue a viscid matter con-
sisting  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 the direct  combination of  their  constituents,
or by the mutual decomposition of the sulphates of those alkalies and the kinate
of lime.   The kinate of cinchonia 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.)*
   Kinovic Acid.  This is white, uncrystallizable, almost insoluble in wrater, but
readily dissolved by alcohol and ether.   It is very bitter, and, as it is asserted
to have no febrifuge virtues, may on this account mislead the judgment in rela-
tion to the activity of the bark in which it may be found.   Some barks are said
to owe their bitterness mainly to this ingredient.   It consists of carbon, hydro-
gen, and oxygen;  its formula being C19H()0.3.   It forms  salts with the acids;
and a solution of kinovate of magnesia precipitates solutions of acetate of lead,
bichloride of mercury, and the salts of cinchonia.  Winckler gives, as a certain
test of its presence in any bark, the sulphate of copper, which is indifferent to
infusion of bark containing none of this principle, but discovers the smallest
proportion of it by producing a dirty-green colour, soon followed by the depo-
sition of a fine similarly coloured powder.  This is kinovate of copper,  and has
a very  bitter and  metallic taste.  (See Am, Journ. of Pharm., xxv.  343.)
   Incompatibles.   Of the relations of bark to the several solvents employed
in pharmacy we shall speak hereafter, under the head of its  infusion, decoction,

   * When kinic acid is mixed with sulphuric acid and deutoxide of manganese, and
distilled, a neuter substance called kino'ile  or kinone is obtained, in crystalline needles,
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 con-
centrated decoction of a bark is distilled with half  its weight of sulphuric acid and
deutoxide of manganese, has been proposed as a test of the presence of kinic acid in the
bark, and consequently of its belonging to the cinchona barks.  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.)  The test, however, cannot be fully relied on ; as it has been
ascertained that caffeic acid also yields kinone when treated as  above with sulphurio
acid and deutoxide of manganese.  (Stenhouse, Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  xxvi. 249, from
Philos. Mag.) 
PART I.
Cinchona.
267
 and tincture; where we shall also have an opportunity of mentioning some of
 the more prominent substances which afford  precipitates with its liquid prepa-
 rations.  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 the
 alkaloids compounds insoluble in water, it is desirable that substances contain-
 ing this acid, in a free  state, should not be prescribed in connexion with the in-
 fusion or decoction of bark; for, though these insoluble tannates might be found
 efficacious if administered, yet, being precipitated  from the liquid,  they would
 be apt to be thrown away as dregs, or at  any rate would  communicate, if agi-
 tated, an unpleasant turbiclness.   The same  may be  said  of the tincture and
 compound solution  of iodine, which form insoluble compounds with all the cin-
 chona alkaloids, and of the alkalies, alkaline carbonates, and alkaline earths,
 which precipitate these alkaloids  from their aqueous solution.
  _  Estimation of Value.  It is evident from  what has been said, that an infu-
 sion of bark, on account of the tannin-like principle which it contains, may pre-
 cipitate gelatin, tartar emetic, and the salts of iron, without having a particle
 of cinchonia, quinia,  or  other alkaloid  in its  composition;  and that conse-
 quently any inference  as to its value, drawn  from these  chemical  properties,
 would be fallacious; but, as the active principles are thrown down by the tannic
 acid of galls, no bark can be considered good which does not afford a precipi-
 tate 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. The results of the
 most recent experiments have been already stated under the head of the several
 varieties of bark described. But it is highly  important, in relation to any par-
 ticular sample of  bark, to be  able to ascertain its medicinal efficiency, which is
 measured by the  quantity of the  peculiar cinchona alkaloids it may contain.
 The following is Winckler's process, which he prefers to all others.   In deter-
 mining the value of a  large quantity of bark, it is necessary first to  ascertain
 whether it may not  consist of  more than one variety,  and if it do, to  assort it,
 and act on each kind separately.  The pieces are to be  reduced to a fine powder,
 of  which 1000  grains  are to be digested  with 6 ounces of alcohol of 80 per
 ceni, by means of  a water-bath,   until completely exhausted.   The  tincture,
 when cold, is to be strained through thin but  close linen; and the residue to be
 again  digested with  3 ounces of alcohol and  strained  as before.  The residue
 now obtained is to be  once more  treated in  like manner with alcohol.   The
 tinctures are then  to be united, filtered, and treated, at common temperatures,
 with a mixture of equal parts of fresh slaked  lime and  crude well-burnt animal
 charcoal, of which about 500 grains will be required. The mixture is to be fre-
 quently shaken, and  the maceration to be continued  until the supernatant liquid
 is rendered colourless.   In most of the genuine barks the decolorization is soon
 effected; but in those containing kinovic acid it is imperfect.   The decolorized
 liquid  is to be separated,  and the  residue  to  be repeatedly shaken  with  small
 quantities of alcohol, washed on a filter with the same liquor, and dried.   The
 alcoholic liquids are to  be mixed,  and the alcohol distilled off.   The  whole of
 the alkaloids is contained in the residue, with  a peculiar fatty matter, cinchonic
 red, and any kinovic acid which may have existed in the bark. To remove these,
 the matter is to be transferred to a small evaporating  basin from the distilling
 vessel, which is to be washed with  a little water acidulated with sulphuric acid,
 and the liquid thus obtained to  be added to the rest.   A slight excess of sul-
phuric acid is now to   be  dropped into the  mixture,  which is to be heated, 
268
Cinchona.
PART I.
allowed to cool, and then filtered, so as to remove the precipitated kinovic acid
and other impurities.  From the filtered acidulated  solution, the alkaloids are
to be precipitated by a slight excess of ammonia, and the  mixture evaporated
by a gentle heat to dryness.   The sulphate of ammonia is to be removed from
the residue by a small quantity of very cold water,  and the  residual  alkaloid
matter dried and weighed. Though not absolutely pure, it is sufficiently so for the
purposes of the investigation.  (Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxv. 343.)  Winckler
states that  the barks will yield  to the manufacturer quite as much as is obtained
in this way, and generally from one-eighth to one-quarter of one per cent, more,
in consequence of the loss in working being less on a large scale.*
   The quantity of  alkaloid matter obtained by the above process will  measure
the efficacy of the bark; for all the organic  alkaline principles contained in it
are efficient as medicines, and in all probability in a nearly equal degree.  But,
for manufacturing purposes, it is necessary to push the investigation further,
and ascertain the proportion of the several  alkaloids in the mixture.   This is
most conveniently  done by  means of ether.   Cinchonia is scarcely soluble in
ether, quinidia is soluble in small  proportion, quinia is freely soluble.   When,
therefore, a mixture of  these alkaloids is treated with  that menstruum, quinia
and quinidia are dissolved, and cinchonia left.  The two former may be  sepa-
rated by  allowing  the  ethereal solution  to  evaporate.   Quinidia crystallizes
from the solution, and quinia is obtained uncrystallized, as the last product of
the evaporation  of the ether.   These remarks apply  to  quinidia, as it was
understood before the investigations of Pasteur, f

  * M. Rabourdin has proposed chloroform as an agent  for testing the alkaloid rich-
ness of barks.  The following is his method, applied to the  Calisaya.  Five drachms
of the powder, previously passed through a fine hair sieve, are to be exhausted by
water, acidulated with hydrochloric acid (2 drachms of acid to a pound of water), in
a percolation apparatus, the liquid being added until it passes colourless and tasteless.
Five or six ounces of liquid are thus obtained, to which a drachm and  a half of caustic
potassa and five drachms of chloroform are to be added.  These are to be agitated for a
short time, and then  allowed to stand.  A dense whitish deposit forms, consisting of
the alkaloids and chloroform.  Sometimes the separation is complete and effected in an
instant, leaving a red transparent liquid floating on the surface, which is to be imme-
diately poured off.   The  chloroformic solution is then washed with water, put  into a
capsule, and allowed to evaporate.   The alkaloids remain behind in a pure state.
   Red bark is to be treated as  the Calisaya; but for the pale or cinchonia barks the
process is to be carried further.  The matter left after the evaporation of the chloro-
form contains cinchonic red as well as cinchonia.  It is to be treated with water acidu-
lated with hydrochloric acid, which dissolves all the alkaloid, and a portion of the
cinchonic red.  The liquid is to be filtered, and solution of  ammonia diluted with 15
or 20 parts of water, added drop by drop, with constant stirring, until a white cloud
appears which is not removed by the agitation.  The cinchonic red is thus precipitated
without the alkaloid.  It  is easy to know when to stop this part of the process ;  as the
cinchonic red is precipitated in reddish-brown flakes, the cinchonia in white curdled
flakes.  The liquid is now to be filtered, the filter washed with  a little distilled  water,
and the united liquors precipitated by an excess of ammonia.  The precipitate is the
pure alkaloid. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xxiii. 249.)
   f Mr. Robert Howard employs  the following method of ascertaining the presence or
absence of these alkaloids severally in any mixture of their sulphates, founded on the
fact that ten grains of sulphate of quinia dissolve in sixty drops of ether, but only one
grain of sulphate of quinidia.  Ten grains of the salt are put into a strong test tube, ten
drops of dilute sulphuric acid (one of acid and five of water) with fifteen drops of water
are added, and a moderate heat applied till the salt is dissolved.  When the solution
has quite cooled, sixty drops of officinal ether with twenty of spirit of ammonia are ad-
ed, and the mixture is well shaken, the tube  being closed by the thumb.   After this
the tube is closely stopped with a well-fitting cork, and gently shaken from time to
time.  If the salt contain only quinia, or not more than 10 per  cent, of quinidia, it will
be completely dissolved, while, at the surface of contact of the two clear liquids, only
mechanical impurities will be seen.   After some time the layer of ether becomes gela-
tinous, aud then no further observation can be made.  Ten grains of the salt examined 
PART I.
Cinchona.
269
   The Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia gives the following mode of testing the value
 of yellow bark.   "A filtered decoction of 100 grains in two fluidounces of dis-
 tilled  water gives, with a  fluidounce of concentrated  solution of carbonate of
 soda, a precipitate, which, when heated in the fluid, becomes a fused mass, weigh-
 ing when cold two grains or more, and easily soluble in solution of oxalic acid."
   From the most recent and carefully conducted experiments, it appears that the
 best officinal yellow Calisaya bark, the finest red bark, and the finest fibrous Car-
 thagena bark (softPitaya), are about equal in their amount of alkaloids, each con-
 taining from 3 to 4 percent.; while between  these and the barks of lowest value
 there is every grade of productiveness, down to a mere trace of alkaline matter.

                    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 Cinchona
 forests, he  states that it is unknown as a remedy to the Indians inhabiting the
 country where it grows; and, as these people adhere pertinaciously to the habits
 of their ancestors,  he concludes that it never was employed by them.' They
 have generally the most violent prejudices  against it, considering it 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 intermittent 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 missionaries 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  prevalent 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 Viceroy 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  Gommitissse, 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 price 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 high price, and

 may contain  one grain of quinidia, and yet be  completely dissolved by the ether and
 ammonia ; but in this case the quinidia will soon begin to crystallize in the layer of
 ether.  The last trace of quinidia may be detected by employing, instead of ordinary
 ether, the same fluid previously saturated with quinidia, in which case all the quinidia
 must remain undissolved.  It is necessary, in the last experiment, to observe, after the
 shaking, whether or not  all has dissolved ; for, owing to the great tendency of quinidia
 to crystallize, it may again separate, and thus become a source of error.  If more than
 a tenth of quinidia, or if cinchonia be present in the salt,  an insoluble precipitate will
 be seen between the layers of the two fluids.  If it be quinidia, it will be dissolved
 on the addition of proportionately more ether;  while, if cinchonia, it  will remain un-
affected.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xi. 394.)
  * 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. 
270
Cinchona.
PART I,
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 (Sir Robert Talbor, Pereira), an Englishman,
having employed it with great success in France, in the treatment of intermit-
tents, under the name of the English powder, at length, in the year 1679, sold
the secret of its origin and preparation to Louis XIV., 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 intes-
tinal irritation.  Nausea and 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 be  repeated, the whole system
becomes more or less affected, and all the functions 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 com-
pletely 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 ad-
ministered 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.  As it is  probable that, in  the intervals of these com-
plaints, a train of mordid actions  is going  on out  of our sight, within the re-
cesses 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.  When taken very largely,
especially in the form of its active  principles, in which its effects on the system
can be obtained with less of the direct irritant influence on  the stomach, cin-
chona has  been found, while it produces the effects already adverted  to upon
the brain, at the  same time to  lessen considerably the force and frequency of
the pulse.   This sedative  effect is probably secondary, and dependent on an
influence upon the nervous centres in the encephalon, interfering  with the due
performance  of, their functions,  and consequently on the  in some degree de-
pendent function of the heart.   From the possession of  the tonic, anti-inter-
mittent, and  indirect sedative properties, bark is capable  of  being usefully
employed in the treatment of numerous diseases.
   It may usually be employed with benefit in all morbid conditions of the sys-
tem,  whatever may be the peculiar modifications, in which a permanent corro-
borant 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 inflammation
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 malignant scarlatina,
measles, and  small-pox; in carbuncle and  gangrenous erysipelas;  and in all
cases in which the  system is  exhausted under  large purulent discharges, and
the tendency of the affection is towards recovery.  As  a tonic, bark is also 
 part I.                         Cinchona.                             271

 advantageously employed in chronic diseases connected with debility; as, for
 example, in scrofula, dropsy, passive hemorrhages, certain forms of dyspepsia,
 obstinate cutaneous affections, amenorrhcea, chorea, hysteria;  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, especially 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 occurrence 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  ex-
 traordinary 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.   Very 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 doses, to the extent of one or two ounces, during the
 intermission, and the  repetition  of  this plan till the disease is subdued, 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 con-
 tinues to operate, the relief is too often only temporary.  Diarrhoea and dysen-
 tery 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 justify 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 depleting measures.  But, as a geueralrule, the less
 of the diseased action there is in the interval, the better is the chance of success.
   In reference to its indirect sedative effects, bark or its alkaloids have been of
 late considerably used,  in  large doses, in various febrile and inflammatory affec-
 tions, as in  the early stage of remittent and yellow fevers, typhoid and typhus
 fevers, and acute rheumatism; but,  in this use  of the medicine, caution is re-
 quired lest,  in suppressing the general arterial excitement, injurious congestion
 or inflammation of the brain may be induced.
   Some observations are requisite as to the choice of the bark, and the forms
 of administration. In  the treatment of intermittents, either the best red or the
 yellow (Calisaya) bark is  decidedly preferable to the pale.   The pale bark may,
 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 the bark, it  may in some
instances be advisable  to  administer it in  substance.  We  are not absolutely
certain that the alkaloids are the 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 
272
Cinchona.
PART I.
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 admixture with other sub-
stances.   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 expe-
rience, and that of some of our friends, proved  highly efficacious in  obstinate
cases of fever and ague.*
   But, notwithstanding the supposed superior efficacy of the bark in substance,
in the same relative dose, it is  in the  great  majority  of instances sufficient to
resort to some one of its preparations; and in many cases we are compelled to
this resort by the  inability of the stomach to support the powder, or the un-
willingness of the  patient to encounter its disagreeable taste.   The best substi-
tutes, in intermittent diseases,  are the sulphates of its alkaloids.   Sulphate of
quinia has until recently been used almost to the exclusion of the others; but
sulphate of cinchonia is now considerably employed, and with nearly equal effect;
and there is every reason to believe that the  sulphates of quinidia and cincho-
nidia will be found not less efficient.   In fact any one, or any combination of
the  cinchona  alkaloids, may be used with  propriety for  obtaining the thera-
peutic effects of bark.   The advantage of these preparations is their facility of
administration, and the possibility, by their employment,  of introducing a large
quantity  of the active matter, with  less risk of offending the stomach.  (See
Quinine Sulphas.)
   Though the alkaloids possess the  anti-intermittent power of bark, they have
not been certainly ascertained to exert all the peculiar influence of that  medicine
as a tonic;  but, as bark in powder can seldom be  supported, by a delicate sto-
mach, for a sufficient period to ensure the  necessary influence of  the  mediciue
in chronic disease, it is customary to resort, in this case, to some one of its prepa-
rations in which the alkaloids  are extracted in connexion with the other prin-
ciples ; as the infusion, decoction, tincture, and extract.   Each of these will be
particularly treated of among  the Preparations.   It  is here only necessary to
say that their use is mostly confined to chronic cases, or those of. a malignant
character, as typhus  gravior,  &c, in which the whole virtues of the bark are
desired, but the stomach is unable to. bear the powder.  Should bark or its prepa-
rations produce purging,  as they occasionally do, they ought to be combined
with a small portion of laudanum.*j-
   It is sometimes desirable to  introduce bark into the system by other avenues
than the stomach; as  it exercises its  peculiar influence to whatever part it is
applied.   Injected into the rectum, in connexion with opium to prevent purg-
ing, it has been employed  successfully in the cure of intermittents; and the use
of bark jackets, made by quilting the powder between two pieces of flannel or
muslin, and worn next the skin, and of bark baths made by infusing  the medi-
cine in water, has proved serviceable in cases of children.   But the best prepa-
ration of bark for injection,  or  external use,  is sulphate  of quinia, which,

   * The following are the formulae for these mixtures : 1.  R. Cinchon. Pulv. Jss ; Ser-
pentaria? pulv. gj; Sodae Carbonat. gss.   Misce et in pulveres quatuor divide, una ter-
tia, vel quarta quaque hora sumenda.  2.  ti. Cinchon. Rub. pulv. 3ss ;  Confect. Opii
gj; Sue. Limon. recentis i^i] ; Vin. Rub. fgiv.  Misce   Tertia pars tertia quaque hora
sumenda.
   f  Mr. Alfred  B. Taylor, of Philadelphia, prepares a fluid  extract of bark, by first
forming a  tincture with diluted alcohol by means of percolation, evaporating the tinc-
ture sufficiently, and incorporating the residual liquid with sugar.  From 8 ounces of
Calisaya bark he prepares 4 pints of tincture, which he evaporates to 9 fluidounces,
and then adds 14 ounces of sugar.  A  fluidrachm represents  about half a drachm of
the bark.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiii. 219.) 
PART I.
Cinchona.—Cinnamomum.
273
thrown with a little laudanum into the rectum, or applied to a blistered surface
denuded of the cuticle, produces on the system effects scarcely less decided than
those which result from it when swallowed.
  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, of Yellow Bark. Decoctum Cinchonas Flavas; Extractum Cin-
chonas Flavas; Infusum Cinchona Flavge; Infus. Cinch. Flavas Spissatum; Qui-
nias Sulphas; Tinctura Cinchonas; Vinum Gentianas.
   Off. Prep, of Pale Bark.  Decoct. Cinchonas Pallidas;  Extract.  Cinchonas
Pallidas; Infusum Cinchonas Pallidas; Infus.  Cinch. Pallid. Spissatum; Mistura
Ferri Aromatica; Tinctura  Cinchonas Pallidas; Tinct. Cinchonas Comp.
   Off. Prep, of Bed Bark. Decoct.  Cinchon. Rubras; Extract. Cinchon. Rub.;
Infus. Cinchon. Rub.; Infus. Cinchon. Comp.; Tinct. Cinchon. Comp.   W.

               CINNAMOMUM.  U. 8., Lond., Dub.

                              Cinnamon.

   The bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum  and of Cinnamomum aromaticum.
 U. S.   Bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. Bond., Dub.
   Of. Syn. CINNAMOMUM. Bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum.  Cinna-
mon.— CASSLF CORTEX. Bark of Cinnamomum Cassia. Cassia Bark. Ed,
   Cinnamon.—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 commercial
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 the barks of the Cinchonas  have to the name
of cinchona, and the juice of different species of Aloe to that of aloes. Varieties
may be  sufficiently distinguished by an appropriate epithet.  Both cinnamomum
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  designate the coarser barks analo-
gous to cinnamon.   It was probably first applied to the barks  from Malabar,
and afterwards extended to those of  China and other parts of Eastern Asia. It
has been customary to ascribe cassia lignea to the Baurus Cassia of Linnasus;
but the specific character given by 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 cinna-
mon 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 yield-
ing 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 in the islands of the Eastern Archipelago.
        18 
274
Cinnamomum.
PART I.
(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. Lauraceas.
  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, Flor. Med.
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 channeled, and, toge-
ther with the extreme twigs, are smooth and without the least appearance of
down.  In  one variety,  the leaves are  very broad and somewhat  cordate.
When mature, they are of a shining green upon their upper surface, and lighter-
coloured beneath.   The flowers are small, white, and arranged 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 has a
terebinthinate odour when opened, and a  taste in some degree like that of juni-
per 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 pre-
pared bark that constitutes the genuine cinnamon.
   This species is a native of Ceylon, where it has long been cultivated.  It is
said also to be a native of the Malabar Coast, and has at various periods been
introduced into Java, the Isle of  France, Bourbon, the  Cape de Verds, Brazil,
Cayenne, several of the West India Islands, and Egypt; and in some of these
places is at this time highly productive, especially in Cayenne, where the plant
was flourishing so early as 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 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, Laurinese, 52;   Lindley,  Flor.  Med, 330. — 0.
 Cassia.  Blume, Ed. Ph.; Hayne,  Darstel. und Beschreib.  dec. xii. 23.—Bau-
rus Cassia. Aiton, Hort Kew. ii. 427.—Not Laurus Cassia of Linn.  This
 is of about the same  magnitude  as the former species, and like  it has nearly 
PART I.
Cinnamomum.
275
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, under 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 other parts of Eastern Asia, and is said to be cultivated in Java. Itis believed
to be the  species which furnishes, wholly or in  part, the Chinese cinnamon or
cassia brought from Canton, and is supposed to be the source of the cassia buds.
   Besides the two species above described,  others have been thought to contri-
bute to the  cinnamon and cassia of commerce.  The opinion of Dr. Wight has
been already stated.  C. Loureirii of Nees, growing in the mountains of Cochin-
china near Laos, and in Japan, affords, according to Loureiro, a cinnamon of
which the finest kind is superior to that of Ceylon.   C. nitidum, growing in
Ceylon, Java, and on the continent of India, is said to have been the chief source
of the drug, known formerly by the name of Folia Malabathri, and consisting of
the leaves of different species of Cinnamomum mixed together.  The leaves of
 C. Tamala of Hindostan have been sold under the same name.   C. Culilawan
of the Moluccas yields the aromatic bark called culilawan, noticed in the third
part of this work; and similar barks are obtained from another  species of the
same region, named C. rubrum, and from  C. Sintoc of Java.
   Culture,  Collection, Commerce,  die.   Our remarks under this head will first
be directed  to the cinnamon of Ceylon, in relation to which we have  more pre-
cise information  than concerning the aromatic obtained from other sources.
The bark was originally collected exclusively from the tree in a wild state; but
the Dutch introduced the practice of cultivating  it,  which has been  continued
since the British came into possession of the island.  This 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 at-
tain 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 peeling, and every second year afterwards
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 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 lon-
gitudinal incisions, of which two are made 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 fermentation, which facilitates the sepa-
ration of the epidermis.   This, with the green matter beneath it, is removed by
placing the strip of bark upon a convex 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 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
fixed duty.   It is assorted  in the  island into three qualities, distinguished by
the designations of first, second, and third.  The inferior kinds, which  are of in-
sufficient value to pay the duty, are used for the preparation of oil of cinnamon.
  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 
276
Cinnamomum.
PART I.
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. Medico-Bot Soc, 1828, p. 26.) It has already
been stated that this tree is supposed to be  the Cinnamomum aromatic urn;
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 monopolized 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 Sie-
bold, the bark of the large branches is of inferior quality and  is rejected; 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 a sweeter and less pun-
gent oil. (Annal.  der Pharm., xx. 280.)  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 mentioned 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 consi-
derable quantities of cinnamon of various qualities.  That of Cayenne is of two
kinds, one  of which closely resembles, though it does not quite equal, the aro-
matic 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
same article brought from other sources is almost uniformly entered as  cinna-
mon.   Much of it is afterwards exported.
   From what source the ancients derived their cinnamon and cassia is not cer-
tainly known.  Neither  the plants nor  their localities, as described by Dios-
corides, Pliny, and Theophrastus, correspond precisely with our present  know-
ledge ;  but in this respect much  allowance must  be made for the inaccurate
geography of the ancients.   It is not improbable that the Arabian 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 frac-
ture when  broken.   It has a pleasant fragrant  odour, and  a warm, aromatic,
pungent, sweetish, slightly astringent,  and highly agreeable taste.   When dis-
tilled 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.
   Chinese cinnamon, or cassia, is in tubes from the eighth of -an inch to  an
inch in diameter, usually single, sometimes double, but very rarely more than
double.  In some instances the bark is rolled very much upon itself, in others is 
PART I.
Cinnamomum.
277
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.  Of a similar character is the cinnamon imported directly
from various parts of the East Indies.  But under the name of cassia have also
been brought to us very inferior kinds of cinnamon, collected from the trunks or
large branches of the trees, or injured by want of care in keeping, or perhaps
derived from inferior species.   It is said that cinnamon from which the oil has
been distilled, is sometimes fraudulently mixed with the genuine.  These inferior
kinds are detected, independently of their  greater thickness, and coarseness of
fracture, by their deficiency in the peculiar sensible properties of the spice.
   According to the analysis of Vauquelin, cinnamon contains a peculiar vola-
tile 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 somewhat peppery.   Bu-
cholz found in 100 parts of cassia lignea, 0-8 of volatile oil, 4*0 of resin, 146 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 temperature of boiling alcohol very little of
the oil rises, and an extract prepared from the tincture retains, therefore, the aro-
matic properties.  For an account of the volatile oil, see Oleum Cinnamomi.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Cinnamon is among the most grateful aud
efficient of the aromatics.   It is warm and cordial to the stomach, carminative,
astringent, and, like most other substances of  this class, more powerful  as a
local  than general stimulant.  It is seldom prescribed  alone, though, when
given in powder or infusion, it will sometimes allay nausea, check vomiting, and
relieve flatulence.  It is chiefly used as an adjuvant to other less pleasant medi-
cines, and enters into a great number of officinal preparations.  It is often em-
ployed in diarrhoea, in connexion with chalk and astringents; and has recently
been recommended as  peculiarly efficacious in uterine hemorrhage.   The  dose
of the powder is from ten grains to a scruple.
   Cassia Buds.  This spice 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 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 Cinnamomum Boureirii.   In favour of the former
opinion is the statement of Dr. Christison, that 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 advancement.  Cassia buds  have some resem-
blance to cloves, and are compared to small nails with  round heads.   The en-
closed  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  essen-
tial 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; AquaCasshe; Aqua Cinna-
momi; Confectio Aromatica; Decoctum Hasmatoxyli;  Electuarium  Catechu;
Infusum  Catechu  Comp.;  Pulvis  Aromaticus; Pulvis Catechu  Compositus;
Pulvis Cinnamomi Comp.; Pulvis Cretas Comp.; Pulvis Kino Comp.; Spiritus
Ammonias Aromaticus; Spiritus Cassias; Spiritus Cinnamomi; Spiritus Lavan- 
278
Cinnamomum.— Cocculus.
PART I.
dulas Comp.; Syrupus Rhei Aromaticus; Tinctura Cardamomi Comp.;  Tinc-
tura Cassias;  Tinctura Catechu; Tinctura  Cinnamomi; Tinctura Cinnamomi
Comp.; Tinctura Quassias Comp.; Vinum Opii.                       W.


                          COCCULUS. Ed.

                           Cocculus Indicus.

   Fruit of Anamirta Cocculus.  Ed.
   Coque du Levant, Fr.;  Kokkelskorner, Fischkorner, Germ.; Galla di Levante, Itnh
   The plant which produces cocculus Indicus was embraced by Linnasus, with
several others, under the title of Menispermvm 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.
   Anamirta.   Sex. Syst.  Dioecia Dodecandria. — Nat. Ord.  Menispermaceas.
   Gen. Ch, Flowers dioecious.  Calyx of six sepals in a double series, with two
close-pressed bracteoles.  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. (WigM and Arnott.)
   Anamirta Cocculus.  Wight and Arnott, Flor. Penins. Ind, Orient, i. 446;
Lindley, Flor. Med.  371. — 3Ienispermum Cocculus, Linn. — Cocculus subero-
sus. DeCand. 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 cocctdus Levanlicus.  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
 kernels should fill at least two-thirds of the fruit."   M. Boullay discovered in
 the seeds a peculiar bitter principle which he denominated picrotoxin.   This is
  white, crystallizable in quadrangular prisms, soluble in 25 parts of boiling and
  150 of cold water (Glover), and very soluble in alcohol and ether, but insolu-
  ble in the oils.  Its composition is C1aH705.   It is  poisonous, and, given to
  strong dogs in the quantity of from five to ten  grains, produces death, pre-
  ceded by convulsions,  which, according to Dr.  R. M.  Glover, are very similar
  in character to those produced by Flourens by  section of the corpora  quadri-
  gemina and cerebellum; being attended with backward and rotatory movements, 
PART I.
Cocculus.—Coccus.
279
 and tetanic spasms.   It also greatly increases the animal heat.  (Ed. Monthly
 Journ. of Med.  Sci., N. S., iii. 303.)  To procure it, the watery extract of the
 seeds is triturated with pure magnesia, and then treated with hot alcohol, which
 dissolves the picrotoxin, and yields it upon  evaporation.  In  this state, how-
 ever, it is impure.  To obtain it colourless it must be  again dissolved in alco-
 hol, and  treated with animal charcoal.   After  filtration and due evaporation,
 it is deposited in the crystalline form. Besides picrotoxin, cocculus Indicus con-
 tains a large proportion 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 menispermin (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 paramenispermin.   They
 found  also in the shell a new acid, which  they called hypopicrotoxic.   The
 picrotoxin of M. Boullay they believed to possess acid properties, and proposed
 for it the name of picrotoxic acid,  (Journ. de Pharm., xx.  122.)
   Medical Properties, &c.   Cocculus  Indicus acts 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 asserted 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 for-
 bidden by the law, in England, under heavy penalties.  The  powdered  fruit,
 mixed with oil, is employed in the East Indies  as a local application in obsti-
 nate cutaneous affections.   An  ointment made  with the powder has been used
 in tinea capitis, and to destroy vermin in the hair.  Picrotoxin  has  been suc-
 cessfully 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. A case is recorded by W. B. Thompson, of New
 York, in  which death in a child six years old, preceded by tetanic spasms, and
 extremely contracted pupil, resulted from the application of a strong tincture
 of the fruit to the scalp.  (Med. Exam., N. S.,  viii. 227.)
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum  Cocculi.                                    W.


                        COCCUS.  U. S., Lond.

                                Cochineal.
   Coccus  Cacti.  U. S., Lond.
   Off. Syn. COCCI. Coccus Cacti. 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 antennas  filiform, and the posterior part of the abdomen fur-
nished with bristles.  The  male has two erect  wings, the female is  wingless.
The C.  Cacti is characterized by its depressed, downy, transversely  wrinkled
body, its purplish abdomen, its short and black legs, and its subulate  antennas,
which are about one-third of the length of  the body.  (Bees's Cyclopsedia.)
Another species,  C. Ilicis, which  inhabits a  species of  oak, is collected in the
mountainous  parts of the Morea, in Greece, and  used as a  dye-stuff in the
East. (Landerer, Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xi. 564.)
   The Coccus Cacti is found wild in  Mexico and Central America, 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 
280
Coccus.
PART I.
Guaxaca, it is an important object of culture.  The Indians form plantations
of the nopal (Opuntia cochinillifera), upon which the insect feeds and propa-
gates.   During the rainy season, a number of the females are preserved under
cover upon the branches of the plant, and, after the cessation of the rains, are
distributed upon the plants without.  They perish quickly 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,  antennas,  and proboscis, 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 by means of a blunt knife, a quill,
or a feather, 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 subsequently 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  equal
number of crops; but the domestic is collected only three times annually, the
propagation being suspended during the rainy season, in consequence of its in-
ability to support the inclemency of the weather.   The insect has been taken
from Mexico to  the Canary Islands; and  very large  quantities of cochineal
have been delivered to commerce from the island of  Teneriffe.  The culture has
also been successfully introduced into Java by the Dutch; and attempts  have
been made to introduce it 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 cochineal 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 in-
sect with the whiteness of a powder by which it is almost covered, and with
patches  of  a rosy tinge irregularly interspersed.  From  its diversified appear-
ance, it is called by the Spaniards cochinilla jaspeada.   It is the variety com-
monly kept in our  shops. The other, cochinilla  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.   Some suppose the difference to arise 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.  According to Mr. Faber, who derived his  informa-
tion from a merchant resident in the neighbourhood where the cochineal is col-
 lected, 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,

   * Cake cochineal is the name given to a variety of this drug, produced in the Argen-
 tine Republic, in South America, a specimen of which was recently sent by Mr. Black
 from Cordova, in that country, to London, and has been examined by Dr. Stark. It is
 in flat cakes about a quarter of an inch thick, and, under the microscope, is seen  to
 consist chiefly of  the cochineal insect, mixed with small portions of the thorns and
 epidermis of the cactus, in consequence of careless gathering.  It is inferior for dyeing
 purposes to the ordinary variety.  (Pharm.  Journ. and Trans., xiv. 346.) 
PART I.
Coccus.
281
 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.  Ac-
 cording to Pelletier and Caventou, it consists of a peculiar colouring principle,
 a peculiar animal matter constituting the skeleton of the insect, stearin, olein,
 an odorous fatty acid,  and various salts.  It was  also analyzed by John, who
 called the colouring principle cochinilin.   This  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 alcohol, insoluble in ether, and without nitrogen
 among its constituents.  It is  obtained by macerating cochineal in ether, and
 treating the residue with successive portions of boiling alcohol, which  on cool-
 ing deposits a part of  the cochinilin, and yields the remainder by spontaneous
 evaporation.  It may be freed from a small proportion of adhering fatty matter,
 by dissolving it in alcohol of 40° Baume, and then adding an equal  quantity of
 sulphuric ether.  The  pure cochinilin is deposited in the course of a few days.
 The watery infusion of cochineal is of a violet-crimson colour, which is bright-
 ened by the acids, and deepened by the alkalies.  The colouring matter is readily
 precipitated.   The salts of zinc, bismuth, and nickel  produce a lilac precipi-
 tate, 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 rendered 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 by animal gelatin, and when properly
 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 ad-
 here 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 appearance,
 which characterizes the white  powder  upon the surface of the unadulterated
 insect.   Metallic lead,  which is said frequently to  exist in fine particles in the
 artificial coating, may be discovered by powdering the cochineal, and suspending
 it in water, when the metal will remain 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 difference.  (Journ. de Pharm., Se
 ser., ix.  110.)
   3Iedical Properties,  &c.  Cochineal is supposed by some to possess anodyne
 properties, and has been highly recommended in hooping-cough and neuralgic
 affections.   It is frequently associated, in  prescription, with carbonate of po-
 tassa, especially in the  treatment of hooping-cough.  In pharmacy it is em-
 ployed  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.  Syrupus Cocci;  Tinctura Cardamomi Composita; Tinct. -Cin-
chonas Comp.; Tinct. Cocci Cacti;  Tinct. Gentianas Comp.;  Tinct. Lavandula
Comp.; Tinct. Quassias Comp.; Tinct. Serpentarias.                    W. 
282                Colchici Radix. — Colchici Semen.           PART I.
                   COLCHICI RADIX. U.S.

                          Colchicum Root.

  The Cormus of Colchicum autumnale. U. S.
  Off. Syn. COLCHICI CORMUS.  Colchicum autumnale.  The recent and
dried cormus of the wild herb. Lond; COLCHICI CORMUS.  The cormus of
Colchicum autumnale. Ed; COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE. Thecormus. Dub.

               COLCHICI  SEMEN. U.S., Lond.

                           Colchicum Seed.

  The seeds of Colchicum autumnale. U. S., Lond.
  Off. Sun.  COLCHICI  SEMINA.  Seeds of Colchicum autumnale. Ed.;
COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE. The seeds. Dub.
  Colchique, Fr.; Zeitlose, Herbst-Zeitlose, Germ.;  Colchico, Ital., Span.
  Colchicum. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Trigynia. — Nat Ord, Melanthaceas.
  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 peren-
nial bulbous  plant, the leaves of which appear in spring, and the flowers in
autumn.   Its manner of growth is peculiar, and deserves notice as connected
in some measure with its medicinal efficacy.   In the latter part of summer, a
new bulb, or  cormus as  the part is now called,  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 cylindrical, tubular, cloven at top
on  one side, and half under ground.   In September, 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 divided 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  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 increasing at the  expense of the old one,
which, having performed its appointed office, perishes ;  while the former, after
attaining its  full growth, sends forth shoots, and in its turn decays.  The old
bulb,  in its second spring, and a little before  it perishes, sometimes puts forth
one or more small bulbs, which separate from the parent, and are supposed to
be  sources  of new plants.
  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, botanically
speaking, consists  of the fibres attached to the  base of  the bulb.   The flowers
possess similar virtues with the bulb and seeds. 
PART I.
Colchici Radix.
283
                            1.  Colchici  Radix.
   The medicinal virtue of the bulb depends much uptm 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 nourish-
 ment afforded to the new plant.  The proper period for its collection is from
 the early part of June, when it has usually attained perfection, to the middle
 of August, when the offset appears.*  It may be  owing, in part, to  this in-
 equality at different seasons, that entirely  opposite reports have been given of
 its powers.  Krapf ate whole bulbs without inconvenience; Haller  found the
 bulbs 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 other hand,
 there can be no doubt of its highly irritating and poisonous nature, when fully
 developed, under ordinary circumstances.  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 he injured in drying, unless the process is carefully conducted.  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.
 Much loss of weight is sustained by exsiccation. Mr. Bainbridge obtained only
 two pounds fifteen ounces of dried bulb from eight pounds of the fresh.
   Properties.  The recent bulb or cormus of C autumnale resembles that of the
 tulip in shape and size, and is covered  with a brown  membranous coat.   Inter-
 nally it is solid, white, and fleshy; and, when cut transversely, yields, if mature,
 an acrid milky juice.   There is  often a small lateral projection 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 always present.  When dried,
 and deprived of its external membranous covering, the bulb is of an ash-brown
 colour, convex on one  side,  and somewhat 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 verti-
 cal sections of the bulb, but  generally in transverse circular slices, about the
 eighth or tenth of an inch in thickness, with a notch  at  one part of their cir-
 cumference. The cut surface is white, and of an amylaceous  aspect.  The odour
 of the recent bulb is said to be hircine.  It is diminished but not lost by drying.
 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 colouring 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 ver atria, but has been subsequently
 found to be peculiar, and  has received the appropriate name of colchicine, or

  * Dr. Christison, however, has found the roots collected in April, though  shrivelled
and less abundant in starch than those  gathered in July, to be even more bitter; and
conjectures, therefore, that the common opinion of their superior efficacy at the latter
season may not be well founded. 
284
Colchici Radix.
PART I.
colehicia.*   Wine and vinegar extract all the virtues of the bulb.  Dr. A. T.
Thomson states that the milky juice of fresh colchicum produces a  fine blue
colour, if rubbed with the  tincture  of  guaiac; and that the same effect is ob-
tained from 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 tinc-
ture of guaiac, as a  proof that the drug is good and has been well dried.   Dr.
J. M.  Maclagan has shown that this change of colour is produced with the al-
bumen, which is not affected if previously coagulated; so that the value of the
test consists simply in proving that  the drying has not been effected  at a heat
above  180°, or the temperature at which  albumen coagulates.   (Ed. Monthly
Journ. of Med. Sci., N. S., iv. 507.)  A very deep or large notch in the circum-
ference of the slices is considered an  unfavourable sign; as it indicates that the
bulb has been somewhat exhausted in the nourishment of the offset.  The decoc-
tion yields a deep blue precipitate with solution of iodine, white precipitates with
acetate and subacetate of lead, nitrate of  protoxide of  mercury, and nitrate of
silver,  and a slight precipitate with tincture of galls.    The value of colchicum
is best tested by its bitterness.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Colchicum root  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 vomiting 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 violent salivation, supposed to have re-

  * To Geiger and Hesse belongs the  credit of determining  the precise nature of this
alkaline principle.  Colehicia 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 solu-
ble in water, and less poisonous.  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 animal 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.  The pro-
cess for obtaining colehicia is similar  to that employed in  the preparation of hyoscy-
amia 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.
  The nature of the active principle of colchicum has recently engaged the attention of
L. Oberlin.  Upon repeating the process of Geiger and Hesse, he was unable to obtain
a crystallizable product, and came to the conclusion that the substance obtained by
them was complex.   By acidifying its watery solution by sulphuric or muriatic acid,
and concentrating until the liquid became intensely yellow,  he obtained, upon the ad-
dition of water, a yellowish-white precipitate, which, when well washed and freed from
colouring matter, dissolved readily in alcohol or ether,  and  crystallized with facility.
The crystalline product thus obtained he proposes to  call colchiceine.   It is a neuter
substance, contains no acid and is therefore not a salt, crystallizes in pearly lamellae, is
almost insoluble in cold water, to which, however, it imparts a slight bitternesses more
soluble in boiling water, and readily dissolves in alcohol, ether, methylic alcohol, and
chloroform.  It is dissolved by concentrated sulphuric,  muriatic, and nitric acids be-
coming yellow, by acetic acid without change of colour, and  by ammonia and potassa.
It is not altered nor precipitated by acetate or subacetate of lead, nitrate of silver, bichlo-
ride of mercury, or infusion of galls,  but is rendered green  by sesquichloride of iron.
It consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  It  was found to be very poisonous
to rabbits, killing an animal in 12 hours in the dose of  about one-seventh of a grain,
and in  a few minutes in five times that quantity.  ( Comptes Rendus, Dec. 1856, p. 1199.
See also Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 235.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Colchici Radix.— Colchici Semen.
285
suited from its use.  It appears in fact to have the property of stimulating all
the secretions, while it  somewhat diminishes the action of the heart.   In an
overdose, it may produce  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 headache, 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 un-
certainty 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 medi-
cinale d'Husson, so highly celebrated as a cure for gout.   In James's Dispen-
satory, 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 espe-
cially 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.   Pro-
fessor Chelius states that it changes the  chemical constitution  of the urine in
arthritic patients, producing an evident increase of the uric acid.  (N. Am. Med.
and Surg.  Journ., xi. 234.)   Dr. Maclagan has found it greatly to increase the
proportion both of urea and uric acid in the urine, and,  where these previously
existed in the blood, to  separate them from it.  (Ed. Monthly Journ. of Med.
Sci., N. S., v. 23.)  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 con-
tinued for three weeks (Medico-Chir. Bev., Oct. 1827); and it  has been found
useful in urticaria and other cutaneous affections.  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  pow-
dered bulb an effectual remedy in numerous cases of leucorrhoea.  (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 hypochondriasis, and in chronic
bronchial affections.   It is generally given in the state of vinous  tincture.  (See
Vinum  Colchici Badicis.)   In this form it has  been used externally in rheu-
matism.  The dose of the dried bulb is from  two to eight grains, which may be
repeated every four or six hours till its effects are  obtained.

                           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
in plants cultivated in a dry soil, or in  confined gardens.  (Williams.)  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.  Dr. Williams, of
Ipswich, in England, who first brought them into notice, recommends them 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 
286                  Colchici Semen.— Colocynthis.              part i.

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
the fresh bulb cannot be readily procured.   A wine of  the seeds is  directed  in
the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,  Their dose is about the same with that of the bulb.*
   Off. Prep, of the Boot.  Acetum Colchici; Extractum Colchici;  Extractum
Colchici Aceticum; Vinum Colchici Radicis.
   Off. Prep, of the Seed.  Tinctura Colchici Composita;  Tinct. Colchici Serni-
nis; Vinum  Colchici Seminis.                                         W.

            COLOCYNTHIS.  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                               Colocynth.

   The fruit of Citrullus Colocynthis, deprived of its rind. U. S., Bond.  Pulp
of the  fruit  of Cucumis Colocynthis. Ed., Dub.
   Coloquintida; Coloquinte, Fr.; Coloquinte, Coloquintenapfel, Germ.; Coloquintida,
Ital., Span.                                *
   Cucumis. Sex.  Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia, — Nat. Ord. Cucurbitaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Male. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla five-parted.  Filaments three.
Female. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla five-parted.  Pistil three-cleft.  Seeds of
the gourd with a sharp edge.  Willd,
   Cucumis Colocynthis.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 611; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p.  189,
t.  71.— Citrullus Colocynthis, Royle's Mat. Med.   The bitter cucumber is an
annual plant, bearing considerable resemblance to the common watermelon.
The stems,  which are herbaceous  and beset with rough hairs,  trail upon the
ground, or rise upon neighbouring bodies, to which they attach themselves by
their numerous tendrils.   The leaves, which stand alternately on long petioles,
are triangular, many-cleft, variously  sinuated, obtuse, hairy, of a fine green
colour on the upper surface, rough and pale on the under.   The flowers are
yellow, and  appear singly at the axils of the leaves.   The fruit is  a globular
pepo,- of the size of a small  orange, yellow, and smooth when ripe; and con-
tains, within a hard, coriaceous rind, a white spongy medullary matter, enclos-
ing numerous ovate, compressed, white or brownish seeds.
   The plant is a native of Turkey, and abounds in the islands of the Archi-
pelago.  It  grows also in various parts of Africa and Asia.  Burkhardt, in his
travels across Nubia, found the country covered with it;  Thunberg met  with
it  at the Cape of Good Hope; and Ainslie says that it  grows in many parts of
Lower India, particularly in sandy places  near the sea.  It is said to be culti-
vated in Spain.   The  fruit is gathered in autumn, when it begins to become

   * The following description of the seeds is given by Mr. Gray in the Lond. Med. Re-
pository for April, 1821. " Seeds, ovate, globose, about one-eighth of an inch in diameter.
Lnteguments, simple, soft, spongy, membranaceous, thin, reddish-brown, closely adher-
ent to the perisperm.  Perisperm or albumen, hard, rather cartilaginous, pellucid, pale,
not in the least divided, of the same shape as the seed. Corculum or embryo, very small,
ovate-globose, not in the least divided, whitish, placed nearly opposite to the hylum,
or that part  where the seed is affixed to the parent plant, but out of the axis of the
seed.   Base pointing to the  hylum, slender.  Apex  very obtuse."  An acquaintance
with the characters of these seeds is the more necessary, as the seeds of other plants
have been sold for them.
   The flowers have been repeatedly employed as a substitute for the root or seeds, and
by some have been  thought more uniform in their effects, and at the same time less
irritating. M. Luskind, of Geneva, Switzerland, prepares them in the following man-
ner. The flowers having  been gathered when in full perfection, on a sunny day,
are submitted to expression in a silk  bag.  A dark brown juice is obtained, which is
to be mingled with an equal measure of strong alcohol, allowed to stand for a month,
and then Altered. (See Va. Med. and S. Journ., March, 1854, p. 486.) 
PART I.
Colocynthis.
287
 yellow, and,  having been peeled, is dried quickly in a  stove  or by the  sun.
 Thus prepared, it is imported from the Levant.   Small  quantities are said to
 be imported into England from Mogador unpeeled.*
   Properties.  As kept in the shops, colocynth is in the shape of whitish balls
 about the size of an orange, very light and spongy, and abounding in  seeds
 which constitute three-fourths of their weight.  The seeds are somewhat bitter;
 but possess little activity, and, according to Captain Lyon, are even used as food
 in the north  of Africa.  When the medicine is prepared for use, they are sepa-
 rated 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 sepa-
 rate state, and called it colocynthin.  According to Meissner, 100 parts  of the
 dry pulp of colocynth contain  14-4 parts of colocynthin, 10'0 of extractive, 4-2
 of fixed oil, 13-2 of a resinous substance insoluble in ether, 9-5 of gum,  3-0 of
 pectic acid (pectin), 11 -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.  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 wa-
 ter, which dissolves the latter, and leaves the greater part of  the  former un-
 touched.   Mr. Bastick obtains it by exhausting the  pulp with cold water, heat-
 ing the solution to ebullition, adding subacetate of lead so long as a precipitate
 is produced, filtering the liquor when cold, adding dilute sulphuric acid gradu-
 ally until it no longer occasions a precipitate, boiling to  expel  free acetic acid,
 filtering to separate sulphate of lead, evaporating cautiously nearly to dryness,
 extracting the colocynthin from the residuum by strong alcohol which leaves the
 salts,  and finally evaporating the alcoholic solution, f Colocynthin is yellowish-
 brown, somewhat translucent, brittle and friable, fusible by a heat below 212°,
 inflammable,  more soluble in alcohol than  in water, but  capable of rendering
 the latter intensely bitter.  M. Mouchon states  that it is insoluble in ether.  It
 is neither acid nor alkaline;  but its aqueous solution gives with infusion of galls
 a copious white precipitate.  An infusion of colocynth, made with boiling water,
 gelatinizes upon cooling.   Neumann  obtained from 768 parts  of the  pulp,

  *  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
 vigorous 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 ex-
 tremely bitter taste.  A portion of the pulp was dried ; and an extract  prepared from
 it was found to have the cathartic properties of the extract of colocynth.
  t M. Emile Mouchon prepares  colocynthin in the following very  simple manner.
 Take 125 parts of colocynth in very fine powder, and 60 parts of purified animal char-
 coal. Mix the colocynth intimately with half the charcoal; introduce the mixture into a
 percolator  containing the other half of the charcoal; and percolate first with strong alco-
 hol, then with dilute alcohol, and finally with water so as to displace the previous liquid,
 until 250 parts  of concentrated alcoholic tincture are obtained. Allow this to evaporate
 spontaneously on flat dishes to dryness.  A garnet-coloured pulverizable product is thus
 obtained, of insupportable bitterness, and powerfully cathartic in the dose of a grain and
 a half.  In this state it is sufficiently pure for use.   It may be further purified by dis-
 solving in  strong alcohol, and treating with a little animal charcoal.  One part of colo-
 cynthin is  obtained from 32 of the entire fruit. (Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxviii. 166,
from Repert. der Pharm., Nov., 1855.) 
288
Colocynthis.—Colomba.
PART I.
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, therefore,
seldom  prescribed  alone.  By some writers it is  said 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 occasionally used
in obstinate dropsy, and in various affections depending on disordered action of
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 useful in congestion of the portal
circle and torpidity of the liver. (See Pilulse  Catharticse Compositse.)   The
dose of  colocynth is from five to ten grains.  It is best administered in minute
division, effected by trituration with gum or farinaceous matter.
   Thunberg states that the fruit of 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.  Extractum  Colocynthidis; Extractum Colocynthidis Composi-
tum ; Pilulas Colocynthidis Compositas.                               W.

                         COLOMBA.  U.S.

                               Columbo.

   The root of Cocculus palmatus.  U. S.
   Off. Syn.   CALUMBA.  Root of Cocculus palmatus. Ed., Lond., Dub.
   Colombo, Fr.; Columbowurzel, Germ.; Columba, Ital.; Raiz  de Columbo, Span.;
Kalumbo, Port.; Calumb, Mozambique.
   The columbo plant was long but imperfectly known.  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  collec-
tion, were examined  by Lamarck, and described under the name of Menisper-
mumpalmatum.  But its original locality was unknown, and it was only con-
jectured to be the source of columbo.   In the year 1805, M. Fortin, while en-
gaged in purchasing the drug in Mozambique, obtained  possession of a living
offset of the  root,  which, being taken to Madras,  and planted in the garden of
Dr. Anderson, produced a male plant, which was  figured and described by Dr.
Berry.   From  the drawing thus made, the plant  was referred to the natural
family of the Menispermeas; but, as the female flowers were wanting, some dif-
ficulty was experienced in fixing its precise botanical position.   De Candolle,
who probably had the  opportunity of examining Commerson's specimens, gave
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 1825, while prosecuting his survey of the eastern coast of Africa.  The genus
 Cocculus, in which the plant is now placed, was separated by De Candolle from
3Ienispermum, and  includes those species which  have six  stamens, while the
Menispermum is limited to those with twelve or more. 
PART I.
Colomba.
289
   Cocculus.   Sex. Syst Dioecia Hexandria. — Nat Ord.  Menispermaceas.
  _ Gen. Ch, Sepals and Petals ternate, usually in 2, rarely in 3 rows.  Stamens
 six, distinct, opposite the petals. Drupes berried,  1-6, generally oblique, reni-
 form, somewhat compressed, one-seeded.  Cotyledons distant. De Cand.
   Cocculus palmatus.   De Cand. Syst. Veg. i. 523; Woodv. Med, Bot 3d ed.
 vol. 5, p. 21.   This is  a climbing plant, with a perennial root, consisting  of
 several fasciculated, fusiform, somewhat curved, and descending tubers, as thick
 as 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 ou  rounded,
 glandular-hairy footstalks,  are alternate, distant,  cordate, with three, five,  or
 seven entire, acuminate, wavy,  somewhat hairy lobes, and as many nerves, each
 running into one of the lobes.   The flowers are small and inconspicuous, and
 arranged in solitary axillary racemes, which, iu 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 ex-
 tending from the sea many miles into the interior.    It is not cultivated.   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.   It was for-
 merly 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 have
 given origin to its name.  Some, however, 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 Christison1 s Dispensatory Am
 ed. p. 304.)                                                l       *'
   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, 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 mucilagi-
 nous.  The root is 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 pre-
 pared in small quantities at a time.
   M. Planche 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 volatile oil, salts of lime and potassa, oxide
of iron, and silica.  Wittstock, of Berlin,  afterwards isolated a peculiar crystal-
       19                                                            * 
290
Colomba.
PART i.
lizable principle, which he called colombin, and which appears to be the bitter
yellow substance of Planche, deprived of a portion of colouring matter.  Colom-
bin 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 boiling alcohol, which  deposits it upon cooling.
The best solvent is dilute acetic  acid.  It is taken  up by  alkaline solutions,
from which it is precipitated by acids.  It has neither acid nor alkaline  pro-
perties, and its alcoholic and acetic  solutions are not  affected  by the metallic
salts, or the infusion of galls.  It is obtained by exhausting columbo by means
of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-835, distilling off three-quarters of the alcohol, allow-
ing 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.
   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 iden-
tical with that substance.   It was obtained by exhausting columbo with alcohol
of 0-889, distilling off the alcohol, allowing the residual liquor to stand for three
days so as  to deposit the columbin, evaporating the supernatant liquid together
with  the aqueous washings of  the columbin to  dryness, exhausting the residue
with boiling alcohol of 0-863, 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 the muriate
of berberin.   It is stated that berberin is present in columbo in much larger pro-
portion than colombin, and, being abundantly soluble in hot water and alcohol,
while colombin is but  slightly so,  is probably more largely extracted in the
ordinary liquid preparations of the root. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xx. 322.)
It is thought that berberin exists in columbo combined with a peculiar acid de-
nominated columbic acid; and that, while the colombin occurs in the cells of
the root in a  crystalline state, the columbate of berberin  is deposited in the
thickening layers of  the cell-membranes.  (Chem, Gaz., vii. 150.)
   It is probable that both colombin and berberin contribute to  the remedial
effects of columbo.   The virtues of the root are extracted by boiling water and
by alcohol.  Precipitates are produced with the infusion  and tincture by infu-
 sion  of galls, and solutions of acetate and  subacetate of lead; but the bitterness
 is not affected.
   Adulterations.  It is said that the root of white bryony, tinged yellow with
 the tincture of columbo, has  sometimes been  fraudulently substituted for the
 genuine root; but the adulteration  is too gross to deceive those acquainted with
 the characters of either of  these drugs.  American columbo, which is the root
 of Frasera  Walteri, is said to have been 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
 unaffected by the sulphate or sesquichloride of iron, and gives a dirty gray pre-
 cipitate with tincture  of galls, the tincture of frasera acquires a  dark-green
 colour with the former reagent, and  is not affected by the latter.  (Duncan.)
 Under the name of columbo wood, or false columbo, the wood of  Coscinium 
PART I.         Colomba.—Conii Folia.—Conii Semen.             291

fenestratum, a plant of the family of Menispermaceas, growing in Ceylon, has
been imported into England, and offered for sale in the drug market.  (Pharm.
Journ. and Trans., x. 321, and xii. 185.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Columbo is among the most useful of the
mild tonics.  Without astringency,  with very little stimulating power, and ge-
nerally acceptable to the stomach, it answers admirably as a remedy in simple
dyspepsia, and in the debility of convalescence, especially  when the alimentary
canal is left enfeebled.  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  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, aromatics, mild cathartics, and antacids.  The remedy which
 we have found most effectual in the permanent cure of a disposition to the ac-
 cumulation 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 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 Colombee.)   The dose of the powder is from ten to
 thirty grains, and maybe repeated three or four times a day.  It is frequently
 combined with powdered ginger, subcarbonate of iron, and rhubarb.
   Off. Prep. Infusum Colombas; Mistura Ferri Aromatica; Tinctura Colombas.


                       CONII   FOLIA.  U.S.

                           Hemlock Leaves.

   The leaves of Conium  maculatum. U. S.
   Off. Syn. CONIUM.  Conium maculatum.  The fresh and dried leaf of the
 wild herb. Lond.   The leaves. Ed., Dub.


                       CONII  SEMEN. U.S.

                             Hemlock Seed.

   The fruit of Conium maculatum.  U. S.
   Cigue ordinaire, Grande cigue, Fr.; Gefleckter Schierling, Germ.; Cicuta, Ital.,  Span.
   Conium. Sex. Syst Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. UmbelliferasorApiaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Partial Involucre halved, usually three-leaved.   Fruit nearly glo-
 bular, five-streaked, notched on both sides.  Willd.
    Conium maculatum.  Willd. Sp. Plant  i. 1395; Bigelow, Am. 3Ied. Bot. 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 tripinnate, more than
 a foot in length, shining, and attached  to the joints  of the stem by sheathing
 petioles; the upper are smaller, bipinnate,  and inserted  at the division of the
 branches; both have channeled footstalks,  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
  rom three  to seven lanceolate, reflected leaflets, whitish at their edges; the p^r- 
292
Conii Folia.—Conii Semen.
PART I.
tial involucre, of three or four, oval, pointed, spreading, and on one side only.
There are five petals, cordate, with their points inflected, and nearly equal.  Ihe
Stamens are spreading, and about as long as the corolla; the styles diverging.
The fruit commonly called seeds, 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.
   Hemlock is a native  of Europe, and has become naturalized in  the United
States where it is also cultivated for medicinal purposes.   It grows usually in
clusters  along the road sides,  or in waste grounds, and is found most abund-
antly near old settlements.  It flowers 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 result from
breathino- for a long time air loaded with the effluvia.   The  plant varies in
narcotic power according to  the  weather and climate, 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 expo-
sure.  The term cicuta, which has often been applied to this plant, belongs to
a  different genus.   The leaves and fruit are officinal.
   The proper  season for gathering the leaves is  when the plant is in flower;
and Dr.  Fothergill asserts, from experiment, 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 from the  air and light, by exposure to which they lose their
fine green colour, and become deteriorated.   The same end is answered by pul-
verizing them, and preserving 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 may  be destitute  of the nar-
cotic  principle.  When rubbed  with caustic potassa  they should exhale the
odour of  conia.  The fruit  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.
   Properties.  The dried leaves of the hemlock have  a strong, heavy, narcotic
 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 bit-
 terish taste.  Their form has already been described.,  Water distilled from the
 fresh leaves has the odour of hemlock, and a nauseous taste, but does not pro-
 duce narcotic  effects.   The  decoction has little taste, and the extract resulting
 from its evaporation is nearly 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 in  the dose of half a grain to produce headache and
 vertigo.  Upon destructive  distillation, the leaves yield a very poisonous empy-
 reumatic  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.  Brandes  obtained from the plant a very odorous
 oil, albumen, resin, colouring matter, and salts.
    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 
PART I.
Conii Folia.— Conii Semen.
293
 substance in which the alkalinity resided.  Geiger was the first who obtained
 the active principle in a separate state, and proved it to be alkaline.   It  ap-
 pears 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.    The latter  substance  is  the active prin-
 ciple, and has received the  name of conia or coniine.   It probably exists in
 the plant united with an acid, as it  is separated by the alkalies.  This acid
 Peschier believed to be peculiar, and named coniic acid.   Geiger obtained conia
 by the following process.   He distilled fresh hemlock with caustic potassa and
 water, neutralized with sulphuric acid  the alkaline  liquid which came over,
 evaporated this liquid to the consistence of syrup, added anhydrous alcohol so
 long as  a precipitate of sulphate 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 separated, floating on the surface in the form of a yellowish  oil.
 According to Dr. Christison, an easier process is to distil cautiously a mixture
 of a strong solution of potassa and the alcoholic extract of the unripe fruit.
 As  obtained by the above processes,  conia is in the state of a hydrate, con-
 taining  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 undergoes decomposition  by time and exposure.   The seeds contain
 most  of this principle; but even in these  it  exists in very small proportion.
 From 6  pounds of the fresh and 9 of the dried seeds, Geiger obtained about an
 ounce of conia; while from 100 pounds of the fresh herb he got only a drachm,
 and from  the  dried leaves none.  Christison recommends the full grown fruit
 while yet  green, and states  that 8 pounds will yield half an ounce of hydrate
 of conia, and contains much more.*
   Conia is in  the form of a yellowish, oily liquid, lighter than water, of a very
 acrid taste, and a strong penetrating odour, compared to  that of the urine of
 mice, and  recalling the smell of fresh hemlock, though not identical with it.
 In volatility it resembles  the essential oils, readily rising with  the vapour  of

  * From a recent communication by Drs. A. von Planta and Aug.  Kekule to the
 Annal. der Chem. und Pharm. (lxxxix , s. 129—156), it would appear that commercial
 conia consists most commonly of at least two homologous bases ;  one being the proper
 conia (NC]6HI5), which contains one eq. of hydrogen capable of being replaced by rad-
 icals, and the other, named methylconia  (NCJ8H17), having no hydrogen  which can
 be replaced by radicals.  A third, ethylconia (NC20HI9), was obtained from a specimen
 of commercial conia containing no methylconia. In relation to the modes of separating
 these alkaloids and their distinctive properties, we must content ourselves with refer-
 ring to the original paper; as no practical advantage has yet accrued from the inves-
 tigation, and it may be doubted whether the new alkaloids may not be products of the
 operation, as they are obtained by the action respectively of iodide of methyle, and
 iodide of ethyle on conia.
  Prof. T. Wertheim has also found a new alkaloid mixed with the conia oMained by
 distillation from fresh hemlock flowers.   It is crystallizable, fusible at a temperature
 below 212J F , and volatilizable at a higher temperature, diffusing the peculiar odour
 of conia, or one very much like it.  Water dissolves it considerably, ether and alcohol
 freely : and the solution has a strong alkaline reaction.   Its formula is given as NCl6
 H]5,H202,  or conia  with  two eqs. of  water.  Hence it  has  been named  conhydrine
 (conhydria). For an account of the process employed in procuring it, we must content
ourselves with referring to the  Chemical Gazette (March 16, 1857, p. 106.)—Note to the
eleventh edition. 
294
Conii Folia.—Conii Semen.
PART I.
boiling water, but, when unmixed, requiring for ebullition, according to Chris-
tison, 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 its
weight 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 compound.  Like  ammonia it occasions a
white  cloud,  when approached by a rod moistened with  muriatic  acid.  It
coagulates albumen, and precipitates the salts of aluminium, copper, zinc, man-
ganese, and iron.   It also precipitates nitrate of silver, but in excess redissolves
the  precipitate.   Most of its  salts are decomposed  by evaporation.   When
exposed to the  air, it speedily assumes  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.  The
presence of conia may be detected in  an extract, or other preparation of hem-
lock, by rubbing it with potassa, which instantly developes  its peculiar odour.
It consists of nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen;  its  admitted formula being
NC,fiH15.*   In its effects on the system  it closely resembles hemlock itself. Dr.
Christison  found it, contrary to the experience of Geiger,  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 applied. Dr.
Christison  (Trans. Boy. Soc. Ed, 1836), thinks that it acts upon the spinal
marrow, directly prostrating the nervous power,  producing  paralysis of the
voluntary muscles, and destroying life by arresting respiration.  The brain does
not  seem to be especially attacked; as  the animal, when  it dies  slowly, pre-
serves 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.  A recently prepared extract  of  hemlock acted pre-
cisely as conia.   Locally the alkali appears to act as an irritant.
  Medical Properties and Uses. Hemlock is narcotic,  and somewhat sedative
to the  circulation.   Mr. Judd inferred from his experiments that it directly di-
minishes the action of the heart, and, when it produces death, contrary  to the re-
sults obtained by Christison, exhausts the contractility of that organ.  (Medico-
Bot. Trans., vol. i. pt. 4.)  When given so as fully to affect the system, it pro-
duces 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 ulti-
mately convulsions  and death.  Sometimes it produces fatal effects through
paralysis alone,  without coma or convulsions.  Its operation 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 did not again come into  notice till the time of Storck by

  * Orfila gives the following additional chemical characters of conia.   Heated in a
capsule, it forms white vapours, having a strong smell of celery and of the urine of mice.
Weak tincture of iodine gives a white precipitate, becoming olive with excess of the
tincture.  Pure concentrated sulphuric acid  does not utter it;  but, when the mixture is
heated, it becomes first brown, then blood-red, and finally black.   Nitric acid imparls
a topaz colour, not changed by heat.  The chlorides of platinum and of gold give yel-
low precipitates, and corrosive sublimate a white one.   Red  permanganate of potassa
is immediately decolorized.   Neutral acetate of lead gives no precipitate; nor does the
subacetate.   The parts of this note in italics indicate the methods of distinguishing
this alkaloid from nicotia. (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xi. 89.) 
PART I.               Conii Folia.—Conii Semen.                   295

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, antaphrodisiac, deobstruent, and diuretic pro-
perties  have been ascribed to it.   It was highly recommended  by Storck as a
remedy in scirrhus and cancerous ulcers, but at present is considered only a use-
ful palliative in those affections.   In mammary tumours and chronic enlarge-
ments of the liver and other abdominal viscera;  in painful scrofulous tumours
and ulcers;  in various diseases of the skin, as lichen, prurigo,^cne, eczema, pso-
riasis, leprosy, and elephantiasis; in the  complicated derangements  of health
attendant upon secondary syphilis; in chronic rheumatism and  neuralgic affec-
tions; in excessive secretion of milk; in pertussis, asthma, chronic catarrh, and
consumption;  and in various other disorders connected with nervous derange-
ment, 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 other remedies.   Dr. Gibson, of the University of Pennsylvania, con-
 siders it efficacious in the cure of goitre.
   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 increased
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 ad-
ministered 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 neglect of this pre-
caution.  There are  also an  officinal tincture and 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 should be given in a dose considerably smaller than
that of the leaves. * The  fresh leaves are  sometimes used externally as an ano-
dyne cataplasm; and the  extract, and an  ointment  prepared from the leaves,
are applied  to the same purpose.
   Conia has been  occasionally employed, both internally and externally, with
asserted advantage, for the same purposes as hemlock itself, or the extract.  It
has been particularly recommended in hooping-cough.   Dr. Spengler, of  Her-
born, gave it to an infant a year old in the  dose of one-sixteenth of a grain
every six hours, with the effect of curing the disease in ten days.  (Ann. de  The-
rap., 1853, p. 73.) According to the formula of Fronmiiller, two drops are dis-
solved in twenty-four drops of alcohol, and three drops of the solution are given,
each on a piece  of sugar.  (Arch. Gen., ie ser., xxiii.  226.)  From one-quarter
of a drop to a drop may be given to an adult, and two or three drops by enema

  * From their  greater strength, permanency, and uniformity, the seeds might well
supersede the leaves for internal use.  They should be pulverized,  made into pills
with syrup, and given in the  commencing dose of half a grain, to be gradually in-
creased  till their effects are experienced.  MM. Devay and  Guilliermond  prepare a
syrup from the seeds, made by exhausting 10 parts of  them with 60 parts of alcohol of
28J, and adding the tincture to 3,000 parts of  syrup "aromatised ad libitum."  One or
two fluidrachms  may be taken at first. (Ann. de  The'rap., 1853, p. 54.)—Note to the
tenth edition. 
296           Conii Folia.—Conii Semen.—Contrayerva.       part r.

in emulsion of starch.   A solution of one part in one hundred of very dilute
alcohol has been used with advantage in certain cases of scrofulous ophthalmia
with photophobia, applied several times  daily by friction about the eyelids.
(Journ. de Pharm., Be ser., xix. 219.)  Prof. Mauthner, of Vienna, recom-
mends  it especially in the spasmodic contraction of the orbicularis in scrofulous
children, employing a solution containing half a grain of conia in a drachm of
almond oil, which he applies by a pencil to the eyelids twice or thrice daily.  As
a collyrium, from one to three drops may be added to six drachms of pure water,
and two drachms, of mucilage of quince seed.   Introduced into the cavity of a
carious tooth, it is  said to be very effectual in toothache.   In diseases of the
skin it may be used as an ointment, made with  three drops to a drachm of sim-
ple ointment.  In neuralgia, three or four drops may be applied on linen to the
skin, and confined by oiled silk. (See Am. Journ, of Med. Sci., N. S., xxx. 187.)
*  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, of the Leaves.  Extractum Conii; Extract. Conii Alcoholicum;
Tinctura Conii;  Unguentum Conii.                                   W.


               CONTRAYERVA.  U. S.  Secondary.

                             Contrayerva.

   The root of Dorstenia Contrayerva. U. S.
   Contrayerva, Fr.; Giftwurzel,  Germ.; Contrajerva,  Ital.; Contrayerba, Span.
   Dorstenia. Sex. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia, — Nat Ord, Urticaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Beceptacle 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 D. Contrayerva, two others
are mentioned by Dr.  Houston, D. Houstonia and D. Drakena, the former
growing near Campeachy,  the latter  near Yera Cruz.   It is referred by Dr.
Martius also to D. Brasiliensis, growing in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Brazil.
D. Contrayerva is the only one recognised in the Pharmacopoeia,
   Dorstenia Contrayerva.  Willd. Sp. Plant i. 682; Woodv.  3Ied,Bot p. 705,
t.  240.  This plant has a perennial, fusiform,  branching, rough, compact 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 foot-
stalks,  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 sta-
mens, 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 (rhizoma)
is  the officinal portion.  According to Pereira,  however, the contrayerva of the
shops is the product of D. Brasiliensis, and is brought  from Brazil.   The term
contrayerba, in the language of the Spanish Americans, signifies counterpoison
or antidote, and was applied to this root under the  impression that it had the
property of counteracting 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 
part I.           Convolvulus Panduratus.—Copaiba.               297

tuberous portion.  The sensible properties are extracted by alcohol and boiling
water.  The decoction is highly mucilaginous.   The tincture reddens infusion
of litmus, and lets fall a precipitate on the addition of water.  The root has not
yet been analyzed, but contains starch and a volatile oil.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Contrayerva is a stimulant tonic and diapho-
retic, and has been given in low states of fever, malignant eruptive diseases,
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.  US. Secondary.

                              Wild Potato.

   The root of Convolvulus panduratus. U. S.
   Convolvulus. See SCAMMONIUM.
   Convolvulus panduratus.   Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 850;  Barton, 3Ied,  Bot, i.
 249. The wild potato has a perennial root, and a round, purplish, procumbent
 or climbing stem, which twines around neighbouring objects, and grows some-
 times twelve feet in length.   The leaves, which stand alternately on long pe-
tioles, 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 campanulate, very large, white at
the border, but purplish-red at the base.
   The plant is indigenous, growing throughout the United  States in sandy fields
and along fences, and flowering from June to August.  A variety with  double
flowers is  cultivated in the gardens for the sake  of ornament.
   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.
   Medical Properties.  The wild potato is feebly cathartic, and has been  pro-
posed as a substitute for  jalap, but is scarcely used.   It is thought also to be
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 Y. Journ, of Med., x. 375.)  Forty
grains of  the dried root are said to purge gently.                      W.


                   COPAIBA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.

                                Copaiba.

   The juice of Copaifera officinalis and other species of Copaifera.  U. S.  Co-
paifera multijuga and other species.  The oleo-resin from incisions in the  trunk.
Lond,   Fluid resinous exudation of  various species of Copaifera. Ed,
   Off. Syn.  COPAIVA BALSAM.   The balsam of Copaifera officinalis and
other species.  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.  Amyridaceas, Lindley.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx none.  Petals four.  Legume ovate. Seed one, with an ovate
arillus.  Willd. 
298
Copaiba.
PART I.
  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, grow-
ing in the Island of Martinique, which he named C. officinalis.  As this was
believed  to be the same plant with the one observed by Marcgrav in Brazil, it
was  adopted in the  Pharmacopoeias; but their identity  is now denied; and
Desfontaines has  proposed for Jacquin's  species the  title of  C. Jacquini, in
honour of that botanist. It is now known that many species of Copaifera exist
in Brazil and  other  parts of South America;  and all of them, according to
Martius, yield copaiba.   Besides C. officinalis or C. Jacquini, the following are
described by Hayne;— C.Guianensis, C.Langsdorffii, C.coriacea, CBeyrichii,
C. 3Iartii, C. bijuga,  C. nitida, C. laxa, C. cordifolia,  C. Jussieui, C Sellowii,
C. oblongifolia, and  C. multijuga.   Hayne believed that C. bijuga was  the
plant seen by Marcgrav and Piso.
   Copaifera officinalis.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 630; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 609,
t. 216.  C. Jacquini. Desfont. Mem. du  Mus. vii. 376 ;  Hayne, Darstel. und
Beschreib. &c. x.  14. This is an elegant tree, with a lofty  stem, much branched
at the top, and crowned by a thick canopy of foliage.  The leaves are alternate,
large, and pinnate, composed of from two to five pairs of ovate, entire, obtusely
acuminate  leaflets, two or three inches in length, rather  narrower on one side
than the other, smooth, pellucidly punctate, somewhat shining, and on  short
footstalks.   The flowers  are whitish, and in terminal branched spikes.   The
fruit is an oval, two-valved pod, containing a single seed.
   This species of  Copaifera is a native of Yenezuela, and grows in the province
of  Carthagena, mingled  with the trees which afford  the balsam of  Tolu.  It
grows also in some of  the West India islands, particularly Trinidad and Mar-
tinique.   Though recognised in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia as one of the sources
of copaiba, it probably yields little of that now in use.   According  to Hayne,
the species from which  most of the copaiba of commerce is derived is C. multi-
juga, growing  in  the province of  Para.   It is probable  that C. Guianensis,
which inhabits the neighbouring province of Guiana, especially in the vicinity
of the Rio Negro, affords also considerable quantities; and G. Langsdorffd and
 G. coriacea, which are natives of Santo Paulo, are thought to yield most of the
juice collected  in this province.
   The juice is obtained by making deep incisions into the stems of the trees; and
the operation is said  to be repeated several times in the same season.  As it flows
from the wound, it is clear, colourless, and very thin, but soon acquires a thicker
consistence, and a yellowish tinge.  It is most largely collected in the provinces
of Para  and Maranham, in Brazil, and is brought to this country from the port
of Para, in small casks or barrels.   Large quantities of it come from Maracaibo,
in Yenezuela, and from other ports on the Caribbean sea, whence it is  brought in
casks, demijohns, cans,  jugs, &e.  The drug is  also exported from Angustura,
Cayenne, Rio Janeiro,  and some of the West India islands.
   Properties.   Copaiba is a clear, transparent liquid,  usually of the consistence
of olive  oil, of a pale-yellow colour, a peculiar not unpleasant  odour, and a bit-
terish, hot, nauseous  taste.  Its sp. gr. varies ordinarily from 0-950 to  1-000; but
hasbeenknowntobeaslowasO'916. (Procter, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxii. 292.)*

  *  The variety of copaiba found by Prof. Procter to have this low sp. gr. was of un-
certain origin, but supposed to be from Para.  It was of a light straw colour, very fluid,
and possessed of the pure copaiba odour.  It contained 80 per cent, of volatile oil and
20 of resin, and was not affected  by recently calcined magnesia. It appears to be the
same with a variety described by Dr. L. Posselt, of which an  account is contained in
the Chemical Gazette for May 1st, 1849.  The view of  Prof. Procter, that it is the pro-
duct of young trees, in which the juice has not become fully elaborated, is highly pro-
bable.  As the virtues of copaiba depend mainly on the oil, this variety should be
 more efficacious than the copaiba in common use.—Note to the ninth edition. 
PART I.
Copaiba.
299
 It is insoluble in water, but entirely soluble in absolute  alcohol, ether, and the
 fixed and volatile oils.  Strong alkaline solutions dissolve it perfectly; but the
 resulting solution becomes turbid when largely diluted with water.  With the
 alkalies and alkaline earths it forms saponaceous compounds, in which the resin
 of the copaiba acts the part of an acid.   It dissolves magnesia, especially with
 the aid of heat, and even disengages carbonic acid from the carbonate of that
 earth.   If triturated with a sixteenth  of its weight of magnesia and set aside,
 it gradually assumes a solid consistence; and a similar change is produced with
 hydrate of lime. (See Pilulas  Copaibse.)  Its essential constituents are volatile
 oil  and resin, with a  minute proportion of an  acid which appears to be  the
 acetic. (Durand, Journ. of Phil. Col.  of Pharm., i. 3.)  As it  contains no
 benzoic acid, it cannot with propriety  retain its old title of balsam of copaiva.
 The substances which it most closely resembles, both in composition and proper-
 ties, are the turpentines.   The volatile  oil will be treated of  among the Pre-
 parations.  (See Oleum Copaibse.)
    The resinous mass which remains  after  the distillation of the oil  is hard,
 brittle, translucent; greenish-brown, and nearly destitute of smell and taste.  By
 mixing it with the oil  in proper  proportion, we may obtain a liquid identical
 or nearly so  with the original juice.   When treated with the oil of petroleum,
 it is separated into two distinct resins, one of which is dissolved, and may be
 obtained separate by evaporation, the other is left behind.   The first is yellow-
 ish, hard, and brittle, and constitutes by far the largest proportion of the resi-
 duum of the  distillation.   It possesses acid properties; as its alcoholic solution
 reddens litmus, and it forms definite compounds with the alkalies.  It  has there-
 fore been named copaivic acid.   The  second  resin is  yellowish-brown, soft,
 unctuous, and without acid reaction; and is believed to result from the resinifi-
 cation of the volatile oil.  Recent copaiba, examined by  Gerber, yielded 41 per
 cent, of volatile oil, 51-38 of the hard and brittle resin,  2-18 of the  soft resin,
 and 5*44 of water;  while an older specimen gave 31-07 per cent, of  oil, 53*68
 of hard resin, 11-15 of soft resin, and  4-10 of water.
  _ Copaiba, upon exposure to the air, acquires a deeper colour, a thicker con-
 sistence, and greater density, and, if spread out upon an extended surface, ulti-
 mately becomes dry and brittle.  This  change  is owing partly to the volatiliza-
 tion, partly to the oxidation  of the essential  oil.  As it is the soft  resin that
 results from the oxidation of the oil, it follows that the proportion of this resin
 must increase with age.  Considerable diversities must, therefore, exist in the
 drug, both in physical properties and the proportion of its ingredients, according
 to its age and degree of exposure.   Similar differences also exist in the copaiba
 procured from different sources.  Thus, that of the West Indies, when  compared
 with the Brazilian, which is the variety above described, and in common use,
 is of a thicker consistence, of a deeper or darker yellow colour, less transparent,
 and of a less agreeable, more terebinthinate odour; and specimens obtained from
 the ports of Venezuela or New Grenada  were  found, upon examination by M.
 Vigne, to  differ  from  each other not  only in  physical  properties, but also in
 their chemical relations. (Journ. de Pharm., N. S., i. 52.)   It  is not impossi-
 ble that differences  may exist  in  the juice according to  the circumstances of
 its collection.   The age of the tree, its  position, and the season of collection
 may also have some influence over the product.  It is highly probable that the
 resinous matter results from oxidation  of the oil  in the cells of  the plant, and
 that the less elaborated the juice may be, the larger proportion it will contain
 of the oil.   It is said  that a volatile oil flows abundantly from a tree near
Bogota, which is employed  to  adulterate the  copaiba collected in  that neigh-
bourhood, and shipped from Maracaibo  and other neighbouring ports.  (Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 240.) 
300
Copaiba.
part r.
  Adulterations.   Copaiba is said to be frequently adulterated; but the remark
is applicable rather to the markets of Europe than of the United States.*  The
fixed oils are the most frequent  addition, especially castor oil, which, in  con-
sequence of its solubility in  alcohol, cannot, like the others,  be detected by the
agency of that  fluid.   Various plans have been proposed for ascertaining the
presence of castor oil.    The simplest is to boil a drachm  of the copaiba in a
pint of water, till the liquid is wholly evaporated.  If the copaiba contain a fixed
oil, the residue  will be more  or  less  soft,  according to the quantity present;
otherwise it will be hard.  Another mode, proposed by M. Planche, consists in
shaking  together in  a bottle  one part of  solution  of ammonia of the sp. gr.
0*9212&(22° Baume) with two and a half parts of copaiba, at a temperature of
from 50° to 60° F.  The mixture, at first cloudy, quickly becomes transparent
if the copaiba is pure, but remains more or less opaque if it is adulterated  with
castor oil.  According to J. E. Simon, however, a  variety of  genuine  copaiba
occurs in commerce, in which this test fails (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 236);
and it does not apply to the variety containing 80 per cent, of volatile oil, de-
scribed by Prof. Procter.   (See note p. 298.)   Carbonate of magnesia,_ caustic
potassa, and sulphuric  acid have also been proposed as  tests.  In the Edinburgh
Pharmacopoeia, it is stated  that copaiba "dissolves a fourth  part of its weight
of  carbonate of  magnesia, with the aid of  a gentle  heat, and  continues trans-
lucent."  The presence of a small proportion of any fixed oil renders the mixture
opaque.   One part of potassa dissolved in two of water forms a clear solution
with nine parts of pure copaiba, and the liquid continues clear when moderately
diluted with water or alcohol; but the presence of one-sixth of fixed oil in the
copaiba  occasions more or less  opacity in the liquid, and half the quantity causes
the precipitation of white flakes  in a few hours. (Stolze.)   Turpentine, which
is said to be sometimes added  to copaiba, may be detected by its smell, especially
if the copaiba be heated.  According to Mr. Redwood, most  of the  proposed
tests of  the purity of copaiba are liable to fallacy; and the  best measure of its
activity  is the quantity of volatile oil it affords by distillation, f

  * We  have a specimen of a substance imported into New York, under the name of
red copaiba, which has not a single character of the genuine drug.  It is of a thick, semi-
fluid consistence, not unlike that of balsam of Tolu, as it often  reaches us, a brown
colour similar to that of the same balsam, though darker, and an unpleasant yet some-
what aromatic odour, recalling that  of liquidamber, but less agreeable.  Its origin is
unknown.—Note to the ninth edition.
   f Wood Oil, Gurjun  Balsam.  In the Pharm. Journ. and  Trans, for August, 1854, (p.
 65), appeared an account, by Mr. Charles Lowe, of Manchester, of a "new variety of bal-
sam of copaiba," derived from the East Indies.   In a subsequent communication to the
same Journal (Jan. I85ti, p. .321) from Mr. Daniel Hanbury, it appears that this product,
though offered for sale in the London market as balsAm of copaiba, is known in India un-
der the names of ivood oil and Gurjun balsam. Considerable quantities had been imported
from Moulmein, in Burmah ;  and specimens of a similar drug had been received from
 Canara and Tenasserim; and it  appears to be widely diffused in the Indian markets.
   According to Roxburgh, this liquid is obtained from Dipterocarpus turbinatus, a very
large tree, growing in Pegu, and other parts of further India.  A large notch is cut in
the trunk of the tree, between two  and three feet from the ground, and a fire made so
 as to char the wound.   The juice then begins to flow, and is received in suitable ves-
 sels.   Every 3 or 4 weeks, the charred surface is cut off and  burned anew.   A  single
 tree sometimes yields 40 gallons during the season.  Other species of Dipterocarpus
 afford a  similar product; and hence probably the difference which has been observed in
 the specimens examined.  It is  at first turbid, but may be clarified either by filtration
 or deposition. After filtration, wood oil is a clear, dark brown liquid, of the sp. gr. 0-964
 (Hanbury), and in oonsistence, smell, and taste, bearing a close resemblance to copaiba.
 It is soluble in two parts of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-796, with the exception of a very small
 proportion of darkish flocculent matter, which subsides on standing. According to Mr.
 Lowe, it  contains  65 per cent, of  volatile oil, 34 of resin, and 1 of acetic acid and  water. 
PART I.
Copaiba.
301
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Copaiba is  gently stimulant, diuretic, laxa-
tive, and in very large closes often actively purgative.  It produces, when swal-
lowed, a sense of heat in the throat and stomach, and extends an irritant action,
not only throughout the  alimentary canal, but also to the urinary passages,
and in fact, in a greater or less degree, to all the mucous membranes, for which
it appears to have a strong affinity.   The urine acquires a peculiar odour dur-
ing its use, and its smell may be detected in the breath.   It sometimes occasions
an eruption  upon the skin, resembling that of  measles, and attended with dis-
agreeable itching and tingling.  Nausea and vomiting, painful purgation, stran-
gury and bloody urine,  and a general state of  fever are  among the morbid re-
sults of  its excessive action.   As a  remedy it has been  found most efficient in
diseases  of the  mucous  membranes,  particularly those of  a chronic character.
Thus, it is given with occasional advantage in  leucorrhoea, gleet, chronic dysen-
tery and diarrhoea, painful hemorrhoidal affections, and chronic bronchitis.  By
Dr. La Roche, of Philadelphia, it is highly recommended in catarrh of the blad-
der, and in chronic irritation of  the same  organ.  (Am. Journ. of Med, Sci.,
xiv. 13.) It has been given in dropsy, and is said to be  used as a vermifuge in
Brazil.  The complaint, however, in which it is most employed is gonorrhoea.
It is given in all stages of the disorder; but caution is requisite when the in-
flammatory  symptoms are high.  Even in health, if taken largely, it sometimes
produces very unpleasant irritation of the urinary passages, and, by sympathy,
of the testicles.   It was formerly much esteemed as a vulnerary, and as an ap-
plication to  ulcers ; but it is now seldom used  externally.   Dr. Ruschenberger
recommends it locally in chilblains.  (3Ied. Examiner, i. 77.)   Prof. Marchal,
of Strasburg, has employed it with great success in gonorrhoea  and leucorrhoea,
injecting it in the form of an emulsion made with 5 parts of copaiba, 8 of gum
arabic, and 100  of water, and applying it also by means of catheters or tampons
smeared with the emulsion.  (See N.  Y.  Journ. of Med., N. S., xv. 289.)
   The dose of copaiba is from twenty drops' to a fluidrachm three times a day,
or a smaller  quantity repeated more  frequently.  It may be given dropped on
sugar; but in this form is  often so exceedingly offensive, as to render some con-
cealment of its nauseous qualities necessary.  It is sometimes given floating on
the surface of an aromatic water, or  mixed with an equal  measure of spirit of
nitric ether.  A less disagreeable form is that of emulsion, prepared by  rubbing
the copaiba first with mucilage or the yolk  of an  egg,  and sugar, and  after-
wards with some aromatic water, as  that of mint  or cinnamon.   The  volatile
oil, which  is the active ingredient of copaiba, may be given in the dose of ten

A characteristic property, noticed first by Mr. Lowe, by which it may be distinguished
from copaiba, is that, when  heated  in a closed vial to 266° (230°, Lowe), it  becomes
slightly turbid and coagulates, so that the vial may be inverted without changing the
position of its contents ; and  this consistence is retained when the liquid cools.  By a
gentle heat with agitation the fluidity returns; but the liquid again coagulates if heated
to 266°.   Guibourt states that it does not solidify, like copaiba, by the addition of one-
sixteenth of magnesia ; and the two separate on standing. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Cliim.,
xxx. 192.)  De Vry, of Rotterdam, proposes the reaction of benzole with wood oil and
copaiba respectively as a test to distinguish them.  With an equal volume of the wood
oil, benzole forms a turbid mixture, from which, after a long time, a resinous matter is
deposited in flocculi; with copaiba it forms a transparent solution. (Pharm. Journ. and
Trans., Jan. 1857, p. 374.)  According to De Vry, the volatile oil obtained by distilla-
tion has the sp. gr. 0-928, and boils at 255°;  (Ibid.)
  Roxburgh states that this liquid is much employed in India for painting ships, houses,
&c.  According to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, it is little inferior to copaiba in the diseases for
which that medicine is employed.  It probably has  a similar remedial influence on dis-
eased mucous  membranes with the different turpentines, which it appears to resemble
in composition.   The juice may be given in emulsion, in doses of from fifteen to forty
drops; the volatile oil, from ten to thirty drops.—Note to the eleventh edition. 
302
Copaiba.—Coptis.
part I.
or fifteen drops, either upon sugar, or in emulsion.   The resin, which has been
proposed as a substitute, is nearly inert.   The pills made with magnesia may
sometimes  be resorted to with advantage; and  it is customary to administer
copaiba enclosed in capsules of gelatin, which cover the taste, while they readily
dissolve in  the stomach.  (See Glue, in Part Third.) Yelpeau has found the
best effects from copaiba in the form of enema.   He gives two drachms made
into an emulsion with the yolk of an egg, twenty or thirty drops of laudanum,
and eight fluidounces of water.
   Off. Prep. Oleum Copaibas; Pilulas Copaibas.                        W.

                     COPTIS.  U. S. Secondary.

                              Goldthread.

   The root of Coptis trifolia. U. S.
   Coptis.  Sex,  Syst. Polyandria Polygyhia.— Nat Ord, Ranunculaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx none. Petals five or six, caducous. Nectaries five or six,
cucullate.  Cajisules five to eight, stipitate, stellately diverging, and rostrate,
many-seeded.  Nuttall.
   Coptis trifolia.  Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot i. 60;  Barton,  Med,  Bot ii. 97.
This little  evergreen has a perennial creeping root, the slenderness and bright
yellow colour of which have given rise to the common name of goldthread. The
caudex, from which the petioles and flower-stems proceed, is invested with ovate,
acuminate, yellowish, imbricated scales.  The leaves, which stand on long slen-
der footstalks, are ternate, with firm, rounded or obovate, sessile leaflets, hav-
ing an acute base, a fobed and acuminately crenate margin, and a smooth veined
surface.  The flower-stem is slender, round, rather longer than the leaves, and
surmounted by one small white flower, with a minute inucronate bracte beneath
it.   The petals are oblong, concave, and white; the nectaries inversely conical,
hollow, and yellow at the top.   The stamens have capillary filaments and glo-
bose anthers.  The germs are from five to eight, stipitate, oblong, compressed,
and support short recurved styles, with  acute  stigmas.  The capsules,  which
diverge in  a star-like form,  are pedicelled, compressed, beaked, and contain nu-
merous black seeds attached to the inner side.
   The goldthread inhabits the northern regions of this continent and of Asia,
and is found in Greenland and Iceland.  It delights in the dark shady swamps
and cold morasses of northern  latitudes and Alpine regions, and abounds in
Canada, and in the hilly districts of New England. Its blossoms appear in May.
All parts of the plant possess more or less bitterness; but this property is most
intense in  the root, which is the  only officinal portion.
   Dried goldthread, as brought  into the market, is in loosely matted masses,
consisting of the long, thread-like, orange-yellow roots, frequently interlaced,
and mingled with the leaves and stems of the plant.  It is without smell, and
has a purely bitter taste, unattended  with aroma or astringency.   It imparts
its bitterness and yellow colour to water and alcohol, but most perfectly to the
latter, with which it forms a bright yellow tincture.   The infusion is precipi-
tated by nitrate of silver and acetate of lead. (Bigelow.) It affords no evidence
 of containing either resin, gum,  or tannin.
    3Iedical Broperties and Uses.  Goldthread is a simple tonic bitter, bearing
 a close resemblance to quassia in its mode of action, and applicable to all cases
 in which that medicine is  prescribed, though, from its higher price, not likely
 to come into general  use as a substitute.   In New England it is employed
 as a local  application in aphthous ulcerations  of the mouth; but it  probably
 has no other virtues in this complaint than  such as are common to the simple
 bitters.  It may be given in substance, infusion, or tincture.  The dose of  the 
part I.             Coptis.—Coriandrum.—Cornu.                 303

powder is from ten to thirty grains, of a tincture  made with an  ounce of the
root to a pint of diluted alcohol, one fluidrachm.
  Another species of Coptis has been described by Dr. Wallich, under the name
of Coptis Teeta, which grows in the mountainous regions bordering on Assam,
and is much used  as a tonic by the natives, and by the Chinese.  It appears to
be closely analogous in properties to C. trifolia.                       W.

               CORIANDRUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                               Coriander.

  The fruit of Coriandrum sativum.  U S., Bond., Ed.
   Off. Syn.  CORIANDER,  The seeds of Coriandrum sativum. Dub.
   Coriandre, Fr.; Koriander, Germ.; Coriandro, Ital.,- Cilantro, Span,
   Coriandrum.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria  Digynia. — Nat.  Ord. Apiaceas or
Umbelliferas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla radiate.  Petals  inflex-emarginate.  Universal involucre
one-leafed.  Partial involucres halved.  Fruit  spherical. Willd.
   Coriandrum sativum. Willd. Sp. Plant A. 1448;  Woodv. Med, Bot. p. 137,
t. 53.  This is an annual  plant, with an erect,  round, smooth, branching stem,
rising about two feet, and furnished with compound leaves, of which the upper
are thrice ternate, with linear pointed leaflets, the lower pinnate, with the pinnas
cut into irregular serrated lobes, like those of parsley.   The flowers are white
or rose-coloured,  and in compound terminal umbels;  the  fruit globular, and
composed of two concave  hemispherical portions.
   C. sativum is a native of Italy, but at present  grows wild in most parts of
Europe, having become naturalized in consequence of its extended cultivation.
The flowers appear in June, and the fruit ripens in August.  It is a  singular
fact, that all parts of the fresh  plant  are extremely fetid when  bruised, while
the fruit becomes  fragrant by drying.  This  is the officinal portion.   It is
brought to us from Europe.
   The fruit of the coriander is globular, about  the eighth of an inch in diame-
ter, obscurely ribbed, of a grayish or brownish-yellow colour, and separable into
the two portions (half-fruits) of which it consists.   It has the persistent calyx ,
at its base, and is sometimes surmounted by the adhering style.  The smell and
taste are  gratefully aromatic, and depend on a volatile oil, which may be ob-
tained separate by distillation, and is  said to belong to the camphene family.
One pound of the seeds yields forty-two grains of the oil. (Zeller.)  Their
virtues are imparted to alcohol by maceration, and less readily to water.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Coriander has, in a  moderate degree, the
ordinary medicinal virtues of the aromatics.   It is almost exclusively employed
in combination with other  medicines, either to cover their taste, to render them
acceptable to the stomach, or to correct their  griping  qualities.   It was well
known to the ancients.  The dose is from a scruple to a drachm.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Sennas;  Infusum Gentianas Compositum; Infusum Sen-
nas;  Infusum Sennas Compositum; Tinctura Rhei et Sennas; Tinctura Sennas et
Jalapae.                                                            W.

                        COEXU.  Lond., Ed.

                              Hartshorn.

  Horn of Cervus Elaphus. Ed., Lond.
  Come de cerf, Fr.; Hirschhorn, Germ.; Corno di cervo, Ital.; Cuerno de ciervo, Span.
  The stag or hart— Cervus Elaphus—the horns of which are directed by the 
304
Cornu.—Cornus  Circinata.
PART I.
British Colleges, inhabits Europe, Asia, and the north of Africa.   Ihose of our
own common deer— Cervus Virginianus—though  employed in the arts, are
not officinal.   Hartshorn is usually imported into this country from Germany,
in the form of shavings, but is very little employed.
   Hartshorn shavings  are without smell and  taste, pliable, and ot  an ivory
yellow colour   According to M. Merat-Guillot, they contain in 100 parts, 27
of o-elatin 57-5 of phosphate of lime, 1 of carbonate of lime, and 1.4-5 of water
including the loss.  Boiling water extracts their gelatin, forming a transparent,
colourless jelly  which may be rendered palatable  by the  addition of sugar,
lemon or orange-juice, and a little wine.  To prepare it, two pints of water are
boiled with four ounces  of the shavings to a pint, and the residue strained while
hot   The liquid gelatinizes  upon cooling.   By  destructive distillation, the
shavings yield an impure solution of carbonate of ammonia, which was formerly
called spirit of hartshorn; and the same name has been applied to similar am-
moniacal solutions from other sources.                               _
   Coknu Ustum. Lond.  Burnt Hartshorn,  The directions formerly given by
the London College for the preparation of this  substance were, to " 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."   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 common furnace or stove, the
 air being freely admitted.   Care should be taken that the heat be not too great;
 as otherwise the external surface of the horn may become vitrified, and prevent
 the complete combustion  of the interior portion, while it is  itself rendered less
 fit for use.   Burnt hartshorn consists of  bone-phosphate of lime, with about
 one per cent, of free lime, derived from the  carbonate contained in the horns.
 Calcined bone is usually sold in the shops for  burnt hartshorn.   For the che-
 mical characters of bone-phosphate of lime, see  Calcis Phosphas Prsecipitahm.
    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.  It is probably, how-
 ever, inert.   The dose is twenty grains or more.   The jelly prepared from the
 shavings of hartshorn has been thought  to possess medical virtues; but it is
  only nutritive and demulcent, and is  in  no respect superior to calfsfoot, jelly.
  The shavings themselves are used in the preparation of Pulvis Antimonialis.
     Off.  Prep.  Pulvis Antimonialis.                                   W.

             CORNUS CIRCINATA.  U.S.  Secondary.

                         Round-leaved Dogwood.

     The bark of  Cornus circinata.  U S.
     Cornus. Sex. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord.  Cornaceas.
     Gen. Ch,  Involucre usually four-leaved.  Petals superior, four.  Drupe with
   a two-celled nut. Willd.
     We have ten indigenous  species of Cornus, all supposed to possess  similar
   medical properties;  and three—C. Florida, G. circinata, and C. sericea—are
   noticed in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States.   The last two are placed
   in the secondary list,  not because they are esteemed less efficient than the first,
   but because they have hitherto attracted less  attention.
     Cornus circinata.   Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 663.  This is a shrub from six to 
part i.           Cornus Circinata.—Cornus Florida.              305
 ten feet high, with warty'branches, large, roundish, pointed leaves, waved  on
 their edges and downy beneath, and white flowers disposed in depressed cymes.
 The fruit is blue.  The plant is a native of the United States, extending from
 Canada to Virginia, and growing on  hill-sides and  the banks of rivers.  It
 flowers in June and July.
    The bark,  when dried, is in quills of a whitish or ash colour, and affords a
 powder resembling that of ipecacuanha.  Its taste is bitter, astringent, and aro-
 matic.  In chemical composition,  so far as this has been ascertained, it is analo-
 gous to Cornus Florida.  It possesses also similar medical virtues, and may be
 employed in the same doses.  It has been much used as a tonic and astringent
 in Connecticut, and was highly extolled by the late Dr. Ives, of New York, who
 recommended, as the most eligible preparation, an infusion made by pouring a
 pint of boiling water on an ounce of the coarsely powdered bark.  The dose of
 this is from one to two fluidounces.                                    W.

                     CORNUS FLORIDA. U.S.

                                 Dogwood.
    The bark of Cornus Florida. U. S.
    Cornus.   See CORNUS CIRCINATA.
    Cornus Florida.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 661; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot ii. 73;
 Barton, Med.  Bot i. 44.  This is a  small indigenous tree, usually about fifteen
 or twenty feet m  height, though sometimes not less  than thirty or thirty-five
 feet   It is of slow growth; and  the stem, which generally attains a diameter
 of tour or five inches, is compact, and covered with a brownish bark, the epi-
 dermis of  which is minutely divided by numerous  superficial cracks or fissures.
 lhe branches are spreading, and regularly disposed, sometimes opposite some-
 times in fours  nearly in the form  of crosses.   The leaves are opposite, oval
 about three inches long, pointed, dark-green and sulcated on the upper surface'
 glaucous or whitish beneath, and marked with strong parallel veins.  Towards
 the close of summer they are speckled with black  spots, and on the  approach
 of cold weather become red.  The proper flowers are small, yellowish, and col-
 lected m heads, which are surrounded by a large conspicuous involucre, consist-
 ing of four white obcordate leaves, having the  notch at their summit tinged
 with red or purple.  This involucre constitutes the chief beauty of the tree when
 m flower.   The calyx is four-toothed, and the corolla composed  of four obtuse
 reflexed petals.  The fruit is an  oval drupe, of a vivid  glossy redness, contain-
 ing a  two-celled and  two-seeded nucleus.   The drupes are usually associated
 together to the number of three or four,  and  remain on the tree till after the
 early frosts.   They ripen in September.
   The dogwood is found in  all parts of the United States, from Massachusetts
 to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico; but is most abundant  in the Middle
 States.  In the month of May, it is  clothed with a profusion of large white
 blossoms, which render it one of the most conspicuous ornaments  of the Ameri-
 can forests.  The bark is the officinal portion, and  is derived for use both from
 the stem and branches, and from the root.  That from the root is preferred
   As brought into market, the bark is in pieces of various size, usually more
 or less rolled, sometimes invested with  a  fawn-coloured epidermis, sometimes
 partially or wholly deprived of it, of a reddish-gray colour, very brittle, and
 affording, when pulverized, a grayish  powder tinged with red.   The odour of
 dogwood is feeble, its taste  bitter, astringent,  and slightly aromatic.   Water
and alcohol extract its virtues.  It has not been accurately analyzed; but, from
the experiments of Dr. Walker and others, appears to contain extractive mat-
ter, gum, resin, tannin, and gallic acid.  A peculiar bitter principle, for which 
306          Cornus Florida.— Cornus Sericea.—Cotula.       parti.

the name of cornine was proposed, was announced as an ingredient by Mr. Car-
penter;  but we need more definite information on the subject.   The flowers of
C. Florida have the same bitter taste as the bark, and, though not officinal, are
sometimes employed for the same purposes.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Cornus Florida is tonic and  astringent.  By
Dr. Walker it was found, when taken internally, to increase the force and fre-
quency of the pulse, and the heat of the body. It is thought to possess remedial
properties analogous to those of Peruvian  bark, for which it  has occasionally
been successfully substituted in the treatment of intermittent fevers; but the
introduction of sulphate of  quinia into use has nearly banished this, as well as
many other substitutes for cinchona, from regular practice.   The dogwood has
also been employed in low fevers, and  other complaints for which Peruvian
bark is  usually prescribed.
  It may be given in powder, decoction, or extract.   The dose of the powder
is from  a scruple to a  drachm, repeated,  in cases of intermittent fever, so that
from one to two ounces may be taken  in the interval  between the paroxysms.
The decoction is officinal. (See Decoctum Cornus Floridse.)  The dried bark is
said to be preferable to the fresh; as it possesses all the  activity  of the latter,
without being equally liable to  offend the  stomach and  bowels.   An  extract
might probably be used with advantage  in intermittents in large doses.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Cornus Floridas.                             W.

              CORNUS SERICEA. U. S.  Secondary.

                          Swamp  Dogwood.

   The bark of Cornus sericea.  U. S.
   Cornus. See CORNUS CIRCINATA.
   Cornus sericea. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 663; Barton, Med. Bot i. 115. This spe-
cies of Cornus is usually six or eight feet in height, with  numerous erect stems,
which are covered with a shining reddish bark, and send out opposite spreading
branches.  The young shoots are more or less pubescent.  The leaves are oppo-
site, petiolate, ovate, pointed, entire, and on the  under surface covered with soft
brownish hairs.   The flowers are small,  white, and disposed in terminal cymes,
which are depressed and  woolly.  The fruit consists of globular, berry-formed
drupes, of a cerulean  blue colour, and collected in bunches.
   The  swamp dogwood inhabits the United States from Canada to Carolina,
and is found in moist woods, in swamps, and on the  borders  of streams.  It
flowers in June and July. The bark was ascertained by Dr. Walker to have the
same medical properties as that of Cornus Florida.  It may be  given in the same
doses, and administered in a similar manner.                          W.

                     COTULA.  U.S. Secondary.

                               Mayweed.

    The  herb of Anthemis Cotula. U. S.
   Camomille  puante, Maroute, Fr.; Hunds-Kamille,Stinkende-Kamille, Germ.; Carno-
 milla fetida, Cotula, Ital.; Manzanilla loca, Span.
    Anthemis. See ANTHEMIS.
    Anthemis Cotula.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2181;  Barton,  Med. Bot i. 161.
 The mayweed is an annual plant, with a fibrous root, and an erect striated stem,
 very much branched  even to the bottom, from one to two feet in height, and
 supporting alternate, sessile, flat, doubly pinnated, somewhat hairy leaves, with
 pointed linear leaflets.  The  flowers stand singly upon the summits of the 
PART I.
Cotula.— Creasotum.
307
  branches, and consist of a central, convex, golden yellow disk, with white radial
  florets, which spread horizontally during the day, but are reflexed or bent tow-
  ards the stem at night.  The calyx, which is common to all the florets, is hemi-
  spherical, and composed of imbricated hairy scales.  The receptacle is conical
  or nearly cylindrical, and surmounted by rigid, bristle-shaped paleas, shorter
  than the florets.  The seeds are naked.
    This plant grows abundantly both in the United  States and  Europe.   In
  this country it is found in the vicinity of inhabited places, growing among rub-
  bish, along the sides of roads, and  in  waste  grounds.  Notwithstanding its
  extensive diffusion, it is  generally believed to be a naturalized and not an indi-
  genous plant.   It is  frequently called  wild chamomile.   It flowers from the
  middle of summer till late in autumn.
    The whole plant  has a strong, disagreeable smell, and a warm, bitter taste,
  and imparts these properties to water.
    The medical properties of this species of Anthemis are essentially the same as
  those of chamomile, for which it may be substituted; but its disagreeable odour
  is an obstacle to its  general use. On the continent of Europe it has  been given
  in nervous diseases, especially hysteria, under the impression, probably derived
  from its peculiar smell, that it possesses antispasmodic powers.   It has also
  been thought to be emmenagogue.  It is said to have the property of  vesicating,
  if applied to the surface fresh and bruised.  In this country it is  scarcely em-
  ployed, except  as a domestic  remedy.   The  whole plant is  active; but  the
  flowers', being less disagreeable than the leaves, are preferred  for internal use.
  The remedy is best administered in the state of infusion.               W.

              CREASOTUM.  U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                 Creasote.

   A peculiar substance obtained from tar.  U. S.  An oxy-hydro-carburet, pre-
 pared from pyroxylic oil. Bond.
   This is a substance of  the nature of the volatile oils, discovered in 1830 by
 Reichenbach in the products of the distillation of wood.   M. Deville conceives
 that  it is a volatile oil, derived  by heat from the  resin of wood, and isomeric
 with the original volatile oil, from which  the resin is  supposed to have been
 formed by a slow alteration occurring in the vegetable.   It may,  therefore, be
 classed with the  volatile oils which are regenerated  by distillation.
   In the products of the distillation of organic substances generally, whether
 vegetable or  animal, Reichenbach also discovered five other principles, called
 paraffin, eupion,  picamar, capnomor, and  pittacal, which, as being associated
 with  creasote, will be here described.   Paraffin is a solid carbohydrogen, most
 abundantly obtained by distilling cannel-coal, when  it comes over with certain
 isomeric oils, several of the least  volatile of which, appearing towards the closu
 of the distillation, form a mixture, called paraffin oil.  Mr. Young, an English
 manufacturing chemist, has succeeded in obtaining paraffin from this coal, in the
 proportion of thirteen pounds to the ton.   Crude paraffin, as first obtained, is
 recommended  to  be purified by R, Reichenbach, the son of the discoverer, by
 distillation from  fuming  sulphuric acid, which  destroys an empyreumatic sub-
stance by which it is contaminated.  Paraffin is a white, crystalline  solid, re-
sembling white wax, for which it has been proposed  as a substitute  in the com-
position of cerates.   It is devoid of taste and smell, and is characterized by its
feeble affinity for other bodies, as indicated by its name, from parum affinis.
It resists the action of concentrated acids and alkalies.   It burns with  a bright,
white flame, without smoke.   At present it is much used in England as a lu- 
308
Creasotum.
PART I.
bricating substance for machinery, and is beginning to be  employed as a mate-
rial for candles. (Year-Book of Facts, 1857.) Mr. E. S. Wayne, of Cincinnati,
is engaged in extracting it from coal tar for technical purposes.   A rich bitu-
minous°coal, rivaling the Boghead cannel-coal of England, has been discovered
in Western Virginia, and is the source of the American paraffin. (Proceedings
of the Am. Pharm.'Assoc, Sept 1856.)   The product-of paraffin oil from a
ton  of English cannel-coal, as manufactured by Mr. Young, is about  thirty
gallons.   This also is a  good lubricating substance.   The empirical formula of
paraffin is CH in equal equivalents, but how many of each element is not known.
Eupion is an inodorous, insipid, limpid, and  colourless liquid, of the sp. gr.
0-740, obtained most abundantly from animal tar and Dippel's animal oil.  It
likewise consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen.  Picamar is a colourless,
oily liquid, heavier than water, of a peculiar odour and very bitter taste.   It is
present in'the  heaviest  portion of the  rectified oil of tar, and  constitutes the
bitter principle of that  substance.  Capnomor,  so called from being an  ingre-
dient of smoke, is a colourless liquid, lighter than water, having a pleasant odour
and pungent taste, and  occurring in the heavy oil of tar, and in coal naphtha.
It has the property of dissolving caoutchouc.  Pittacal, also obtained from the
heavy oil of tar, is  a solid of a beautiful blue colour, differing from  the sub-
stances above noticed in containing nitrogen as one of its elements.
   Preparation.   Creasote is obtained either from wood tar or from crude pyro-
ligneous acid.   When wood tar is used, it is distilled until it has  attained the
consistence  of pitch.  The distilled liquid divides itself into three layers, an,
aqueous between two oily layers.   The  inferior oily layer, which alone contains
the creasote, is separated, and saturated with carbonate  of potassa  to remove
 acetic acid.  The liquid is  allowed to rest, and  the new oil which separates is
 decanted from it.   This oil is distilled,  and  yields products lighter than water,
 and a liquid heavier.  The latter alone  is preserved, and, after having been agi-
 tated repeatedly with weak phosphoric acid to neutralize ammonia, is allowed to
 remain at rest for some time.  It is next washed as long as acidity is removed,
 and then distilled with a fresh portion of weak phosphoric acid; care being taken
 to  cohobate from time to time.  The oily liquid  thus rectified is colourless,
 and contains much  creasote, but also a portion of eupion.   To separate the lat-
 ter, the liquid is mixed with a solution of caustic potassa of the density of 112,
 which dissolves  the creasote, but not  the  eupion.   The eupion, which swims
 above from its levity, is then separated;  and the alkaline solution of the creasote
 is exposed to the air, until it becomes brown in consequence of the decomposi-
 tion of a foreign matter, and is then saturated with sulphuric acid.  This sets free
 the creasote, which is decanted and again distilled.   The treatment by solution
 of potassa, sulphuric acid, &c, is to be repeated until the  creasote no longer
 becomes brown by exposure  to  the  air, but only slightly reddish.   It  is then
 dissolved in a stronger solution of potassa and distilled again, and finally redis-
 tilled for  the last time, rejecting the first portion which comes  over on account
 of its containing much water, collecting the next portion, and avoiding to push
 the distillation too far.  The product  collected in this distillation is creasote.
    When creasote is extracted from pyroligneous acid, the first step is to dissolve
 sulphate of soda in it to saturation.  The oil which separates and swims above
 is decanted, and, having been allowed to remain at rest for a few days, is satu-
 rated  by carbonate of  potassa with the assistance of heat, and distilled with
 water.   The oleaginous liquid obtained is of a pale-yellow colour, and is to be
 treated with phosphoric acid, &c, as  above detailed, in relation to the treat-
 ment of the corresponding oil obtained from wood tar.
     According to M. Koene, the tar of the pine furnishes but little pure creasote;
 while coal tar yields nearly five drachms to the pint.   Some object to the use 
PART I.
Creasotum.
309
 of coal tar, as affording phenylic acid, which closely resembles creasote, or, at
 least, as furnishing a creasote,  contaminated with that acid.
    Properties.  Creasote, when pure, is  a  colourless oleaginous liquid, of the
 consistence of oil of almonds, slightly greasy to the touch, volatilizable by heat,
 and having a caustic, burning taste, and a  penetrating, disagreeable odour, like
 that of smoked meat, quite different from that of phenylic acid.  As met with
 in the shops, it has frequently a brownish tinge.   It burns with a sooty flame.
 Applied in a concentrated state to the skin, it corrugates and then destroys the
 cuticle,  causing a white spot.   On paper it leaves a greasy strain, which disap-
 pears in a few hours, or in ten  minutes when exposed to a heat of about 212°.
 Its sp. gr.  is 1-057 at 55°,  Gorup-Besanez, (1-046 Lond, 1-066 Ed, Dub.).
 It boils at  397°,  and remains fluid at 17° below zero.  It is a non-conductor
 of electricity,  and a powerful refractor of light.   It is devoid of acid or alka-
 line reaction.  Mixed with water, it forms two solutions—one consisting of 1
 part of creasote in about 80 of water, the other, of 1 part of water in 10 of creasote.
 (Berzelius.) It unites in all proportions with alcohol, ether, naphtha, and bisul-
 phuret of carbon.  It dissolves a large proportion  of iodine and phosphorus, and
 a considerable amount of sulphur, especially when assisted by heat.
  _ Creasote forms two combinations with potassa; one anhydrous, of an olea-
 ginous consistence, the other, hydrated, and in the form of small, white, pearly
 scales.  It forms similar compounds with soda.   Its formula is CasH1(i04 (Reg-
 nant t),  or C14Hs02 (Fownes).  Its supposed rational  formula is given further
 on.  Creasote instantly dissolves  ammonia, and retains it with great force.
 Strong nitric and sulphuric acids decompose it; the former giving rise to red-
 dish vapours, the latter to a red colour, which becomes black on the addition
 of more of  the acid.   Dilute nitric acid converts it into  a brown resin, which,
 treated with ammonia, and then dissolved  in boiling alcohol,  gives,  by evapo-
 ration, certain salts of ammonia, two  of which contain  new acids, discovered
 by Laurent.  Muriatic acid produces no change on it.  A splinter of pine wood,
 moistened with this  acid, acquires no  colour when dipped into  creasote,  but
 becomes first blue and then brown, when dipped into phenylic acid.   Creasote
 dissolves a large number of metallic salts, and reduces a few to the  metallic
 state; as, for example, nitrate and acetate of silver.  It powerfully coagulates
 albumen, and in this way is supposed to act as a  hemostatic.
   Of all the properties of creasote, the  most remarkable is its power of pre-
 serving  meat.  It is this property which has suggested its  name, derived from
 xptds flesh, and aa£to Lpreserve.
   Impurities and Adulterations.   Creasote is apt to contain eupion,  picamar,
 and capnomor, and is sometimes adulterated with rectified oil of tar, and  the
 fixed and volatile  oils.  All these substances are detected  by strong acetic acid,
 which dissolves the creasote, and leaves them behind, floating above the creasote
 solution.   Creasote, however, from beech-wood tar, is  only partially dissolved
 by hot acetic acid of  ordinary strength.  Fixed oils are also  discovered by a
 stain on paper, not discharged by heat.   Any trace of the matter which pro-
 duces  the brownish tinge (see page 308), is detected by the  liquid becoming
 discoloured by exposure to sunshine.
   Commercial  creasote, when obtained from coal  tar, is always contaminated
 with phenylic acid (carbolic acidL—hydrated oxide ofphenyle), C,2H.,0 + IIO,
 one of the products of the distillation of the oil of coal tar.  Indeed,' it is said
 that phenylic acid has been sold for creasote, which it closely resembles in prop-
erties.   How far its medicinal virtues may  be similar,  deserves to be  studied;
for, if they should prove to be the same, the fact would lead to its substitution,
as a substance  easily obtained pure, for the variable creasote.   The  substitu-
tion of phenylic acid  may be discovered by  its lower boiling point (368° F.). 
310
Creasotum.
PART I.
The presence  of this acid in creasote  is detected by the addition  of sesqui-
chloride of iron, which  causes  a violet-blue colour, and  afterwards a whitish
turbidness, if this impurity be present.  According to Mr. E. N. Kent, of New
York, phenylic acid from the oil of coal tar, and creasote from wood  tar are es-
sentially the same;  the  former being a purer state of the latter. (N.  Y. Journ.
of Pharm., Oct. 1853.)  This  view is contradicted  by the results  of Gorup-
Besanez, who  obtained creasote which did not respond to the tests of phenylic
acid.   Still he admits that creasote, as pure as he could  get it with a boiling
point between 398° and 406°, is not a chemically definite compound. _ Crude
commercial coal-tar creasote  yields pure phenylic acid by mere distillation.
The residue was found by Mr. Fairlie to yield, by fractional  distillations,
a colourless, highly refractive liquid, boiling at 397°, and having the formula
C  H-Oa.   Prof. Williamson, of University College, London, at whose request
Mr. Fairlie's investigations were made, supposes the liquid obtained, which may
be considered  as pure creasote, to be a hydrated oxide of a compound radical
(C14H.) which he calls cresyle.  Accordingly, the rational formula of the pro-
duct is C14H7,0-f HO, which makes it homologous to hydrated oxide of phenyle,
and the next term of the series above it. (Chem. Gaz., Oct. 2, 1854.)
   Medical Properties,  &c.  Creasote  is irritant, narcotic, styptic,  antiseptic,
and moderately escharotic.   Internally it has been employed in a number of
diseases;  externally, for the most part,  as an application to eruptions, wounds,
and ulcers, and as an injection and gargle.   Dr. R. Dick, of Glasgow, recom-
mends it as an internal  remedy in chronic gonorrhoea and gleet. Dr. Elliotson,
of London, considers it  an efficacious  remedy in  arresting nausea and vomiting,
when not dependent on inflammation or structural disease of  the stomach, as
in  hysteria and  pregnancy.   Both he and Mr. A.  B. Maddock, of London,
recommend it  as a preventive of sea-sickness.  Mr. Kesteven, of England, found
it a very useful remedy in diarrhoea; and Dr. T.  M. Woodson, of  Tenn., and
Mr. B. W. Richardson, of Glasgow,  confirm this  statement.   Dr. D. J. Cain,
of Charleston, used it with advantage in cholera morbus and cholera infantum,
either alone, or conjoined with charcoal, chalk,  or bicarbonate  of soda. It has
also been used with benefit in malignant cholera.
   The eruptions, to the treatment of which creasote has been supposed to be
best suited, are those of a scaly character.  In burns its efficacy has been in-
sisted on, especially in those attended with excessive suppuration and fungous
granulations.   In chilblains also it is stated to be a useful application.  When
applied to wounds it acts as a hemostatic,  stopping  the capillary hemorrhage,
but possesses  no power to arrest the bleeding from large vessels.   Accordingly,
creasote water has been applied locally in  menorrhagia,  and to arrest uterine
hemorrhage, and the bleeding from leech-bites.   The ulcers, in the treatment
of which  it has been found most useful, are those of an indolent and gangrenous
character, in which its several properties of escharotic, stimulant, and antiseptic
are usefully brought into play.  It is  also praised as an application to syphi-
litic,  scrofulous, and cancerous ulcers, and to malignant pustule.  In all these
cases, should  the remedy cause irritation,  it must be suspended, or alternated
with emollient and soothing  applications.  Injected into fistulous ulcers,  it
proves a  useful resource, by exciting the callous surfaces and disposing them  to
unite.  Dr. Hildreth, of Zanesville, Ohio,  found it efficacious,  mixed with mer-
curial ointment, in the  proportion of from ten  to thirty drops to the ounce,  in
scrofulous ophthalmia,  and scrofulous ulceration of the cornea.  A small portion
 of the ointment is introduced under the  upper eyelid, morning and evening,
and rubbed over the whole globe.  The application  should be strong enough
to produce a smarting pain for about five minutes.  The local must of course
be combined with constitutional treatment.  In chronic varicose ophthalmia it 
 part I.                    Creasotum.— Creta.                     * 311

 is a valuable remedy, in the form of collyrium, of the strength of from one to
 three drops to the fluidounce of water.  In putrid sorethroat, requiring the use
 of a stimulant  and antiseptic, a  gargle  of .creasote acts beneficially;  and in
 chronic suppuration of the external meatus of the ear, it is valuable as an in-
 jection.  In deafness from deficient cerumen, Mr.  Curtis has found it  useful.
 The  meatus is first well cleansed, and afterwards brushed over, night and morn-
 ing,  by means of a camel's hair brush, with a mixture formed of  a drachm of
 creasote and four drachms of oil of almonds.  The meatus may be cleansed by
 dropping into the ear at night a few drops of olive oil, and syringing it out the
 next morning with a weak and warm solution of castile soap, to which a sixth
 of Cologne water has been added.   This may be repeated for five or six days, if
 required.  Dr. Partridge,  of this  city, pursued a similar treatment advantage-
 ously in several cases of deafness.  In leucorrhoea M. Arendt has found creasote
 very useful in the form of  injection, made with two drops to the fluidounce of
 water,  used several times a day.  It is also efficacious in the destruction of warts,
 applied freely every day or two, and kept on by adhesive plaster.  In toothache,
 depending on caries of the tooth and exposure of the nerve, creasote often acts
 promptly and radically in  the removal of the pain.   One or two drops of the
 pure substance must be carefully introduced into the hollow of the tooth,  on a
 little cotton, avoiding contact with the tongue or cheek. To render it effectual,
 the hollow of the tooth must be well cleansed out before it is applied.
   Creasote is employed in the pure state,  in mixture or solution, and in the
 form of ointment.  (See Mistura Creasoti and Unguentum Greasoti.)   In the
 pure state, it  may be brushed over indolent or ill conditioned ulcers, or applied
 to them by means of lint.  Internally it is given in the dose of from one  to two
 drops or more, repeated several times a day, diluted with weak mucilage in the
 proportion of half a fluidounce to the drop.  When used as a lotion for erup-
 tions, ulcers, or burns, or as a  gargle or  injection,  it is employed in  solution,
 containing two, four, or six drops to the fluidounce  of water;  the strength
 being determined by the circumstances of each particular case.  In some cases
 the solution of creasote is  used externally, mixed with poultices.
   Creasote, in an overdose, acts as a poison.  It produces giddiness, obscurity
 of vision, depressed action  of the heart, convulsions, and coma.   No antidote
 is known.  The medical treatment consists in the evacuation of the poison, and
 the administration of ammonia and other stimulants.
   The addition of three or four drops of creasote to a pint of ink effectually
 prevents it from becoming mouldy.   Dr. Christison finds that creasote water
 is as  good a preservative of some anatomical preparations as spirit, with the
 advantage of  not hardening the parts.   It is to creasote that the  antiseptic
 properties of wood-smoke and of pyroligneous acid are probably owing.
   Off. Prep.  Mistura Creasoti; Unguentum Creasoti.                   B.

                     CRETA.  U.S., Ed.,  Dub.

                                 Chalk.

  Native friable carbonate  of lime.  U. S.,  Ed.
  Craie, Fr.; Kreide, Germ.;  Creta, Ital.; Greda, Span., Port.
  Carbonate of lime, in the extended meaning of  the term, is the most abund-
ant of simple minerals, constituting, according to its state of  aggregation and
other peculiarities, the different varieties of calcareous spar, common and shell
limestone, marble, marl, and  chalk.  It  occurs also in the animal  kingdom,
forming the principal part of shells, and a small proportion of the bones of the
higher orders of animals.   It is present in small  quantity in most natural wa-
ters, being held in solution by the carbonic  acid which they contain.  In the 
312
Creta.— Crocus.
PART I.
waters of limestone districts, it  is a  very common impregnation, and  causes
purging in those not accustomed to their use.  In all such cases, boiling the)
water, by expelling the carbonic acid, causes the carbonate to be deposited. (See
page  114.) Besides being officinal in the state of chalk, carbonate of lime is also
ordered as it exists in marble and oyster-shell, and as obtained by precipitation.
(See  Marmor, Testa, and Calcis Carbonas  Prsecipitatum.)  In  the present
article we shall confine our observations to chalk.
   Localities.  Chalk occurs abundantly in the south of England and north of
France.  It has not been found in the United States.  It occurs massive in beds,
and very frequently contains nodules of flint, and fossil  remains of land and
marine  animals.
   Properties.  Chalk is an insipid, inodorous, insoluble, opaque, soft solid, gene-
rally  white, but grayish-white when impure.   It is rough to the touch, easily
pulverized, and  breaks with  an earthy fracture.   It soils the fingers, yields a
white trace when drawn across an unyielding surface,  and when  applied to the
tongue  adheres slightly.  Its sp. gr. varies from  2'3 to 2-6.   It  is never a per-
fectly pure carbonate of lime; but contains, besides gritty siliceous particles,
small portions of alumina and of oxidized iron.   If pure it is entirely soluble
in muriatic acid; but usually a little silica is left.  If the muriatic solution is
not precipitated by ammonia, it is free from  alumina and iron.  Like all car-
bonates it effervesces with acids.   Though insoluble in water, it dissolves in an
excess of carbonic acid.   It consists, like the  other  varieties  of carbonate of
lime, of one  eq. of carbonic acid  22, and one of lime 28=50.
   Pharm. Uses. Chalk, on account of the gritty particles which it contains, is
unfit for medicinal use,  until it has undergone levigation, when it is called pre-
pared chalk. (See Greta Prseparata.)  It is used in the preparation  of the
alkaline bicarbonates, to furnish a stream of carbonic acid, when decomposed by
a dilute acid; as in the Dublin processes for bicarbonate  of potassa and bicar-
bonate  of soda.
   Off.  Prep. Ammonias Carbonas; Calcii Chloridum ; Creta Prasparata; Po-
tassas Bicarbonas; Sodas Bicarbonas.                                   B.

                 CROCUS. U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                                  Saffron.
   The  stigmas of Crocus sativus. U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.
   Safran, Fr., Germ.; Zafferano, Ital.; Azafran, Span.
   Crocus.  Sex. Syst. Triandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord. Iridaceas.
    Gen. Ch.  Corolla six parted, equal. Stigmas convoluted. Willd,
    Crocus sativus. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 194; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 763, t. 259.
 The common cultivated saffron is a perennial plant, with a rounded and depressed
 bulb or cormus, from which the flower rises a little above the ground, upon a long,
 slender, white, and succulent tube.  The flower is  large, of  a beautiful lilac or
 bluish-purple colour, and appears in September or  October.   The leaves are ra-
 dical, linear, slightly revolute, dark-green upon their upper surface with a white
 longitudinal furrow in the centre, paler underneath with a prominent flattened
 midrib, and  enclosed at  their base, together  with the tube of the corolla, in  a
 membranous sheath, from which they emerge soon after the appearance of the
 flower.   The style hangs out on one side between  the two segments of  the co-
 rolla, and terminates in three long convoluted stigmas, which are of a rich orange
 colour, highly odorous, rolled in at the edges, and notched at the summit.  These
 stigmas are  the officinal part of  the plant.
   C. sativus, or autumnal crocus, is a native of Greece and Asia Minor, where
it has been cultivated from the earliest ages.  It is also cultivated for medicinal 
PART I.
Crocus.
313
 use in Sicily, Spain, France, England, and other temperate countries of Europe.
 Large quantities of saffron are raised in Egypt, Persia, and Cashmere, whence
 it is sent to India.   We cultivate the plant in this country chiefly, if not solely,
 as a garden flower.  It is liable to two diseases, which sometimes interfere with
 its culture;  one dependent on a parasitic  fungus which attaches  itself to the
 bulb, the other called by the cultivators in France tacon, by which the bulb is
 converted into a blackish powder. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xviii. 41.)
   In England the flowers appear in October, and the  leaves continue  green
 through the winter; but the plant does not ripen its seed, and  is propagated
 by offsets from the bulb.  These are planted in grounds prepared for the pur-
 pose, and are arranged either in rows, or in small patches at certain distances.
 The flowers are gathered soon after they show themselves, as the period of flow-
 ering is very short.   The stigmas, or summits of the pistils, together with  a
 portion of the style, are separated from the remainder of the flower,  and care-
 fully dried by artificial heat, or in the sun.  During this process, they  are some-
 times made to assume the form of a cake by pressure;  but the finest  saffron is
 that which has been dried loosely.   The  two forms are distinguished by the
 names of cake-saffron and hay-saffron. Five pounds of the fresh stigmas are
 said to yield one pound of the dried.
   The English saffron, formerly most highly  esteemed in this country, has dis-
 appeared from our  market.   What  may be sold under the name is  probably
 derived from other sources.   Much  of  the drug is  imported from Gibraltar,
 packed in canisters.  Parcels of it are also brought from Trieste", and other ports
 of the  Mediterranean.   The  Spanish saffron is  generally considered the best.
 Genuine cake-saffron is at present seldom found in commerce.  According  to
 Landerer, the stigmas of  several other  species besides those of C. sativus are
 gathered and sold as saffron in Greece and Turkey.
   Properties.   Saffron has a peculiar, sweetish, aromatic odour, a warm, pun-
 gent, bitter taste, and a rich deep orange colour, which it imparts to the saliva
 when chewed.  The stigmas of which it consists are an inch or more in length,
 expanded and notched at the upper extremity, and narrowing towards the lower,
 where they terminate in a slender, capillary, yellowish portion, forming a part
 of the style.   Analyzed by Yogel and Bouillon-Lagrange, it afforded 65 -0 per
 cent, of a peculiar extractive matter, and 7 '5 of an odorous volatile oil, together
 with wax, gum, albumen,  saline matter,  water, and lignin.  The extractive was
 named polychroite, from the changes of colour which it undergoes by the action
 of reagents.   They  prepared it by evaporating the watery infusion to the con-
 sistence  of honey, digesting the residue in alcohol, filtering  the tincture, and
 evaporating it to dryness.  Thus obtained, it is in the form of a reddish-yellow
 mass, of an agreeable  smell, slightly bitter, soluble in water  and alcohol, and
 somewhat deliquescent.  Its solution becomes grass-green by the action of nitric
 acid, blue and then violet by that of  sulphuric acid, and  loses its colour alto-
 gether on exposure to light, and by chlorine.   M. Henry, sen., found it to con-
 tain about 20 per cent, of volatile oil,  which could be separated only by an alkali.
 M. Quadrat obtained it pure by exhausting saffron with ether, then treating it
 with boiling water, precipitating with subacetate of lead, decomposing the com-
 pound of oxide of lead and colouring matter thus obtained with sulphuretted
 hydrogen, treating the precipitate with boiling alcohol,  evaporating the  solu-
tion, dissolving the residue in water, and lastly evaporating by means of a water-
bath.   Thus procured, it is of a brilliant red colour, inodorous, slightly soluble
in water which it renders yellow, mnch more soluble by the least addition of an
alkali, readily soluble in alcohol, but sparingly in ether. Its formula is C^H^O^.
M. Quadrat found also in saffron, a fatty matter, glucose, and a peculiar acid.
(Ann. der Chem.  und Pharm., Ixxx 340.) According to M. Henry, the colour- 
314
Crocus.
PART I.
ing principle constitutes 42 per cent, of saffron, and the essential oil 10 per cent.
It is to the latter that the medicine owes its activity.   It may be partially sepa-
rated by distillation.  It is yellow, of a hot, acrid, bitterish taste, and heavier
than water,  in which it is slightly soluble.
   Adulterations.  The. high price of this medicine gives rise to frequent adul-
terations.   Water is said to be very often added in order to increase its weight.
Oil is also added for the  same purpose,  or to improve the appearance.  Some-
times the flowers of other plants, particularly Carthamus tinctorius or safflower,
Calendula officinalis or  officinal marygold, and arnica, are fraudulently mixed
with the genuine stigmas.   They may be  known by their shape, which is ren-
dered obvious by throwing a portion of the suspected mass into hot water, which
causes them to expand.  (See Carthamus.)  Other adulterations are the fibres
of dried beef, the stamens of the Crocus distinguishable by their yellow colour,
the stigmas previously exhausted in the preparation of the infusion or tincture,
and various mineral  substances easily detected upon  close examination.  The
flowers of  a Brazilian plant, named Fuminella, have, according to M. J. L.
Soubeiran, been recently employed for the adulteration of saffron.  They may be
detected by shaking gently but repeatedly a large pinch of the suspected saffron
over a piece of paper.  The flowers of Fuminella, being smaller and heavier,
separate and fall;  and may be seen to consist of very short fragments, with a
colour like  that of saffron, but a rusty tint which the  latter does not possess.
(Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Avril, 1855, p. 267.) J. Muller recommends con-
centrated sulphuric acid as the most certain test of saffron.   It instantly changes
the colour of pure saffron to indigo blue.  (Cluzm. Gaz., May, 1845, p. 197.)
   Choice of Saffron.  Saffron should not be very moist, nor very dry, nor easily
pulverized; nor should it emit an offensive smell when thrown upon live coals.
The freshest is the best, and that which is less than a year old  should, if possi-
ble, be selected.  It should possess in a high degree the characteristic properties
of colour, taste, and smell.   If it do not colour the fingers when rubbed be-
tween them, or if it have an oily feel, or a musty flavour, or a black, yellow, or
whitish colour, it should be rejected.  In the purchase of this medicine in cakes,
those should be selected which are close, tough, and  firm in  tearing ; and care
should be taken to avoid cakes of safflower.
   As its activity depends, partly at least, on a volatile ingredient, saffron should
be kept in well stopped vessels.   Some recommended that it should be enclosed
in a bladder, and introduced into a tin case.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Saffron was formerly considered highly stimu-
lant and antispasmodic.   It has been alleged that, in small doses, it moderately
excites the different functions, exhilarates the  spirits, relieves pain, and produces
sleep; in large doses, gives rise to headache, intoxication, delirium, stupor, and
other alarming symptoms; and  Shroder asserts that, in the quantity of two or
three drachms, it proves fatal.   It was thought also to act  powerfully on the
uterine system, promoting menstruation.  The ancients employed it extensively,
both as a medicine and  condiment,  under the  name  of crocus.  It was  also
highly esteemed by the Arabians, and enjoyed considerable reputation among
the physicians of modern Europe till within a comparatively recent period.  On
the continent it is still much used as a  stimulant and emmenagogue.   But the
experiments of Dr. Alexander have proved it to possess little activity; and in
Great Britain and the United States  it is seldom prescribed.   By old women and
nurses saffron tea is frequently used  in exanthematous  diseases, to promote the
eruption;  a practice introduced by the humoral pathologists, but afterwards
abandoned by the profession.  The  chief use of saffron at present is to impart
colour and flavour to officinal tinctures.   From ten to  thirty grains  may be
given for a dose. 
PART I.
Crocus.—Cubeba.
315
    Off.Prep. Acetum Opii; Confectio Aromatica; Decoctum Aloes Compositum;
 Pilulas Aloes et Myrrhas; Pilula Styracis Composita; Syrupus Croci; Tinctura
 Aloes et Myrrhas; Tinct, Cinchonas Comp.;  Tinct. Croci; Tinct. Opii Ammo-
 niata ; Tinct. Rhei Comp.;  Tinct. Rhei et Sennas.                      W.

                    CUBEBA.  U.S., Lond.,  Dub.

                                  Cubebs.
    The berries of Piper Cubeba. U. S.   The unripe fruit. Lond,  The berries of
 Cubeba officinalis. Dub.
    Off. Syn. CUBEBA. Fruit of Piper Cubeba. Ed.
    Cubebe, Fr.;  Kubeben, Germ.; Cubebe, Ital.; Cubebas, Span. ; Kebabeh, Arab.
    Piper. Sex. Syst. Dianclria Trigynia. — Nat. Ord. Piperaceas.
    Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Corolla  none. Berry one-seecled.  Willd,
    Piper Cubeba.  Willd. Sp. Plant i.  159;  Woodv.  Med, Bot 3d ed. v. 95.
 Cubeba officinalis. Miquel, Comment. Phytogr.  This is a climbing perennial
 plant, with a smooth, flexuous, jointed stem, and entire, petiolate, oblong or ovate-
 oblong, acuminate leaves, rounded or obliquely cordate at the base, strongly nerved,
 coriaceous, and very smooth.  The flowers are dioecious and in spikes, with pe-
 duncles about as long as the petiole.   The fruit is a globose, pedicelled berry.
    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. caninum,
 inhabiting the same countries; but Dr. Lindley could discover no difference be-
 tween the fruit of P. Cubeba and ordinary cubebs.*
    Properties.   Cubebs are round, about the  size of  a small pea, of a blackish
 or grayish-brown colour, and furnished with a short stalk, which is 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 coolness, like that pro-
 duced by 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 sub-
 stance, 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. Capitaine and Soubeiran, cubebin is best
 obtained  by expressing  cubebs from which the oil has been distilled, preparing
 with them an alcoholic extract,  treating this with a solution of potassa,  wash-
 ing the residue with water, and purifying it by repeated crystallizations in alco-
 hol.   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

   * It was at one time supposed that cubebs were also produced in western Africa; but
 this was a mistake, originating probably in the fact, that a peculiar pepper growing in
 that region has, like cubebs, the stalk attached.  It  is, however, a different product,
 being, as shown by Dr. W. F. Daniel, the fruit of  a distinct species, the Piper Afzelii
 of Lindley, Cubeba  Clusii of Miquel, figured  in the Pharm. Journ. and  Trans, (xiv.
 201).   This  Guinea pepper, or African black  pepper, was formerly taken to Europe in
 considerable quantities by the Portuguese, but has been superseded by -the more agree-
able products of the E. Indies.  The fruit is one-third smaller than the officinal cubebs,
is more compact, and has a taste more analogous to that of ordinary black pepper.
Dr. Stenhouse has also shown that it is chemically more  analogous to black  pepper
than to cubebs, as it contains piperin and not cubebin.  (Ibid. xiv. 364.)—Note to the
eleventh edition. 
316
Cubeba. — Cuprum.
PART I.
liquid when hot, and soluble also in ether, acetic acid, and the fixed and volatile
oils.  It bears  a close resemblance to piperin, but materially differs from it in
composition, as it contains no nitrogen. (Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 355.)  The
volatile oil is officinal. (See Oleum Cubebse.)  Cubebs gradually deteriorate by
age, and in powder become rapidly weaker, in consequence 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 cir-
culation, 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.  Among their  effects are also
occasionally nausea and moderate purging;  and they are said to cause 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
black pepper; but they were found much less  powerful and fell into disuse.  Some
years since they were again brought into notice in England as a remedy in go-
norrhoea.  This application of cubebs  was derived from India, where they have
long been used  in gonorrhoea and gleet, and as a grateful stomachic and carmin-
ative in disorders of the  digestive organs.    They are  said to have sometimes
produced swelled testicle, when given in gonorrhoea;  and, though recommended
in all its stages, will probably be found most safe and effectual in cases where
the inflammation is confined to the mucous  membrane  of the urethra.  If not
speedily useful, they should be discontinued.   They have been given also in leu-
corrhoea, 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
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 means
of sugar.  An  ethereal  extract is directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and con-
siderably used.   (See Extractum Cubebse Fluidum.)   An infusion, made in the
proportion of  an  ounce of powdered cubebs to a pint of  water, has been em-
ployed  as an injection in discharges from the vagina, with  asserted advantage.
   Off.  Prep.   Extractum  Cubebas  Fluidum; Oleum  Cubebas; Tinctura Cu-
bebas.                                                              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 prin-
 cipal native salts are the sulphate, carbonate, arseniate, and  phosphate.  In
 the United States it occurs in various localities, but especially in the neighbour-
 hood of Lake  Superior.  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°, according to Daniell,
 being intermediate between the fusing points of silver and  gold.  Its equivalent
 number is 31-6.  Exposed to the  air  it undergoes a slight tarnish.  Its com-
 binations are numerous and important.  With oxygen it  forms two well cha- 
PART I.
Cuprum.
317
 racterized 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 numer-
 ous 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 solution,
 immediately becomes covered with a film of metallic copper.   The ferrocyanuret
 of potassium is an  exceedingly delicate test for minute portions of copper in so-
 lution.   Another test, proposed by M. Yerguin, 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 precipitated on the surface of the  platinum.
    Action on the Animal Economy.  Copper, in its pure state, is perfectly inert,
 but in combination is highly deleterious.  Nevertheless, a minute portion of the
 metal has been found in the human body.   According to Millon, copper, when
 it. exists in the blood, is, like the iron, attached to the red corpuscles.  To bring
 the copper into a state favourable for ready detection, he advises that the blood,
 as it escapes from a vein, lie received 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, furnishes a liquid in which copper is readily detected.
 Wackenroder found copper in the blood of man, but does not consider it  a con-
 stant and normal constituent.  He also detected this metal in the blood of
 domestic animals living on a mixed diet, but not in their blood when nourished
 on vegetable food only.  (Chem.  Gaz., May 1, 1854.)  The combinations of
 copper, when taken in poisonous doses, produce a coppery taste in the mouth;
 nausea and vomiting;  violent pain in  the  stomach and bowels;  frequent black
 and bloody stools;  small, irregular, sharp,  and frequent pulse; faintings; burn-
 ing thirst;  difficulty of breathing;  cold sweats; paucity  of  urine, and burning
 pain in  voiding it; violent headache;  cramps, convulsions, and finally death.
 The best antidote, according to Dr. Schrader, of Gottingen, is the ferrocyanuret
 of potassium, given freely, which forms, with the poison, the very insoluble fer-
 rocyanuret of copper.   Before the antidote can  be  procured, large quantities
 should be given of milk, and white of eggs mixed with water, which act favour-
 ably by forming the caseate and albuminate of copper; but these  compounds
 should be evacuated as soon as possible by vomiting and  purging.  Should
 vomiting not take place, the stomach pump may be employed.   Magnesia was
 proposed as an antidote by M. Roucher; but Dr. Schrader says it is not to be de-
 pendedupon.  (Med. Times and Gaz., May, 1855.)  The symptoms of slow poi-
 soning by copper are, according to Dr. Corrigan, of Dublin, a cachectic appear-
 ance, emaciation, loss of muscular strength, colicky pains, cough without physical
 signs, and retraction of the gums, with a persistent purple edge, quite distinct from
 the blue edge produced by lead.  (Braithwaite^s Betrospect, Am. ed. xxx. 303.)
   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 carbon-
ized by nitric acid.  The carbonized product will  contain the copper.  By pro-
ceeding in this way, there is no risk of obtaining the copper which may happen
to pre-exist in the animal tissues.  This method of search is preferable to that
of examining the contents of the  stomach and intestines, from which  copper 
318                  Cuprum.—Cupri Subaeetas.               part i.

may be absent; while 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 vessels may be acted on; in which event, whatever
may be contained in them  would be rendered deleterious.
  The following is a list of the preparations containing copper in the U. S. and
British Pharmacopoeias.
    Cupri Subaeetas, U. S., Dub.; JErugo, Lond., Ed.; Verdigris.
       Cupri Subaeetas Prasparatum, Dub.; Prepared verdigris.
       Unguentum Cupri Subacetatis, U. S., Dub.; Ung. iEruginis, Ed.
       Linimentum iEruginis, Lond.
       Emplastrum Cantharidis Compositum, Ed.
    Cupri Sulphas, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Cupri Sulphas Yenalis, Lond.
       Cupri Sulphas, Lond.
       Cuprum Ammoniatum, U. S., Ed.; Cupri Ammonio-sulphas, Lond., Dub.
         Cupri Ammoniati Solutio, Ed.; Liquor Cupri Ammonio-sulphatis,
                       Lond,
         Pilulas Cupri Ammoniati, Ed.                               B.


               CUPRI  SUBACETAS.  U. S., Dub.

                        Subacetate of Copper.

  Impure subacetate of copper.  U. S.
   Off. Syn. J3RUGO.  Lond, Ed.
  Verdigris ; Acetate de cuivre brut, Vert-de-gris, Fr.; Gbiinspan, 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 manufac-
tured in Great Britain and Sweden.  In France the process is conducted in the
following manner.  Sheets of copper  are stratified with the residue of the grape
after  the expression of the juice in making wine, and are 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 scrap-
ings thus obtained  form a paste, which is afterwards well beaten with wooden
mallets, aud packed in oblong leathern sacks, 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 cop-
per becomes oxidized, and the resulting oxide, by  combination with the acetic
acid generated during the  fermentation, forms the  subacetate  of copper or ver-
digris.   In England, a purer verdigris is prepared  by alternating copper plates
with  pieces of woollen cloth steeped  in pyroligneous acid.
  Yerdigris 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.  Yerdigris 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, 
 parti.            Cupri Subaeetas.—Cupri Sulphas.                319

 and the 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, or crystals of Venus.  (See Part Third.)  When
 verdigris is acted on by sulphuric acid, it is decomposed, vapours of acetic acid
 being evolved, easily recognised by their vinegar odour.  It is soluble  almost
 entirely in ammonia, and dissolves in muriatic and  dilute  sulphuric  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 ver-
 digris, which copper vessels are apt to contract when not kept clean, is a car-
 bonate of copper, and should not be confounded with true verdigris.
    Composition.   Yerdigris, apart from its impurities, is a variable mixture of
 the subacetates of copper; the basic sesquiacetate predominating in  the green
 variety, the diacetate in the blue.  The London College defines it to be a diace-
 tate of copper;  the Edinburgh, the commercial diacetate.   When 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.  Yerdigris is used externally as a detergent and escha-
 rotic, and is occasionally applied to chronic eruptions, foul  and indolent  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 Subaeetas Prasparatum;  Emplastrum Cantharidis  Com-
 positum; Linimentum iEruginis; Unguentum Cupri Subacetatis.         B.

               CUPRI  SULPHAS. U. S., Ed,,  Dub.

                          Sulphate of Copper.
   Off. Syn. CUPRI SULPHAS VENALIS. Lond.
   Blue vitriol, Roman vitriol, Blue stone; Sulfate  de cuivre, Vitriol bleu,  Couperose
 bleu, Fr.; Schwefelsaures Kupfer, Kupfervitriol, Blauervitriol, Blauer  Galitzenstein,
 Germ.; Rame solfato, Vitriolo di rame, Ital.; Sulfato de cobre, Vitriolo azul, Span.
   Preparation, &c.  Sulphate of copper occasionally exists in nature, in solu-
 tion in the water which flows through copper mines.  In this case the  salt is
 procured by merely evaporating the waters which naturally contain it.  Another
 method for obtaining it is to roast the native sulphuret in a reverberatory fur-
 nace, whereby it is made to pass, by absorbing oxygen, into the state of sulphate.
 The roasted mass is lixiviated, and the solution obtained evaporated that crys-
 tals may form.   The salt,  procured by either of these methods, contains a lit-
 tle tersulphate 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 ses-
 quioxide of iron.  A third method consists in wetting, and then sprinkling with
 sulphur, sheets of copper, which  are next  heated to redness, and while hot
 plunged into water.  The same operation is repeated until  the sheets are en-
 tirely corroded.  At first a sulphuret of the metal is formed, which, by the action
 of heat and air, gradually passes into the state of sulphate of the oxide.   This
 is dissolved by the water, and obtained in crystals by evaporation.  A fourth
 method is to dissolve copper scales to saturation in sulphuric acid, contained
 in a wooden vessel, lined with sheet lead.  The scales  consist  of metallic copper,
 mixed with  oxide, and are produced in the process for annealing sheet copper.'
  Sometimes sulphate of copper is obtained in pursuing one  of the methods for
 separating silver  from gold.  The silver is dissolved by boiling the alloy in sul-
 phuric acid.   The sulphate of silver formed is then decomposed by the immer-
 sion of copper plates in its solution, with the effect of forming sulphate of cop-
per and precipitating the silver. 
320
Cupri Sulphas.
PART I.
  Properties.  Sulphate of copper has a rich deep-blue colour, and strong me-
tallic styptic taste.   It reddens vegetable blues, and crystallizes in large, trans-
parent, rhomboidal prisms, which effloresce slightly in the air, and are soluble
in four parts of cold, and two of boiling water, but insoluble in alcohol.  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 sub-
acetate 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 astrin-
gent vegetable infusions.   If it become very green on the surface by the action
of the air, it shows the presence of sesquioxide of  iron.   This oxide may also
be detected by ammonia,  which will throw it down along with the oxide of cop-
per, 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 at first a mixture of sulphuric  and nitric acids, but be-
comes, at last, nearly saturated with copper.  When zinc is present in sulphate
of copper, it will be taken up by solution of potassa, added in excess, from which
it may be thrown down,  in white flocks,  by a solution of bicarbonated alkali.
  Sulphate  of copper consists of  one eq. of sulphuric acid 40, one of protoxide
of copper 39'6, and five of  water 45 = 124-6.
  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, especially opium.
In croup it  has been employed as an emetic  with encouraging success.  M.
Honerkopf,  a German practitioner, speaks warmly  of his success  with it in this
disease.  He uses the salt freely, especially in severe cases, in which great in-
sensibility of the stomach is usually manifested.   Out of ninety cases, half of
which he estimates to have been pseudo-membranous croup, he reports the cure
of  seventy-seven. (Journ. de Pharm., Oct., 1855.)   Sulphate of copper has
also been highly recommended in chronic diarrhoea.  Externally  it is employed
in solution as a stimulant to ill-conditioned ulcers, as an escharotic for destroy-
ing warts, fungous granulations, and callous  edges,  and as a styptic to bleeding
surfaces.  It is found, in not a few instances, to promote the cicatrization of
ulcers, and is not unfrequently employed, with that view, as a wash for chan-
cres.   In weak solution, either  alone  or associated with  other  substances, it
forms a useful collyrium in the chronic stages of some  forms of ophthalmia.
Eight grains of it, with an equal weight of Armenian bole, and two grains of
camphor, added  to half  a pint  of boiling water, form,  after becoming/ limpid
by  rest, a collyrium strongly recommended by Mr.  Ware in  the  purulent oph-
thalmia of infants.   The preparation, called cuprum aluminatum (lapis divi-
nus—pierre divine), is  made, according to the French Codex, by mixing, in
powder,  three ounces, each, of sulphate of copper, nitrate of potassa, and alum,
heating the mixture in a crucible, so as to undergo  the watery fusion, then mix-
ing in a drachm  of powdered camphor,  and, finally, pouring out the whole on
an oiled stone to congeal. The mass, when cold, is  broken into pieces, and kept
in a well stopped bottle. When this  preparation  is used as a collyrium, a fil-
tered solution is  made of the average strength of thirty grains to the pint of
water.   It is employed in various affections of the eyes, in which astringent
applications are admissible. 
PART I.
Cupri Sulphas.— Curcuma.
321
   The dose of sulphate of copper, as an astringent or tonic, is a quarter of a
grain, gradually increased; as an emetic, from two to five grains.  As a stimu-
lant wash, the solution may 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 when  not expelled  by  vomiting.   Upon the
whole, such is the activity of the sulphate of copper, that it should always be
exhibited with caution.   For its effects as a poison, see  Cuprum.
   Off. Prep.  Cupri Sulphas, Lond.; Cuprum Ammoniatum.            B.


                CURCUMA.  U. S.  Secondary,  Ed.

                                 Turmeric.

   The rhizoma of Curcuma longa. U. S., Ed,
   Safran des hides, Fr.; Kurkuma, Grelbwurz, Germ.; Curcuma, Ital., Span.; Zirsood,
 Arab. ; Huldie, Hindoo.
   Curcuma.  Sex. Syst  Monandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Zingiberaceas.
   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
or greenish-yellow, internally deep orange-yellow, hard, compact, breaking with
a fracture like that  of  wax, and yielding a yellow or orange-yellow powder.
Another variety, comparatively rare, is  round or  oval, about, the  size of a
pigeon's egg,  and marked externally with numerous annular wrinkles..  Some-.
times it comes cut into  two transverse segments.   It is distinguished by the
name of  curcuma rotunda, the former being called curcuma  longa..  The two
varieties have a close resemblance 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.  Analyzed by Pelletier and Yogel,
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.   Curcumin 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 turme-
ric 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 acid?,  by
pure boracic acid, especially when  dissolved  in alcohol,  and by numerous me*
       21 
322
Curcuma.—Cydonium.
PART I.
tallic salts; so that its indications cannot be certainly relied on.   Its alcoholic
solution produces coloured precipitates with acetate of lead, nitrate of silver,
and other salts.  Turmeric is used for dyeing yellow ;  but the colour is not per-
manent.
  Medical Properties, &c.   This root is a stimulant aromatic, bearing some
resemblance to ginger in its operation, and is  much  used in India as a condi-
ment.  It is a constant ingredient  in the curries so generally  employed in the
East.  In former  times  it  had  some reputation in  Europe  as a remedy in
jaundice  and other visceral diseases; but at present it is employed only to im-
part colour to ointments, and other pharmaceutic preparations.
   Turmeric paper,  used as a test,  is prepared by tinging white unsized paper
with a tincture or  decoction of turmeric.  The tincture may be made with one
part of turmeric to six parts of proof spirit;  the decoction, with one part of
the root  to  ten or twelve  of  water.  The access  of  acid or alkaline vapours
should be carefully avoided.                                          W.


           CYDONIUM. U.S. Secondary, Lond.

                              Quince Seed.

   The seeds of Cydonia vulgaris. U. S., Bond.
   Semences de coings, Fr.; Quittenkerne, Germ.;  Semi di cotogno, Ital.; Simiente de
membrillo, Span.
   The quince tree has been separated from the  genus Pyrus, and erected into
a new one called Cydonia, which differs in the circumstance  that the cells of
its fruit contain "many seeds, instead of two only as in Pyrus.
   Cydonia.  Sex.  Syst. Icosandria Pentagynia. — Nat. Ord. Pomaceas.
   Gen. Ch.   Calyx  five-parted,  with leafy divisions.  Apple  closed, many-
seeded.  Testa mucilaginous.   Loudon's Encyc.
   Cydonia vulgaris.  Persoon, Enchir. ii. 40.—Pyrus Cydonia. Willd. Sp.
Plant ii. 1020; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 505, t.  182.   The common quince tree
is characterized as a species by its downy deciduous leaves.   It is supposed to
be a native of Crete, but grows  wild in Austria, on the banks of the Danube.
It is abundantly cultivated in this country.  The fruit is about the  size of a
pear, yellow,  downy, of an agreeable odour, and a rough, astringent, acidulous
taste; and in each of its five cells contains from eight to fourteen seeds.  Though
not eaten raw, it forms a very pleasant confection; and a syrup prepared from
 it may be used as a grateful addition to drinks in sickness, especially in loose-
 ness of the bowels,  which it is supposed to restrain by its astringency.  The
 seeds are the  officinal portion.
    They are ovate, angled, reddish-brown externally, white within, inodorous,
 and nearly insipid, being slightly bitter when long chewed.  Their coriaceous
 envelope abounds in mucilage,  which is extracted  by boiling water.  Two
 drachms of the seeds will render a pint of water thick and ropy.  It has been
 proposed to evaporate the decoction to dryness, and powder the residue.  Three
 grains of this powder form a sufficiently consistent mucilage with an ounce of
 water.  According  to M. Garot, one part communicates to  a thousand parts
 of water a semi-syrupy consistence. (Journ. de Bharm. et de Chim., 3e ser.,
 iii. 298.)  Dr. Pereira considers  the mucilage of quince seeds  as a peculiar sub-
 stance, and proposes to call it cydonin.  It differs from arabin in not yielding
  a  precipitate with silicate  of potassa, and from bassorin  and cerasin, in being
  soluble in water both hot and cold.
    3Iedical Properties, &c.   The mucilage of quince seeds may be used for the
  same purposes as other mucilaginous liquids.  It is preferred by some practi- 
PART I.
Cyminum.—Delphinium.
323
 tioners as a local application in conjunctival ophthalmia, but in this country is
 less used for that purpose than the infusion of sassafras pith.
    Off. Prep.  Decoctum Cydonii.                                    "vV.


                         CYMINUM.  Lond.

                              Cumin Seed.

    Cuminum Cyminum. The fruit. Lond.
    Off. Syn.  CUMINUM. Fruit of Cuminum Cyminum.  Ed,
    Cumin, Fr.; Rbmischer Kummel, Germ.; Comino, Ital., Span.
    Cuminum.  Sex. Syst. PentandriaDigynia. — Nat. Ord. Apiaceas or Umbel-
 liferas.
    Gen, Ch. Fruit  ovate, striated. Partial umbels four.  Involucres four-cleft.
    Cuminum Cyminum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1440;  Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 142,
 t.  56.  This is an annual plant, about six or eight inches high, having a round^
 slender, branching  stem, with numerous narrow, linear, pointed, smooth, grass-
 like leaves, of a deep-green colour.  The flowers  are white or purple, and dis-
 posed in numerous terminal umbels, which have very few rays, and are attended
 with  general and partial involucres, consisting of three or four linear  leaflets.
 The  fruit consists of two oblong plano-convex  half-fruits, commonly called
 seeds, united by their  flat sides.   The plant is a native of Egypt, but is culti-
 vated for its fruit in Sicily, Malta, and other parts of Europe.
    The cumin  seeds of the  shops are  elliptical, flat  on one side, convex, fur-
 rowed, and rough on the other, about one-sixth of an inch in length, and of a
 light-brown colour. Each has seven longitudinal ridges.  Two seeds are some-
 times united together as upon the plant.  Their odour is  peculiar, strong, and
 heavy; their taste  warm, bitterish, aromatic, and disagreeable.   They contain
 much essential oil,  which is lighter than water, yellowish, and has the sensible
 properties of the seeds.   It consists  of two distinct oils, one a carbohydro-
 gen, called cymene (C^H^), the  other consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and
 oxygen (C^H^OJ, which may be regarded as hydruret of cumyle (C^JJ^O^H).
 (Gregory's Organic Chemistry, 4th ed., pp.  156 and 341.)
   Medical Properties  and Uses.   In medical properties cumin seeds resemble
 the other aromatic fruits of  umbelliferous plants, but are  more stimulating.
 They are seldom used in the United States, and appear to have been retained
 by  the London College merely as an  ingredient in a stimulant and discutient
 plaster?   The dose  is from fifteen grains to half a  drachm.
   Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Cymini.                                  "W.


                DELPHINIUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                              Larkspur.

  The root of Delphinium Consolida,  U S.
  Pied d'allouette, Fr.; Feld-Rittersporn, Germ.
  Delphinium. Sex. Syst Polyandria Trigynia,-— Nat Ord. Ranunculaeeas.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx none. Petals  five.  Nectary bifid, horned behind.  Pods
three or one.  Willd.
  Delphinium  Consolida.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1226; Loudon's Encyc.  of
Plants, p. 473, 7832.   The larkspur is a showy annual plant, with an erect,
branched,  slightly pubescent stem.   Its leaves are divided into linear segments^
widely separated, and forked at the summit. The flowers are usually of a beau-
tiful azure-blue colour, and disposed in loose terminal  racemes, with peduncles 
324
Delphinium.—Digitalis.
PART I.
longer than the bractes.  The nectary is one-leaved, with an  ascending horn
nearly equalling the corolla,   The seeds are contained in smooth, solitary cap-
sules.  This species of larkspur has been introduced from Europe into the United
States, where it has become naturalized, growing in the woods and fields, and
flowering in June and July.
  Various parts of the larkspur have been employed in medicine; and the plant
is said to have properties closely analogous to those of Delphinium Staphisa-
gria. (See Staphisagria.)  The flowers' are bitter  and acrid, and, having for-
merly been supposed to possess the power of healing wounds, gave the name of
consolida to the species.  Aconitic acid has been obtained from the expressed
juice by W. Wicke. (Journ. de Pharm., Juillet,  1854, p. 79.)  The seeds were
analyzed by Mr. Thomas C. Hopkins, of Baltimore, and found to contain del-
phinia, volatile oil, fixed oil,  gum, resin, chlorophylle, gallic acid, and salts of
potassa, lime, and iron.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xi. 8.)
   The flowers were formerly considered diuretic, emmenagogue, and vermifuge;
but are not now used.  The  seeds are very acrid, are esteemed diuretic, and in
large doses produce vomiting and purging.   A tincture prepared by macerating
an ounce of them in a pint of diluted alcohol, has been found useful  in spas-
modic asthma and dropsy.  The dose is ten  drops, to be gradually increased till
some effect upon, the system  is evinced.   The remedy has been employed both
in America and England; and the seeds of an indigenous species, D. exaltatum,
have been applied to a similar purpose.   The root  probably possesses the same
properties as other parts of the plant; but, though designated in the Pharma-
copoeia, is  little if at all used.                                        W.


              DIGITALIS. U. S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                                Foxglove.

   The leaves of Digitalis purpurea. U S., Ed., Dub.  The fresh  and dried leaf
of the stem of the wild herb. Lond.
   Digitale pourpree, Doightier,  Fr.; Purpurrother Fingerhut, Germ.; Digitale purpu-
rea, Ital.;  Dedalera, Span.
   Digitalis.  Sex. Syst Didynamia Angiospermia. — Nat. Ord. Scrophulari-
aceas.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-parted. Corolla bell-shaped, five cleft, ventricose. Cap
sule ovate, two-celled. Willd.
   Digitalis purpurea. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 383;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 218, t.
78.  The foxglove is a beautiful plant, with a biennial or perennial, fibrous root,
which, in the first  year, sends forth large tufted leaves, and in  the following
summer, a single erect, downy, and leafy stem, rising from two to five feet, and
terminating in an elegant spike of purple flowers.   The lower leaves are ovate,
pointed, about eight inches in length and  three in breadth, and stand upon
short, winged footstalks; the upper are alternate, sparse, and lanceolate; both
are  obtusely serrate, and have wrinkled velvety surfaces, of which the upper is
of a fine deep green, the under paler and more downy.  The flowers are numer-
ous, and attached to the upper part of the stem by short peduncles, in such a
manner as generally to hang down upon one side.   At the base of each pedun-
cle is a floral  leaf, which is sessile, ovate, and pointed.  The calyx is divided
into five segments, of which  the  uppermost is narrower than the others.  The
corolla is monopetalous, bell-form, swelling on the lower side, irregularly divided
at the margin into short obtuse lobes, and in shape and size not  unlike the end
of the finger of a glove, a circumstance which has suggested most of the names
by which the plant is designated in different languages.   Its mouth is guarded 
PART I.
Digitalis.
325
by long soft hairs.   Externally, it is in general of a bright purple; internally,
is sprinkled with black spots upon a white ground.   There is a variety of the
plant with white flowers.   The filaments are white, curved, and surmounted by
large yellow anthers.  The style is simple, and supports a bifid stigma.  The
seeds are numerous, very small, grayish-brown, and contained in  a pyramidal,
two-celled capsule.
  The foxglove grows wild in the temperate parts of Europe, where it flowers
in the middle of summer.  In  this country it is cultivated both for ornament
and for medical use.  The leaves are the part generally employed.   Much care
is requisite in selecting, preparing, and preserving them, in order to insure their
activity.   They should be gathered in the second year,  immediately before or
during the period of inflorescence, and those only chosen which are full-grown
and perfectly fresh.  (Geiger.)  It is said that those plants are preferable which
grow spontaneously in elevated places, exposed to the sun. (Duncan.)  As the
leaf-stalk and midrib are comparatively inactive, they may be rejected.  Wither-
ing recommends that the leaves should be dried either in the sunshine, or by a
gentle heat before the fire; and care  should be  taken to  keep them  separate
while drying.   Pereira states that a more common,  and, in his opinion, a pre-
ferable mode, is to dry them  in a basket, in a dark place, in a drying stove.  It
is probably owing, in part, to the want of proper attention in preparing digi-
talis for the market, that it is so often inefficient.  Much of the medicine kept
in our shops is obtained from the Shakers, and is in oblong compact masses,
into which the leaves have been compressed.   In some of these cakes the digi-
talis is of good quality; but we have seen others in which it was quite the re-
verse, and some which were mouldy in the interior; and, upon the whole, cannot
but consider this mode of preparing the drug as objectionable.  The dried leaves
should be kept in tin canisters, well closed so as to exclude light and moisture;
or they may be pulverized, and the powder preserved in well stopped and opaque
bottles.   As foxglove deteriorates by time, it should be frequently renewed, as
often, if possible, as once a year.   Its quality must be judged of by the degree
in which  it possesses the characteristic properties of colour, smell, and espe-
cially taste.
  The seeds contain more of the active principle than the leaves, are less apt to
suffer in drying, and keep better;  but are little used.
  Properties.   Foxglove is  without  smell in the recent state, but acquires a
faint narcotic odour when dried.   Its taste is bitter and nauseous.   The colour
of the dried leaf is a dull pale green,  modified by the whitish  down upon the
under surface;  that of the powder is a fine deep green.  Digitalis yields its
virtues  both to water and alcohol.   These virtues  reside in a peculiar  bitter
principle, which was first isolated by M. Homolle.  In  the extraction of this
principle, called digit at ine, he employed the agency of tannic acid, as originally
proposed by M. 0. Henry.   The  latter  chemist has somewhat simplified the
process of M. Homolle.  An  alcoholic extract is first prepared.  This is treated
with distilled water acidulated with acetic acid, and heated to about 110° F.,
a little animal charcoal being added.   To the liquor, filtered, and partially neu-
tralized by ammonia, a fresh concentrated infusion of galls is gradually added,
so long as a precipitate is produced.  This precipitate, which is tannate of
digitaline, is obtained separate by decanting the liquid, is washed with pure
water mixed with a little alcohol, and then rubbed in a mortar with one-third
of its weight of very finely powdered litharge.   The mixture is heated gently,
and  submitted to the action of twice its volume of alcohol at about 90°.  The
alcoholic solution is treated with a little animal  charcoal, filtered, and evapo-
rated at a very gentle heat.  The residue is acted on twice or three times with
cold and very pure sulphuric ether, which removes  impurities, and  leaves the 
326
Digitalis.
PART I.
digitaline.  This may be powdered,  or obtained in small scales by dissolving it
in the  least  quantity of alcohol, and allowing  the concentrated solution to
evaporate in a stove upon plates of  glass.   From 1000 parts of the leaves, M.
Henry obtained between 9 and 10 parts of digitaline. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e
ser., vii. 462.)   This substance is  white,  inodorous,  crystallizable  with diffi-
culty,  intensely bitter,  sternutatory when  powdered,  slightly  decomposed at
a boiling  heat, soluble in about 2000 parts  of cold water, more  soluble in
boiling water, which retains one part in  1000 when  it  cools, very soluble in
alcohol cold  or hot, very slightly soluble  in ether, incapable of precipitating
salts, without alkaline or acid reaction, and destitute of nitrogen.   It forms
an insoluble compound with tannic acid.   It has the characteristic property of
giving a fine emerald-green colour to concentrated muriatic acid.   In the plant,
it is rendered soluble in water by means of saline or extractive matters.   It has
all the effects of digitalis on the system, and  may be  used as a substitute for
medical purposes.  Besides the bitter principle, digitalis contains a volatile oil,
a fatty matter, a red colouring substance analogous to extractive, chlorophylle,
albumen,  starch, sugar, gum, lignin, and salts of potassa and lime, among which,
according to Rein and Haase, is superoxalate  of potassa.   M. Morin, of Ge-
neva, has discovered in the leaves two acids; one fixed, called  digitalic acid,
the other volatile and  resembling valerianic acid, which  he proposes to name
antirrhinic acid. (Ibid., vii.  294.)  Dr. Morries obtained a narcotic empyreu-
matic oil by the destructive distillation of  the leaves. *

  * The following are the latest results of the chemical examination of digitalis, as
given by MM. Homolle and Quevenne, in  Bouchardat's Archives de Physiologie, Sec,
for January, 1854.  Unfortunately  these authors employ the very similar names digi-
taline and digitalin to designate different substances ; the former being applied by them
to the bitter active principle, the latter to a tasteless  and probably inert constituent.
In conformity with their example, and to prevent  confusion, we have  substituted, in
the text of the  present  edition  of the  Dispensatory, digitaline, as the name of the
active principle, for digitalin previously used.  Besides the proper active constituent,
digitalis contains, according to  MM. Homolle and Quevenne, three peculiar neuter
principles, digitalin, digitalose,  and digitalide;  four organic acids, the  digitalic, antir-
rhinic, digitaleic, and tannic;  various  other neuter  organic substances,  viz.  starch,
sugar, pectin, an albuminoid substance, an orange-red crystallizable colouring matter,
chlorophylle, volatile oil, and lignin ; and, lastly,  various inorganic salts, and earthy
matters.
  Digitalin is a white, imperfectly crystalline  powder, tasteless or very slightly acrid,
soluble in water and alcohol, and insoluble in ether.   Digitalose is of a white, crystal-
line, almost micaceous appearance, tasteless, insoluble in water, and soluble in alcohol
and ether.  These two principles are often contained in the digitaline procured in the
manner directed in the text.  To separate them, advantage may be taken of the fact,
that, though but very slightly soluble in perfectly pure ether, digitaline is readily dis-
solved by that liquid containing but a  very small proportion of alcohol.  If the impure
digitaline be submitted to the action of ether, brought by the addition of alcohol to
the sp. gr. 0-780, the digitaline and digitalose  will  be dissolved and the digitalin left;
and, by a repetition of the treatment, almost the whole of the bitter principle may he
extracted.   If the ethereal solutions thus obtained be mixed, the ether  distilled off
until the  residue has a pap-like consistence, and this  residue be treated with boiling
alcohol of 60', the digitaline will be taken up, and most of the digitalose remain undis-
solved. The former may now be obtained by a gentle evaporation of the alcohol; and,
by repetitions of the process, maybe rendered  very nearly free from digitalose, though
not perfectly so.
  In its purest state, digitaline,  instead of being white, has a pale yellow tint, and is
crystallizable with even greater difficulty than in its ordinary condition.  Indeed, MM.
Homolle and Quevenne are disposed to consider  it  quite  uncrystallizable when  per-
fectly pure.  One of its peculiarities is a disposition to assume  a globular form when
deposited from its solution. If its alcoholic or ethereal solution  be concentrated until
it becomes turbid, and then examined with a microscope, innumerable  globules will be
seen of variable size, closely resembling those of milk.   These coalesce, and, when 
PART I.
Digitalis.
327
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Digitalis is narcotic, sedative, and diuretic.
 Administered in quantities sufficient to bring the  system decidedly under  its
 influence, it is apt to produce a sense of tightness or weight with dull pain in
 the head, vertigo, dimness or other disorder of vision, and more or less confu-
 sion of thought.   At the same time, it occasionally gives rise to irritation in
 the pharynx and  oesophagus, which extends  to  the  larynx and trachea, pro-
 ducing hoarseness; and, in more than one instance, ptyalism has been observed
 to result.   It sometimes also disturbs the bowels, and excites nausea, or even
 vomiting.  Another and highly important effect is an augmented flow of urine.
 This has been  ascribed by some to increased absorption; and, in support of
 this opinion, it is stated that its diuretic  operation  is observable only when
 dropsical effusion exists; but the  fact seems to be, that it is capable  of aug-
 menting  the quantity of urine in health, and it  probably exerts  a  directly
 stimulating influence upon the secretory function of the kidneys.  This influence
 is said sometimes to extend to the  genital  organs.   Besides the effects  above
 detailed, digitalis has a remarkably sedative action upon the heart.   This is
 exhibited in the reduction both of  the force and frequency of the  pulse,  which
 sometimes  sinks to 50, 40, or  even 30 strokes in  the minute.   In some  in-
 stances, however, it undergoes little change;  in  others only becomes irregular;
 and we are told  that it is even occasionally increased in frequency.   It was
 observed by Dr. Baildon that the effects of digitalis upon the circulation were
 much influenced by posture.  Thus, in his own case, the pulse, which had been
 reduced from 110 to 40 in  the  recumbent position, was increased to 72 when
 he  sat, and to  100 when he stood.  We do not discover  anything remarkable
 in this circumstance.  It is well known that the pulse is always more frequent
 in the erect than in the horizontal posture, and the difference is greater in a
 state of debility than in health.   Digitalis diminishes the  frequency of the pul-
 sations of  the  heart  by a directly debilitating power;  and this very debility,
 when any exertion is made which calls for increased action in that organ, causes
 it to attempt, by an  increase in  the number  of its contractions, to meet the
 demand which it is unable to supply by an increase in their force.   According
 to Dr. Traube,  it directly diminishes animal temperature in febrile and inflam-
 matory diseases, without antecedent effect  on the circulation. (See Archives
 Gen., 4e ser., xxviii. 338.)    It is said also to have a powerful sedative influ-
 ence on the generative organs.  This statement is not altogether incompatible
 with that already made,  that  the medicine sometimes  stimulates these organs.
 The normal depressing effect may be experienced through  the nervous centres;
 while the occasional irritation may proceed, either from the direct action of the
 medicine through the  blood on the tissues affected,  or a sympathetic influence
 extended from  the urinary  organs.  Dr. A.  Buchner states that  digitaline
 arrests vinous fermentation, and consequently poisons  the yeast  plant.  (See
 Am. Journ. of  Pharm., xxiv. 154.)
   The effects above detailed may result from digitalis given in remediate doses.
 In larger quantities its operation is  more violent.   Nausea and vomiting, stupor
 or delirium, cold sweats, extreme prostration of strength, hiccough, convulsions,
 and  syncope, are among the alarming symptoms which indicate its poisonous
character.   These effects are best  counteracted by stimulants, such as brandy,
the volatile alkali,  and opium.  Should any of the  poison be suspected to re-
main, it would  be proper, before employing other  measures, to evacuate the

deposited, adhere to the  bottom of the  vessel in grains or masses of a resinoid appear-
ance. (Op. cit., pp. 21 and 22.)  As a test of the sufficient purity of digitaline, the
authors state that its bitterness  should be such as to require, in order to be rendered
imperceptible, the addition of 10 litres (about 21 pints)  of  water to 5 centigrammes
(about 0-77 gr.) of the digitaline. (Ibid., p. 126.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
328
Digitalis.
PART I.
 stomach by the free use of warm liquids.  From  the  experiments of M. Bon-
 jean, it appears that powdered digitalis may be given to fowls, in large quan-
 tities, with entire impunity.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., iv. 21.)
   A peculiarity of digitalis  is that, after having been given in moderate doses
 for  several days without apparent  effect, it sometimes  acts suddenly with an
 accumulated influence, endangering even life.   It is, moreover, very permanent
 in its operation, which, having  once commenced, is maintained for a consider-
 able period without fresh accessions of the medicine.  The practical inferences
 deducible from  these properties of  digitalis are,  first, that, after  it has been
 given for some  time without effect, care should be taken not to increase the
 dose too greatly; and,  secondly, that, after its effects have begun to appear, it
 should be suspended for a time,  or exhibited in smaller doses, lest a dangerous
 accumulation should be experienced.  In numerous instances death has resulted
 from its incautious employment.
   Digitalis has been long known to possess medicinal powers; but  it was never
 regarded as a standard remedy,  till  after its application by Withering to the
 treatment  of dropsy, about  the  year 1775.   It is  at present employed very
 extensively, both for its diuretic power, and for its sedative influence over the
 circulation.  The former  renders it highly useful in dropsical diseases, though
 like all other remedies it frequently fails; the latter adapts it to cases in which
 the action  of the heart requires  to be controlled.   The idea was at one period
 entertained, that it  might serve as  a substitute for the lancet  in febrile and
 inflammatory complaints; and it has been much employed for this purpose by
 the  advocates of the contra-stimulant doctrine  in Italy; but experience has
 proved that it is a very frail  support where the symptoms of inflammation are
 such as to  call for the loss of blood.   As an adjuvant to the lancet, and when
 circumstances forbid the employment of that remedy, it is often useful. Though
 it certainly has not  the power, at one time ascribed to  it by some, of curing
 phthisis, it acts beneficially as a palliative in that complaint by depressing the
 excited movements of the heart.   In the same way it proves advantageous in
 aneurism, hypertrophy and dilatation of the heart, palpitations from rheumatic
 or gouty irritation, and in various forms of hemorrhage, after action has been
 sufficiently reduced by the lancet.  Some consider it especially efficient in mon-
 orrhagia.  It has also been prescribed in mania, epilepsy, pertussis, and spas-
 modic asthma; and highly respectable  testimony can be  adduced in favour of
 its  occasional efficacy in these complaints.  In delirium tremens  it has  been
 recommended as a specific, given in  the form  of infusion, in the full dose, re-
 peated every  two hours till symptoms of narcotism are induced;  but the prac-
 tice  is somewhat hazardous, unless  the patient be carefully watched.  (Am.
 Journ. of Med. Sci., xvii. 501.)  It is said  to be a very efficient remedy in
 spermatorrhoea.  Externally applied,  it sometimes acts speedily and powerfully
 as a diuretic, and has proved useful in dropsy.   For this  purpose  the fresh
 leaves bruised, or the tincture may be  rubbed  over  the  abdomen, and on  the
 inside of the thighs.  (Revue  3Iedicale, May, 1834.)
  Digitalis is administered in substance.  The dose of the powder is one grain,
 repeated twice or three  times a day,  and gradually increased till  some effect is
 produced upon the head, stomach, pulse, or kidneys, when it should be omitted
 or reduced.   The infusion and tincture are officinal preparations often resorted
 to.  (See Infusum Digitalis and  Tinctura Digitalis.) The extract has also been
employed;  and Orfila found it, whether prepared with water or alcohol, more
powerful than the powder.  Enormous doses of this medicine have been given
with  asserted impunity; and, when  they occasion full vomiting, it is  possible
that they may sometimes prove harmless; but, when the  alarming effects some- 
 part i.                  Digitalis.—Diospyros.                     329

 times experienced from comparatively moderate doses are considered, the prac-
 tice must be condemned as exceedingly hazardous.
   Digitaline has been used internally, but  its employment requires  caution.
 With all the powers  of  digitalis, it possesses the advantage of more equable
 strength, and consequently greater precision and certainty in regard to the dose.
 It may be used for any of the purposes to which  the leaves are applicable; and
 may be  administered  in  pill, or alcoholic solution.  The dose to begin with
 should not exceed the fiftieth or sixtieth of a grain,  and should not be carried
 beyond the twelfth.
   Off. Prep. Extractum Digitalis; Infusum Digitalis; Pilulas Digitalis et Scillas;
 Tinctura Digitalis.                                                   W.


                  DIOSPYROS.  U.S. Secondary.

                               Persimmon.

   The unripe fruit of Diospyros Yirginiana. U. S.
   Dyospyros.  Sex. Syst. Dioecia  Octandria. — Nat Ord. Ebenaceas.
    Gen. Ch. Male.  Calyx four to six-cleft.  Corolla urceolate, four to six-cleft.
 Slam ens eight  to sixteen; filaments often producing two anthers.   Female.
 Flower as  the  male.  Stigmas four  to  five.   Berry eight to twelve-seeded.
 Nuttall.
 ^ Dyospyros Virginiana. Willd. Sp. Plant iv.  1107; Michaux, N Am. Sylv.
 ii. 219.   The persimmon is  an indigenous tree, rising sometimes in the South-
 ern States to the height of sixty feet,  with a trunk twenty inches in diameter;
 but seldom attaining more than half that  size near its northern limits, and often
 not higher than fifteen or twenty feet.   The stem is straight, and in the old tree
 covered with a furrowed blackish bark.  The branches  are spreading; the leaves
 ovate-oblong, acuminate, entire, smooth, reticulately veined, alternate, and sup-
 ported on pubescent footstalks.  The buds are smooth.   The male and female
 flowers are on different trees.   They are  lateral, axillary, solitary, nearly ses-
 sile, of a pale-orange  colour, and not conspicuous.  The fruit is a globular
 berry, dark-yellow when perfectly ripe, and containing numerous seeds embedded
 in a soft yellow pulp.
   This tree is very common in the Middle and Southern States; but, according
 to Michaux, does not flourish beyond the forty-second degree of north latitude.
 The flowers appear in May or June; but the fruit is not ripe till the middle of
 autumn.  While green, the fruit is excessively astringent, and, we presume, will
 retain its astringency if carefully sliced and dried in this state; but, when per-
 fectly mature, and after having been touched by the frost, it is sweet and pala-
 table. Michaux states that, in the  Southern and Western States, it is made into
 cakes with bran, and used for preparing beer with the addition of water, hops,
 and yeast.   A spirituous  liquor may be obtained by the distillation of the fer-
 mented infusion. The unripe fruit was  examined by Mr. B. R. Smith, of Phila-
 delphia, and found to contain  tannic acid, sugar,  malic acid, colouring matter,
 and lignin.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 167.)  It has been used by Dr. Met-
 tauer, of Yirginia, in  diarrhoea, chronic  dysentery, and uterine hemorrhage.
 He gave it in infusion, syrup, and vinous tincture, prepared in the proportion
 of about an ounce of the  bruised fresh fruit to  two fluidounces of the vehicle,
and administered in the dose of a fluidrachm  or more for infants, and  half a
fluidounce or more for adults.   The bark is astringent and very bitter,  and  is
said to have been used advantageously in  intermittents, and  in  the form of a
gargle in ulcerated sorethroat.                                        W.  ■ 
330                           Dracontium.                       part i.
               DRACONTIUM.  U.S.  Secondary.

                           Skunk  Cabbage.

  The root  of Dracontium fcetidum—Ictodes foetidus (Bigelow)—Symplocar-
pus foetidus  (Barton, Med. Bot.) U. S
  Botanists have had some difficulty in arranging this plant.   It was attached
by Willdenow to the genus Dracontium, by Michaux and Pursh was considered
a Pothos, and by American botanists has been erected into a new genus, which
Nuttall calls Symplocarpus after Salisbury, and Dr. Bigelow proposes to name
Ictodes, expressive of the odour of the plant.  The term Symplocarpus, though
erroneous in its origin, was first proposed, and, having been adopted by several
botanists, should be retained.
  Symplocarpus. Sex. Syst.  Tetrandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Araceas.
  Gen. Ch,  Spathe hooded.  Spadix covered with perfect flowers. Calyx with
four segments.  Petals none.  Style pyramidal.  Seeds immersed in the spadix.
Bigelow.
  Symplocarpus foetidus. Barton, 3Ied. Bot i. 123. — Ictodes foetidus. Bige-
low, Am. Med. Bot ii. 41.   The skunk cabbage  is a very curious plant, and
the only one of the  genus.  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 first appears, 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 resemble 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 several times  its original dimensions.  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 appear after the flow-
ers, are numerous and crowded, oblong-cordate, acute, smooth, strongly veined,
and attached to the root by long petioles, which are hollowed in front, and fur-
nished 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.
  The plant isindigenous, growing abundantly in meadows, swamps, and other
wet places throughout the  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 the
magnitude  of its leaves.  All parts of it have a fetid odour, thought to re-
semble that  of the offensive animal after which it is named.  This odour resides
in an extremely volatile principle, which is rapidly dissipated by heat, and dimi-
nished  by desiccation.   The root is the part employed.   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 either
whole or in  transverse  slices, and the separated radicles.   The  former, when
whole,  is cylindrical, or in the shape of a  truncated cone, two 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 le.igths, about as thick as a hen's quill, very much flattened and wrin-
kled, white within, and covered by a yellowish reddish-brown epidermis, con-
siderably lighter coloured than the body of the root.  More or less of the fetid 
part i.               Dracontium.—Dulcamara.                   331

odour remains for a considerable period in the dried root.  The taste, though
less decided than in the fresh, 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 quite
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 have less acrimony than the cau-
dex.  The seeds are very acrid, and, though  inodorous when whole,  give out
strongly, wThen bruised, the peculiar odour of  the plant.
   3Iedical Properties  and Uses.   This root  is stimulant, antispasmodic, and
narcotic.  In large doses it occasions nausea and vomiting, with headache, ver-
tigo, 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 in asthma;  and it  has been
subsequently employed with apparent  advantage in chronic  catarrh, chronic
rheumatism, hysteria, and dropsy.   Dr. Heintzelman  thinks it expectorant as
well as antispasmodic,  and has used it beneficially in hooping-cough  and pul-
monary consumption.  (N. J. Med. Reporter, iv. 310.)
   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 evi-
dence of its actionis 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 uncer-
tain strength,  in consequence of its deterioration by age.               W.


            DULCAMARA.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Bittersweet.

   The stalks of Solanum Dulcamara. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
   Douce-amere, Fr.; Bittersiiss,  Alpranken, Germ.; Dulcamara, Ital., Span.
   Solanum.   Sex. Syd.  Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord.  Solanaceas.
   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  S. Dulcamara,  which is the only officinal species, two others
merit notice.   1. Solanum nigrum, the common garden 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 spe-
cies, 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 mode-
rate purging, and  in large doses nausea and giddiness.  As a medicine they
have been used in cancerous, scrofulous, and scorbutic diseases, and other pain-
ful ulcerous affections, being given  internally,  and applied at the same time to
the parts affected in the form of poultice, ointment, or decoction.   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, how-
ever, is scarcely used at present.   By some persons the poisonous properties
ascribed to the common nightshade are doubted.   M. Dunal, of  Montpellier,
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 consumed in large
quantities in the Isles of France and Bourbon as food, having been previously 
 332                           Dulcamara.                        part i.

 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 So-
 lanum tuberosum, or the common potato, are asserted to be narcotic;  and an
 extract prepared from the leaves has been  employed 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 favourable effects in protracted cough, chronic rheumatism
 angina pectoris, cancer of the uterus, &c.   Its influence upon the nervous sys-
 tem was  strongly marked, and,  in many instances, the dose could not be in-
 creased above a few grains  without giving  rise to threatening symptoms. It
 appeared to Dr. Latham to be analogous in its operation to digitalis.  His ex-
 periments were i-epeated in Philadelphia by Dr. Worsham with different results.
 The extract was found, in the quantity of nearly one hundred .grains, to pro-
 duce no sensible  effect. (Philacl. Journ. of the 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 circum-
 stances of culture.  Dr. Julius Otto found solania in the germs of the potato.
 He was induced to make the investigation  by observing that cattle were de-
 stroyed by feeding on the residue of germinated potatoes, used for the manufac-
 ture 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 nightshade
 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 projections at their
 base, giving them a hastate  form.   Some have the projection only on one side.
 Most of them are quite entire, some cordate  at the base.  The flowers are dis-
 posed in elegant clusters, somewhat analogous to cymes, and standing opposite
 to the leaves.   The calyx is very small, purplish, 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 the latter only
is officinal.  The berries, which were formerly esteemed poisonous, and thought
to act with great severity on the stomach and .bowels, are now said to be in-
noxious.  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 situ-
ations  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 pecu-
liar, 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 
PART I.
Dulcamara.
333
 all their virtues.   These are supposed to depend, at least in part, upon a pecu-
 liar alkaline principle called solanin or solania, which was originally discovered
 by M. Desfosses,  of Besancon, in the berries of Solanum nigrum, and has sub-
 sequently been found in the stalks, leaves, and berries of S. Dulcamara and S.
 tuberosum.   It  is supposed to exist in  the  bittersweet 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  purplish-violet, then brown, and lastly again colour-
 less, with the deposition of a brown powder. (Pharm. Gent 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 paralytic condition of the posterior limbs of animals.   One
 grain of the sulphate  of solania was sufficient to  destroy a rabbit in six hours.
 Dr. Frass did not observe paralysis of the lower limbs of animals as one of its
 effects.   Given to different animals, he found it to occasion  loss of appetite,
 vomiting, sometimes diarrhoea, excitement of the circulation,  dilatation of the
 pupils, and, from large doses, heaviness,  apathy, slowness of movement, and
 sometimes convulsions.  Injected into the jugular vein, it  caused  accelerated
 circulation, difficult, and even spasmodic respiration, convulsions, tetanic spasms,
 and death.  Two  grains of the acetate, injected into the rectum of a rabbit, killed
 it in six hours.   Ten grains given to a dog, and confined by a ligature round the
 oesophagus, though it occasioned great disturbance, did not prove fatal.  Twenty
 grammes (3v)  produced no  effect  on a hog.  (See B. & F. Medico-Chirurq
 Rev., Am. ed.,  July, 1854, p. 189.) 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 by Blitz, in the following manner. The watery
 extract is treated with  alcohol, the tincture evaporated, the residue dissolved in
 water, the solution precipitated with  subacetate 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 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.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Dulcamara possesses feeble  narcotic proper-
 ties, with the power of increasing the secretions,  particularly  that of the  kid-

  * Solania is most conveniently obtained from the sprouts of the common potato   The
 following is Wackenroder's process for extracting it. The sprouts, collected in the be-
 ginning of June, and pressed down in a suitable vessel  by means of pebbles, are mace-
 rated 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 nor'
 tions 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 davs
 it is filtered, and treated with powdered hydrate  of lime in slight excess.  The preci'
 pitate which forms  is separated 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 evaporating the mother  liquor to one-quarter of its volume  aud
then allowing it  to cool. _ The whole residuary liquor will assume a gelatinous consist-
 ence, and, upon being dried, will leave the solania in the form of a translucent, horny
amorphous mass. (Pharm. Central Blatt, 1843, p. 174.) 
oo4
Dulcamara.—Elaterium.
part i.
neys 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 overdoses it produees-
nausea, vomiting, faintness, vertigo, and convulsive  muscular movements.  A
case is recorded in Casper's Wochenschrift, in which a man took, in one fore-
noon, from three to four quarts of a decoction made from a peck of the stalks,
and was  attacked with pain in the joints, numbness of the limbs, dryness of the
mouth, and palsy of the tongue, with consciousness unimpaired, the pulse quiet,
but small and rather hard, and the skin cool.   The symptoms disappeared under
the use of stimulants. (Lond. Med. Gaz., Sept. 1850, p  548.) Dulcamara has
been recommended in various diseases, but is now nearly confined to the treat-
ment of  cutaneous eruptions, particularly those of a scaly character, as lepra,
psoriasis, and pityriasis.   In these  complaints  it is often beneficial, especially
in combination with  minute doses of the antimonials.  Its  influence upon the
secretions is  insufficient to account for its favourable effects.   Perhaps they
may be  ascribed to its sedative  influence on the capillary circulation.  It is
said to have been beneficially employed in chronic rheumatism and chronic ca-
tarrh.   Antaphrodisiac properties have been  ascribed to it.   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 gradually 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 Dulcamaras; Extractum Dulcamaras.          W.

                 ELATERIUM. U. S., Ed., Dub.

                              Elaterium.

   A substance deposited by the juice of the fruit of Momordica Elaterium. U. S.
Feculence of the juice of the fruit. Ed. Ecbalium agreste. The  feculence from
the juice of the fruit. Dub.
   Off. Syn.  ELATERIUM.  Ecbalium officinarum. The recent fruit, not quite
ripe.  EXTRACTUM ELATERII.  Lond.
   Elate'rion, Fr.; Elaterium, Germ.; Elaterio, Ital., Span.
   Momordica. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia. — Nat. Ord.  Cucurbitaceas.
   Gen.  Ch,  Male.  Calyx five-cleft.  Corolla five-parted.  Filaments three.
Female. Calyx five-cleft.  Corolla five parted.  Style  trifid. Gourd bursting
elastically.  Willd,
   3Iomordica Elaterium.  Willd. Sp. Plant iv. 605; Woodv. 3Ied, Bot p. .192,
t. 72.—Ecbalium agreste.  Richard; Lindley, Med. and CEcon, Bot. p. 95.—
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, irregu-
larly cordate, and of a grayish-green colour.   The flowers are yellow, and pro-
ceed from the axils of the leaves.   The fruit has the shape of a small oval cu-
cumber, 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 seeds with considerable force through 
PART I.
Elaterium.
335
 an opening at the base, where it was attached to the footstalk.   The name of
 squirting cucumber was derived from this circumstance, and the scientific and
 officinal title is supposed to have had a similar origin; though some authors main-
 tain 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 culti-
 vated in Great Britain, where, however, it perishes in the winter. Elaterium is
 the substance spontaneously deposited by the juice of the fruit,  when separated
 and allowed to stand.   From the experiments of Dr. Clutterbuck, it has been
 supposed that only the free  juice about the seeds,  which is obtained without
 expression, affords the product.   The substance of the fruit itself, the seeds, as
 well as other parts of the plant, have been thought to be nearly or quite inert.
 From the statements made by Mr. Bell (see note, page 336), these opinions must
 be somewhat modified; but there is no doubt that strong expression injures the
 product.   When the fruit is sliced and placed upon a sieve, a  perfectly limpid
 and colourless juice  flows out, which soon becomes turbid, and  in the course of
 a few hours begins to  deposit a sediment.  This, wtien  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 con-
 tained in the fruit is very 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 pre-
 pared.   In order to increase the product, the juice of the fruit is often expressed
 with great force; 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
 remaining after the deposition of the sediment is comparatively inert, it will be
 perceived that the preparation of the French Codex must be relatively feeble.
 The following are the directions of the London College, with which those of the
 Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges essentially correspond.   " Slice the fruit, ex-
 press 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 supernatant liquor is  poured off, and the matter
 deposited is carefully dried, constituting the finest elaterium. Another portion,
 of a  paler colour, is deposited by the decanted liquor. (Pereira.)   The* slight
 pressure directed is necessary  for the separation of the juice from the somewhat
 immature fruit employed.   The perfectly ripe fruit is not used; as, in conse-
 quence of its disposition to part with its contents, it cannot be carried to market.
 The  medicine is incorrectly denominated by the  London ' College Extractum
 Elaterii; being neither an extract, strictly speaking, nor an inspissated juice.
 The Edinburgh College calls it Elaterium in the Materia Medica list, but incon-
 sistently admits the name of Extractum Elaterii in  the preparations.  In the
 U. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, 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 found in commerce. It is brought

   * From the Greek e\avrx I drive, or jx«th» driver.  The word elaterium was used by
 Hippocrates to signify any active purge.  Dioscorides applied it to  the medicine of
 which we are treating. 
336
Elaterium.
PART i.
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
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 quality, it is some-
times dark-coloured, much curled, and  rather  hard, either  breaking with dif-
ficulty,  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 gives evidence of having been
mixed with chalk or starch.  It sinks in water.
   Dr. Clutterbuck first observed that the activity  of elaterium resided in the
portion of it 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  Mr. Hennell, of London, and Mr.  Morries, of
Edinburgh, which were nearly simultaneous, demonstrated the  existence of a
crystallizable matter in elaterium, which is the active principle, and  which Mr.
Morries proposed to name elaterin.   According to Mr. Hennell, 100 parts of
elaterium contain 44 of elaterin, 17 of a green resin (chlorophylle), 6 of starch, 21
of lignin, and 6 of saline matters.  The alcoholic extract, which Dr. Paris called
elatin, is  probably a mixture of elaterin and the green resin or chlorophylle. f
   Elaterin, according to Mr. Morries, crystallizes when pure in colourless micro-
scopic rhombic prisms, having a  silky appearance when in mass.   It is extremely
bitter and somewhat acrid, insoluble in water and alkaline solutions, soluble in

  * The following notice of the cultivation of the elaterium plant, and the preparation
of the drug at Mitcham, in  Surrey,  England, condensed from a paper by Mr. Jacob Bell
in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans,  for October, 1850, may have some interest for the
American  reader.   The seeds are sown in March, and the seedlings  planted in June.
In the luxuriant plants, the  stem  sometimes  acquires an extraordinary breadth.  In
one instance, though not thicker than the forefinger  where it issued from the earth, it
was in its  broadest part four inches wide and half an inch thick.  A wet season inter-
feres with  the productiveness of the plant.  At the spontaneous separation of the fruit,
it throws out its juice sometimes to the distance of twenty yards ; and hazard of injury
to the eyes is incurred by walking among the plants at their period of maturity.   A
bushel of  the fruit weighs 40 pounds, and the price  varies from 7 to 10 shillings ster-
ling.  In the manufacture of elaterium, which begins  early in  September, the fruit,
having been washed, if necessary, to cleanse it from earthy matters, is sliced longitudi-
dinally into halves, and then submitted to  expression, wrapped in a hempen cloth, in
a common screw-press.   Considerable force is used  in the expression.  The juice  ia
then strained through hair, cypress, or wire sieves, and  set aside for deposition. The
deposit usually takes place in three or four hours.   When this part of the process is
completed, the supernatant liquor is carefully poured off, the deposit is placed on calico
cloths resting on hair sieves, and allowed to drain for about twelve hours,  after which
it is removed by a knife, spread over small cloths,  and dried on canvas frames in the
drying stove.  About half an  ounce of fine elaterium  is obtained from  a bushel of fruit.
Some obtain more ; but the product is inferior, in consequence of the use of too much
force in the  expression.  Good elaterium has a pale pea-green tint;  that of inferior
quality is of a duller hue. The juice expelled in bursting is said to undergo very little
change in the air, while that expressed from the ripe  fruit immediately afterwards,
becomes milky, and deposits elaterium.  The recently burst fruit, therefore, is nearly
if not quite as good for the preparation of  the  drug, as that collected before  perfect
maturity.—Note to the ninth edition.
  f The substance to which Pelletier gave the name of chlorophylle, under the impres-
sion 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.) 
PART I.
Elaterium.
337
 alcohol, ether, and hot olive oil, and sparingly soluble in dilute acids.  At a tem-
 perature between 300° and 400° it melts, and at a higher heat is dissipated in
 thick, whitish, pungent vapour, of an ammoniacal odour.  It has no alkaline re-
 action.   It may be  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 solution of potassa,  The potassa holds the green  resin in solution,
 and the elaterin crystallizes as the liquor cools.   Mr. Hennell 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 extracted
 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. Hennell's method.  By evapo-
 rating the ethereal solution, the green resin is obtained separate.  Mr. Hennell
 says  that  this was found to possess the purgative property of elaterium, as it
 acted powerfully in a dose less than  one-third of  a grain.   But the  effect was
 probably owing to the presence of a portion of elaterin which had been dissolved
 by the ether.  The late Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, ascertained that the crystal-
 line principle or elaterin produced, in the quantity of T\  or T-g of a grain, all the
 effects of a dose of elaterium.   The proportion of elaterin varies exceedingly in
 different parcels of the drug.  Mr. Morries 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 Mr. Hennell upwards of 40 per cent.
   Choice of Elaterium.   The inequality of elaterium depends probably in
 general more on diversities in the  mode  of preparation than on adulteration.
 Sometimes, however, it is greatly sophisticated; and large quantities are said to
 have been imported into this country, consisting mainly of chalk, and coloured
 green artificially.  (B. Canavan, N. Y. Journ. of Pharm. iii. 385.)   It should
 possess the sensible properties above indicated as characterizing good elaterium,
 should not effervesce with acids, and should yield, as directed by the Edinburgh
 College, from one-seventh to one-fourth of elaterin.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Elaterium is a powerful hydragogue cathartic,
 and in a large dose generally excites nausea and vomiting.  If too freely admin-
 istered, it operates with great violence both upon the stomach and bowels, pro-
 ducing inflammation  of these organs,  which has in some instances eventuated
 fatally.  It also  increases the flow of urine.   The fruit was employed by the
 ancients, and is recommended in the writings of Dioscorides as a remedy in ma-
 nia and  melancholy.   Sydenham and his contemporaries considered elaterium
 highly useful in dropsy; but, in consequence of some fatal results from its incau-
 tious employment, it fell into disrepute, and was generally neglected, till again
 brought into notice by Dr. Ferriar.   It is now considered 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 quan-
 tity it generally vomits, if of good quality, the best  plan is  to give it in the
 dose of a quarter or half of a grain, repeated every hour till it  operates.  The
 dose of Clutterbuck's elaterium is the eighth of a grain.  That of  elaterin is from
 the sixteenth to the twelfth of a grain, 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
22 
338
Elemi.
PART i.
                     ELEMI. Lond., Ed,, Dub.

                                 Elemi.

  Concrete turpentine of an uncertain plant. Bond.   Concrete resinous exuda-
tion from one or more unascertained plants.  Ed,, Dub.
  Pesine elemi, Fr.; Oelbaumharz, Elemi, Germ. ; Elemi, Ital. ; Goma de limon, Span.
  Amyris. Sex. Syst. Octandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord. Terebintaceas, Juss.;
Amyrideas, 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 Icica.   This is recognised by De Candolle.
  Most of the trees belonging to these two genera yield, when wounded, a resi-
nous juice analogous to the turpentines.  It is not improbable that the drug,
usually known by the name of elemi, is derived from several different trees.  That
known to  the ancients is said to have been obtained 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.
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 icicariba, and called by De Candolle
Icica Icicariba.   It  is a lofty tree, with pinnate leaves, consisting of three or
five pointed, perforated leaflets, smooth on their  upper surface, and woolly be-
neath.  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. (3Iateria Medica, Am.  ed., p. 339.) The
Manilla elemi is conjecturally referred to Ganarium 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 diversified
colours, generally greenish with intermingled points of white or yellow, some-
times greenish-white with brown stains, sometimes yellow like sulphur; 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, disagreeable 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 matter soluble in boiling alcohol,
but deposited when the liquid cools, 12-5 of volatile oil, 2 of extractive, and 15
of acid and impurities.   M. Baup found the resin to be of two kinds, one amor-
phous, the other crystallizable; the latter of which he proposes to call  elemin.
(Journ. de Pharm.,  3e ser.,  xx. 331.)  Elemi is  sometimes adulterated with
colophony and turpentine.  The Manilla elemi is in masses of a light-yellowish
colour, internally soft, and of a strong odour of fennel.  (Royle.)  We have been
told that a considerable amount of elemi is used in this country by the  hatters.
   3Iedical 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.                                      W. 
PART I.
Ergota.
339
               ERGOTA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Ergot.

  The diseased seeds of Secale cereale. U. S.   The seed injured by a parasitic
plant. Bond,  An undetermined fungus, with degenerated seed of Secale cereale.
Ed.  A peculiar excrescence supposed to be caused by a parasitical fungus. Dub.
  Spurred rye ; Secale cornutum ; Siegle ergote, Fr.; Mutterkorn, Germ.
  In all the Graminacese or grass tribe, and in some of the Cyperacese, the
place of the seeds is sometimes occupied by a morbid growth, which, from its re-
semblance to  the spur of a cock,  has received the name of ergot, adopted from
the French.  This product is most frequent in the rye, Secale cereale, and, hav-
ing been found, as occurring in that plant, to possess valuable medicinal pro-
perties, was adopted in the  first edition of the U* S.  Pharmacopoeia, under the
name of secale cornutum or spurred rye.   In the edition of 1840, this name
was changed for Ergota, in conformity with the nomenclature of the London and
Edinburgh Colleges.   It is probable  that this morbid growth has similar pro-
perties from whatever  plant  derived;  and the fact has been proved in relation
to the ergot of wheat. (See Am, Journ. of Med. Sci. N.  S., xxxii. 479.)
  Different opinions have been held  in relation to the nature of this singular
substance.  It was at one time thought to be merely the seed altered  by dis-
ease; 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 Sclerotium Clavus.   According to a third and
intermediate opinion, the ergot is the seed, diseased and entirely perverted in its
nature by the influence of a parasitic fungus, attached to  it from the very be-
ginning of its development.  This view was put forth by M Leveille, in a me-
moir  published in the Annals of the  Linnsean Society of Paris for the year
1826.   He gave to the supposed fungus the name of Sphacelia segetum; but
his observations as to its characters have not been sustained.   To the late Mr.
E. J. Quekett, of London,  belongs the credit of having fully investigated this
subject, and established the last mentioned view of the nature of  ergot.  Ac-
cording to Mr. Quekett, the beginning of the growth of the ergot is marked by
the appearance, about  the young grain and its appendages, of multitudes of
minute filaments like cobwebs, 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 immersion in water, innumerable minute  particles separate
which  after a time sink in the fluid.   These particles, when examined  by the
microscope, prove to be the germs or  sporidia of a species  of fungus, and may
be observed to sprout and propagate  in various ways under favourable circum-
stances. 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 spo-
ridia and filaments do not increase with the increase  of the ergot; and, when
this has projected beyond the paleas 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 de-
veloped, it exhibits very few of the filaments or sporidia upon its surface. But
Quekett believed that the germs of the fungus emit their filaments 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 mat-
ter.   The fungus  was named  by  Quekett Ergotsetia  abortifaciens;  for which
title Dr. Pereira, at the suggestion of the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, substituted that 
340
Ergota.
PART i.
of Oidium abortifaciens.   This view of the nature and cause of ergot is sup-
ported by the asserted facts, that the microscopic fungus has an existence inde-
pendent 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
white dust upon the surface of ergot, if applied to the seeds of certain  Grami-
naceas 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 re-
mains of  the stigma upon its  summit, by the scales at its base, and by the  cir-
cumstance 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 de-
termined. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xi. 116 and 237.)
   The ergot usually projects out of the glume or husk beyond the ordinary out-
line of the spike or ear.   In some  spikes the place of the seeds is wholly occu-
pied by the ergot, in others only two or three spurs are observed.   It is said to
be much more energetic when collected before than after harvest.  Rye has gene-
rally been thought to be most subject to the disease in poor and wet soils, and
in rainy  seasons; and intense  heat succeeding continued rains  has been said to
favour its development, especially if these circumstances  occur at the time the
flower is forming.  It is now, however, asserted that moisture has little or no-
thing to do  with its production.*   It should not be collected  until some days
after it has begun to form; as, according to M. Bonjean, if gathered  on the first
day of its formation, it does not possess the poisonous properties which it ex-
hibits when taken on the sixth  day. (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Jan. 1842.)
   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, obtuse at the ex-
tremities, usually curved like the spur of a cock, marked with one or two longi-
tudinal 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 ultimately 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 pre-
cipitated 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 boil-
ing impairs the virtues of the medicine.
   Ergot has been analyzed by Vauquelin, Winckler, Wiggers, Wright, Legrip,
and several others.   The analysis  by M. Legrip is among 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 uncrystallizable  sugar; 2*75 of a brown
resin; 3*50  of fungin; 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 princi-
ple not isolated; 2*25 of fungate of potassa; 0-50 of chloride of sodium; 0'50 of

   * 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 ergo-
tized ; while neighbouring rye, sown at the proper season, in the same kind of soil pre-
cisely, had nothing of the disease, though the seed was the same in both cases.—Note
 to the sixth edition. 
PART I.
Ergota.
341
 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.,
 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 bitter slightly  acrid taste, soluble in
 alcohol, but insoluble  in water or  ether.  It was obtained by digesting ergot in
 ether and  afterwards in alcohol, evaporating the alcoholic solution, and treating
 the extract thus obtained with water, which left the ergotin undissolved.   It was
 given with fatal effects to a hen.  Dr.  Wright supposed the virtues of ergot to
 reside in the fixed oil, which he therefore recommended as a substitute for the
 medicine.   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 form-
 ing an ethereal tincture  of ergot by the process of displacement, and evapo-
 rating the ether with a gentle heat.  Experience has shown that, though the oil
 thus prepared with ether  may have produced effects analogous to those of ergot,
 they were to be ascribed  rather to some principle extracted  along with the oil
 by the menstruum than to the oil itself; for, when procured by expression, this
 has been found to be inactive.  According to Mr. T. R. Baker, of  Richmond,
 Ya., the oil has a taste and smell similar to those of castor oil, with which it
 also agrees in ultimate composition, and  yields  analogous results  in saponifi-
 cation.  (Am. Journ.  of  Pharm., xxiv. 101-2.)   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 proper-
 ties, without being in the least 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 principle.
   Dr. F. L. Winckler has recently found  in ergot a volatile alkaloid, which he
 calls secalin, and believes to exist in that substance combined with the ergotin
 of Wiggers, to  which  he  ascribes  acid properties.  But the accounts which we
 have seen of his investigations are  too indefinite to permit  any precise statement
 of results.   He seems disposed to ascribe the virtues of  the medicine  to this
 compound, which he calls ergotate of secalin, or to one of its components.  He
 also found in ergot a peculiar red  colouring matter,  analogous if not identical
 with hematin.  (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiii. 86.)  The same chemist,
 by distilling the watery extract of ergot with potassa, obtained a volatile alkaloid,
 which he considered to be identical with propylamin, the odorous principle of
 herring pickle, previously obtained from narcotina by the reaction  of potassa.
 (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiv.  346.)
  Ergot, when perfectly dry and kept in well stopped bottles, will retain its vir-
 tues for a considerable time; but, exposed to air and moisture, it speedily under-
 goes chemical change and deteriorates.  It is, moreover, apt  to be attacked by
 a minute worm, which consumes the interior of  the  grain, leaving merely the
 exterior shell and an excrementitious powder.   This  insect is sometimes found
 in the ergot before removal from the plant.  In the state  of powder, the medi-
 cine still more  readily deteriorates.   It is best, as a  general  rule,  to renew it
 every year  or two.  M. Yiel recommends that it should be well dried at a gentle
 heat, and incorporated with double its weight of loaf sugar, by means of which,
if protected from moisture, it will retain its virtues for many years.   According
to M. Zauon, the same result is obtained by stratifying it with well washed and
perfectly dried sand,  in a bottle from which air and light are excluded.   Cam-
phor is said to prevent injury from worms.
  3Iedical 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 
342
JSrgota.
PART I.
tendency to the uterus, upon the contractile property of which it operates with
great energy.   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, delirium, and even stupor, prov-
ing that it  possesses narcotic properties.  It is said also to excite febrile symp-
toms ; 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 without nausea.   Dr. Hardy, of the
Dublin Lying-in Hospital, found it to diminish the pulsations of the foetal heart.
Its long-continued  and  free use is highly dangerous, even when no  immediate
effects are perceptible.  Fatal 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 con-
vulsions, are the forms of disease which have followed the use of this unwhole-
some  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 that at least the gangrenous affection al-
luded to may result from it.  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.  A case
of acute poisoning from ergot is recorded by Dr.  Pratschke, in which uneasi-
ness in the  head, oppression of stomach, diarrhoea, urgent thirst, burning pains
in the feet,  tetanic spasms,  violent convulsions, and death, ensued upon  eating
freely of ergotized grain. (Lond. Med.  Gaz., Oct. 1850, p.  579.)
  Ergot has been much used for promoting the contraction of the uterus.  On
the continent of  Europe,  in  Germany, France, and Italy, it has  long been
empirically employed by midwives for this purpose;  and its German name of
mutterkorn 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, N. Y., addressed to  Dr. Ackerly, in 1807,
and published in  the eleventh volume of the New  York 3Iedical Repository.
The journals afterwards teemed with communications attesting its efficacy in
facilitating parturition; and, though it sometimes  failed, the general opinion
was so  decidedly in its favour, that  it soon took a place among  the established
articles of the materia medica.  When  it proves wholly inefficient, the result is
ascribable to peculiarity of constitution in the individual, or inferiority in  the
ergot used.   In its operation upon  the pregnant uterus, it produces a constant
unremitting contraction 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 is
apt to produce injury to the foetus by the incessant pressure which it maintains;
and the death of the child is thought not unfrequently to have resulted from its
injudicious employment.   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  parts 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 irri-
tation imperiously calls  for speedy delivery.  The  medicine mav also be given
to promote the expulsion of the placenta, to restrain inordinate hemorrhage 
PART I.
Ergota.
343
 after delivery, and to hasten the discharge of the foetus in protracted cases  of
 abortion.  In women subject to dangerous flooding, a dose of ergot given im-
 mediately 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.
 In uterine hemorrhage, unconnected with pregnancy, the medicine is deemed
 very useful;  and its employment has been extended to other hemorrhages with
 asserted advantage.   We have seen it promptly effectual in pulmonary hemor-
 rhage, after  all  the usual  means  had failed.   May it not  have  the  power  of
 producing contraction  of 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 employed in amenorrhcea,
 but not with encouraging success.  Gonorrhoea, gleet, leucorrhoea, dysmenor-
 rhea, chronic dysentery and diarrhoea, paraplegia, paralysis or debility of the
 bladder and of the rectum, spermatorrhoea, hysteria, 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 amount of a
 drachm has been taken. Of an infusion made with a drachm of ergot and 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 Pharmacopoeia. (See Vinum Ergotse.) The oil of ergot,
 prepared by  means of ether,  as already described (page 341), 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.
   Under the name of ergotin, Bonjean's purified extract is sometimes used in
 the dose of from five to ten grains.  It is made by exhausting ergot with water,
 evaporating  to the consistence of  syrup, precipitating the albumen, gum, &c,
 by a large excess of alcohol,  decanting the clear liquid, and evaporating to the
 consistence of a  soft extract.
   Mr. Laidley, of Richmond, Va., proposes a, fluid extract, made by exhausting
 ergot  successively with  ether, alcohol, and water, allowing the ethereal solu-
 tion  to  evaporate spontaneously,  evaporating the  tincture and infusion till
 they measure as  many fluidounces as there were troy ounces of ergot employed,
 then  adding  enough sugar to preserve the  liquid, incorporating with it the
 ethereal extract or oil, and finally adding so much water as to cause a fluidrachm
 of the preparation to represent forty grains or two doses of the  ergot.  (Am.
 Journ. of Pharm., xxiv. 160.)   A similar process has been recommended by
 Mr.  T. R. Baker. (Ibid.,  xxvii. 303.)   Another has been published by Mr.
 W. J. Watson, which has the advantages, that the oil, which is probably inert
 in its pure state, is avoided, and that the preparation keeps well.*

  * The following is Mr. Watson's process.   Take 4 ounces of freshly powdered ergot,
and a pint of  a mixture composed of  1 part of alcohol of 95 per cent, and 4 parts of
water; macerate for four days, then  percolate, and, when the liquid ceases to pass,
pour in water until two pints are obtained;  evaporate  by means of a water-bath to
six fluidounces ; add an equal measure of alcohol, and let the mixture stand for twelve
hours, with occasional agitation ; finally, filter.  One fluidrachm represents a scruple
of ergot. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 519.) 
 344                 Ergota.—Erigeron Canadense.             part t.

   Ergot has been employed externally.  Dr. Midler found it to check the bleeding
 from divided arteries; and Dr. Wright states that in powder or infusion it acts
 promptly in arresting hemorrhage.   It is recommended by the latter as an in-
 jection in uterine hemorrhage.  It should be used, however, with 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. Infusum Ergotas;  Tinctura Ergotas;  Tinctura Ergotas iEtherea ■
 Vinum Ergotas.                                                     \y

         ERIGERON CANADENSE.  U. S.  Secondary.

                            Canada Fleabane.
   The herb of Erigeron Canadense.  U. S.
   Erigeron.   Sex. Syst.   Syngenesia  Superflua.—Nat Ord.  Compositas-
 Asteroideas, De Cand,   Asteraceas, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx imbricated, sub-hemispherical, in fruit often reflected. Florets
 of the ray linear, very narrow, numerous.  Receptacle naked. Pappus 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 many branches.   The leaves are  linear-lanceolate,  and edged
 with hairs; those at the root are dentate.  The flowers are very small, nume-
 rous,  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 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 preceding, 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 sections
 of the United States, and has become naturalized in many parts of Europe.  It
 abounds in neglected fields,  and blooms  in July and August.   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, some-
 what  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 consequence,
 probably,  of the escape of  the oil.  As described by Prof. Procter (Am. Journ.
 of Pharm,, xxvi. 502), the oil is very limpid, of a straw colour, of a peculiar,
 aromatic, very persistent odour, not unlike that of oil of hemlock, and of a pecu-
 liar mild not very pungent  taste.  He gives its sp. gr. 0'845, but, in a communi-
cation subsequently  made to the author, states that he has found it  in a more
authentic specimen of the  oil to be 0-850.   It contains oxygen, consists of two
oils, and deposits a crystalline stearoptene on long standing and exposure.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  From  the observations of Dr.  De Puy,
 Canada fleabane appears to be diuretic, tonic, and astringent;  and has proved
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 with an ounce of the  plant and a pint of
boiling water, from two to four fluidounces; of the aqueous  extract, from five 
part I.   Erigeron Heterophyllum.—Erigeron Philadelphicum.    345

to ten grains.   In each case, the dose should be  repeated every two or three
hours.   The oil has been  employed for  arresting  hemorrhage, in the dose of
five drops every two hours.                                          W.


    ERIGERON HETEROPIIYLLUM. 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.
   Erigeron.   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, with 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
 on 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.
   Erigeron Philadelphicum. Barton, 3Ied. Bot.i. 227.—E.strigosum.  Willd.
 Sjx Plant, iii. 1956; Torrey and Gray,  Flor. of N Am. ii. 176.  The  Phila-
 delphia 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 ser-
 ratures, 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 preceding species in colour, and make their
 appearance about the same period.
   We include these two species under one head because they grow together, pos-
 sess identical  medical properties, and are indiscriminately employed.   They are
 found in various parts of the United States, and abound in the fields about Phila-
 delphia, where they are known and used under the common though inaccurate
 name of scabious.    The whole herb is used, and should be collected while the
 plants are  in  flower.   It has a feebly aromatic odour,  and bitterish taste, and
 imparts its properties to boiling water.  Mr. F. L. John,  of Philadelphia, ob-
 tained from E. Philadelphicum a volatile oil by  distillation, but in exceedingly
 small proportion ; 45 pounds of the herb having yielded only half a drachm of
 the oil.  As  described  by Prof. Procter, this is  of a greenish-yellow colour, a
 powerful, penetrating, aromatic odour, and  a bitterish, pungent, disagreeable
 taste.   It is more viscid than the oil of E. Canadense, has a  higher  sp. gr.
 (0-946), and  contains more oxygen. (Am .Journ. of Pharm., xxvii.  105.) 
 346       E.  Philadelphicum.—Eryngium.—Erythronium.    part i.

   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 used advantageously in dropsy.  By the late Dr. Wistar it was recommended
 in hydrothorax complicated with gout.   It cannot be relied on for the cure of
 dropsy; but may be employed as an adjuvant to more efficient medicines.  It is
 most conveniently administered in infusion or decoction, of which a pint, contain-
ing the virtues  of an ounce of the herb, may  be  given in twenty-four hours.
   In a communication by Dr. Wilson, of Philadelphia, to the College of Physi-
 cians,  Nov.  1, 1854, it is stated that the oil of Philadelphia fleabane had been
 employed with  great  advantage by Dr. Bournonville and  himself in uterine
 hemorrhage, in the dose of five drops every two hours.  ( Transact, of Col. of
 Phys., N. S. ii.  330.)  There can be little doubt, from the account of the oil at
 the same time  given,  that it was the  oil of E.  Canadense and not that of  E.
 Philadelphicum, which was really used.                               W.

                   ERYNGIUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                          Button  Snakeroot.

   The root of Eryngium aquaticum.  U. S.
   Eryngium.  Sex. Syst  Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiaceas  or Um-
 belliferae.
   Gen. Ch.  Flowers capitate. Involucrum many leaved.  Proper calyx five-
 parted, superior, persistent. Corolla  of five petals.  Receptacle foliaceous, seg-
 ments acute or cuspidate.  Fruit bipartite. 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 lan-
 ceolate and dentate.  The flowers are white or pale,  and 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 Caro-
 lina.  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, expectorant, in large
 doses occasionally emetic; and is used by some physicians in decoction as a sub-
 stitute 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.  Liliaceae.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx none.   Corolla inferior, six-petaled;  the three inner petals
 with a callous  prominence on each edge near the base.  Bigelow.
   Erythronium Americanum.  Muhl. Catalogue, 84; Bigelow, Am. 3Ted, Bot.
 iii. 151.—E. lanceolatum. Pursh, p. 230. This is an indigenous perennial bul-
 bous 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, 
part I.              Erythronium.—Eupatorium.                 347

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 undi-
vided 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 diminished by drying.                          W.

                      EUPATORIUM.  U.S.

                            Thoroughwort.

   The tops and leaves of Eupatorium perfoliatum. U. S.
   Eupatorium.  Sex. Syst,  Syngenesia  ^Equalis. — Nat Ord.  Compositas-
Eupatoriaceas, De Cand. Asteraceas, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch, Calyx simple or imbricate, oblong.  Style long and semi-bifid.  Re-
ceptacle 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, E. perfoliatum alone now holds a place in our national Pharmaco-
poeia.  E. purpureum and E. teucrifolium were  originally in the Secondary
List, but were discarded at the revision of 1840.  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 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 teucrifolium (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  uppermost 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 wet places from New England
to Georgia, and is abundant in the Southern States. It is in flower from August
to November.   The whole herb is  employed.  In  sensible properties it corre-
sponds with 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 domestic remedy in intermittent and remittent fevers.  Dr. Jones,
formerly president of the Georgia Medical Society, was the first to make its pro-
perties 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.
   E. Cannabinum, of Europe, the root of which  was  formerly used as a pur-
gative, and E. Aya-pana, of Brazil, the leaves of which at one time enjoyed a
very high reputation, have fallen  into entire neglect.   The aya-pana is  an
aromatic bitter, like E. perfoliatum. but weaker. 
348
Eupatorium.
part i.
  Eupatorium perfoliatum.  Willd. Sp. Plant iii. 1761; Bigelow, Am. Med.
Bot i. 33; Barton,' Med, Bot. ii. 125.  Thoroughwort, or boneset, is an indige-
nous perennial plant, with numerous herbaceous stems, which are erect, round,
hairy, from  two to five feet high, simple below, and  trichotomously branched
near the summit.   The leaves serve to distinguish the species at the first glance.
They may be considered either as  perforated by the stem, perfoliate^ or as con-
sisting each  of two leaves joined at the base, connate. In the latter point of view,
they are opposite and in pairs, which decussate 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 propor-
tion 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 upper-
most pairs are sessile, not joined at the base.  The flowers are white, numerous,
supported on hairy peduncles, in dense corymbs, which form a flattened summit.
The calyx,  which is cylindrical and composed  of imbricated, lanceolate, hairy
scales, encloses from twelve to  fifteen tubular florets, having their border divided
into five spreading segments.  The anthers are five, 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 end of Oc-
tober.   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
virtues of the plant are readily imparted to water and alcohol. Mr. W. Peterson
found it to  contain a peculiar bitter principle, chlorophylle, resin, a crystalline
matter of undetermined character, gum, tannin, yellow colouring matter, ex-
tractive, lignin, and salts. (Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xxiii. 210.)   Mr. Bickley
found also albumen, gallic acid, and signs of volatile  oil.  (Ibid,, xxvi. 495.)
   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 several
regular practitioners.  The general experience, however, is not in its favour in
that complaint.   We have seen it  arrest intermittents 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 medi-
cine has also been used as a  tonic  and diaphoretic in remittent  and typhoid
fevers, and  is said to have been productive of advantage in yellow fever.   Given
in  warm  infusion, so as to produce vomiting  or  copious perspiration, at the
commencement of catarrh, it will frequently arrest that complaint;  and has been
 especially recommended in influenza.   It has also been recommended as a dia-
 phoretic in acute rheumatism; and may prove serviceable in the absence of high
 arterial excitement.   As a tonic it is 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 cold
 infusion.   The dose of the powder is twenty or thirty  grains, that of the infusion
 a  fluidounce, frequently repeated.  (See Infusum  Eupatorii.)   The aqueous
 extract  has been used with  advantage.   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 de-
 coction, 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.                                     W. 
PART I.
Euphorbia Corollata.
349
        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.  Euphorbiaceas.
   Gen. Ch.   Involucrum  caliciform, eight to  ten toothed, exterior alternate
 dentures  glanduloid or petaloid.   Stamina indefinite, twelve or more, rarely
 less; filaments articulated.   Beceptacle squamose.  Female flower solitary,
 stipitate,  naked.  Capsule  three-grained. Nuttall.
   In the flower of the Euphorbias, the stamina are arranged two or more to-
 gether, in distinct parcels, corresponding in number with the inner segments 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 as an involucre.  He accordingly placed
 the genus in the class and order Moncecia Monadelphia, and in this respect
 has been  followed by most American botanists.  The genus Euphorbia contains
 numerous species, having  the common property of yielding  a milky juice.
 They are herbaceous or shrubby, with or without leaves ; and the leafless spe-
 cies, which are  chiefly confined to  the African  deserts, have fleshy, naked, or
 spiny stems, like those of the Cactus.  They nearly all afford products which
 act  powerfully as emetics and cathartics, and in over-doses occasion  dangerous
 if not fatal prostration, with symptoms of inflamed  gastro-intestinal mucous
 membrane.   Their milky juice, which concretes on exposure,  usually possesses
 these properties in a high degree, and, in addition, that of powerfully irritating
 the  skin  when applied to it.  Two species are  acknowledged in our national
 Pharmacopoeia, E. corollata and E. Ipecacuanha, which are both indigenous.
 E. hypericifolia,  which is  also  indigenous, has been highly  commended as  a
 remedy in dysentery after due depletion, diarrhoea, menorrhagia, and leucor-
 rhoea, by  Dr. W Zollickoffer.  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 quantity after every evacuation in diar-
 rhoea, and two fluidounces, morning, noon, and night, in menorrhagia and fluor
 albus.   The herb  is at first sweetish, afterwards harsh and astringent to the
 taste, and 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. (Am. Journ. of the
 Med, Sciences, xi. 22.)   In a subsequent communication by the same author, it
 is stated that E. maculata possesses similar properties.  (Ibid., N S., iii. 125.)
   Euphorbia corollata.  Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 916; Bigelow, Am. 3Ie'd, Bot. iii.
 119.   The blooming or large-flowering spurge, frequently called milk-weed,
 is an erect plant, with a large, perennial, branching, 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 seg-
ments, which are described as nectaries by many systematic writers,  while the
larger are considered as belonging to a real corolla.   The stamens are twelve, 
350        Euphorbia Corollata.—Euphorbia Ipecacuanha.     part r.

evolving gradually, with double anthers.   Many flowers have only stamens'.
The pistil, 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 Western Pennsylvania, 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 cor-
tical 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 ope-
rates  actively and with  sufficient  certainty as an emetic, producing ordinarily
several discharges from  the stomach, and sometimes 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 inflamma-'
tion 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 cathartic doses.  Dr. Zollickoffer was the first to in-
troduce 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.

      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.   Ipecacuanha spurge, or American ipe-
cacuanha, is a singular plant, varying so much in the shape and colour of its
leaves, and in its whole aspect, that mere individual peculiarities might without
care be attributed to a specific difference.   The root is perennial, yellowish, ir-
regular, and very large, penetrating sometimes to the depth of six or seven feet
in the sand, and in its thickest part, when full grown, from three-quarters of an
inch to an 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 lan-
ceolate, 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, on  long axillary peduncles.   The calyx is spreading, with five  exte-
rior obtuse segments, and the same number of inner, smaller segments.   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 barrens and other sandy places 
 part I.        Euphorbia Ipecacuanha.—Euphorbium.            351

 in the Middle and Southern States, especially along the sea-board, and abund-
 antly in New Jersey,-on the banks of the Delaware.   It blooms from May to
 August,  The root, which is the officinal portion, is, according  to Dr. Barton,
 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 active, tolerably
 certain emetic, rather milder than E. Corollata, but like it, disposed to affect
 the bowels,  and liable, if given in over-doses, to produce excessive nausea and
 vomiting, general prostration, and alarming hypercatharsis.   It is, therefore,
 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 publication 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 convicts in the Walnut  Street prison, proved it to
 be advantageously available for all the purposes of an emetic;  while, in conse-
 quence of its want of nauseous taste, it seemed to answer even better than ipe-
 cacuanha as an expectorant and diaphoretic.   The dose of the powdered root is
 from ten to fifteen grains.                                           }y


                       EUPHORBIUM. Ed.

                              Euphorbium.

   Concrete  resinous juice of undetermined species of Euphorbia. Ed.
   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 uncertain.   It has been ascribed to  E. officinarum, growing
 in the north of Africa and at the Cape of Good Hope, E. canariensis, a native
 of the Canary Islands and Western Africa, and E. antiquorum, inhabiting Egypt,
 Arabia, and the East Indies, and supposed to be the plant from which the an-
 cients derived this resinous product.  These species of Euphorbia bear  some
 resemblance in form to the  Cactus, having  leafless, jointed,  angular  stems,
 divided into branches of a similar structure, and furnished with double prickles
 at the angles. When wounded, they yield an acrid milky juice, which concretes
 on the surface, 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 re-
 semblance 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 yel-
 lowish.   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. It 
352             Euphorbium.—Extractum Cannabis.          part t.
   /
contains no soluble gum.  The proportions of the ingredients 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, takes fire, and burns with a brilliant flame, diffusing an agreeable odour.
   3Jedical Properties and Uses.   Euphorbium taken internally is emetic and
cathartic, often 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 aban-
doned.   Applied to the mucous membrane of the nostrils, it excites violent
irritation, attended with incessant  sneezing and sometimes bloody discharges.
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 used as an ingredient
of epispastic preparations.  It is employed in veterinary practice, with a view to
its vesicating power.
   Off. Prep.  Acetum Cantharidis.                                   W.

         EXTRACTUM  CANNABIS.  U. S. Secondary.

                          Extract of  Hemp.

   An alcoholic extract of the dried tops of Cannabis sativa, var. Indica. U. S.
   Off. Syn. EXTRACTUM CANNABIS LNDIC^E. Cannabis Indica.  The
extract.  Dub.
   Cannabis. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Pentandria. — Nat Ord. Cannabinaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Male.  Calyx  five parted.   Stamens five.  Female.  Calyx one-
leaved, rolled up.  Styles two.  Lindley.
   Cannabis sativa. Linn. Sp. Plant. 1457 ; Griffith, 3Ied. Bot p. 572. Hemp
is an annual plant, from four to eight feet  or more  in height, with an erect,
branching, angular stem.  The leaves are alternate or opposite, on long, lax
footstalks, roughish, and digitate  with  linear-lanceolate,  serrated  segments.
The stipules are subulate. The flowers are axillary;  the male in long, branched,
drooping racemes; the female, in erect simple spikes.  The stamens are five, with
long pendulous anthers; the pistils two, with long, filiform, glandular stigmas.
 The fruit is ovate, and one-seeded.  The whole plant is covered with a fine pu-
bescence, scarcely visible to the naked eye, and is somewhat viscid to the touch.
 The hemp plant of India, from which  the drug is derived, has been consid-
 ered by  some as a distinct species, and named  Cannabis Indica; but the most
 observant  botanists, upon comparing it with  our cultivated plant, have been
 unable to discover any specific difference.  It is now, therefore, regarded merely
 as a variety, and is distinguished by the epithet Indica.  Dr. Pereira states that,
 in the female plant, the flowers are somewhat more crowded than in the common
 hemp; but that the male plants of the two varieties are in all respects the same.
 It is unfortunate that the name of Indian hemp has been attached to the medi-
 cinal product; as, in the United States, the same name has long  been appro-
 priated to Apocynum cannabinum;  and some confusion has hence arisen.
   C. sativa is a native of the Caucasus, Persia, and the hilly regions in the north
 of India.  It is cultivated in many parts of Europe and Asia, and largely in our
 Western States.  It is from the Indian variety exclusively that the medicine is
 obtained;  the heat of the climate in Hindostan apparently favouring the de-
 velopment of its active principle. 
PART I.
Extractum Cannabis.
353
     The seeds, though not now officinal, have been used in medicine.   They are
  about the eighth of an inch long, roundish-ovate, somewhat  compressed, of a
  shining ash-gray colour, inodorous, and of a  disagreeable, oily, sweetish taste.
  They yield by expression a fixed oil, which has the drying property, and is used
  in the arts.   They contain also uncrystallizable sugar and albumen, and when
  rubbed  with water form an  emulsion, which  may be used advantageously in
  inflammations of the mucous membranes, though without narcotic properties.
  They are much used as food for birds, which are fond of them.
     In Hindostan, Persia, and other parts of the East, hemp has long been habitu-
  ally employed as an intoxicating agent. The parts used are the tops of the plant,
  and a resinous product obtained from it.   The plant is cut after flowering, and
  formed into bundles, from two to four feet long by three inches in diameter, which
  are sold in the bazaars under the name of gunjah. The hashish of the Arabs is
  essentially the same.   The name bang is given to a mixture of the larger leaves
  and capsules without the stems.  There is on the surface of the plant a resinous
  exudation to which it owes its clammy feel.   Men clothed in leather run through
  the hemp fields, brushing forcibly against the  plants, and thus separating the
  resin, which is subsequently scraped from their dress, and formed into balls.
  These are called churrus.  In these different states of preparation, the hemp is
  smoked like tobacco, with which it is said to be frequently mixed.   An infusion
  or decoction of  the plant is also sometimes used as an exhilarating drink.
     The medicinal resin or extract of hemp, directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,
  is made by evaporating a tincture of the dried tops.  Dr. O'Shaughnessy directs
  it to be prepared by boiling the tops of the gunjah in  alcohol until all the resin
  is dissolved, and evaporating to dryness by means of a water-bath. Mr. Robert-
  son, of the Calcutta Medical College, prepares it by passing the vapour of boil in"
  alcohol from the boiler of a still into the dried plant contained in a convenient
  receptacle, and evaporating the condensed liquor by a heat not exceeding 15o°
  F.   The Messrs.  Smith, of Edinburgh, obtain a purer resin by the folio-.vino-
  process.   Bruised gunjah is digested, first in successive portions of warm watery
  till the expressed liquid comes away colourless; and afterwards, for two day \
  with a moderate heat, in a solution of carbonate of soda, containing one part
  of the salt for two of the dried herb.  It is then expressed, washed, dried  and
  exhausted by percolation with alcohol. The tincture, after being agitated'whh
•  milk of lime containing one  part of the earth for twelve of the gunjah used, is
  filtered ; the lime is precipitated by sulphuric acid ; the filtered liquor is agitai, d
  with animal charcoal, and again filtered ; most of the alcohol is distilled off, a d
  to the residue twice its weight of water is added ; the  .'iq lid is then allowed to
  evaporate gradually; and, finally, the resin is washed  with fresh  water until it
 ceases to impart  a sour or bitter teste to  the liquid, and is then dried in  bin
 layers.  Thus obtained, it retains the odour and taste  of the gunjah,  of wmch
  100 pounds yield 6 or 7 pounds of the extract.
   The Dublin  College purines  the commercial extract by treating it with alco-
 hol, allowing the dregs to subside, decanting the char liquor, and evaporatino-
 by means  of a water-bath, to the consistence of a  soft extract.  The preparation
 is denominated "Extractum Cannabis ixnian Puripicatum."   From this
 the College prepares a tincture. (See Tinctura Cannabis Indicae.)
   Properties.  Fresh hemp has a peculiar narcotic odour, which is said to be
 capable of producing vertigo, headache, and a species of intoxication.   It  is
 much less in the dried tops, which  have a feeble bitterish taste.   According to
 Dr. Royle, the churrus is when  pure of a blackish-gray, blackish-green, or dir y
 olive colour, of a fragrant and narcotic odour, and a  slightly warm, bitterish,
and  acrid taste. _  Schlesinger found in the  leaves a bitter  substance, chloro'
phylle, "Teen resinous extractive, colouring matter, gummy extract, extractive, 
354       Extractum Cannabis.—Extractum Glycyrrhizse.     part i.

albumen, lignin, and salts.  The plant also contains volatile oil in  very small
proportion.  The resin, is probably the active principle, and has received the
name of cannabin.   It is neuter, soluble in alcohol and ether, and separable
from the alcoholic solution by water, as a white precipitate.   According to M.
Laneau, of Brussels, it is insoluble in coldalcohol of 80 or 90 per cent., but is
soluble in the same liquid heated, in cold absolute alcohol, ether, acetic ether,
spirit of nitric ether, muriatic ether, chloroform, and sulphuret of carbon.  (See
Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 362.) Its taste is warm, bitterish, acrid, somewhat
balsamic, and its odour fragrant, especially  when  heated.
   Medical Properties.   Extract of hemp is  a powerful narcotic, causing ex-
hilaration, intoxication, delirious hallucinations, and, in its subsequent action,
drowsiness and stupor, with little effect upon the circulation.  It is asserted also
to  act as a decided aphrodisiac, to  increase the  appetite, and  occasionally to
induce the cataleptic  state.   In morbid states of the system,  it has been found
to produce sleep, to allay spasm, to compose nervous inquietude, and to relieve
pain.    In  these respects it resembles opium ; but it differs from that narcotic
in not diminishing the appetite, checking the secretions, or constipating the
bowels.  It is much less certain in its effects ; but may sometimes be preferably
employed,  when opium is  contraindicated  by its nauseating or constipating
effects, or its disposition to produce headache, and to check the bronchial secre-
tion.   The complaints in which it has been specially recommended are neuralgia,
gout, rheumatism, tetanus, hydrophobia, epidemic cholera, convulsions, chorea,
hysteria, mental depression, insanity, and uterine hemorrhage.  Dr. Alexander
Christison, of Edinburgh, has  found it to have the  property of  hastening and
increasing the contractions of  the uterus in delivery, and has employed it with
advantage for this purpose.  It acts very quickly, and without anassthetic effect.
It appears, however, to exert this influence only in a certain proportion of cases.
(Ed.  3Ionth. Journ. of 3Ied, Sci., xiii.  117, and xv. 124.)  The strength of the
extract varies much as found in commerce; and therefore no definite dose can
be fixed.   When it is of good quality half a grain or a  grain will affect the sys-
tem.   The Messrs. Smith found two-thirds of a grain of their extract to produce
powerful narcotic effects.   In some instances it will be necessary to give as much
as ten or twelve grains of the  extract; and half an ounce of it has been taken
without sensible effect.  The proper plan is  to begin with half a grain, repeated
at intervals of two, three, or four hours, and gradually increased until its influ-
ence is felt, and the strength of the parcel employed is thus ascertained.  After-
wards the dose will be regulated by the  ascertained strength ;  but, should a new
parcel be employed, the same caution must be observed as to the commencing
dose.  A tincture is prepared by dissolving six drachms of the extract in a pint
 of alcohol.  The dose  of  this, equivalent  to a grain  of the extract, is about
twenty minims, or forty drops.  Dr. O'Shaughnessy gave ten drops every half
hour in cholera, and a fluidrachm every half  hour in tetanus.  As the resin is
'precipitated by water, the tincture should be administered in mucilage or sweet-
 ened water.   Alarming effects have been produced by  over-doses.       W.


 EXTRACTUM  GLYCYRRHIZA.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Liquorice.

    The extract of the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra.  U. S.
    Extrait de reglisse, Fr.; Sussholzsaft, Germ.;  Sugo di liquirizia, Ital ; Regaliza en
 hollos, Span.
    For an account of Glycyrrhiza glabra, see article GLYCYRRHIZA.
    The British Colleges give directions for preparing this extract;  but, as it is 
PART I.
Extractum Glyeyrrhizse.
355
 seldom made in this country by the apothecary, it is very properly placed, in
 the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, in the catalogue of the Materia Medica.
    Liquorice is an article of export from the north of Spain, particularly Cata-
 lonia, where it is obtained in the following manner. The roots of the G. glabra,
 having been dug up, thoroughly cleansed, and half dried by exposure 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 informed 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
 when pure in boiling water.   Neumann obtained 460 parts of aqueous extract
 from  480 parts of Spanish liquorice.  It  is, however, considerably less  soluble
 in cold water.   It is often impure from accidental or fraudulent addition, or
 careless 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.)   In different  commercial specimens  examined by  Chevallier, he found
 from 9 to 50 per cent,  of insoluble matter.  (Journ.  de  Pharm. et de Chim.,
 xxx. 429.)  This  is by no means,  however, always impurity.  In the  prepa-
 ration  of the extract by decoction, a portion of matter originally insoluble, or
 rendered so by decoction, is taken  up, and is, in fact, necessary to the proper
 constitution of the liquorice.   When this is prepared  with cold water, or even
 with hot water by  simple displacement, the extract obtained attracts moisture
 from the air, becomes soft, and loses the characteristic brittleness  of the drug.
 The additional substances taken up in decoction serve  to protect the extract
 against this change.   M. Delondre has obtained the same result by using steam
 as the solvent.  He prepares from the root an excellent liquorice, having all
 the requisite qualities of colour, taste, and permanence, by  passing steam, in
 suitable vessels, through the coarse powder of the root.  The vapour thoroughly
 penetrates the powder, and is drawn off as  it condenses.  With about  500°lbs.
 of the root, this treatment is continued for 12 hours, and repeated at the end
 of 5  days.   The liquors are collected, decanted, clarified with about 4 lbs. of
 gelatin, and quickly evaporated.   After being put into the form  of cylinders,

   * Much liquorice is now prepared in this  country, chiefly at  the laboratory of the
 Messrs.  Tilden, at New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York.   The best roots being
 selected, are ground  into a coarse powder, which is submitted  to the action of con-
 densing steam, so as to make a concentrated infusion, which is then evaporated without
 access of air.  The extract  is prepared in three forms ; 1, in boxes containing 25  lbs. in
 which it solidifies in  mass ; 2, in small rolls of 80 to the pound ; and 3, in lozenges like
 those of the Pontefract liquorice. (See the next page.)  In the  two latter forms, the
 •tddition of gum arabic is  necessary to give the extract  a proper consistence; as
without this, it softens in warm weather, so as not to  retain its  form.   It is much
lghter-coloured than the imported  liquorice, but darkens on  exposure.  (Am. Journ.
of  Pharm., xxvii. 311.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
356               Extractum Glyeyrrhizse.—Farina.           part i.

the extract is kept for ten days in a drying room, at a  temperature of 77°.
(Ibid,, p. 433.)  A bitter or empyreumatic taste is a sigh of inferior quality in
liquorice.  As ordinarily found in commerce it requires to be purified for use.
 I  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 ne-
cessarily mixed with the unrefined  extract.   It is customary to add, during the
process, a portion of sugar, gum, flour, starch, or perhaps glue.  These additions,
or something equivalent, are necessary to obviate the deliquescent property of
the pure liquorice.   According to  M. Delondre, 15 per cent, of gum is the pro-
per proportion, when this substance is used; Dr. Geisler has found the sugar of
milk to lessen the disposition of the extract to absorb moisture; but he considers
the best addition, on the whole, to  be very finely powdered liquorice root, which
should be used in the proportion of one part to 16 of the purified extract. (Am.
Journ.  of Pharm,, xxviii. 225.)   The  preparation  is sometimes attacked  by
small worms, probably in  consequence of the farinaceous  additions.   Excellent
liquorice is prepared, in some parts of England, from the root cultivated in that
country.  The Pontefract cakes are small lozenges of liquorice of very superior
quality, made in the vicinity of Pomfret.
   3ledical Properties and Uses. Liquorice is a useful demulcent, much employed
as an addition to cough mixtures, and frequently added to infusions 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 medi-
cines.   Much is also used in the preparation of tobacco for  chewing.
   Of. Prep.  Decoctum Aloes Compositum; Mistura Glycyrrhizas Composita;
Pilula Aloes  cum Sapone; Tinctura Aloes; Tinctura Rhei et Sennas; Trochisci
Glycyrrhizas; Trochisci Glycyrrhizas et Opii; Trochisci Lactucarii.      W.


                    FARINA. Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Wheat Flour.

   Triticum vulgare. The flour of the seed. Lond., Ed.  Triticum asstivum. The
flour from the seeds. Dub.
   Farine de froment, Fr.; Waizenmehl, Germ.; Farina di frumento, Ital.; Flor  del
trigo, Acemite, Span.
   Triticum.  Sex. Syst.  Triandria Digynia. — Nat. Ord. Graminaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx two-valved, solitary,  transverse, many-flowered, on a flexuose,
toothed receptacle. Bees's CigcUgjaedia.
   Triticumhybernum. Willd. Sp.Plant.i.477.— T.vulgare,v&r.p.hybernum.
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, imbricated, abrupt, with a short compressed 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 
PART I.
Farina.
357
all countries having 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 T. sestivum, or spring wheat,
distinguished by its long beards, and T. compositum, or Egyptian wheat, by its
compound spikes.   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 con-
sidered under one head, that of farina or 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 not constant.  Vauquelin obtained, as an average product, from eight varie-
ties  of flour which he examined, 10-25 per cent, of water, 10*80 of gluten (in-
cluding 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, superphosphates of soda,
lime, and magnesia.   The gummy substance found in wheat flour is not pre-
cisely 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 Amylum.)  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 remains unaffected.  Einhof ascertained that the part of the glutinous
mass left behind by alcohol is  identical with vegetable albumen, while the dis-
solved portion only is strictly entitled to the name of gluten, which had been pre-
viously applied to the whole mass.   As  these two  principles are  contained in
numerous vegetable products, and as they are frequently referred 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 resemblance to certain proximate animal prin-
ciples in chemical habitudes and relations, they are sometimes called, in works on
chemistry,  vegeto-animal substances.   They are separated from each other by
boiling the gluten of Beccaria, above referred to, with successive portions of alco-
hol, till the liquid, filtered while yet hot, ceases to become turbid on cooling.  The
proper 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
slight impurity.  The part left behind by the alcohol  is  coagulated albumen.
   Pure gluten, sometimes  called vegetable fibrin, is a pale-yellow, adhesive,
elastic substance, which, by drying, becomes more deeply yellow and translucent.
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 boiling alcohol it separates 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 aud 
358
Farina.
part r.
metallic oxides it forms nearly insoluble compounds, which are precipitated when
earthy or metallic salts are added to the solution of gluten in liquid potassa.
Corrosive 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, opaque, and incorruptible.   Gluten  is also precipitated by infusion of
galls.  Its name originated in its adhesive property.  It 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 solution 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 by an excess of phosphoric or acetic
acid.   Its relations to the earthy and metallic salts are similar to those of gluten.
Corrosive sublimate precipitates it from its solutions, except from those in phos-
phoric 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 con-
stituent 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 vegetable fibrin and albumen which constitutes the gluten of
Beccaria, 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 malting, which is an  example of germination, is thus explained.  The
gluten 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, com-
bined with a very small proportion of mineral substances, such as sulphur and
phosphorus.   Protein consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; and
its formula, according to Liebig, is N6C48H3H014.  It is procured by dissolving any
one of the substances above named in a strong solution of potassa, keeping the
solution for some  time at a heat of 120°, and precipitating with acetic acid.
   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 throughout the mass,
and thus renders the bread light.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Wheat flour in its unaltered state is seldom
used in medicine.  It is sometimes sprinked on the skin in erysipelatous inflam-
mation, and various itching or burning eruptions, particularly the nettle-rash;
though rye flour is generally preferred for this purpose.
   Bread is more employed.  An infusion of toasted bread in water is a nutritive
drink, 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  forms  a good
emollient poultice, which may be improved by the addition of a little perfectly
fresh lard. Slices of it steeped in lead-water, and the crumb mixed with the fluid
and confined within gauze, afford convenient modes of applying this preparation 
PART I.
Farina.—Ferrum.
359
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 that  it always contains common salt, which is
incompatible with certain substances, as, for  example, nitrate of silver.
   Bran  is sometimes used in decoction, as a demulcent in catarrhal affections
and complaints of the bowels.  When  taken in substance, it is laxative, and may
be used with advantage  to prevent costiveness.  Bran bread, made from  the
unsifted  flour, is an excellent laxative article of diet in some  dyspeptic cases.
The action of the bran is probably mechanical, consisting in the irritation pro-
duced upon  the mucous membrane of  the  bowels by its coarse  particles.   Bran
also forms an excellent demulcent bath.
   Off. Brep. Cataplasma Fermenti.                                  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 in
 nature, not only in the mineral, but also in the vegetable and animal kingdoms.
 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 not deleterious to 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 ad-
 vantage are called iron ores.  These  include the different native oxides, and the
 carbonate (sparry iron).  The best iron is obtained from the varieties of the na-
 tive oxide, usually called magnetic iron ore and specular iron ore.  These occur
 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 char-
 coal, 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 car-
 bonaceous 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 the metal
 is brittle and far from being pure; as it contains about ten per cent, of carbon,
 with silicon, phosphorus, sulphur, calcium,  aluminium, and sometimes manganese.
 It is purified, and 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 
360
Ferrum.
part t.
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 semifused
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 fnally rolled out into bars of a convenient
size, when it constitutes the malleable iron  of commerce.
  Very pure malleable iron is now manufactured by the new process of Mr. W.
Bessamer, from the crude  metal while still in a state  of fusion, by running it
into a separate vessel, and there  subjecting it to a blast of atmospheric air. The
carbon is thus burnt out; and by the  heat generated the temperature of the
fused metal is  increased, with the effect of dissipating the volatile  impurities,
such as sulphur, &c, and of burning some of the iron into oxide, which, fusing
with  the earthy impurities, separates them in the form  of slag.   The loss  of
weight is 18 per cent., against 28 per cent,  on the  old process. (Am. Journ. of
Pharm. for Nov. 1856, from Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Sept. 1856.)
  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.
  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, Con-
necticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.  The ores of the three last-
mentioned States rival the best Swedish in  quality.
  Properties.   Iron is  a hard,  malleable,  ductile, and tenacious metal, of  a
grayish-white colour and fibrous texture,  a  slightly styptic taste, and a  sensible
odour when rubbed.   In tenacity it yields only to nickel and cobalt. (Deville.)
Its  sp. gr. is about 7'7, and its fusing point very high.   It possesses the mag-
netic 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 converted into black oxide, and at common tempera-
tures, by the combined agency of air and moisture, it becomes covered with a
reddish matter, called rust, which consists of the hydrated sesquioxide.   It com-
bines with  all the non-metallic  elements, except hydrogen and nitrogen, and
with most of the metals.  Its eq. is 28, and symbol Fe.  It forms three principal
compounds 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
converted, 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 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 composed of two eqs.  of
iron 56, and three of .oxygen 24=80.  An allotropic variety of the sesquioxide,
soluble in water, and not responding to the ordinary tests of iron, has been dis-
covered by M. Pean de Saint-Gilles.   The native black oxide, the magnetic
oxide of mineralogists, is officinal with the Dublin College under the  name of
Ferri Oxydum 3fagneticum. It consists of one eq. of protoxide 36, and one of 
PART I.
Ferrum.
361
 sesquioxide 80 = 116.  The medicinal black oxide of the Edinburgh College has
 a different composition. (See Ferri Oxidum Nigrum,)  The teroxide or ferric
 acid, discovered by Fremy, may be obtained, in union with potassa, by passing
 chlorine through a very concentrated  solution of the alkali, holding hydrated
 sesquioxide of iron in suspension.  This acid consists of one eq. of iron 28, and
 three of oxygen 24 = 52.   Iron, combined with a minute proportion of carbon,
 and perhaps of silicon and aluminium, forms steel, a modification of  iron for-
 merly used in medicine, but now very properly laid aside.  It also forms a num-
 ber of important salts, several of which, as the sesquichloride, iodide, ferrocy-
 anuret, acetate, carbonate, subcarbonate, citrate, ammonio-citrate, nitrate,  phos-
 phate, sulphate, tartrate, and valerianate, 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.
    General Therapeutic Effects of Iron.  The preparations of iron are pre-
 eminently tonic, and peculiarly  well fitted to improve the quality of the blood,
 when impoverished from any cause.   Hence they are useful in diseases charac-
 terized by debility, especially when the consequence  of inordinate discharges.
 The diseases in which they are  usually employed are chronic anaemia or chlo-
 rosis, hysteria, flu or albus, scrofula, rickets, passive hemorrhages, dyspepsia when
 dependent on deficient energy of the digestive function, and neuralgia.   They
 are contra-indicated in all inflammatory diseases, producing, when injudiciously
 employed, heat, thirst, headache, difficulty of breathing, and other symptoms  of
 an excited circulation.   In order to understand their effect in improving the
 blood, it must be borne in mind that this fluid always contains iron, as an essen-
 tial constituent  of the red corpuscles.   The amount in ten thousand parts  of
 blood, according to different authorities, is 2-3 parts (Le Canu), 2-4 (Denis),
 5-5 (Becquerel and Rodier), 8*7 (Poggiale), mean 4'7.  In anasmia the blood
 is deficient in iron,  not because the red  corpuscles contain less of the metal, for
 they, individually considered, always contain the normal quantity; but because
 there are fewer of them. (Becquerel and Rodier—Reveil.)  The question here
 arises, which are the preparations of iron, best adapted to promote the formation
 of the red constituent of the blood, and what are the conditions of their adminis-
 tration most favourable to their efficient action?   According to M. Bouchar-
 dat the preparations most easily assimilated are  metallic iron and the protox-
 ide; and when the latter is in saline combination, it should be united either with
 carbonic acid, or with some organic acid.  He holds that, when the iron is com-
 bined with a mineral acid, such as the sulphuric or phosphoric,  the preparation
 acts solely as an astringent.  Quevenne did not go so far as this, but  believed
 that the mineral acid salts were not well adapted for assimilation, and that they
 were less so in proportion to their astringent power.
   Quevenne laid it down  as a rule, that, when  the iron preparations are given
 with the view of improving the blood, they should be taken with the meals,
 and not on an empty stomach.  Doses, thus  given, were well borne, which often
 caused uneasiness and pain, when taken  fasting.  The gastric  juice of the
 empty stomach is usually alkaline; and  Quevenne proved that reduced iron, in-
 troduced, through a fistulous opening, into the stomach of fasting dogs, was not
 acted on, and was without effect in exciting the secretion.   The juice, during
 digestion, is acid, and has been shown by the experiments of Quevenne to be in
 a favourable state for dissolving iron.   The ferruginous preparations, it is true,
 were found to be unequally soluble; for, while  iron filings were freely soluble,
the subcarbonate of iron was but slightly attacked.   It was observed that the 
362
Ferrum.
PART i.
acidity of the gastric juice was but little diminished by the exertion of its sol-
vent power on the iron; which fact  can be explained only by supposing that
the presence of the metal caused a nearly proportional increase of the acid secre-
tion.   Assuming these experimental observations to be accurate, it is easy to
perceive why the ferruginous preparations should be taken with the food, select-
ing of course those most soluble in the gastric juice of digestion.  The digested
iron, being intimately blended with the digested food,  is obviously in a favour-
able state to fulfil  its indispensable agency in sanguification.  Of course the
iron will do little or no good, unless  conjoined with a nutritious diet.
   In the use of  ferruginous preparations, it is often necessary to persevere for
several months,  in order to reap the fullest benefit.  Even after the cure ap-
pears to be accomplished, it is safest to continue them, in diminishing doses for
a considerable time.   For  further  information on  the properties of iron, the
reader is referred to the able experimental memoir of the late T.-A. Quevenne,
entitled Memoir sur L'Action Physiologique et  Therapeutique  des Ferru-
gineux (Paris, 1854).
   The following table embraces all the preparations of iron to be found in the
United States and British Pharmacopoeias,  together with their synonymes.

     Iron is officinal—
   I. IN THE METALLIC STATE.
          Ferri  Filum, U. S., Ed.; Ferrum in fila tractum, Lond.; Ferrum.
                  Iron Wire, Dub.
          Ferri Ramenta, U. S.; Ferri Limatura, Ed.; Ferrum. Turnings and
                  Filings, Dub.
           Mistura  Ferri Aromatica, Dub.
          Ferri Pulvis, U. S., Dub.
  II. Oxidized.
          Ferri Oxidum Nigrum, Ed.
          Ferri Oxydum Magneticum, Dub.
          Ferri Peroxydum, Dub.
           Emplastrum Ferri,  Dub.                                    •
          Ferri  Oxidum Hydratum,  U. S.; Ferrugo, Ed.;  Ferri  Peroxydum
                  Hydratum, Dub.
III. Sulphuretted.
          Ferri Sulphuretum, Ed,, Dub.
 IV. IN SALINE  COMBINATION.
          Tinctura Ferri Chloridi, U.S.; Tinctura Ferri Sesquichloridi, Lond.,
                  Dub. ;  Ferri Muriatis Tinctura, Ed.
          Ferri Iodidum, U. S., Ed, Dub.
           Liquor Ferri Iodidi, U. S.
            Syrupus Ferri  Iodidi, Lond., Dub.; Ferri Iodidi Syrupus,  Ed.
           Pilulas Ferri Iodidi, U. S.
          Ferri Ferrocyanuretum, U. S. Pure Prussian blue.
          Tinctura Ferri Acetatis, Dub.
          Ferri Carbonas cum Saccharo, Lond.; Ferri Carbonas Saccharatum,
              Ed., Dub.
           Mistura  Ferri Composita,  U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.
            Pilulas Ferri Carbonatis, U. S., Ed.   Vallet's ferruginous pills.
            Pilulas Ferri Compositas, U. S., Lond,
          Ferri  Subcarbonas, U. S.; Ferri  Sesquioxydum, Lond.; Ferri Oxi-
                  dum Rubrum, Ed.; Ferri  Carbonas,  Dub.  Precipitated
                  subcarbonate of iron. 
 part I.       Ferrum.—Ferri Filum.—Ferri Ramenta.           363

            Emplastrum Ferri, U. S., Lond., Ed.
            Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Ferri Ammonio-chloridum, Lond.
              Tinctura Ferri Ammonio-chloridi, Lond.
          Ferri Citras, U.  S.
          Ferri Ammonio-citras, Lond., Dub.
          Liquor Ferri Nitratis, U. S.; Ferri Pernitratis Liquor, Dub.
          Ferri Phosphas, U. S.
          Ferri Sulphas Venalis, Lond.
          Ferri Sulphas, U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.
            Pilulas Aloes et Ferri, Ed.
            Ferri Sulphas Exsiccatum, Ed.
              Pilulas Ferri Sulphatis, Ed.
              Pilulas Rhei et Ferri, Ed.
          Ferri Sulphas Granulatum, Dub.
            Ferri Sulphas Siccatum, Dub.
          Ferri et Potassas Tartras,  U. S.; Ferri Potassio-tartras, Lond.;  Fer-
                  rum Tartarizatum, Ed., Dub.
          Vinum Ferri, Lond.
          Ferri Valeriauas, Dub.                                     B.


                    FERRI  FILUM.  U.S., Ed.

                               Iron  Wire.

                    FERRI  RAMENTA. US.

                             Iron Filings.

   Off. Syn. FERRUM in fila tractum. Lond; FERRI LIMATURA.  Iron
 filings, Ed,; FERRUM.  Rod Iron; Iron AVire;  Turnings and Filings. Dub.
   Fil de fer, 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 generally direct it, when wanted
 in small masses,  to be in the form of iron wire, which is necessarily made from
 the purest, because the softest and most ductile iron, and  is readily cut into
 pieces of convenient size.  The filings are sometimes used internally.
   3Iedical 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 stomach, 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 usually
 obtained from  the workshops  of the blacksmith; but, as furnished  from  this
 source, they are generally very impure, and unfit for medicinal use.  M. Gobley,
 upon examining thirty-six samples of iron filings, found but three exempt from
 copper.    The rest, besides wood, sand, and oxide of iron, contained as high as
 two per cent, of this metal.   Iron filings  cannot be completely purified by the
 magnet; as they often have adhering to them bits of foreign matter,  which are
 carried up with them.  The only way to obtain them pure, is to file  a piece of
 pure iron  with a clean file.  The French  Codex directs iron in an impalpable
powder, prepared by porphyrizing bright  and clean iron filings without water.
 A dull black powder is formed, which must be carefully preserved from moisture. 
364       Ferri Ramenta.—Ferri Sulphas Venalis.—Ficus.   part i.

An impalpable powder of the metal, obtained by reducing the  sesquioxide ly
hydrogen, has been made officinal in the U. S.  and Dublin Pharmacopoeias of
1850.  (See Ferri Pulvis.)   The dose of iron filings  is from  five  to twenty
grains, given in molasses or honey, or made into pills with some bitter extract.
   Pharm. Uses.   Iron wire is used in preparing iodide of potassium, Ed., Dub.;
and iron filings are employed in the formula for bromide of potassium, U. S.
   Off. Prep.  Ferri Iodidum; Ferri Sulphas; Ferri Sulphas Granulatum; Ferri
Sulphuretum; Liquor Ferri Iodidi; Liq.  Ferri Nitratis;  Mistura Ferri Aromati-
ca ; Syrupus Ferri Iodidi; Tinctura Ferri Sesquichloridi; Vinum  Ferri.    B.

             FERRI  SULPHAS VENALIS. Lond.

                      Commercial Sulphate of Iron.

   Sulfate de fer, Vitriol de fer, Couperose, Fr.; Schwefelsaures  Eisenoxydul, Griiner
Vitriol, Germ.; Vitriolo verde, Copparosa verde, Ital.; Vitriolo  verde, Span.
   Commercial sulphate of iron, under the name of green vitriol  or copperas, is
manufactured on a 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.  Sulphate of
iron is also obtained in many chemical processes as a collateral  product;  as in
the manufacture of alum, in the precipitation of copper from solutions of sul-
phate of copper by scrap iron, &c.
   Properties.  Commercial sulphate of iron is far from being  pure.  Besides
containing some sesquioxide of iron,  it is generally contaminated with metallic
and earthy salts;  such as those of copper,  zinc,  alumina, and magnesia.   Two
principal kinds occur in the market; one in large grass-green crystals, the surface
of which is studded with ochreous  spots; the other, of a bluish-green colour, and
ordinarily mixed with the powder of  the effloresced salt.  The commercial sul-
phate should never be dispensed  by the apothecary, until  it has undergone a
careful purification in the manner  directed by the London and Edinburgh Col-
leges. (See Ferri  Sulphas.)
   Commercial sulphate of iron was introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia,
not as a medicine,  but as  a material from which the pure sulphate may be made.
The properties and composition of the salt are given under Ferri Sulphas, to
which article the reader is referred.
   Off. Prep. Ferri Sulphas. Lond.                                    B.

                        FICUS.  U. S., Lond.

                                 Figs.

   The dried fruit of Ficus Carica. U S. The prepared  fruit. Lond.
   Off. Syn. FICI. Dried fruit of  Ficus Carica.  Ed.  FICUS CARICA. The
dried fruit. Dub.
   Figues, Fr.; Feigen, Germ.; Fichi, Ital.; Higos,  Span.
   Ficus.  Sex. Syst.  Polygamia Dicecia. — Nat. Ord. Urticaceas.
   Gen.  Ch, Common receptacle  turbinate, fleshy,  converging, concealing the
florets 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. 241.
The fig-tree, though often not more  than  twelve feet high, sometimes rises  in
warm climates twenty-five or even  thirty feet.  Its trunk, which seldom exceeds 
 part i.                   Fieus.—Fdix Mas.                       365

 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 above, pale-green and downy
 beneath, and stand  alternately on  strong  round footstalks.   The flowers are
 situated within a common receptacle, placed 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 internal
 surface of the receptacle, to which they are attached by fleshy pedicels.   Culti-
 vation has produced in the fig, as in the apple and peach, a great diversity in
 shape, size, colour, and taste.   It is usually, however, turbinate or top-shaped,
 umbilicate at the large extremity, of the size of a small pear, of a whitish, yel-
 lowish, or reddish colour, and of a mild,  mucilaginous, saccharine taste.
   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, particu-
 larly 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 caprification 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
 larvas of  which, as soon as they are hatched, spread  themselves over the culti-
 vated 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 otherwise 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 imported into this country 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 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 whole-
 some and agreeable aliment, and have been employed from time immemorial.
 They are  apt, however, when eaten freely,  to  produce flatulence, pain  in  the
 bowels, and diarrhoea.  Their chief medical use  is as a laxative article of diet in
 constipation.  They occasionally  enter into demulcent decoctions; and, when
 roasted or boiled, and split  open, are sometimes applied as a suppurative cata-
 plasm to parts upon which an ordinary poultice  cannot be conveniently retained.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Sennas ; Decoctum Hordei Compositum.  .     W.


                  FILIX MAS.  U.S. Secondary.

                             Male Fern.

  The rhizoma of Aspidium Filix mas. U. S.
  Off'. Syn.  FILIX.  Rhizoma of Nephrodium Filix mas.  (Bichard.)  3Iale
Shield Fern.  Ed.
  Fougtre male,. Fr.;  Johanniswurzel,  Germ.; Felce maschio, Ital;  Helecho, Span.
  Aspidium.  Sex. Syst. Cryptogamia Filices. — Nat. Ord.  Filices, Jussteu,
Fiiicales, Lindley. 
356
Filix Mas.
part i.
   Gen. Ch,  Fructification in roundish points, scattered, not marginal.   In-
volucre umbilicated, open almost on every side.  Smith,
   The root of a species of Aspidium, growing in South Africa, has been used
by the Kaffirs-in the vicinity of Natal, by whom it is called inkomankomo, or
uncomocomo as the name is given by Dr. Theodore Martius.  The plant is the
A. athamanticum,  and the root  has received the name of panna in Europe,
where it was first brought into notice in 1851.   It is probably in no respect
superior to the European  species. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xvi. 447.)
   Aspidium Filix mas.  Willd.  Sp. Plant v. 259; Smith, Flor. Britan,—
Nephrodium Filix mas.  Lindley, Flor. Med. 619.—Polypodium Filix mas.
Linn. ; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot p. 795, t. 267.  The male fern has a perennial, hori-
zontal 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 pinnas 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 plant is a
native of Europe,  Asia, and the north of Africa.  It is said also  to be indige-
nous, growing in shady pine forests from New York to Virginia ; but it may
be doubted whether the American plant is identical with the European.
   The proper period for collecting  the root is during  the summer, when, ac-
cording to M. Pesehier, 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 cylin-
drical 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 curved and directed
upwards, angular, brown, shining, and  surrounded 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 radical 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, con-
sisting 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 sur-
rounded by the silky scales.   These  fragments, as seen in the shops, often
appear as if long kept, and are probably, in general, much deteriorated by time.
The following observations are made by Geiger in relation to the collection and
preservation of the root.  The inner part 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 discoloured 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 pulverized; 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.   It  has been 
PART I.
Filix Mas.
367
analyzed by H. Bock, who gives as its constituents, volatile oil, fixed oil, resin,
starch, vegetable jelly, albumen,  gum, sugar, tannic and gallic acids, pectin^
lignin, and various salts. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xxiv. 64.)  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, with the odour of the fern, and a nauseous, bitterish,
somewhat acrid taste.   Dr. E. Luck  has found in it a peculiar acid, which he
denominates filicic acid, and has  extracted from the root two others named
tannaspidic and pteritannic acids. (Chem. Gaz., ix. 407 and 452.)
   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 profession, till attention
was attracted to it, about the year 1775, by the publication of the mode of treat-
ing tasnia, 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 Ger-
man physician, named Herrenschwand, had used the male fern in a manner some-
what similar, before Madame Nouffer's secret was known.  Different opinions
have been held of the value of this anthelmintic; but the accounts of its efficacy
in the treatment of tape-worm  are too numerous and authentic to admit of any
reasonable doubt.   Dr.  Peschier stated that, in the course of nine months, 150
tape-worms had been expelled by the ethereal extract. Dr. Ebers found the same
preparation completely successful in  eight cases.  The testimony of Brera is also
strongly in favour of the  remedy, which he found effectual  even against the
armed tasnia.   M. Ronzel cured  with it  more than  100 cases  of tasnia, and
never found it to fail.  (Journ.  de Pharm., 3e s'er., iv. 474.)  Perhaps the differ-
entresults obtained by different practitioners may in part be ascribed to the
variable strength and character of the root employed. It is said that the remedy
proves more effectual against the tape-worm of the  Swiss (Bothriocephalus
Jatus) than against the Taenia solium, which is more frequent in France and
England.  (Bremser.) It appears to act as a poison to the worm,  which it de-
stroys, and thereby enables it to be expelled by the ordinary movement of the
bowels, or by purgatives.
   The medicine may be  given in the form of powder or ethereal extract.   The
dose of the powder is from one to three drachms, to be administered in electuary
or emulsion, and repeated morning and evening for one or two days.  M.  Ronzel
gives  half an ounce to  adults, made into boluses, to be  swallowed in  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.   Dr. Mayor of Geneva
recommends it 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.  The decoction has also been employed, made
with an  ounce  of the root and a pint of water.  It is customary to follow the
medicine by some brisk cathartic, though this is not considered essential.   W 
368
Foeniculum.
PART i.
            FCENICULUM. U.S., Lond.,  Ed,, Dub.

                             Fennel-seed.

  The fruit of Foeniculum vulgare.  U. S.  Foeniculum dulce.  The fruit. Lond.
Fruit of Foeniculum officinale. Ed. The seeds. Dub.
  Fenouil, Fr. ; Fenchel, Germ.; Finnocchio, Ital,; Hinojo, Span.
  The plant producing fennel-seed was attached by Linnaeus to the genus Ane-
thum, but was separated from it by De Candolle, and placed with three or four
others, in a new genus styled Foeniculum, which has been generally adopted by
botanists.   The Anethum Fceniculuni of Linnasus 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  Fceniculuni vulgare and Fceniculuni
dulce.  In the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, the former of these is recognised as the
source of the medicine ; the London College adopts the latter ;  the Edinburgh
College, the F. officinale of Allioni.  The last mentioned plant De Candolle con-
sidersas belonging to his F. vulgare (Prodromus, iv. 142) ; while Herat treats
of it as a distinct  species, differing both from the F. vulgare and F. dulce of De
Candolle (Diet, de 3Iat Med,); and Dr. Christison, in his Dispensatory, is dis-
posed 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  botanical 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 F.  vulgare,  while the other is  undoubtedly produced by the plant culti-
vated under the name of sweet fennel, whether that be the F. dulce of De  Can-
dolle, or F. officinale of Allioni and Herat.
   Fceniculum.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria  Digynia. — Nat Ord. Umbelliferas 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 prominent
bluntly keeled ridges, of which the lateral are on the edge, and rather broadest.
 Vittse singlein the channels, two on the commissure. Involucre none. (Lindley.)
   Fceniculum vulgare.  De Cand. Prodrom. iv. 142. — Anethum Fceniculum.
Linn.; Woodv. 3Ied, Bot. p.  127, t. 49.   Common fennel has a biennial or per-
ennial 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  membranous
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.  Herat and De Lens, Diet de 3Iat. 3Ied. iii. 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 resembling
 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 prominent 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 
PART I.                  Fceniculum.—Frasera.                     369

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 F. vulgare, is not deter-
mined.  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 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, Italy, and perhaps other parts of Southern Europe; and is cultivated
largely in Italy and Sicily for the sake of the shoots, which are eaten raw, or in
salad, or boiled as potherbs.   The fruit is described by Merat and  De Lens as
"being globular-ovate, twice the size of that of common fennel, and with promi-
nent 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,
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 from  three to 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 properties.  The odour of fennel-seed is fragrant, its
taste warm, sweet, and agreeably aromatic.  It yields its virtues to hot water,
but more freely to alcohol.  The essential oil may be separated by distillation
with water.  (See Oleum Foeniculi.)  The seeds contain also fixed oil.  From
960 parts, Neuman 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 carmina-
tive, 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; Confectio Piperis; Oleum Foeniculi;  Spiritus
Juniperi Compositus; Syrupus Sennas; Tinctura  Rhei et Sennas.        W.

                   FRASERA.   U.S. Secondary.

                         American  Columbo.

  The root of Frasera Walteri. U. S.
  Frasera.  Sex, Syst Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord. Gentianaceas.
       24 
370
Frasera.
PART I.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx deeply four-parted. Corolla four-parted, spreading; segments
oval, with a bearded, orbicular gland in the middle of each. Capsule compressed,
partly marginated, one-celled.   Seeds few, imbricated, large, elliptical, with a
membranaceous margin.  Nuttall.
   Frasera Walteri. Michaux, Flor. Bor. Americ. i. 96; Barton, Med. Bot. ii.
103.—F.  Carolinensis.  Walter.   This is among  our most elegant indigenous
plants, and the only one of its genus.   From the root, which is triennial, long,
spindle-shaped, horizontal,  fleshy, and yellow, a strong, succulent, solid, smooth
stem rises, from  five to ten feet in height.   The leaves are sessile,  entire, gla-
brous, of  a deep-green colour, and disposed in whorls, which commence at the
root,  and  ascend to»the summit with  successively diminishing intervals.   The
radical leaves, from five to twelve  in number, 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 are successively smaller as
they ascend; the lowest oblong-lanceolate,  the  upper lanceolate and pointed.
The flowers are numerous, large, yellowish-white, 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 lan-
ceolate, acute, and somewhat shorter than those of the corolla.  The filaments are
inserted 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 ends
in a bifid  stigma.  The fruit is an oval, acuminate, compressed, two-valved, one-
celled, yellow capsule, containing from eight to  twelve flat, elliptical 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 Mis-
souri.  It  prefers rich woodlands and moist meadows.  The period of flowering
is  from May to July; but the stems 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 spring of the third year. Before
being dried, it should be cut into transverse slices.
   As  formerly in the market, frasera was in  pieces irregularly circular, an
eighth of  an inch or more in thickness, about an  inch in diameter, somewhat
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  somewhat resembled  columbo,
but were easily distinguishable by the greater uniformity of their internal  struc-
ture, 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 longi-
tudinally, so as to imitate 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 lets fall a precipitate upon the addition of water, but is not
disturbed  by tincture of galls.   The hot infusion is not precipitated by solution
of gelatin, and gives with  iodine no signs of the presence of starch.  These
reactions  afford additional means of distinguishing the root from columbo.
   3Iedical 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 at one time formed of its virtues; and though, perhaps,  still occa-
sionally used in some places, 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 
PART I.
Gralbanum.
371
 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 re-
 peated several times a day.   The fresh root is said  to operate as an emetic and
 cathartic, and has been given with a view to the latter effect.           W.

               GALBANUM.  U. S.,  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                                Galbanum.

   The concrete juice of an unknown plant.  U. S.   Galbanum officinale.  The
 gum-resin. Lond.  Concrete gummy-resinous juice of an imperfectly ascertained
 umbelliferous plant, probably a species of Opoidia.  Ed.  Opoidia galbanifera.
 The gum-resinous exudation. Dub.
   Galbanum, Fr.;  Mutterharz, Germ.; Galbano, Ital., Span.
   It is uncertain from what plant  galbanum is derived.   At one time it was
 supposed to be the product of Bubon Galbanum, an umbelliferous plant of the
 eastern coast  of Africa.   It has  also  been referred  to the Ferula ferulago of
 Linnasus, 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 has 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 umbelli-
 ferous 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 was rather hastily adopted by the London Col-
 lege ; as it is by no means certain that the same plant produced the seeds and the
 gum-resin.  Specimens of a  plant were received in England from Persia having
 a concrete juice adhering to them, which was taken by Dr. Lindley for galba-
 num ; and that botanist, finding that the plant belonged to an undescribed genus,
 named it Opoidia, with the  specific name galbanifera.   Dr. Pereira, however
 found the substance not to be galbanum; and this supposed origin of the dru°-,
 therefore, though admitted as probable by the Edinburgh College, and recognised
 by the Dublin, must be considered as more than doubtful.  A German traveller,
 F. A. Bukse, who has resided in  Persia, states that, in 1848,  he  met with the
 galbanum plant on the declivities of the Demawend, near the southern coast of
 the Caspian.  He  saw the gum-resin  exuding spontaneously from the plant,
 and was informed  by the natives that the drug was collected from it.   The
 plant is a Ferula,  and closely resembles the F. erubescens of Boissier, if not
 identical with it. (Pharm. Cent Blatt,  March 17, 1852, p. 206.)
   Galbanum is said to be obtained 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 portion  of  juice also  exudes sponta-
 neously from the joints, and hardens in the shape of tears. The drug is brought
 from India and the Levant.
   Properties.   Galbanum usually appears in the form of masses, composed of
 whitish, reddish, or yellowish tears, irregularly agglutinated 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 ex-
 ternally 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 212° F. it is suf-
ficiently liquid to admit of straining ;  and it generally requires to be strained 
372
G-albanum.—Qalla.
part I.
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 odour and
taste, and the intermixture of earthy impurities, are signs of inferiority.
   The odour of galbanum is peculiar and disagreeable; its taste bitterish, warm
and acrid; its sp. gr. 1-212.  Triturated with water, it forms an imperfect milky
solution, which on standing deposits the greater portion of what was taken up.
Wine  and vinegar act upon it in a similar manner.  Alcohol dissolves a con-
siderable proportion, forming  a yellow tincture, which has the smell and taste
of galbanum, and becomes  milky with water, but affords no  precipitate.  In
dilute  alcohol it  is wholly soluble, with the exception  of  impurities.  Ether
dissolves the greater portion.  Pelletier found  in 100 parts 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 supermalate of lime.   A small proportion of bassorin
was found by Meissner.   The medicine is, therefore, a gum-resin.   By distilla-
tion at the temperature of about 250° F., the volatile 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 re-
ceived 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 assa-
fetida, 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.,\. 117.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Galbanum was known to the ancients.  It
is stimulant, expectorant, and antispasmodic; and is considered as intermediate
in power between ammoniac and assafetida, though much less employed than
either  of these gum-resins.   The complaints to which it  has been  thought
applicable, are chiefly chronic affections  of  the bronchial mucous membrane,
amenorrhcea, and chronic rheumatism.   It is occasionally applied externally as
a plaster to indolent swellings, with the view of promoting resolution or sup-
puration.  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 Assafoetidas; Emplastrum Galbani Compositum;
Emplastrum  Gummosum;  Galbanum Prasparatum;  Pilulas Galbani Compo-
sitae.                                                                W

                       GALLA. U.S., Lond.

                                  Galls.

  Morbid excrescences upon Quercus  infectoria. U. S.   Swelling of the bud
produced by Cynips Gallas tinctorias. Lond.
  Off. Syn.   GALLJB.  Excrescences of Quercus infectoria, formed by Diplo-
lepis gallas tinctorum. Ed,, Dub.
  Noix de galle, Fr.;  Gallapfel,  Germ.; Galla, 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,
resulting in excrescences, which, as they are derived from the  juices of the plant,
partake  more or less of its chemical character.   Most  of the oaks are  occa-
sionally thus affected;  and the resulting excrescences, having in a high degree
the astringency of the plant, have been employed for  various practical pur-
poses.   They are known by the name of galls, a term which, as  well as their 
PART I.
Gratia.
373
  use in medicine, has been handed down from the ancients.   Quercus infecto-
  ria, Q. Mgilops, Q. excelsa, Q. Bex, Q. Cerris, and Q. robur, have been par-
  ticularized as affording this product;  but it is now generally admitted, on the
  authority of Olivier, that  the officinal  galls are derived chiefly, if not exclu-
  sively, from Q.  infectoria; and this is  recognised as their source in the U. S.
  and British Pharmacopoeias. *
    Quercus. See QUERCUS ALBA.
    Quercus infectoria. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 436 ; Olivier, Voy. Orient 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 quercusfolii of Linnasus,
  the Diplolepis gallse tinctorise of Geoffroy, a hymenopterous insect or fly, with
  a fawn-coloured body, dark antennas, 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 part, and a small tumour quickly rises, which
  is the result of a morbid growth, exhibiting various cells under the microscope,
  but no proper vegetable fibre.   The egg grows with the gall, and is soon con-
  verted into a larva, which feeds upon the vegetable  matter around it,  and thus
  forms a cavity in the centre of the excrescence.   The  insect at length becomes
  a fly, and escapes by eating its way out.  The galls  are in perfection when fully
  developed,  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.
   The galls  collected in Syria and Asia Minor  are brought to this country
 chiefly from the ports of Smyrna and  Trieste, or from London.  As  they are
 produced abundantly near Aleppo, it has been customary to designate them by
 the name of that town  ; though the designation, however correct it may for-
 merly 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

   * Under the name of Chinese galls, a product has been brought from China, supposed
 to be caused by an insect allied to the Aphis, as such an  insect has been found in the
 interior of them.  A specimen, which came under our notice, consisted of irregularly
 spindle-shaped bodies, often more or less  bent, with obtusely pointed protuberances,
 about two inches long by an inch in diameter at the central thickest part, of an ash
 colour and a soft velvety feel, very light, hollow, with translucent walls  about a line
 in thickness, of a slight odour recalling that of ipecacuanha, and a bitter astringent
 taste.   From an examination of fragments of leaves and petioles found among these
 galls, Dr. Schenck concluded that the tree on which  they are found is a species of
 Rhus; but, according  to M. Decaisne, professor at the Museum of Natural History in
 Paris, their true source is probably the Distylium racemosum of Zuccarini (Flor. Japon.
 i. p. 178, t. 94), a large tree of Japan, the leaves of  which produce a velvety gall re-
 sembling the one in question.  (Guibourt, Hist. Nat. des Drogues, A. D. 1850, iii. 703.)
The Chinese make  great use of this product both in dyeing and as a medicine.  L. A.
Buchner, jun., has found it to contain 65 per cent, of tannic acid identical with that
of the officinal galls. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, July, 1851, p. 526.) 
374
Galla.
PART I.
United States from Calcutta.  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 inter-
vals 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 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 Davy obtained 185 parts of  matter soluble in  water, of which,
according to his analysis, 130 were tannin, 31  gallic  acid with a little extract-
ive, 12 mucilage and matter rendered  insoluble 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 ellagic, derived from galle, the
French name for galls, by reversing the order of the letters.  According to M.
Pelouze, however, neither gallic nor ellagic 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 Professor 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, ellagic, and luteo-gallic acids,
and 11*5 of water,  besides extractive, chlorophylle, volatile oil, albumen, and
salts.  For some new and interesting views of the chemical nature of galls, see
Acidum Gallicum in the second part of this work.  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, and the carbonates of ammonia and 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
solution of gelatin ; and with the infusions of Peruvian bark, columbo, opium,
and many other vegetables, especially those containing alkaloids, with most of
which tannic acid forms  insoluble compounds.   The  infusion  of galls reddens
litmus paper, is rendered orange by nitric acid, milky by the corrosive chloride
of mercury,  and has its colour deepened by ammonia ; but yields no precipitate
with either of these reagents.   Sulphate of zinc was said by Dr. A. T. Thomson
to occasion  a slow precipitate, but this result was  not obtained by Dr. Duncan.
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Galls are powerfully astringent.  They are
little employed 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 prin-
ciples form  with galls may be 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 
PART I.
Gambogia.
375
 hemon'hoidal  affections.   The  dose of powdered galls is from ten to  twenty
 grains, to be repeated several times a day.*
    Off. Prep.  Acidum Gallicum;  Acidum Tannicum;  Decoctum Gallas; Tinc-
 tura Gallas; Unguentum Gallas; Unguentum Gallas Compositum.       W.

                          GAMBOGIA.  U.S.

                                Gamboge.

    The concrete juice of an uncertain tree. >U. S.
    Off. Syn.  CAMBOGIA.  Gum-resin of an  uncertain plant. Lond.;  Hebra-
 dendron  gambogioides.  The gum-resinous  exudation. Dub.;  CAMBOGIA
 (Siamensis).  Gum-resin from an unascertained plant inhabiting Siam, proba-
 bly a species of Hebradendron.  CAMBOGIA (Zeylanica).  Gummy-resinous
 exudation of Hebradendron cambogioides.  Ed.
    Gomme gutte, Fr.; Gummigutt, Germ.; Gomma-gotta, Ital.; Gutta gamba, Span.
    Several plants belonging to the natural family of Guttiferse, growing in the
 equatorial regions, yield on ineision a yellow opaque  juice, which  hardens on
 exposure, and bears a close resemblance to  gamboge;  but it is  not certainly
 known from which of these plants  the officinal gum-resin is procured.   Until
 recently  the United States and all the  British Pharmacopoeias  ascribed it to
 Stalagmitis Cambogioides.  This  genus and  species were established by Mur-
 ray of Gottingen, in 1788, from dried specimens belonging to Konig, procured
 in Ceylon; and,  from information derived from the  same  source, it  was conjec-
 tured by Murray that the tree yielded not only the gamboge of Ceylon, but that
 also collected in Siam.  On this authority, the British Colleges made the refer-
 ence alluded to.  But it has been ascertained by Dr. Graham, of Edinburgh, that
 there is no such  plant as Stalagmitis Cambogioides; the description of Murray
 having been drawn up from accidentally conjoined specimens of  two trees be-
 longing to different genera; one being the Xanthochymus ovalifolius of Rox-
 burgh, and the other, the Hebradendron Cambogioides of Graham. By several
m botanists the gum-resin has been ascribed to Garcinia Cambogia, also a tree of
 Ceylon belonging to the Guttiferas, and yielding a yellowish concrete juice; but
 a specimen of the product of this  tree,  sent to Edinburgh, was found  by Dr.
 Christison to differ from gamboge both in composition and appearance, being of
 a pale lemon-yellow colour.  Thus it appears that neither of these references is
 eorrect; and, besides, the fact seems to have been overlooked, that  commercial
 gamboge is never obtained from Ceylon, but exclusively from Siam and Cochin-
 ehina.  A gum-resin from Ceylon having been  found similar in composition to
 the gamboge of commerce, and the tree which produced it having been referred
 by Dr. Graham to a new genus, and named by him Hebradendron Cambogioides;
 the Edinburgh College, in the last edition of its Pharmacopoeia, was induced to
 adopt this Ceylon gamboge as officinal, and to  recognise the name proposed by
 Dr. Graham for  the tree  producing it.   But, as this variety is never found in
 western commerce, and exists only in cabinets, or the bazaars of India, it scarcely

   * The following preparation has  been made in imitation of one formerly much used
 by the late Dr. Physick and Dr. Jos. Parrish, of Philadelphia, and still considerably
 employed in the city. Macerate for twenty-four hours half an ounce of powdered galls,
 two drachms of bruised cinnamon,  and two drachms of bruised nutmeg, in half a pint
 of brandy ; then percolate, and, when the liquor has ceased to pass, add enough diluted
 alcohol to yield half a pint of filtered liquor.  Put this into a shallow capsule, suspend
 over it two ounces of sugar on a slip of wire-gauze, and set the tincture on fire.  The
 sugar melts with the flame, and falls into the liquid, beneath.  When the combustion
 ceases, agitate, and filter.   A highly astringent aromatic syrup is obtained, which may
 be  given in obstinate diarrhoeas in the  dose  of a fluidrachm. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
 xxvii. 416.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
376
Grambogia.
part i.
 merited a  place in an officinal catalogue;  and the sufficiency of the grounds
 upon which the proposed genus Hebradendron was separated from Garcinia is
 not universally admitted.   The decision of the Ed. College would,  therefore
 seem to have been somewhat premature; though there is reason to believe that
 the Siam gamboge may be derived from a tree belonging to the same genus as
 the H.  Cambogioides of Graham, but of a species hitherto undescribed.
   Gamboge is collected in Siam and Cochin-china.  Similar products are obtain-
 ed in Ceylon; but they do not appear to be sent out of the island.  Milburn does
 not mention gamboge among the  exports.  It is said to be procured in Siam by
 breaking off the leaves  and  shoots, of the tree, from which the juice issues in
 drops, and, being received in suitable vessels, gradually thickens,  and at length
 becomes solid.  Portions of it, when of the requisite consistence, are rolled into
 cylinders, and wrapped in leaves. The juice is sometimes received into the hollow
 joints of the bamboo, which give it a cylindrical form;  and, as it contracts dur-
 ing concretion, 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 17th 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 character 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 so that the original form is not always easily
 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 occasionally dis-
 placed by greenish stains, or concealed by the bright-yellow powder of the drug,
 slightly adhering 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 of two or three pounds or more, often  mix-
 ed 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 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 the cylindrical
 only from  the circumstance, that the latter is the pure concrete juice, while in
 the former farinaceous  matter and other  impurities have been added 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.*

  * Ceylon gamboge, derived from the Hebradendron Cam logioides of Graham (Cambogia
gutta, Lmn., 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 were in flattish 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.  Its general aspect was that of coarse 
PART I.
Gambogia.
377
   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 leaving a light spongy
 charcoal.  It is a gum-resin, without volatile oil.   In 100 parts of it Braconnot
 found 19-5 parts  of gum, 80 of  resin, and  0-5 of impurities.   John  obtained
 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.   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 denominated  arabin.   In a specimen of  cake gamboge he found 11*2
 per cent, of fecula and lignin, and in a very bad one of coarse gamboge, no less
 than 41 per cent, of  the same impurities.   In  addition to gum and resin, Ph.
 Buchner found a  small  and  variable proportion  of a  peculiar reddish-yellow
 colouring  matter, soluble both in  alcohol and water. (Journ.  de Pharm., 3e ser.,
 iii. 303.)  Gamboge is readily and entirely diffusible in water, forming a yellow
 opaque emulsion, from which the resin is very slowly deposited.   It yields its
 resinous ingredient to alcohol, forming a golden-yellow tincture, which is ren-
 dered opaque and bright-yellow by the addition of water.  Its solution in ammo-
 niated  alcohol is not disturbed by water.  Sulphuric ether dissolves about four-
 fifths of it, taking up only the resin.  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 sediment.   The
 colour,  acrimony, and medicinal power of gamboge, reside in the resin.  This
 has the neutralizing property of the acids, and has been named gambogic acid.
 It is obtained by evaporating an ethereal tincture of the gum-resin. In mass it
 is of a cherry-red colour,  but becomes of a deep-orange in thin layers, and yellow
 when powdered.   So intense is its colour, that one part of  it communicates a
 perceptible yellowness to ten thousand parts of water or spirit.   It is insoluble
 in water, but  soluble in alcohol, and very soluble in ether.  It forms with the
 alkalies dark-red  solutions of gambogiates, from which  the  acids throw down
 gambogic acid of a yellow colour, and with the soluble salts of lead, copper, and
 iron, gambogiates of  those metals respectively; the salt of  lead being yellow,
 that of  copper brown, and that of iron dark-brown. Its composition is given by
 Johnston as C^H^Og. (Lond. Philos. Trans., 1839.)  In the dose of five grains
 it is said to produce copious watery stools, with little or no uneasiness.  If this
 be the case, it is probable that, as it exists in the gum-resin, its purgative prop-
 erty is somewhat modified by the other ingredients.
  Medical Properties and Uses. Gamboge is a powerful, drastic, hydragogue
 cathartic, very apt to produce nausea and vomiting when given in the full dose.
 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 tape-worm.  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

gamboge; but the individual tears had the characters of the best kind, and its chemi-
cal composition was identical. It is  used as a pigment and purgative in Ceylon, but
is not an article of commerce. (Christison's Dispensatory.) 
378
Gambogia.—Gaultheria.
PART I.
tasnia 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 ad-
ministration has been recommended in dropsical complaints.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Catharticas Composites; Pilula  Cambogias Comp.   W.

                       GAULTHERIA. U.S.

                           Partridge-berry.

   The leaves  of Gaultheria procumbens. U. S.
   Gaultheria. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Ericaceae.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-cleft, bibracteate at the base.  Corolla ovate.  Capsule
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, ever-
green plant, with a long, creeping, horizontal root, which  sends up at intervals
one or two erect, slender, round, reddish stems.   These are naked below, leafy
at top, and usually less than a span in height.  The leaves  are ovate or obovate,
acute, revolute at the edges with a few mucronate serratures, coriaceous, shin-
ing, bright-green above, paler beneath,  of unequal size, and supported irregu-
larly on short red petioles.  The flowers, of which not more than from three to
five are usually on each stem, stand upon curved, drooping, axillary peduncles.
The calyx is white, five-toothed, and furnished at its  base with two concave cor-
date bractes, described by some as an outer calyx.  The corolla is white, ovate
or urceolate, contracted at the mouth, and divided at the border into five small
acute segments.  The stamens have curved, plumose filaments, and oblong 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, ending in an obtuse  stigma.  The fruit is
a small, five-celled, many-seeded capsule, with a fleshy covering, formed by the
enlarged calyx, and presenting the appearance 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 Kalmias and Rhododendra. It
is abundant in the pine barrens of New Jersey.  In  different parts of the coun-
try, it is variously called partridge-berry, deer-berry, tea-berry, winter-green,
and mountain-tea.  The flowers appear from May to September, 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 em-
ployed, and which is found in several other plants,  particularly in the bark of
Betula lenta, or s.weet birch. The fruit possesses it in a high degree, and, being
at the same time sweetish, is much' relished by some persons, and forms a fa-
vourite article of food with partridges, deer, and other wild animals.  To the
very peculiar  aromatic odour and taste which belong to the whole plant, the
leaves add a marked astringency.   The aromatic properties reside in a volatile
oil, which may be separated by distillation. (See Oleum  Gaultherise.)
   31edical Properties and Uses.  Gaultheria has the usual stimulant operation
of the aromatics, united with astringency;  and may,  therefore, be  used with ad-
vantage 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 mix-
tures and other  preparations.   It may be conveniently administered in the form 
PART I.
Gaultheria.—Gentiana.
379
 of infusion, which, in some parts of the country, is not unfrequently used at the
 table 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
 taking of the oil, by mistake, in the quantity of about a fluidounce.  On exami-
 nation after death,  strong marks of gastric inflammation  were  discovered.
 (Journ. of Phil. Col.  of Pharm., vi. 290.)
   Off. Prep. Oleum Gaultherias.                                      W.


               GENTIANA.  U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.

                                Gentian.

   The root of Gentiana lutea. U.S., Bond., Ed., Dub.
   Gentiane jaune, Fr.;  Rother Enzian, Germ.;  Genziana, Ital.; Genciana, Span.
   Gentiana.  Sex. Syst Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianaceas.
   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, perennial  root, an
 erect, round stem rises to the height of  three or four feet, bearing 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 re-
 gions of  Europe.  The root is the only part used in medicine.
   Several other species possess analogous virtues, and are used for similar pur-
 poses.  The roots of  G. purpurea and  G. punctata, inhabiting the same re-
 gions as G. lutea, and of G. Pannonica, growing in Austria, are said to be
 often mingled with the officinal, from which  they are scarcely distinguishable.
 The G. macrophylla of Pallas is used in Siberia; and one indigenous species, G.
 Catesbsei, has a place in the secondary catalogue of the U.  S. Pharmacopoeia.
   Properties.   As found in the shops, gentian is in pieces of various dimensions
 and shape, usually of considerable length, consisting sometimes of longitudinal
 slices, sometimes of the root cut transversely, twisted, wrinkled externally, some-
 times marked with close transverse rings,  of a grayish-brown colour  on  the out-
 side, yellowish or reddish within, and of  a soft spongy texture.  The odour is
 feeble, but decided and peculiar.   The tase  is slightly sweetish and intensely
 bitter, without being nauseous.  The powder is yellowish.  Water and alcohol
 extract the taste and virtues of the root.   Examined  by MM. Henry  and  Ca-
 ventou, it was found to  contain, 1. a 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),  L
 a greenish fixed oil, 5.  a free organic acid, 6. uncrystallizable sugar, 7.  gum,  8.
 yellow colouring matter, and  9. lignin.   Mr. Denis afterwards detected  pectic
 acid;  and the gentianin of Henry and Caventou was  proved by Trommsdorff
and Leconte to be, when quite pure, wholly destitute both  of bitterness and
medicinal  power; so that it would not appear to merit the name given to it 
380
Gentiana.
PART i.
 M. Leconte  proposed, accordingly, to call it gentisin;  and, as it possesses the
 property of  neutralizing the alkalies, it has received also the name of gentisic
 acid.  It is  obtained by treating the alcoholic extract of gentian, previously ex-
 hausted by water, with sulphuric ether, filtering the ethereal solution, and allow-
 ing it to evaporate spontaneously.   It is in needle-shaped crystals, pale-yellow
 insoluble 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 minute
 proportion of a concrete  oil, having a strong  odour of  the  root.  Professor
 Dulk, of Konigsberg, gives the following  process for. isolating the bitter prin-
 ciple.   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 subacetate of
 lead and a very little ammonia, in order to precipitate  the combination of the
 bitter principle with  oxide of lead; care being taken not to use too much am-
 monia, lest by its stronger basic powers it should separate the vegetable prin-
 ciple from the oxide.  The precipitate 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 filtered, is evaporated with a gentle heat to dry-
 ness,  and the residue treated with alcohol of 0"820.  The  alcoholic solution,
 being evaporated, yields the bitter principle, which is the proper gentianin. It
 is a brownish-yellow,  uncrystallizable substance, having strongly the bitter taste
 of the root.   It is almost insoluble in absolute alcohol,  but soluble in ordinary
 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 consequence  of the sugar
 contained in it. From the fermented infusion a spirituous liquor is obtained by
 distillation, which,  though bitter and unpleasant to the smell, is said to be
 relished by the Swiss and Tyrolese. Infusion of gentian is precipitated by tannic
 acid,  and the soluble salts of lead, but is compatible with the salts of iron.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Gentian possesses, in a high degree, the tonic
 powers which characterize the simple bitters.   It excites the appetite, invigorates
 digestion, moderately increases the temperature of the body and the force of the
 circulation, and operates in fact as a  general corroborant.   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 combinations employed in modern practice.   It  may be used in all
 casesof  pure debility of  the digestive organs, or requiring a general tonic im-
 pression.   Dyspepsia, gout, amenorrhcea, hysteria, scrofula, intermittent fever,
 diarrhoea, and worms, are among the  many affections 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 consideration in prescribing
it;  and there is scarcely a complaint in which it can  be advantageously given
 under  all circumstances.   Its powder has been applied externally to  malignant
and sloughing ulcers.   It is usually administered in the  form of infusion or
tincture.  A syrup may be prepared  by forming a saturated infusion by means
of percolation, and incorporating this at a boiling heat  with simple syrup;, or,
perhaps  more eligibly, by dissolving two  drachms  of the extract of  gentian,
and afterwards fifteen ounces of sugar, in half a pint of water.  The dose of the
powder is from  ten to forty grains.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Gentianas; Infusum Gentianas  Comp.;  Tinctura Gen-
tianas, Comp.; Tinct. Rhei et Gentianas; Yinum Gentianas.            W. 
PART I.             Gentiana Catesbsei.—Geranium.               381
           GENTIANA  CATESBSEI.  US. Secondary.

                             Elue  Gentian.

   The root of Gentiana Catesbsei. U. S.
   Gentiana.  See GENTIANA.
   Several indigenous species of gentian approach more or less nearly to Gen-
 tiana lutea in the bitterness  of their roots; but G. Catesbsei, which resembles
 it most closely, is the only one medicinally employed.
   Gentiana Catesbsei.  Walter, Flor.  Car.  109 ; Bigelow, Am.  Med. Bot. ii.
 137.  The blue gentian has a perennial, branching, somewhat fleshy root, and a
 simple, erect, rough stem, rising eight or ten inches in height, and bearing op-
 posite leaves, which are ovate-lanceolate, acute, and rough on their  margin.
 The flowers  are of a palish-blue colour, crowded, nearly sessile, and axillary or
 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
 segments, 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. Catesbasi grows in the grassy swamps of North and South Carolina, where
 it flowers from September to December.  It was named by Walter and Elliot
 in honour of Catesby,  by whom it was delineated more than ninejty 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.   Alcohol
 and  boiling water extract its virtues, and the tincture and decoction are even
 more bitter than  the root in substance.
 _ 3Iedical Properties.  As a medicine it is little inferior to the European gen-
 tian, 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 practi-
 tioners of the South in  dyspepsia, and other cases of stomachic and general de-
 bility.   It may be given in powder in the dose of from fifteen to 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.

                         GERANIUM. U.S:

                               Cranesbill.

  The rhizoma of Geranium maculatum. U. S.
  Geranium. Sex.  Syst. Monadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Geraniaceas.
  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. 3fcd Bot
i. 84 ; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 149.  This plant has a perennial, horizontal 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 
382
Geranium.— Geum.
part I.
incised at their extremities, hairy, and of a pale-green colour, mottled with still
paler spots.  Those which rise 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 v
of five  oblong, ribbed, cuspidate leaves ; the petals are five, obovate, and entire;
the stamens  ten, with oblong, 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 stig-
mas.   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, tubercu-
lated, and beset with slender fibres.  It is externally of an umber-brown colour,
internally reddish-gray, compact, inodorous, and of an astringent taste, 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 best indigenous as-
tringents, and may be employed for all the purposes to which these medicines
are applicable!   The absence of unpleasant taste, and other offensive qualities,
renders it peculiarly serviceable in the cases of infants, and persons of very deli-
cate stomach.   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 contra-indicate the use of astringents.   As  an application to
indolent ulcers, an injection in gleet and leucorrhoea, a gargle in relaxation of
the uvula and aphthous  ulcerations of the throat, it answers  the same purpose
as kino, catechu, and other medicines of the same class,  It is a popular domestic
remedy in various parts of the United States, and is said to be employed by the
Indians.   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 rivale. U. S.
   Benoite aquatique, Fr.; Wiesen Benediktenwurzel, Germ.
   Geum. Sex. Syst.  Icosandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Rosaceas.
   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—Geum rivale, which has a place
in the secondary list  of the United States  Pharmacopoeia, and G. urbanum,
formerly recognised by the Dublin College.
   Geum urbanum, or avens, is a native of Europe, where  it grows  wild in
shady places.   The root, which is  the part  used, consists of a short oblong
body, from a quarter to half  an inch in thickness, externally brown, internally 
PART I.
Geum.— Gillenia.
383
  white towards the circumference and reddish at the centre, and furnished with
  numerous long descending fibres.   When quite dry it is nearly inodorous; but
  in the recent state has a smell like that of cloves, whence it is sometimes called
  radix caryophyllatse.   The  taste is bitterish and astringent.   It imparts its
  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.
  It contains, according to Trommsdorff, besides tannic acid, which is abundant,
  a tasteless resin, gum, bassorin, and lignin.   It has been much used on the con-
  tinent of Europe as a tonic and astringent, in chronic and passive hemor-
  rhages, chronic dysentery and diarrhoea, leucorrhoea,  abdominal congestion, in-
  termittent fever, &c. The dose is from thirty grains to a drachm of the powdered
  root three or four times a day, or an equivalent quantity in decoction.
    Geum rivale.  Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 1115;  Engl. Bot. 106.  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.   One or more 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 in-
  terruptedly pinnate, with large terminal leaflets, and 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 terminal peduncles.   The colour of the stems  and flowers  gave rise to the
  name of purple avens, sometimes applied to  the plant.   The calyx is  inferior,
  with ten lanceolate pointed segments,  of which the five  alternate are smaller
  than the others.   The petals are five, and as  long as  the calyx.   The seeds are
  oval, with plumose awns, minutely uncinate, 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 wet, boggy
  meadows,  and extends from Canada into New England,  New York, and Penn-
  sylvania.  Its flowers appear in June and July.  The dried root is hard, brit-
  tle, easily  pulverized, of a  reddish or purplish colour,  without smell, and of  an
  astringent, bitterish taste.  Boiling water extracts its virtues.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses. Water avens is tonic and powerfully astringent.
  It may be  used with advantage in chronic or passive hemorrhages, leucorrhoea,
  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 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.

                          GILLENIA. U.S.

                                Gillenia.

   The root of Gillenia trifoliata and Gillenia stipulacea.  U. S.
   Indian physic, American ipecacuanha.
   Gillenia.  Sex. Syst. Icosandria Pentagynia. — Nat Ord. Rosaceas.
   Gen.  Ch.  Calyx tubular campanulate, border five-toothed.   Corolla partly
 unequal.  Petals five, lanceolate, attenuated at the base.  Stamens few, included. 
384
Gillenia.
part r.
Styles five.   Capsules five, connate at the base, opening on the inner side, each
two-seeded.  Torrey.
   This genus was separated by Moench from Spiraea.   It is exclusively North
American, and includes only two discovered species—G. trifoliata and G. sti-
pulacea—both of which are recognised in our Pharmacopoeia.
   1. Gillenia trifoliata.  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 many long, slender, brown branches, proceeding
from a thick, tuber-like head.   The stems, several of which usually rise from the
same root, are two or three feet high, 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 con-
taining each one  or two oblong seeds.
   This species of Gillenia grows throughout the United States, east of the Alle-
ghany 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, acuminate, deeply
serrate, resembling leaves, and  marking  the species at the first glance.  The
flowers are smaller than those of G. trifoliata, and grow on long slender pedun-
cles in a lax corymb.
   In the valley of the Mississippi, this plant occupies the place of G. trifoliata,
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 pro-
bably into the States south  of the Ohio, as it has been found in Western  Vir-
ginia.   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 longitudinally,
with occasional transverse fissures, and, in the thicker pieces, presenting in some
places an irregular, undulated, somewhat knotty appearance, arising from inden-
tations 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 disagreeable 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 percepti-
ble in the root.   The bitterness is  extracted by boiling water, which acquires
the red colour of wine.  The root yields its  bitterness also to alcohol.   By
various experimenters, it has been  shown to contain gum, starch, gallo-tannic
acid, fatty matter, wax, resin, colouring matter,  albumen, and lignin, besides
salts.  (Am.  Journ. of Pharm. xxvi. 490.)   The  name of gillenin has  been 
 part i.                 Gillenia.—Glycyrrhiza.                     385

 given, by Mr. W. B. Stanhope,  to  a substance  obtained  by first preparing
 an alcoholic extract, treating this with water, which took up various substances
 with a little of the active matter, then macerating the residue for ten days in
 water acidulated  with  sulphuric  acid, saturating  with magnesia, evaporating
 to dryness, and finally treating with  alcohol,  filtering, and  allowing the  alco-
 holic solution to evaporate  spontaneously.   The  substance thus obtained was
 whitish, very bitter, slightly odorous,  permanent in the air, soluble in water,
 alcohol, ether, and the dilute acids, and neutral to  test-paper.  Nitric acid ren-
 dered it  blood-red, chromic  acid  green.   Tannic acid produced no effect.  It
 gave white precipitates with potassa, subacetate  of lead, and  tartar emetic.
 Half a grain of it produced nausea and retching.  (Ibid, xxviii. 202.)
    Medical Properties and  Uses.   Gillenia is a mild  and  efficient emetic, and,
 like most substances belonging to the same class, occasionally  acts upon the
 bowels.   In very small  doses it has been thought to be tonic.  It is much used
 by some practitioners in the country as a substitute for ipecacuanha, which it is
 said to resemble in its mode of operation.  It was employed by the Indians, and
 became known as an emetic to the colonists at an early period.   Linnasus 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., Dub.

                             Liquorice Root.

    The root of Glycyrrhiza  glabra. U. S., Dub.  Recent and dried root. Bond
    Off. Syn. GLYCYRRHIZvE RADIX.  Root  of  Glycyrrhiza glabra, Ed.
    Bois de reglisse,  Fr.; Siissholzwurzel, Germ.; Liquirizia, Ital.; Regaliza, Span.
    Glycyrrhiza.   Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria. — Nat.  Ord. Leguininosas
 or Fabaceas.
    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 pe-
 rennial 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.
   This 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 Messina and  Palermo in Sicilv.
 It  is also largely produced in the north of Spain, where it  is  an important
 article of commerce.  It is not improbable that a portion of the root from
 Italy and Sicily is the product of G.  echinata, which  grows wild in  Apulia,
 This species is also abundant in the south of Russia, where, according to Hayne,
sufficient extract is prepared from it to supply the whole Russian empire.
  A species of Glycyrrhiza,  G.  lepidota, grows abundantly about St. Louis, in
the State of Missouri, and flourishes along the banks of the Missouri river to if s
source.   It is probably  the same as  the liquorice plant  mentioned  by Mac- 
386
Glycyrrhiza.
part I.
kenzie 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 thick-
ness 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, mingled with a slight degree of acrimony.   It is often worm-
eaten and more or less decayed.  The best pieces are those which have the bright-
est 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 trans-
parent yellow substance, called glycyrrhizin or glycion, of a sweet 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 crys-
tallizable principle, named agedoite 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 prepared glycyrrhizin by
subjecting a strong cold infusion of the root to ebullition, in order to separate
the albumen; then filtering, precipitating with acetic acid, and washing the pre-
cipitate with water to remove any adhering acid.  It may be still further puri-
fied by solution  in absolute alcohol, and evaporation at a very gentle heat. Ac-
cording to Dr. T. Lade, glycyrrhizin,  as it exists in  the root, is rendered soluble
in water by combination with inorganic bases, such  as lime and ammonia, from
which it is separated by the addition of an acid.  From the observations  of Dr.
Lade, it is to be inferred that this principle has no affinity for the acids, but
combines 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.  Gazette, No. 100, from Lie-
big's Annalen,  Aug. 1846.)
  An extract of liquorice root is brought from Spain and Italy, and much used
under the name of liquorice.  (See Extractum Glycyrrhizas.)
   3Iedical 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 decoctiou, either
alone, or combined with other demulcents.  It is frequently employed as an ad-
dition to the decoctions  of acrid or irritating vegetable substances, such, for ex-
ample,  as seneka and mezereon, the acrimony of which it covers, 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.  Perhaps,  however, to this principle may in part
be  ascribed the  therapeutical virtues  of liquorice root in  chronic bronchial dis-
 eases.  The powder is used  in the preparation of pills, either to give due con-
 sistence, or to cover their surface and prevent them from adhering together.
  Off.Prep. ConfectioPiperisNigri;  Confectio Sennas; Confectio Terebinthinas;
Decoctum Guaiaci; Decoctum Hordei Compositum; Decoctum Lini Comp.; De-
 coctum Mezerei; Decoctum Sarsaparillas  Comp.; Electuarium Piperis; Extrac-
 tum Glycyrrhizas; Extractum Sarsaparillas Fluidum; Infusum Lini Compositum;
 Pilulas Ferri Sulphatis; Pil. Hydrargyri; Pil. Saponis Comp.; Syrupus Sarsa-
 parillas Comp.; Tinctura Rhei Comp.                                 W. 
PART I.
Gossypium.
387
                      GOSSYPIUM.  U. S,  Ed.

                                  Cotton.
    A filamentous substance separated from the seeds of Gossypium herbaceum,
 and other species of Gossypium. U S., Ed,
    Coton, Fr.; Baumwolle, Germ.; Cotone, Ital.; Algodon, Span.
    Gossypium.  Sex. Syst  Monadelphia Polyandria. — Nat. Ord. Malvaceas.
    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 sur-
 rounded by a tomentose wool. De Cand,
    In consequence of changes produced in the plants of this genus by cultivation,
 botanists have found great difficulty in determining which are distinct species'
 and which merely varieties.   De Candolle describes thirteen species in his Pro-
 dromus, and mentions six others ;  but considers them all uncertain. Royle de-
 scribes eight and admits others.  Swartz thinks they may all be referred 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 commerce is thought to
 be obtained, is the one indicated by the U.  S. and Ed. Pharmacopoeias.
    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 lanceolate and acute!
 The flowers are pretty, with yellow petals, having a purple spot near the claw.
 1 he 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.   It requires a certain dura-
 tion of warm  weather to perfect its seeds, and, in the United States, cannot be
 cultivated advantageously  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 is employed for making soap and other purposes.  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 substance surrounding the
 seeds.   This when separated constitutes the cotton of commerce.
   Cotton consists of filaments, which,  under the microscope, appear to be flat-
 tened tubes, with occasional joints indicated by transverse lines.  It is without
 smell or taste, insoluble  in water, alcohol, ether, the  oils, and vegetable acids,
 soluble in strong alkaline solutions, and decomposed by the concentrated mineral
 acids.   In chemical  character, it bears a close analogy  to lignin.   By nitric
 acid it is converted into that remarkable explosive  substance denominated gun
 cotton  for an account of which, as well as of a valuable adhesive preparation
 made by dissolving it in ether, the reader is referred to the articles Gun Cotton
 andCollodium.   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.  It is said that air, passed through cotton,
 loses the property of inducing the putrefactive fermentation  in  animal  sub-
 stances.  (Post Med. and S. Journ,, liii. 68, from Gaz. des Hopitaux.)
  Medical Broperties, &c.   Cotton has been used from  time  immemorial for
the  fabrication of cloth ;  but it is only of late that it has entered the catalogue
of  medicines.  It  is chiefly employed  in recent burns and scalds; an  appli- 
388             Gossypium.— Granati Fructus Cortex.         part r.

cation of it adopted 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 ab-
sorption 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 3Ied.  and Surg., Aug.  1840.) Dr.
T. J. Shaw, of Tennessee, thinks it superior, in the treatment of amenorrhasa,
to any other emmenagogue, and equal to  ergot as a parturient, while attended
with less danger.  He uses a tincture made by macerating eight ounces of  the
dried bark of the  root in two pounds of diluted alcohol  for two weeks, and
gives a drachm three or four times a day. (South. Journ, of 3Ied. and Phys.
Sci., iv. 167, from Nashv. Journ. of 3Ied. and Surg, for July,  1855.)
   Cotton seeds have been employed  in our Southern States with great asserted
success in the treatment of intermittents.   In a communication from Prof. H.
R. Frost to the Charleston 3Iedical  Journal for May, 1850, it is stated, on  the
authority of Dr. W.  K. Davis, of Monticello, that this application of the cotton
seed originated with a planter in Newberry District, S. Carolina, who had often
used the remedy in intermittents, and never failed to  effect a cure.  A pint of the
seeds is  boiled in a quart of water to a pint, and a teacupful of the decoction is
given to the patient in bed, an hour or two before the expected return of the chill.
   Off. Prep. Collodium.                                            W.


            GRANATI  FRUCTUS CORTEX.  U.S.

                         Pomegranate Rind.

   The rind of the fruit of Punica Granatum. U. S.
   Off. Syn. GRANATUM.  Punica Granatum.  Rind of the fruit. Bond.

            GRANATI RADICIS  CORTEX.  U S.

                    Bark  of Pomegranate Root.
   The bark of the root of Punica Granatum.  U.  S.
   Off. Syn.  GRANATI RADIX.  Punica Granatum.  The bark of the root
Lond.,  Ed.; PUNICA GRANATUM.  The bark  of the root.  Dub.
   Ecorce de granade, Fr.; Granatapfel-Echalin, Germ.; Malicorio, Scorza del melo-
granati, 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. 
 part I.   Granati FructHs  Cortex.—Granati Radicis Cortex.       389

    Punica Granatum. Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 981;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 531, t.
 190 ; Carson, Illust.  of Med,  Bot. i.  45, pi. 38.   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 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 colouring by cultivation.   Doubts
 have  been entertained as to its original country.  The name of " Punicum ma-
 lum," applied by the  ancients to its fruit,  implies that it was  abundant  at an
 early age  in the vicinity of Carthage.   The fruit, for which the plant is culti-
 vated 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 purpose as the orange.  The rind of the fruit, and the bark of the root
 are the parts indicated in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  The flowers were formerly
 recognised by the Dublin College, and the seeds are officinal in France.
   Bind 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 con-
 tains a large proportion of tannin, and in countries where the tree abounds has
 been employed for tanning leather.
  _ Flowers.  The flowers,  sometimes called  balaustines,  are inodorous, have a
 bitterish, astringent taste,  and  impart a violet-red colour to the saliva.   They
 contain tannic and gallic acids, and were used by the ancients in dying.
   Bark of the Boot  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, colours
 the saliva  yellow when chewed, and leaves  in  the mouth  an astringent taste
 without disagreeable bitterness.  It contains, according to M. Latour de Trie,
 fatty matter,  tannin, gallic acid, a saccharine substance having 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 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.  The inner surface of
the bark,  steeped in water and then rubbed on paper, produces a  yellow stain,
which,  by the  contact of sulphate of iron, is rendered blue, and by that of nitric 
390          Granati Radicis Cortex.—Guaiaci Lignum.      part i.

acid acquires a slight rose tint, which soon vanishes. (Ibid,, xvii. 438.)  These
properties serve to distinguish this bark from those of the box root and barberry,
with which it is said to be  sometimes adulterated.   When  used it should be
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 the
form of decoction is sometimes employed in diarrhoea and colliquative sweats,
and, more frequently, as an injection in leucorrhoea, and as a gargle in sorethroat
in the earlier stages, or after the inflammatory action has in some measure  sub-
sided.  The powdered  rind  has  also been recommended in intermittent fever.
The flowers have the same medical properties, and  are used for the same pur-
poses.   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 tasnia.
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 subsequently effected in Europe; and  there can be no doubt of the occa-
sional 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 administered
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
nauseates and vomits, and usually  purges.  Portions of the worm often come
away soon 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 castor oil,
or an enema.  If not successful on the first trial, it should be repeated daily
for  three or four days,  until the worm is discharged.   It appears to have been
used by the negroes of St. Domingo before its introduction  into Europe.
  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, of the Bind. Decoctum Granati.
  Off. Prep, of the Bark of the Boot. Decoctum Granati Radicis.      W.

            GUAIACI  LIGNUM. U.S., Lond., Ed.

                           Guaiacum  Wood.

  The wood of Guaiacum officinale.  U. S., Lond., Ed,
  Off. Syn. GUAIACUM OFFICINALE. The wood.  Dub.
  Bois de gayac, Fr.; Pockenholz, Germ.; Legno  guaiaco, Ital.;  Guayaco, Span.
  Guaiacum.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Zygophyllaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx  five-cleft,  unequal.  Petals  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 3Ied, 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, varie-
gated with greenish or purplish spots.   The leaves are opposite, and abruptly
pinnate, consisting of two, three,  and sometimes four pairs of leaflets, which are 
PART I.
Guaiaci Lignum.
391
 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.
   G. officinale grows in the West Indies, particularly in Hayti and Jamaica, and
 is found also in the warmer parts of the neighbouring continent.  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 con-
 tribute  to the supplies brought into the market.  The G. sanctum of Linnasus,
 and G.  arboreum of De Candolle, are particularly specified.   The former, how-
 ever, is said by Woodville not to be sufficiently characterized as a distinct spe-
 cies from G. officinale.  Fee states that the wood of 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 Guibourt to  be benzoic acid, by others a resinous exuda-
 tion 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 apothe-
 caries in the state of shavings  or raspings, which they obtain from the turners.
 It is commonly called lignum vitae,  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 cen-
 tral 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 ren-
 dered green by exposure to the air, 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 corrosive sublimate, which, added to
 the shavings,  and slightly heated,  causes a bluish-green colour in the genuine
 wood. (Chem. Gaz., No.  80, Feb.  1846.)   Guaiacum wood is almost without
 smell unless rubbed or heated, 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  percent,  of resin, and 0-8  of a bitter pungent extractive, upon
 both of which, probably, though chiefly on the former, its medicinal virtues de-
 pend. (See Guaiaci Besina.)  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 considered peculiar, and
 named guaiacic acid (acide gayacique).  He obtained it by treating the ex-
 tract with  ether,  evaporating  the liquid, 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 procured the same acid
 from the guaiac of the shops.  (Journ. de Pharm.,  xxvii. 381.)  According to
Jahn, however, this substance is nothing more than benzoic acid, rendered im-
 pure by adhering  volatile oil and resin. (Pharm. Central Blatt, 1843, p. 309.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Guaiacum wood ranks among the stimulant
diaphoretics.  It  is said to  have been introduced to the notice of European prac-
titioners by the natives of  Hispaniola, soon after the discovery of America.  It
was used in Europe so early as 1508, and attained great celebrity as a remedy for
lues venerea; but  more extended experience has proved it to be wholly inadequate
to the cure of that disease; and it is now employed simply to palliate the second-
ary symptoms, or to assist the operation of other and more  efficient  remedies. 
392              Guaiaci Lignum.— Guaiaci Resina.          part i.

It is  thought to be  useful also in chronic  rheumatism  and gout, scrofula,
certain cutaneous eruptions, ozasna, and other protracted diseases  dependent
on a depraved or vitiated  condition of the system.   It is usually exhibited in
decoction, and in combination with other medicines, as in the compound decoc-
tion of sarsaparilla.   As but a small proportion of the guaiac contained in it
is soluble  in water, the probability is that its virtues have been  greatly over-
rated, and that the good  which has followed  its employment resulted rather
from the more active medicines with which it was associated, or from the attend-
ant 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 is directed by the French Codex.
   Off.Prep.  Decoctum Guaiaci; Decoctum Sarsaparillas Compositum; Syrup-
us Sarsaparillas Compositus.                                         W.

                    GUAIACI RESINA.  U.S.

                                Guaiac.

   The concrete juice of Guaiacum officinale.  U S.
   Off. Sign.  GUAIACUM. Resinoid substance prepared from the wood by
heat.  Lond., Ed.  The resin.  Dub.
   Resine de gayac, Fr.; Guajakharz, Germ. ; Resina de guajaco, Ital.; Resina de gua-
yaco, Span.
  For a description of Guaiacum officinale,  see GUAIACI LIGNUM.
   Guaiac  is the concrete juice of this tree.   It is obtained in several different
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 com-
mon 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  impurities are
mixed with the genuine guaiac, so as to give to the mass a diversified appearance.
Sometimes we find it in small roundish homogeneous portions, separate or ag-
glutinated; sometimes in homogeneous masses, prepared by melting and strain-
ing the drug in its impure state.   It is probable that the guaiac, obtained from
the billets in the manner above described, is of uniform consistence
   Properties.   The masses are  of a deep greenish-brown  or dark-olive colour
on  their  external surface, and internally wherever the air could  penetrate.
The predominant hue of those parts not exposed to the air is reddish-brown or
hyacinthine, diversified, however, with shades of various 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 surface, conchoidal or splintery,
with the smaller fragments more or less translucent.   It is readily pulverized;
and the powder, at first of a light-gray colour, becomes green on exposure to the
light.  Its sp. gr. varies from  12 to 1-23  It softens in the mouth, and melts
with a moderate heat.  According to 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  consisting of 16*5 of
lignin, 1 5 of gum, and 2-1 of extractive; but  he must have operated on the 
PART I.
Guaiaci Resina.
393
unstrained guaiac.  An acid discovered by M. Thierry is asserted by Jahn to
be benzoic acid.   Water dissolves a small proportion 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 ex-
ception 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, alkaline solutions,  and sulphuric acid. The solu-
tion in sulphuric  acid is of a rich claret colour, deposits, when diluted with water,
a lilac precipitate, and, when heated, evolves charcoal.  Exposed to air and light,
guaiac absorbs oxygen and becomes  green, and the change takes place rapidly
in the sunshine.  Either in substance or tincture, it gives a blue colour to gluten
and substances containing it, to mucilage of gum Arabic, milk, and  various
freshly cut roots, as the potato, carrot, and horseradish.  The tincture is usually
coloured blue by spirit of nitric ether; and it is similarly changed when treated
successively by dilute hydrocyanic acid,  and solution of sulphate of copper.
   Guaiacin is a name given to the pure resinoid  principle of guaiac.   It is in-
soluble in water, but  is dissolved readily by alcohol, and  less  readily by ether.
It combines 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,  already alluded to, which it undergoes under the influence of  various
reagents.  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 according to
the quantity absorbed.  According to Jahn, guaiac resin consists of three dis-
tinct bodies, viz:  1. a soft resin soluble in ether and ammonia,  and constituting
18-7 per cent; 2. another soft  resin, soluble in  ether, but with difficulty dis-
solved 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 percent, of impurities.
(Pharm.  Cent Blatt, 1843, p. 317.)*
  It will be inferred, from what has been said, that the mineral acids are incom-
patible 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
oil of turpentine.   This liquid dissolves resin, but leaves  pure guaiac untouched.
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.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Guaiac is stimulant and alterative, producing,
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 ipecacuanha  or the anti-
monials, and assisted  by warm drinks, it often excites profuse perspiration;  and

  * By the destructive distillation of guaiac, Unverdorhen obtained two volatile oils ;
one heavier than water, and  variously called pyrogayic acid, gayacol, and hydruret of
gayacyle, the last of which names was given by MM. Pelletier and Deville, who deter-
mined its resemblance  to creasote ;  the other called by Voelkel, who has  particularly
investigated it, gayol, and having an odour which recalls that of bitter almonds. (Journ.
de Pharm. et de Chim., Mai, 1854, p. :'96.)  Ebermayer has  obtained, by the  dry  dis-
tillation of the same resin, a crystallized product which he callspyroguaiacine. (Chem.
Gaz., Oct. 16,1854, p. 386.)—Note to the  eleventh edition. 
39-1                Guaiaci Resina.—LTsematoxylon.            part i.

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 prac-
titioners to be possessed of emmenagogue powers.   The complaint in which it
has been found most beneficial is rheumatism.   In the declining stages of the
acute form of this disease, after due depletion, it is  given in combination with
opium, ipecacuanha, nitre, and the antimonials; and in the chronic form is fre-
quently useful without accompaniment.   It is also advantageously prescribed in
gouty affections, and is occasionally used in  secondary syphilis, scrofulous dis-
eases, and cutaneous 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 amenorrhcea and  dysmenorrheas   Dr.  James Jackson
of Boston, recommends it occasionally as a  laxative, in the dose of a drachm.
(Letters to a Young Physician, p. 291.)
   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 European
Pharmacopoeias direct a soap of guaiac, under the  name of sapo guaiacinus,
to be prepared by diluting the Liquor Potassas 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.   One scruple may be  taken daily in divided doses.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Guaiaci; Pilulas Calomelanos Compositas; Pulvis Aloes
Compositus;  Tinctura Guaiaci; Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata.          W.

                  H.EMATOXYLON.  U.S., Ed.

                              Logwood.
   The wood of Hasmatoxylon Campechianum. U S., Ed.
   Off. Syn.  H^EMATOXYLUM. Hasmatoxylon Campechianum.  The wood.
Lond,, Dub.
   Bois de Campeche, Fr. : Blutholz, Kampeschenholz, Germ.; Legno di Campeeffio,
Ital.: Palo de Campeche, Span.                                         68
  ILematoxylon.  Sex. Syst Decandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Fabaceasor
Leguminosas.
   Gen, Ch.  Calyx five-parted. Petals five.  Capsule lanceolate, one-celled,
two-valved, with the valves boat-form. Willd.
  Hsematoxylon Campechianum.  Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 547 ; Woodv. Med. Bot,
p. 455, t. 163; Carson, Illust: of Med, Bot. i. 33, pi. 25.   This is a tree of mid-
dle size, usually not more than twenty-four feet high, though, under favourable
circumstances, it sometimes rises forty or fifty feet.   The trunk, seldom exceed-
ing twenty inches in  diameter, is often very crooked,  and is covered with a dark
rough bark.   The branches are also crooked, with numerous smaller ramifica-
tions, 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 pin-
nate, 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 become naturalized in Jamaica.   The wood,
which is the part used in medicine,  is a valuable article of commerce,  and largely 
PART I.
Hsematoxyion.—Hedeoma.
395
 employed in dying.  It comes to us in logs, deprived of the sap-wood, and hav-
 ing a blackish-brown colour externally.  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 becoming
 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 pre-
 cipitates  with sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, and acetic acids, alum, sulphate  of
 copper, acetate of lead, and sulphate of iron, striking a bluish-black colour with
 the last-mentioned  salt.  (Thomson's Dispensatory.)   Precipitates  are  also
 produced with it by lime-water and gelatin.   Chevreul found in logwood a vola-
 tile 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, various salts, and a peculiar principle, called hematoxy-
 lin or hematin, on which the colouring properties of the wood depend.   This
 is obtained  by digesting the  aqueous extract in alcohol,  evaporating  the  tinc-
 ture till it thickens, then adding a little water, and submitting the liquid to a new
 but gentle evaporation.   Upon allowing it to rest, hematoxylin  is deposited
 in 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 alco-
 hol and ether. According to Erdman, who obtained hematoxylin by the process
 of Chevreul, substituting ether for alcohol, its crystals, when  quite pure, are yel-
 low without a tinge of redness;  its taste  is sweet like that of liquorice, without
 bitterness or astringency; and it is not of itself 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 Pharm., Se ser., ii. 293.)   It is sometimes found in distinct crystals in the
 crevices of the wood.
   3Iedical  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 also occasionally
 used with advantage in ordinary chronic diarrhoea and chronic dysentery.   It
 may be given  in decoction or extract.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum  Hasmatoxyli; Extractum Hasmatoxyli.        W.

                         HEDEOMA.  U.S.

                              Pennyroyal.

   Herb of Hedeoma pulegioides. U. S.
   This herb, first attached to the genus Melissa, and afterwards to Cunila, is
 at present universally considered by botanists  as belonging to  the Hedeoma of
 Persoon.  It has been very erroneously confounded by some with 3Ientha Pule-
gium, or European  pennyroyal.
   Hedeoma.  Sex. Syst.  Diandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord. Lamiaceas or La-
 biatas.
   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 
 396                   Hedeoma.—Helianthemum.               part i.

 fifteen inches high, with a small, branching, fibrous, yellowish root, and a pubes-
 cent stem, which sends off numerous slender erect branches.  The leaves are op-
 posite, 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, pale-blue, 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, where 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 distillation, 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 property, 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 suppres-
 sion of the menses,  the feet having been previously bathed in warm water.
   Off. Prep.  Oleum  Hedeomas                                       W,


              HELIANTHEMUM.  U. S.  Secondary.

                               Frostwort.
   The herb of Helianthemum Canadense. U. S.
   Helianthemum. Sex.  Syst.  Polyandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord.  Cistaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-leaved, the two  exterior  sepals bract-like, smaller, or
 wanting.  Petals five, rarely three, sometimes abortive.   Stigma capitate, some-
 times subsessile. Capsule triangular, three-valved,  with the'dissepiments in the
 middle of the valves.  Seeds angular.
   Helianthemum Canadense. Michaux, Flor. i. 308; Torrey & Gray, Flor. of
 N. Am. i. Ihl.— Cistus Canadensis.  Willd. Sp.  Plant,  ii. 1199.  The frost-
 wort, frost-weed, or rock rose, as this plant is variously called, is  a herbaceous
 perennial, from  six to eighteen inches high, with a slender, rigid,  pubescent
 stem, oblong, somewhat  lanceolate leaves 'about an inch in length,  and large
 yellow flowers, the calyx and peduncles of  which,  as well as the branches, are
 covered with a white  down.  The flowers which first appear are terminal, few
 or solitary, large, on short peduncles, with erosely emarginate petals about twice
 as long as the calyx.  Later in the season,  or on different plants, other flowers
 appear, very small, axillary, solitary or somewhat clustered, nearly  sessile, some-
 times destitute of petals,  and usually wanting the two outer sepals of the calyx.
 The fruit is a capsule,  smooth and shining, with brown,  scabrous punctate seeds.
Eaton states that, in the months  of November and December, he has seen hun-
 dreds of these plants  sending out, near the roots,  broad, thin, curved ice crys-
 tals, about an  inch in breadth,  which melted in the day,  and were renewed in
the morning.  (Manual of Botany, 1th ed.,  p. 246.)
   Frostwort grows in all parts of the United States, preferring dry sandy soils,
and flowering in June in  the Middle States.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The herb has an astringent, slightly aromatic,
and bitterish taste;  and  appears to possess tonic and astringent properties.
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.  The late Dr. Isaac 
PART I.
Helianthemum.—Helleborus.
397
Parrish, of Philadelphia, informed us that he had employed it with much appa-
rent benefit, as an internal remedy,  in scrofulous  affections of the  eyes.   In a
pamphlet upon the frost-weed, by Dr. D. A. Tyler, published at New Haven, A.
I). 1846, it is stated that H. corymbosum possesses similar properties, and is in-
discriminately employed with H Canadense.  He 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.            W.


                HELLEBORUS.  U. S., Lond.,  Ed.

                           Black Hellebore.

   Root of Helleborus  niger.  U. S.,  Ed,   Rhizoma and root. Lond.
   Ellebore  noire, Fr.; Schwarze Niesswurzel, Germ.; Elleboro nero, Ital.; Heleboro
negro, Span.
   Helleborus.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia. — Nat. Ord, Ranunculaceas.
   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 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 immediately 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, and 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, spread-
ing, and of a white or pale-rose colour, with  occasionally a greenish tinge.
There are two varieties of the plant—humilifolius and altifolius—in the former
of which the leaves are  shorter than in the flower stem, in the latter longer. It is
a native of the mountainous regions of southern and  temperate Europe, and is
found in Greece, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France,  and Spain.  It is  culti-
vated in gardens for the beauty of its flowers, which  expand in  the middle of
winter, and have thus given it the name of Christmas rose.
   Till the publication of Tournefort's travels in the Levant, this plant was re-
garded as identical with the hellebore of 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 ancients writers that the hellebore  abounded, this
traveller discovered a species entirely distinct from those  before described, and
particularly from  H. 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 H.  niger is also found in  some parts of Greece,
it is not impossible that the two plants were indiscriminately used. It is, indeed,
highly probable that they possess similar properties; and a third, H. viridis,
which grows  in the west of Europe, is said to be frequently substituted for H.
niger, which it closely resembles, if it does not equal in medicinal power.   The
roots of various other  plants, not belonging to the same  genus, are said to be 
398
Helleborus.
PART I.
frequently substituted for the  black hellebore.   They may usually be  readily
distinguished by attending to the characters of the genuine root.*
   The medicine of which we are treating is sometimes called melampodium, in
honour of Melampus, an ancient shepherd or physician, who is said to have cured
the daughters of King Prastus 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 por-
tion 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 acrimonious,
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 resinous substance, wax,
a volatile acid, bitter extractive, gum, albumen, gallate  of potassa, supergallate
of lime, a salt of ammonia,  and woody fibre.  Mr.  William Bastick discovered
a peculiar crystalline principle,  which he proposed to call helleborin. It was ob-
tained by diluting with .water a strong tincture of the root, expelling the alco-
hol by heat, filtering to separate the resin, adding  carbonate of potassa in ex-
cess,  and  agitating  the mixture with three or  four times  its volume of ether.
The ethereal solution was separated, and on evaporation yielded the helleborin,
which was purified  by solution in alcohol  and crystallization.   It is in white,
translucent crystals, of a bitter taste with  a tingling effect on the tongue, not
volatilizable,  slightly  soluble in water,  more so in ether and alcohol, and more
readily in these liquids hot than cold.   Though  nitrogenous, it is neither acid
nor alkaline.   It probably exists uncombined in the root.   (Pharm. Journ. and
 Trans., xii. 274.)  Water and  alcohol extract the virtues  of the root, which are
impaired  by long boiling.

  * 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 internally, 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 it 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 for or mixed with the genuine, and
often to be met with in the shops of this country, is  thought to be that of the Actsea
spicata of Europe.  This has been particularly described by Dr. Carson in the Ameri-
can 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 the fibres, and their dense,
woody structure and reddish-brown colour,  contrasted with the thickness, double-
headed form, and sponginess of the genuine caudex,  the close-set, perpendicular posi-
tion of its fibres, and their wrinkled appearance, soft texture, and grayish-brown colour.
The transverse section of fibre of  the Actsea 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. 
PART I.
Helleborus.—Hemidesmus.
399
   3fedical Properties und Uses.  Black hellebore is a drastic hydragogue
cathartic, possessed 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 mania, melancholy, amen-
orrhcea,  dropsy, epilepsy, various cutaneous affections,  and verminose diseases.
By the earlier modern physicians it was also much used.  Bacher's pills, cele-
brated for the cure of dropsy, consisted chiefly of black hellebore.   It is at pre-
sent little employed except as an emmenagogue,  in which capacity it is 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, de-
coction,  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 pre-
pared 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. Brep.  Extractum Hellebori; Tinctura Hellebori.              W.


                        HEMIDESMUS. Dub.

                         Indian Sarsaparilla.
   Hemidesmus Indicus.  The root.  Dub.
   Hemidesmus.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. — Nat. Ord. Asclepiadaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla  rotate.  Filaments connate at the base, not united above,
inserted  into  the tube of the corolla.  Anthers cohering separate from the
stigma, with twenty pollen-masses.   Stigma  flatfish, pointless.
   Hemidesmus Indicus.  R. Brown, Hort Kew.  ii. 75;  Lindley, Flor. Med, p.
543. —Periploca Indica. Willd. Sp. Plant i. 1251.  This is a climbing plant',
with  twining, woody, slender stems, and opposite  petiolate leaves, which are
entire, smooth, shining, and of  a firm  consistence.   The leaves vary much in
size and shape, some being linear and acute, others broad-lanceolate, and others
again oval or ovate.   The flowers are small, green on the outside, purple  within,
and disposed  in axillary racemes.   The calyx is five-parted, with acute  divi-
sions  ; the corolla flat, with oblong, pointed divisions.   The fruit consists  of
two long, slender spreading follicles.
   This plant is common  over the whole  peninsula of Hindostan.  The officinal
portion is the  root, which has long been  used in India as a substitute for sarsa-
parilla.  It is  long, slender, tortuous, cylindrical,  and little branched, consisting
of a ligneous centre, and a brownish, corky bark,  marked with longitudinal fur-
rows  and transverse fissures.  It has an aromatic odour and bitter taste.  Mr.
Garden obtained from it a peculiar volatilizable acid principle, which he  named
smilasperic acid, under  the erroneous  impression that the root was derived
from  Smilax aspera.   Pereira proposed to call it hemidesmic acid.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Indian sarsaparilla is said to be tonic, diuretic,
and alterative.  It was introduced into Great Britain from India, and was em-
ployed for some time under the name of smilax aspera.  It is used for the same
purposes as sarsaparilla.  In some instances it is  said to have proved successful
in syphilis when  that medicine had failed; but it  cannot be relied  on.  The
native practitioners in India are  said to employ it in nephritic complaints, and
in the sore mouth of children.  It is used in the form of infusion or decoction,
made  in the  proportion of two ounces of the root to a pint of water.   A pint 
400                    Hepatica.—Heracleum.                  part I.

may be given, in wineglassful doses, in the course of the day.  A syrup is directed
by the Dublin College ; but it is a weak preparation. (See Syrupus llemidesmi.)
   Off. Prep. Syrupus Hemidesmi.                                    W.

                  HEPATICA.  U S. Secondary.

                               Liverwort.

   The leaves of Hepatica Americana.  U. S.
   Hepatica.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia. — Nat. Ord.  Raimnculaceas,
   Gen.Ch.  Calyx  three-leaved.  Petals six to nine.  Seeds naked. Nuttall.
   Hepatica Americana. De Cand. ; Eaton, 3Ianual of Botany, p. 241.__H.
triloba. Willd. Enum.; Figured in Rafinesque's Med. Flor. i. 238.  Botanists
generally admit but one species  of Hepatica, H.  triloba, and consider as acci-
dental 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 distinct species by
De Candolle, and the latter is the one which has been adopted by the Pharma-
copoeia, and is popularly employed as a medicine in this country, 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 sup-
ported 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 H. acutiloba the leaves are cordate, with from three to five entire, acute lobes;
and the leaflets of the calyx are acute.  In H. 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 aud
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 in Europe in various complaints, especially chronic hepatic
affections ; but has fallen into entire neglect. In this country, some years since,
it acquired considerable popular reputation, which, however, it has not sustained,
as a remedy in haemoptysis and  chronic coughs.  It  may be used in infusion,
and taken ad libitum.    The term liverwort properly belongs  to the cryptoga-
mous genus  Marchantia.                                             W.

                 HERACLEUM.  US.  Secondary.

                            Masterwort.
   The root  of Heracleum lanatum.  U. S.
   Heracleum. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Digynia, — Nat Ord  Apiaceas orUm-
belliferae.
   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 an-
nually a hollow pubescent stem, from three to five feet high, and often more than 
 PART l.           Heracleum.—Heuchera.—Hiruclo.               401

 an inch thick.  The leaves are ternate, downy beneath, 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 cowgparsnep.  It grows in meadows and along
 fences and hedges, from Canada to Pennsylvania, and flowers in June.
   The root, which is the officinal part, bears some resemblance to that  of com-
 mon 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, espe-
 cially when  it is gathered from a damp situation.
   31edical Properties, doc.  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.             W.

                  HEUCHERA. U.S.  Secondary.

                              Alum-root.
   The root of Heuchera Americana. U. S.
   Heuchera. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. — Nat. Ord. Saxifragaceas.
   Gen.Ch.  Calyx five-cleft. Petals five, small.   Capsule bi-rostrate, bi-locular,
 many-seeded. Nuttall.
   Heuchera 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, herba-
 ceous 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, py-
 ramidal, dichotomous panicles.  The calyx is small, with obtuse segments; the
 petals lanceolate, rose-coloured, and of the same length with the calyx;  the fila-
 ments 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, which is officinal, is horizontal, somewhat
 compressed,  knotty, irregular, yellowish, and  of a strongly styptic taste.
   3Iedical 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.
   Sanguisuga medicinalis,  and  S. officinalis. Lond.
   Of. Syn.  HIRUDO  MEDICINALIS. Dub.
  Sangsue, Fr.; Blutegel,  Germ.; Mignatta, Ital; Sauguijuela, Span.
  Hirudo.  Class 1, Annelides.  Order 3, Abranchiatas.  Family 2, Asetigcras.
Cuvier.
  The leech  belongs to that class  of invertebrated articulated  animals called
      20 
402
Hirudo.
PART i.
Annelides.   This class contains the worms with red blood, having soft retractile
bodies composed of numerous segments or rings, breathing generally by means
of branchias, with a nervous system consisting in a double knotted cord, desti-
tute of feet, and supplying their place by the contractile power of their segments
or rings.   The  third order of  this class—Abranchiatse—comprehends  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 setas 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 cartila-
ginous 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 apertures 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 herma-
phrodite, 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 Linnasus into several genera.   The
true leeeh 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 medical purposes, of which the most com-
mon are the gray and the green leech  of Europe, both of which are varieties of
the Hirudo medicinalis of Linnasus;  and the Hirudo decora of this country.
   1. Hirudo medicinalis. Linn. Ed. Gmel. i. 3095.—Sanguisuga officinalis.
Savigny, 3 Ion. Hir. p. 112, t. 5, f. 1.  The green leech.—Sanguisuga medicinalis.
Savigny, 3Ion. Hir.  p. 114,  t,  5, f. 2.  The gray leech.   Many of the best  zoolo-
gists regard the Sanguisuga officinalis and S. medicinalis of Savigny as mere
varieties.   They are both marked with six longitudinal dorsal ferruginous 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 longi-
tudinal black stripes.  In the second it is of a green colour, bordered and mac-
ulated with black.  This leech varies from two to four inches in length.   It in-
habits marshes and running streams,  and is abundant 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, Germany, and Sweden, and  carried in large numbers to

  *  A variety of the leech has recently come into use in Europe, called in commerce
African leeches.  They are of a beautiful light-green colour, varying to a deep-green, and
often inclining to red, with black points on  the back, and broad streaks  of a bright
orange-yellow, which  are  black towards the abdomen.   They correspond perfectly
with the Sanguisuga interrupta of Moquin Tandon.  These leeches draw  very well.
(Pharm. Journ. arid Trans., x. i., from Buchner's  Repertorium, A. D. 1850, p. 376.)—
Note to the ninth edition.                                                 Vvr. 
PART I.
Hirudo.
403
London and Paris.  They are also frequently brought to this country; as the
practitioners 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, Colonel 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 Colonel Long.  Its back
is of a deep pistachio-green colour, with three longitudinal rows of 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 practi-
tioners of New York and Boston are supplied chiefly from abroad.  The leeches
employed 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 practi-
tioner, 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 temperature.   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. Der-
heims  has proposed the following excellent method of preserving 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 covered 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 protected 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 cause 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, f

  * Attempts have recently been made, in France, on a large scale, to propagate leeches
for sale.  This is done by means of natural meadows, in  which numerous small  ponds
are made, where the leeches, with certain precautions as  to nourishment and preserva-
tion, multiply and grow so rapidly as to become a source of profit.  In order that they
may propagate, it is necessary that they should be fed on blood, which is given them
either by causing animals,  as horses, cows, &c, to be driven into the meadows,  or, by
obtaining blood from slaughter houses, and, after depriving it of fibrin by agitation, im-
mersing the animals for a time in it while yet warm.  For very interesting particulars
in relation to this kind of culture, the reader is referred to papers in the Journ. de Pharm.
et de Chim. (Jan. 1854, p. 5, and Mai, 1854, p. 336).—Note to the eleventh edition.  W.
  f M. Soubeiran considers it important that they should be kept in running water, and
has figured an apparatus for this purpbse 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 am-
monia which forms, has sometimes been found a preservative against disease. (Journ.
de Pharm., 3e se'r., x. 186, from Repert. fiir die Pharm., xlii. 367.)
  M. Domine has found the following plan for preserving leeclies most successful.  He 
404
Hirudo.
PART I.
  3Iedical 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 inflammation; 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 after-
wards  with pure water.  If the leech  should 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  desirable 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 untill they are gorged, when they drop off.* The
quantity of blood  which they draw varies with the part to which they are ap-
plied,  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, or diluted wine, 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

selects the greenest moss he can  find,  washes it perfectly clean, and  puts it and the
leeches, also well washed, alternately into a glass vessel of convenient size, taking care
to fill the vessel completely with the loosened  moss, and then to cover it with a piece
of linen. In winter,  it is sufficient merely to introduce the leeches and moss moistened;
but, as soon as warm weather approaches, a little water should be put  at the bottom
of the  vessel.  It is  not necessary to change often in winter; but in summer, the moss
should be renewed nearly every other day, and the vessel should be kept in the cellar.
 (Journ. de Pharm. et de  Chim.,  xvi. 110.)—Note to the ninth edition.            W.
   Mr.  Alfred Allchin has had great success in the preservation of leeches by the use of
 aquaria, in which the natural conditions necessary  for the health of the animal are
 supplied, by introducing a living and growing water plant, to afford oxygen and con-
 sume  carbonic  acid, and water-snails  to consume the  decaying vegetable matter,
 the confervse which grow on the sides of the vessel, and the slimy  matter given off by
 the leeches themselves.  For full particulars in relation to  the structure and manage-
 ment  of these aquaria, the reader is referred to the Am. Journ. of Pharm. (xxviii. 222),
 and the Pharm. Journ. and 1'rans. (xv. 453), in the latter  of which journals the ac-
 count was originally published.—Note  to the eleventh edition.                  W.
   * As a very efficient mode of applying leeches, it is recommended, after having moist-
 ened the skin with  pure warm water, to put the leeches into a tumbler half full of cold
 water, and by an adroit movement invert it upon the part.  The  leeches are  said to
 attach themselves so rapidly that it seems to the patient as though they made but a
 single bite.   When they are all  attached, the glass  is to be carefully removed, the
 water being absorbed, as it runs off on  one side, by a sponge or linen cloths.
   Another method  of increasing the efficiency of leeches, recommended by Dr. C. R.
 Sloan, of Ayr, Scotland, is to cover them with a cupping glass, and, by means of an air-
 pump, moderately exhaust the air over them. An extraordinary increase in their activity
 is  immediately observable.  (Ed. Monthly Journ. of Med. Sci., Aug. 1852, p. 126.) W. 
PART I.
Hirudo.—Hordeum.
405
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 con-
tinued 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.
             HORDEUM.   U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Barley.

The decorticated seeds of Hordeum distichon.  U. S., Lond,,  Ed., Dub.
Orge, Fr. ; Grerstengraupen, Germ.; Orzo, Ital.; Cebada, Span.
Hordeum.  Sex. Syst Triandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Graminaceas.
   * 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 care-
 fully 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 is said that, in the French military hospitals, a  mixture of vinegar
 and water, consisting of  one  part of the former to eight of the latter, is preferred to
 salt water, for preventing disgorgement. (Lond. Med. Times and Gaz., Oct. 1856, p. 375.)
   It has been stated that, if the leeches, after being stripped, be put into water sweet-
 ened  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
 moments, is said by Mr. Boyce to cause them to vomit the blood.  They should after-
 wards be put into clean water, to be changed in half an hour.
   M.  Granat, a French military pharmaceutist, has found the natural process of dis-
 gorging preferable to all others.  He placed some gorged leeches in wooden tubs, con-
 taining at bottom a little clay and water, and renewed the water every forty-eight hours.
 After eight days, the leeches, now  in good  health, were transferred to a pond prepared
 for the purpose, where they propagated.  He put 1000 leeches in the pond, and at the
 end of a year had taken out 850 fit for service, without interfering with the reproduc-
 tion.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e se"r., xx. 186.)                                    \V.
   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 with-
out a  bony basis, pressure may be made by pinching the wound between the fingers. W.
  % An instrument has been invented called the mechanical leech, by which the attempt
has been made to imitate the action of the leech in drawing blood.   It consists essen- 
406
Hordeum.
PART I.
   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 H 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 interior is larger than the other, and terminates in
a long,  rough,  serrated awn or beard.  The seeds are arranged in four rows.
   2. H. 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.
H vulgare is said by Pursh to grow  in some parts of the United States, appa-
rently 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 externally,
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 intimate mixture of vegetable
fibre with gluten and starch, which are very difficultly 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, 115 of albumen, 0-24 of phosphate of lime,
and 7"29 of vegetable fibre; the  remainder 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 germination, of which process the production  of it appears
to be the first step.  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 destroy 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 re-

tially of two  parts, one for making the puncture, and the other for abstracting blood
through the agency  of atmospheric pressure.   In other words, it is a minute cupping
instrument.  Practically, however, it has  not been found so convenient as to supersede
the use of the living leech.  For an account of the instrument, see the Am. Journ. of
the Med. Sciences (xvi. 207).                                             W. 
 part I.                 Hordeum.—Humulus.                     407

 dissolved 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 when concentrated.  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 dextrin  and sugar of grapes.
 The whole  of the starch undergoes  this change, except the  teguments of the
 granules, amounting to about 4 parts in 1000.  The change which barley un-
 dergoes during germination, and in 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 Fourcroy and
 Vauquelin,  an oleaginous substance, sugar, starch, azotized matter, acetic acid,
 phosphates 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 and 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.
   3Iedical  Properties.  Barley is one of the mildest and least irritating of fari-
 naceous 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 time of Hippocrates 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 demul-
 cent and nutritious.  (See Decoctum Hordei.)  The decoction of  malt may be
 prepared by boiling from two to four ounces in a quart of water and straining.
 When hops are added, the decoction takes the name of wort, and acquires tonic
 properties, which  render it  useful in debility, especially when attended with
 suppuration.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Hordei;  Decoctum Hordei Compositum.       W.

                         HUMULUS. U.S.

                                 Hops.

   The strobiles of Humulus Lupulus. U.S.
   Off. Syn.  LUPULUS. Humulus Lupulus.  The amentum. Lond.   The cat-
 kin.  Ed,  HUMULUS  LUPULUS.  The dried strobiles. Dub.
   Houblon, Fr.; Hopfen, Germ.; Luppolo,  Ital.; Lupulo Hombrecillo, Span.
   Humulus.  Sex. Syst.  Dioecia Pentandria.—Nat. Ord.  Urticaceas.
   Gen, Ch.   Male.  Calyx live-leaved.  Corolla none.  Female.  Calyx one-
 leafed, obliquely spreading, entire.  Corolla none.  Styles two. Seed one, within
 a leafy calyx.  Willd.
  Humulus Lupulus.  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 direc-
 tion, from left to right, and climb to a great height.  The leaves are opposite,
and stand upon long footstalks.  The smaller are sometimes cordate; 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. 
408
Humulus.
PART I.
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 sepa-
rate plant, are pale-green, and disposed in solitary, 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 its
base, two small seeds,  surrounded 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 England 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 is the
fruit or  strobiles.  These when fully ripe  are  picked, 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  pro-
perty is dissipated by long boiling.  The  most active part of hops is a substance
formed on the surface of the scales, and,  in the dried fruit,  existing in the state
of very small granules.   This substance was called lupulin by  the late Dr. A.
W. Ives, of New York, by whom its properties were first investigated and made
generally known ; though it was previously noticed by Sir  J. E.  Smith,  of Eng-
land,  and  M. Planche, of  France.   The scales themselves, however,  are not
destitute of virtues, and contain, as shown by MM. Payen and Chevalier, the
same active principles as the lupulin, though in less proportion.*
   Lupulina. U. S., Dub.  Lupulin.   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 pro-
cured 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

   * Hops are often subjected  in Germany to the fumes of burning sulphur, from the
supposition that they keep better when thus treated.  To detect  the consequent pre-
sence of  sulphurous acid, the brewers put  a silver spoon in a mixture of hops and
water, under the impression that it will produce a black stain upon the silver.  But
this test will answer only when applied within a fortnight after the use of the sul-
phur.  A more delicate method is that of Dr. Heidenreich, who puts  20 or 30 cones of
the hops in a flask with zinc and muriatic acid, and passes  the hydrogen evolved
through solution of acetate of lead.  If sulphurous acid is present, sulphuretted hy-
drogen will be  produced, which will occasion a dark precipitate with the solution. But
even this plan often fails when the hops have been kept more  than three or four
weeks.  A modification  of this  test has been proposed by Dr. R. Wagner.  For the
solution of acetate of lead used in Heidenreich's method, there is to be substituted  a
solution of nitroprusside of sodium, so weak as to have a very light brown colour, to
which have been added a few drops of solution of potassa.  If the gas evolved contain
the minutest proportion  of sulphur, a  violet colour will be produced when the first
bubble passes into the solution; and this will by a continuance of the process become
a magnificent purple.  The least trace of sulphurous acid may thus be found ; but,  a
few months after the sulphuring of hops, none at all can be detected. (Chem. Gaz.,
April 1,1856, from Comptes Rendus.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Humulus.
409
vegetables; but, from the investigations of M. Personne, it appears  to be of
the nature of a gland, commencing in a cell formed among those of  the epi-
dermis, and, when fully developed, secreting  a resinous  matter.  (Journ.  de
Pharm. et de Chim., 3e ser., xxvi. 242.)  It is inflammable, and when mode-
rately heated becomes somewhat adhesive.  MM. Chevalier and Payen obtained
from 200 parts, 105 of resin and 25 of a peculiar bitter principle, besides vola-
tile oil, 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.   M. Personne found
in the liquid distilled from  it,  not  only  volatile oil, but also  valerianic acid.
(Ibid., p. 333.)   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 was formerly supposed
to be narcotic, but this is denied by Dr.  Wagner, who gave twenty drops of it
to a rabbit, with no observable effect.  (Chem. Gaz., July 15,  1853.)
   The bitter principle,  which has been named lupulite or lupuline, but ought
to be  called humulin, 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.  When  pure it is yellowish  or  orange-
yellow, inodorous at common temperatures, but of the smell of hops when heat-
ed, of the peculiar bitter taste of hops, partially 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 destitute of nitrogen.   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 tend-
ency to produce sleep and relieve pain, and may be used for these purposes in
cases where opiates, from their disposition to constipate, or other cause, are  in-
admissible.   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 allaying the pain of articular
rheumatism.  Dr. W. Y. Godberry, of Benton, Miss., has found hops efficacious
in intermittents,  and considers them  inferior in antiperiodic powers  only to
quinia.  (West Journ. Med. and Surg.,  March, 1853.)
  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 quan-
tity is too small to produce any decided effect; and this mode of administration
is scarcely ever resorted to.   An infusion prepared with 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.   In intermittents Dr.  Godberry gives, in the interval, a pint of
the infusion made with an ounce of hops.  The extract and tincture are offici-
nal.  (See Extractum Lupuli and Tinctura Humuli.)   A pillow of hops has
proved useful in allaying restlessness and producing sleep in nervous disorders.
They should be moistened with  spirit previously to being placed under the head
of the patient, in order to prevent rustling.  Fomentations with hops, and cata-
plasms made by mixing them with some emollient substance, are often beneficial
in local pains and tumefactions.  An ointment of  the powder with lard is  re-
commended by Mr. Freake as an anodyne application to cancerous sores. 
 410                   Humulus.—Hydrargyrum.                part i.

   The effects of hops may be obtained most conveniently by the use of lupulin.
 Dr. Wm. Byrd Page,  of  Philadelphia, has found this substance very effectual
 as  an  antaphrodisiac, in the treatment of gonorrhoea, spermatorrhoea, and other
 irritated conditions of the genito-urinary apparatus; and the  same result has
 been obtained by other practitioners.   We have found it  apparently effectual in
 irritable bladder, when  other narcotics had failed.  The  dose of lupulin 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 con-
 sistence of a ductile  mass, and then moulding it into the proper shape.  There
 is an officinal tincture.  (See Tinctura Lupulinas.)  Mr. Livermore  proposes
 an  alcoholic extract of lupulin, prepared by exhausting commercial lupulin with
 alcohol by the process of percolation, and exposing the tincture thus formed to
 spontaneous evaporation.   The dose will be about one-third less than that of
 lupulin itself. (Am.  Journ. of Pharm.,  xxv. 294.)  A  fluid extract has also
 been prepared by Professor Procter.*  Lupulin may be incorporated with poul-
 tices, or formed into an ointment with lard, and  used externally for  the same
 purposes as hops.
  Off. Prep, of Hops. Extractum Lupuli; Infusum Humuli; Tinctura Humuli.
  Off. Prep, of Lupulin.  Tinctura Lupulinas.                          W.

          HYDRARGYRUM.  U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Mercury.
  Quicksilver; Mercurius, Lat.; Mercure, Vif argent, Fr.; Quecksilber, Germ.; Mer-
 curio, Ital.; Azogue, Span, and Port.
  Mercury is found pure, forming an amalgam with silver, in the form of proto-
 chloride (native calomel), but most  abundantly as the  bisulphuret, or native
 cinnabar.   Mines of this metal are found at Almaden in Spain, at Idria in Car-
 niola, in the Duchy  of  Deux-ponts, in  Corsica, in the Philippine Islands and
 China, near Huancavelica in Peru, near Azogue in New  Granada, at Durasco
 in Mexico, and at New Almaden, in Santa Clara County, California, about sixty-
 six  miles from San Francisco.  The most ancient  mine is that of Almaden in
 Spain,  which was worked before the Christian era.  This  mine, and the mine in
 California are the most productive at the present day; the Spanish mine yield-
 ing about three millions of pounds,  and the California, two and a quarter mil-
 lions annually. The ore in all the mines mentioned is cinnabar.   The cinnabar
 from old Almaden is of a  dull-red colour  in mass, of a dull  brick-red colour
 when in fine powder, and of the sp. gr. 3-6.  That from  New Almaden is of a
 bright-red colour, slightly inclining to purple,  not so hard as the Spanish ore,
 of a brilliant vermilion colour in powder, and having the sp. gr. 44.  The Cali-
 fornia cinnabar is richer in mercury, because purer, than the Spanish; the former
 yielding about 70,  the latter about 38 per cent, of mercury, according to the
 analyses of Mr. Adam'Bealey.   The California mine had been long known to
 the  Indians, but its  commercial value was  first made known, about  1843, by
a Mexican, named  Castillerp, who became its first  owner.  At present it is in
the  hands of Americans. (See Pharm. Journ.  and Trans, for Feb. 1855; also
a paper by Dr. Ruschenberger,  U.S. N., in the  Am.  Journ.  of Pharm, for
March  1856.)  Dr. Ruschenberger has detected selenium in California cinnabar.

  *  Put four ounces  of  lupulin into a percolator, pour  four fluidounces  of ether
upon it, and afterwards enough alcohol to yield six fluidounces of filtered liquor. Set
this aside, and continue the percolation till ten fluidounces additionally have passed.
 Evaporate  this to tep  fluidounces, mix with the eth real tincture first obtained, and
 by spontaneous evaporation, or at a temperature of 100° F., reduce the mixture to four
 fiuidounoes.  A minim equals a grain of lupulin. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 29.) 
PART I.
Hydrargyrum.
411
   Extraction, &c. Mercury is obtained almost exclusively 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 mix-
 ture  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 sul-
 phur, so as to form sulphuret of calcium and sulphate of lime;  while the mer-
 cury distils over, and is condensed in the receivers.   The other process is prac-
 tised 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 fire-
 place beneath.  In the upper and lateral part of the furnace, holes are made,
 communicating with several rows of aluclels, formed  of adapters passing into
 one another, which  terminate in a small  chamber that  serves both as con-
 denser and receiver.  The mineral, having been picked by hand and  pulverized,
 is kneaded with clay, and formed into small masses, which are placed on the
 floor  of the furnace.  Heat  being applied, the  sulphur undergoes combus-
 tion ; while the mercury< being  volatilized, passes through  the aludels to  be
 condensed in the chamber.  The process pursued at New Almaden is described
 by Dr. Ruschenberger. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., March, 1856.)
   Mercury, as  found in  commerce, is contained  in  cylindrical wrought-iron
 bottles, called flasks, each containing  75 pounds.   Since the regular working
 of the California mine of  New Almaden, the importation of the metal from
 Spain and Austria has gradually diminished, and at present the domestic pro-
 duction is sufficient not only to supply the  home consumption,  but  to give an
 excess for exportation.  The value of American mercury exported was 94,335
 dollars for  the year ending June 30th, 1854, and 806,119 dollars, or more than
 eight-fold, for the next fiscal year.  ( Treasury Beport on the Finances, Wash-
 ington, 1856.)   The exports are  made principally to China, Mexico, Chili,
 and Peru.   The chief uses of the metal  are  in  mining silver and  gold,  in
 preparing vermilion, in  making  thermometers  and  barometers, in  silvering
 looking-glasses, and in forming various pharmaceutical compounds.
   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  is
 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 200.*  It  boils at 662°, and congeals at 39°
 below zero, forming a malleable solid resembling lead.   It  is a good conductor
 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 dis-
 solves it, generating a bisulphate or binitrate of the deutoxide;  with the extri-
 cation, in the former case, of sulphurous acid; in the latter, of nitric oxide becom-
 ing nitrous  acid red fumes.  Its combinations are numerous, and several of them
 constitute important medicines.  It forms two oxides, two regular sulphurets, two
 chlorides, three iodides, and  one cyanuret, all of which, excepting the protosul-

  * Many chemists adopt 100 as the equivalent of mercury,  or half the number
 given in the text.  There are many arguments in favour of the smaller number ; but,
 as the pharmaceutical processes involving this metal are generally explained by the
 use of the larger number, we shall adhere to it for the present.  The use of  the smaller
 number makes a perplexing change in the nomenclature of the mercurial compounds.
 Thus, the black oxide becomes the dioxide, and the  red oxide the  protoxide, instead
 of the deutoxide.  Again,calomel becomes the dichloride, and corrosive sublimate, the
protochloride, instead of the bichloride.—Note to the eleventh edition. 
412
Hydrargyrum.
PART i.
phuret and sesquiodide, are officinal.  Both the oxides are capable of uniting
with acids so as to form salts, of which the binitrate, sulphate, and bisulphate
of the deutoxide are officinal, or enter into officinal compounds.
   Mercury, as it occurs in commerce, is in general sufficiently pure for pharma-
ceutical purposes.  Occasionally it contains foreign metals, 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 intentionally adulterated.
When impure, the metal has a dull  appearance, leaves a trace on white paper,
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 powder.   If
agitated with strong sulphuric  acid, the adulterating  metals  become oxidized
and  dissolved; and thus the mercury may to  a limited  extent 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 pre-
sent.   Bismuth is  discovered by dropping a  nitric solution  of  the mercury,
prepared without heat, into distilled water, when the subnitrate of bismuth will
be precipitated.   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 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 minutes, a pound  of the metal with an
ounce of the  solution of sesquichloride of iron (sp. gr. P48), diluted with an
equal measure of water.  The mercury is thus divided to a very great extent, and
the contaminating metals are separated 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.  (See Hydrargyrum Purum.)
   3Iedical Properties.   Mercury, in its uncombined state, is  inert; but in
combination, it acts as a peculiar and universal stimulant.   When exhibited
in minute division, as it exists in  several preparations, it produces its pecu-
liar  effects;  but this  does  not  prove that the uncombined  metal  is active,
but only that the condition of minute division is favourable  to its solution 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.   In  this place we shall
consider the physiological action of mercury, and  the  principles by which its
administration should  be regulated;  while its effects, as modified in its different
combinations, will be noticed under the head of each preparation.
   Of the modus operandi of mercury we know nothing, except that it probably
acts  through the medium of the circulation,  and that it possesses a peculiar
alterative power over the vital functions, which  enables it in many cases to
subvert  diseased  actions by  substituting its  own.   This alterative 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 ob-
vious 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 of all  the  secretory  functions,  particularly those  of
the salivary glands and the liver, by an exaltation of nervous sensibility, and,
n short, by a general  excitation of the organic actions of the system. 
PART I.
Hydrargyrum.
413
  When mercury acts slowly as an alterative, there is not the least apparent
disturbance of the circulation.  When it operates decidedly and obviously, 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 constituting the condition
denominated ptyalism or salivation.   Under these  circumstances the effects of
depletion and revulsion are added to the alterative action of the metal, forming
a combined impression, applicable to  the  removal  of many chronic inflamma-
tions.  In the saliva discharged as a consequence of its action, mercury has been
detected by chemical tests.  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 circumstance may be held equally  conclusive  of the constitu-
tional 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.  It has, indeed, been detected in most of the solids and fluids
of  the body,  including the blood.   When in the blood it cannot be detected by
the ordinary tests, on account  of its intimate union with the organic matter of
that  liquid.   To discover it, the blood must be subjected to destructive distil-
lation.  The liver is the organ which retains mercury the longest.  It has been
detected in that viscus, though absent in the lungs, heart, bile, and spinal mar-
row, in the body of a person who had long worked in mercury, but had desisted
from the occupation for a year before death,  on account of the occurrence of
mercurial cachexy.
   Mercury has been used in almost every disease, but too often empirically, and
without the  guidance of any recognised therapeutic principle.  Nevertheless, 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 slow,
alterative effect, without affecting the mouth.   In these cases no decided disturb-
ance of the vital functions takes place; but the alvine discharges, if clay-coloured,
are generally restored to their  natural hue, a certain proof that the remedy is
stimulating the liver, and promoting the secretion 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  ob-
structed as in jaundice, or pouring out a redundancy of morbid bile as in melasna,
its judicious  use seems equally efficacious in unloading the viscus, and restoring
its secretion  to a healthy state.  In the acute and chronic hepatitis of India it
is considered as almost a specific; but here its use must be  generally preceded by
bleeding, and carried to the extent of exciting ptyalism.   In chronic inflamma-
tion 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, as
well by promoting absorption as by removing the chronic inflammation on which
the effusion depends.   Hence it is often given with  advantage in chronic forms
of  meningitis, bronchitis, pleuritis, pneumonia, dysentery,  rheumatism, &c, and
in  hydrocephalus, hydrothorax, 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 particular
stage  of its course is marked by a parched tongue, torpor of the bowels, scanty
urine,  and dryness of the surface.  Here depletion by the lancet or leeches is
often inadmissible, and the measure most to be relied on is  the judicious employ-
ment of mercury.   It acts in such cases by increasing the  secretions and stimu-
lating the  exhalant capillaries, and,  perhaps, by producing a new impression,
incompatible with the disease. 
414
Hydrargyrum.
PART I.
   In syphilitic affections, mercury, until of late years, was held to be indispen-
 sable.  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 into the question of the necessity of mercury in venereal com-
 plaints, we are free to admit that the discussion which has grown out of it has
 shown that this remedy has frequently been unnecessarily resorted to in affec-
 tions resembling syphilis,  though of a different character;  and that the disease
 in question  ought to be treated less empirically, and more in accordance with
 the  general principles of combating morbid action.  Mercury exerts a peculiar
 control over the deleterious 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
 slow alterative  effects of the metal, from half a grain to  a  grain 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, two or three 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 sensation 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 mer-
 curial 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 exces-
 sively painful; the tongue is  coated with  a thick whitish fur; and the saliva
 flows m streams from the mouth.   It occasionally happens  that the affection
 of the  mouth proceeds to a dangerous extent, inducing extensive  ulceration,
 gangrene, and even  hemorrhage.   The best remedies are astringent and deter-
 gent gargles, used weak at 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 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 cura-
 tive  influence on the  ulcerated surfaces.  A wash of nitrate of  silver, made  by
 dissolving eight grains in a fluidounce of water, has also been  used with benefit.
  While the system is under  the action of mercury,  the blood is more watery
 than in health, 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 mer-
cury; but occasionally, in peculiar constitutions, its operation is quite different,
 being productive of a dangerous disturbance of the vital functions.   The late
Mr.  Pearson gave a detailed account of this occasional peculiarity in the ope-
ration of _ mercury, in his work on the venereal disease.  The symptoms which
characterize it are a small and frequent pulse, anxiety  about the prascordia, pale
and  contracted countenance, great nervous agitation, and alarming debility.
Their appearance is the signal for discontinuing the mercury; as a further per-
severance  with it might be attended  with fatal consequences.   Mercury also pro-
duces a peculiar eruption of the skin, which is described by writers under the
various names of hydrargyria, eczema mercuriale, and lepra mercurialis.
  those who woi-k in mercury, and are, therefore, exposed to its vapour, such 
PART I.
Hydrargyrum.
415
as water-gilders, looking-glass silverers, and quicksilver miners, are injured seri-
ously in their health, and not unfrequently affected with shaking palsy, attended
with vertigo and other cerebral disorders.   The miners are often  salivated.
  Mercury is sometimes given in the metallic state, in the quantity of a pound
or two,  in obstruction of the bowels, to act by its weight:  but the practice is
of doubtful advantage.
  Mercury is detected with great  delicacy  by Smithson's  process, which con-
consists in the use of a plate of tin, lined with one  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 consequently con-
tracts a white stain.  In order to be sure that the  stain is caused by mercury,
the  metal must be volatilized in a small tube, so"as to obtain a characteristic
globule.  MM.  Danger and  Flandin have improved on Smithson's process.
(See Chem. Gaz., No. 61, p.  191.)   A minute portion  of any of the prepara-
tions of mercury, either in the solid state  or in concentrated solution, being
placed ona bright plate of copper, and a drop of a strong solution  of iodide
of potassium added, a silvery characteristic  stain will immediately appear on
the  copper.  (Arthur  Morgan, of Dublin.)
  Pharmaceutical Preparations.   Mercury is officinal:—
     I.  IN  THE METALLIC STATE.
            Hydrargyrum, U. S., Bond,, Ed., Dub.
             Hydrargyrum  Purum, Dub.
             Emplastrum Hydrargyri, U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.
             Emplastrum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro, U.S., Lond., Dub.;
                  Emplastrum Ammoniaci et Hydrargyri, Ed,
             Hydrargyrum cum Creta, U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.
             Hydrargyrum cum Magnesia, Dub.
             Pilulas  Hydrargyri, U. S., Ed, Dub.;  Pilula  Hydrargyri, Lond.
               Blue pill.
             Unguentum Hydrargyri, U.S., Bond., Ed.,  Dub.  Mercurial
                 ointment
               Ceratum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond.
               Linimentum Hydrargyri, Lond.;  Linimentum Hydrargyri
                 Compositum, Dub.
     II.  Protoxidized.
           Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum, U. S.
    III.  Deutoxidized.
           Hydrargyri  Oxidum Rubrum,  U. S., Ed;  Hydrargyri  Nitrico-
                 oxidum, Lond.;  Hydrargyri Oxydum Rubrum, Dub.  Bed
                 precipitate.
            Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri, U. S.; Unguentum Hydrar-
                 gyri  Nitrico-oxidi, Lond,; Unguentum  Oxidi  Hydrargyri,
                 Ed.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxydi Rubri, Dub.
    IV.  Sulphuretted.
           Hydrargyri Sulphuretum Nigrum, U  S.    Ethiops mineral
           Hydrargyri  Sulphuretum Rubrum, U.S.;  Hydrargyri Bisulphu-
                 retum, Lond.; Cinnabaris, Ed.   Cinnabar.
     V.  As protochloride.
          Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite, U. S; Hydrargyri Chloridum, Lond.;
                 Calomelas, Ed, Dub.  Calomel.
            Pilulas  Calomelanos Composites, Ed.,Dub.;  Pilula Hydrargyri
                 Chloridi Composita, Lond,
            Pilulas  Calomelanos et Opii, Ed.
            Pilulas  Catharticas Composita;, U. S.
            Pilulas  Hydrargyri Chloridi Mitis, U. S. 
■H6              Hydrargyrum.—Hyoscy ami Folia.           parti.
    VI.  As bichloride.
           Hydrargyri Chloridum Corrosivum, U.S.; Hydrargyri Bichlori-
                 dum,  Lond.;  Sublimates Corrosivus,  Ed.; Sublimatum
                 Corrosivum, Dub.  Corrosive sublimate.
             Liquor Hydrargyri Bichloridi, Lond.
             Hydrargyrum  Ammoniatum, U. S.;   Hydrargyri  Ammonio-
                 chloridum, Lond., Dub.; Hydrargyri Precipitatum Album,
                 Ed. White precipitate.
               Unguentum Hydrargyri Ammoniati, U S.; Unguentum Hv-
                 drargyri Ammonio-chloridi, Lond.; UnguentumPrecipitati
                 Albi, Ed.
               Unguentum Sulpburis Compositum,  U S.
   YII.  Combined with iodine.
           Hydrargyri Iodidum, U.S., Lond.;  Hydrargyri Iodidum Yiride,
               Dub.
             Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond.
           Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum, U.S., Dub.   Hydrargyri  Biniodi-
                 dum, Ed.
             Liquor Arsenici et Hydrargyri Iodidi, U S.; Arsenici et Hydrar-
                 gyri Hydriodatis Liquor, Dub.  Donovan's solution.
             Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi Rubri, Dub.
   VIII.  Combined with cyanogen.
           Hydrargyri Cyanuretum, U S.
    IX.  Oxidized and combined with acids.
           Hydrargyri Pernitratis Liquor, Dub.
           Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, U S., Lond.; Unguentum Citri-
                 num, Ed,;  Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, vel Unguen-
                 tum Citrinum, Dub.   Citrine ointment.
             Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis Mitius, Lond.
           Hydrargyri Sulphas, Dub.
           Hydrargyri Sulphas Flavus, U S.  Turpeth mineral.      B.


                 HYOSCY AMI  FOLIA.  U. S.

                         Henbane  Leaves.

   The leaves of Hyoscyamus niger. U S.
   Off. Syn.  HYOSCYAMUS.  The recent and dried cauline leaves of the
biennial herb. Lond.   The leaves. Ed., Dub.


                 HYOSCY AMI  SEMEN.   U.S.

                           Henbane Seed.
   The seeds of Hyoscyamus niger. U. S.
   Jusquiame noire, Fr. ; Schwarzes Bilsenkraut, Germ.; Giusquiamo nero, Ital.; Beleno,
span.                                                      '    '
   Hyoscyamus. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord. Solanaceas.
   Gen.Ui. Corolla funnel-form, obtuse. Stan tens inclined. Capsules covered
with a lid, two-celled. Willd.
   Hyoscyamus niger.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1010; Woodv Med Bot p 204, t,
76; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. ii. 19,  pi. 66.  Henbane is usually a biennial
plant, with a long, tapering, whitish, fleshy, somewhat branching root, not unlike
that of parsley, for which it has been eaten by mistake.  The stem which rises 
 part I.         Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoseyami Semen.             417

 in the second year, is erect, round, branching, from one to four feet high, and
 thickly furnished with leaves.   These are large, oblong-ovate, deeply sinuated
 with pointed segments, undulated, 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  terminate  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 ob-
 scure yellow, beautifully variegated with  purple veins.   The fruit is a globular
 two-celled capsule, covered with a lid, invested with the persistent  calyx, and
 containing numerous small seeds, which are discharged by the horizontal sepa-
 ration of the lid.  The whole plant has a rank offensive smell.
    H. niger is susceptible of considerable diversity of character, causing varieties
 which have by some been considered as  distinct species.  Thus, the plant  is
 sometimes annual, the stem simple,  smaller,  and  less downy than in the bien-
 nial plant, the leaves  more deeply incised and less hairy and  viscid, and the
 flowers often yellpw without the purple streaks.  It is not  known whether any
 difference of medical properties is connected with these  diversities of character;
 but the London College directs the biennial variety.
    The plant is found in the northern and eastern sections of the United States,
 occupying waste grounds in the older settlements,  particularly graveyards, old
 gardens, and the foundations of ruined houses. It grows in great abundance
 about Detroit, in Michigan.   It is not, however, a native of this country, hav-
 ing been introduced  from Europe.   In Great Britain, and on the continent of
 Europe, it grows abundantly along the roads, around villages, amidst rubbish,
 and in uncultivated  places.  Both varieties are cultivated in England.   The
 annual plant flowers in July or August, the biennial in May or June.
   H. albus, so named from  the whiteness of its flowers, is used in  France in-
 discriminately with the former species, with which it appears to be identical in
 medicinal properties.
   All parts of  Hyoscyamus niger  are active.  The  leaves are usually  em-
 ployed, but both  these and the seeds are recognised in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
 Much of the efficacy of henbane depends upon the time at which it is gathered.
 The leaves should be collected soon after the plant  has  flowered.  In the bien-
 nial plant, those of the second year are preferred to  those  of the first.  The
 latter, according to Dr. Houlton,  are less clammy and fetid, yield less  extrac-
 tive, and are medicinally much  less efficient.   It is said  that the plant is some-
 times destroyed by severe winters in England, and that no leaves of the second
 year's growth are obtainable.   This is, perhaps, one of the  causes of the great
 uncertainty of the medicine as found in the shops.   The root also is  said to be
 much more poisonous in the second year than in 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 extracted by
 diluted alcohol.  The watery infusion is of a pale-yellow colour, insipid, with
 the narcotic odour of  the plant.  The leaves were 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.   Ana-
lyzed by Brandes, they yielded 24-2 per cent,  of fixed oil, 1-4 of a solid fatty
substance, traces  of sugar, 12 of gum, 2-4 of bassorin,  1-5  of starch, 3*4 of a
       27 
418             Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen.          part i.

substance soluble in water, insoluble in  alcohol, and precipitated by infusion of
galls (phyteumaeolla, Brandes), 4\5  of albumen, 26-0 of vegetable fibre, 241
of water, and 9-7 of salts, including the malate of an alkaline principle called
hyoscyamin or hyoscyamia.  But the process employed by Brandes for separat-
ing this principle has not succeeded in other hands; and it is  doubtful whether
the substance obtained by him  was really what he supposed it 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 difficult, in consequence
of its tendency to undergo change by the contact of  alkaline solutions, which
render it very soluble in water.   The following is  the process of these chemists.
The seeds are macerated in alcohol; the tincture  obtained is evaporated by a
very gentle heat,  decolorized by  repeated additions of  lime and sulphuric acid,
with filtration after each addition, and then still further concentrated by evapo-
ration ; 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 evapo-
rated 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, is inodorous,
of an acrid disagreeable taste, slightly soluble in  water, very soluble in  alcohol
and ether, and volatilizable with  little change if carefully distilled.  It is  quickly
altered by contact with water and an alkali, and  when heated with potassa  or
soda is completely decomposed,  with the disengagement of ammonia.   It neu-
tralizes the acids, forming crystallizable salts, and is precipitated by infusion of
galls.  The alkaloid and its salts are very poisonous ; and the smallest quantity,
introduced into the eye, produces dilatation of the pupil, which continuesdong.
  Henbane leaves yield, by destructive  distillation, a very poisonous empyreu-
matic oil.
  3Iedical 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, difficult deglutition, delirious intoxication or stupor, sometimes
tonic spasms, convulsions, paralysis, pain  in  the bowels, diarrhoea, excitement
of the  circulation, followed by great feebleness of  the pulse, coldness of the sur-
face, petechias,  and other  alarming symptoms, which  sometimes end in death.
Dissection exhibits marks of inflammation of the stomach and bowels.  The
poisonons effects  are to be counteracted in the same manner as those of opium.
All parts of H niger are  deleterious when largely taken; but the seeds are said
to be most powerful.  Upon inferior animals its effects are not always the same.
Though 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 medi-
cine was known to the ancients, and was employed by some of the earlier modern
practitioners; but had fallen  into disuse, and was  almost forgotten,  when Baron 
 parti.         Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen.             419

 Storck again introduced it into notice.  By this physician and some of his suc-
 cessors it was prescribed in numerous diseases, and, if we may credit their tes-
 timony, with the happiest effects; but  subsequent 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.  Hyoscyamus 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 in which circum-
 stances might not be such as to call for its employment.   Neuralgic and spas-
 modic  affections, rheumatism, gout,  hysteria, and various pectoral diseases, 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 cathartics,
 the disagreeable effects  of  which it is thought to counteract.  -The Edinburgh
 pids 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 scrof-
 ulous  or cancerous ulcers, scirrhous, hemorrhoidal, 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.
 Henbane is used by European oculists for dilating the pupil, previously to the
 operation for cataract.   For this  purpose an infusion of the leaves,  or a solu-
 tion of the extract, is dropped into the eye.   The effect is usually greatest  at
 the end of four hours from the application, and in twelve hours ceases entirely.
 Vision is not impaired during its continuance.   Reisinger recommends a solu-
 tion of hyoscyamia 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 live to ten grains, of the seeds somewhat smaller.  The
 common extract, or inspissated juice of the fresh leaves (Extractum Hyoscyami,
 U. S.), is exceedingly variable in its operation, being sometimes active, some-
 times almost inert.  The usual dose is two or three grains, repeated and gradually
 increased till its effects are obtained.  Cullen rarely procured its anodyne opera-
 tion till he had carried the dose to eight, ten, or even fifteen or twenty grains.
 Collins pushed it to thirty-six  grains ; and Professor Fouquier, who experiment-
 ed largely with hyoscyamus in the Hopital de la Charite, gave two hundred and
 fifty grains of the extract during twenty-four hours, without any specific or cura-
 tive impression. (Richard, Elem. Hist. Nat. Med.)  The  alcoholic extract pre-
 pared from the recently dried leaves (Extractum Hyoscyami Alcoholicum, U. S.)
 is said to be more certain.  The dose of this to begin with is one or two grains,
 which  may be increased gradually to twenty or thirty grains.   The dose of the
 tincture is one or two fluidrachms.  A fluid extract is recommended by Mr. C.
 A. Smith, of Cincinnati, prepared in the usual method with alcohol and sugar,
 and of  such strength that a fluidrachm shall represent from four to six grains
 of the extract.  (Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxv. 410.)  A good plan in  admin-
istering any of the preparations is  to repeat the dose every hour or two till its
influence is felt.
   Off.  Prep.  Extractum Hyoscyami;  Extractum  Hyoscyami AlcohobVum ;
Tinctura Hyoscyami.                                                 -y\r_ 
420
Lchthyocolla.
part i.
                      ICHTHYOCOLLA.  U.S.

                               Isinglass.

  The swimming bladder of Acipenser Huso, and other species of Acipenser.
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 swim-
ming bladders  of fishes, especially those of different species of sturgeon.  Though
no longer retained by the British Colleges in their officinal catalogues, it still
has a place in  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and  is universally kept in the shops.
  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 swimming bladder.   It is of different 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 procured;
but three others, the A. Buthenus, 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 numbers are an-
nually 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 sepa-
rate the  blood, fat, and adhering extraneous membranes, are spread out, and
when sufficiently stiffened are formed into cylindrical 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 isin-
glass.   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 surpassed by any brought to this country.   It is remarkable for its beauti-
ful 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 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 commerce by the name of Samo-
vey 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.
   Isinglass, little inferior to the Russian, is made in Iceland  from the sounds
of the cod and ling.
   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 
  part I.                       Iehthyocolla.                           421

  end, bifid with the remains of their pneumatic  duct at the other, and of a firm
  consistence.  'The Brazilian isinglass is inferior to the Russian.
    Considerable quantities are manufactured in New England from the intestines
  of the cod, 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 it retains a fishy taste and odour, which render it unfit
  for culinary or medicinal purposes.
    Isinglass of a good quality has  also been made in New York from the sounds
  of the weak fish— Otolithus regal is of Cuvier (Storer, Bep. on Fishes of3Iass.,
  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, weigh-
  ing from a drachm 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
  papers by I). B. Smith, in the 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.
    Properties.  In its purest form it is whitish, semi-transparent, of a shining,
  pearly appearance,  and destitute  of smell and taste.  The inferior kinds are yel-
  lowish and more opaque.  In cold water it softens, swells up, and becomes opa-
  lescent.   Boiling water entirely  dissolves  it,  with the  exception of  a minute
  proportion of impurities, amounting, according to Mr. Hatchet, to less than two
  per cent.   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 principle is required
 as a test.   It is insoluble  in alcohol, but is  dissolved  readily by most of the
 diluted acids, and by alkaline solutions.  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.
   An  ingenious adulteration of isinglass has been practised in London, appa-
 rently by rolling a layer of gelatin between two layers of the genuine substance.
 This may be detected by the disagreeable odour and taste of the adulterated drug,
 and the effects of water upon it.   Genuine isinglass, cut iuto shreds and treated
 with water, becomes opalescent and more opacpie than before;  while the shreds,
 though they soften and swell, remain  unbroken, and, when examined by the
 microscope, are  seen to  be decidedly fibrous.   Gelatin, on the contrary, when
 similarly treated, becomes more transparent than before; the shreds are distin-
 tegratecl, and the structure appears amorphous under the microscope.   In the
 adulterated article,  both these characters are presented  in layers  more or less
 distinct.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ix. 505.)
   A false isinglass has been imported into England from Para, in Brazil, con-
 sisting of the dried ovary of a large fish.   It has  somewhat the form of a bunch
 of grapes, consisting of ovoid or  roundish masses, attached by a footstalk  to a
central axis.  It is not gelatinous, and is unfit for the purposes to which  isinglass
is applied.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxv.  144.) 
422
Ichthyocolla.—Inula.
PART I.
  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 made from calves-feet.   Three
drachms impart sufficient  consistency to a pint of water.   It is  employed for
clarifying  liquors,  and imparting lustre  to various woven fabrics.   Added in
small quantities to vegetable jellies, it gives them a tremulous appearance, 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 Encglish court-plaster.                                        W.


                INULA. U. S.  Secondary, Lond.

                              Elecampane.

  The root of  Inula Helenium. U. S., Lond.
  Aunee, Fr.;  Alantwurzel, Germ. ; Enula campana, Ital., Span.
  Inula.  Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua. — Nat. Ord. Compositas-Asteroidese,
De Cand.  Asteraceas,  Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Beceptacle 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 culti-
vated 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 their
 second year.   When older they are apt to be stringy and woody.
   The fresh root of  elecampane is very thick and branched, having whitish
 cylindrical ramifications, furnished with thread-like fibres.  It is  externally
 brown, internally whitish and fleshy; and the  transverse  sections present radi-
 ating 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 aromatic.   The taste,
 at  first glutinous, and compared to 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 impregnated with its bitterness and
 pungency.  A peculiar principle, resembling  starch, was discovered in elecam-
 pane 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 colpur with iodine.  It has
 been found in  the roots of several other  plants.  It may be obtained white and
 pure by precipitating  a concentrated decoction with  twice its volume of alcohol,
 dissolving the precipitate in a little distilled water, treating the solution with 
PART I.
Inula.—Iodinium.
423
purified animal charcoal, and again precipitating with  alcohol.   (See  Am.
Journ, of Pharm. xxvii. 69.)   Besides this  principle, elecampane contains,
according to John, a white, concrete substance, called helenin, intermediate in
its properties between the essential oils and camphor, and separable  by distilla-
tion 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.  If water be
added  to a tincture made by boiling the fresh root in alcohol, the liquid becomes
turbid, and, in twenty-four hours, long white crystals of pure helenin are formed,
leaving very little in solution. (Archiv.  der Pharm., Ix. 30.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Elecampane is  tonic and gently  stimulant,
and has been supposed to possess diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, and emmen-
agogue properties.  By the ancients it was much employed, especially in the
complaints peculiar to females; and it is still occasionally resorted to in amen-
orrhcea.  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 en-
gorgements 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 ex-
ternal remedy in tetter, psora, and other  diseases of the skin.   The usual modes
of administration are in powder and decoction.  The dose of the powder 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.                                       W.

                  IODINIUM. U.S., Lond.,  Dub.

                                 Iodine.

   Off. Syn. IODINEUM.  Ed,
   lode, Fr.; Jod, Germ.; Iodina, Ital., Span.
   Iodine is a non-metallic element, discovered in 1812 by Courtois, a soda ma-
nufacturer of Paris.  It exists  in certain marine vegetables, particularly the
fuci or common sea weeds, which are its  most abundant  natural source.   It
has been detected in some fresh-water plants, among which are the water-cress,
brooklime, and fine-leaved water-hemlock; also in the ashes of tobacco,  and of
Honduras sarsaparilla. (Ghatin.)  It has also been found in the beet-root of
the Grand Duchy of Baden. (Lamy.)   M. Chatin announced the presence of
iodine  in the atmosphere and in rain-water; but the negative experimental re-
sults of Dr. S. Macadam of Edinburgh, of Dr. Lohmeyer of  Gottingen, and
of M.  S. De Luca of Paris, throw doubts on  the  experiments of M. Chatin,
who is supposed to have been misled by the use of  reagents containing  iodine.
Nevertheless, M. Chatin, in answer to the two chemists first named, reasserts
the correctness of his  results.  Dr. Macadam  subsequently  found a trace  of
iodine  in  100 gallons of water, used for domestic  purposes  in  Edinburgh, in
several of the domestic animals, and in man.   He also detected it in potatoes,
beans, peas, wheat, barley, and oats. (Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., Nov. 1854,
p. 235.)   Iodine is also found in the animal kingdom, as in the sponge, the
oyster, various polypi, cod-liver oil, and eggs;  and in the mineral kingdom, in
sea-water  in  minute  quantity, in certain salt  springs, as iodide of silver in a
rare Mexican mineral,'in a zinc ore of Silesia, in native nitrate of soda,  and in
some kinds of rock salt.  It has been detected by M. Genteles in the  aluminous
schists of Sweden, by  Prof. Sigwart in  bituminous  slate, by M. Lembert  in 
424
Iodinium.
PART i.
 limestone rocks, and by M. Bussy and M.  Duflos  in coal.  M. Bussy has re-
 cently obtained iodine, in the proportion of one part in five thousand, from the
 coal-gas liquor of the gas works of Paris.   It was first discovered in the United
 States in the water of the Congress Spring,  at Saratoga, by Dr. William Usher.
 It was 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 different countries, sea-weeds  are
 burned for the sake of their ashes; the product being a dark-coloured fused mass
 called kelp.  This substance, besides carbonate of soda  and iodide of sodium
 contains 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.)  According to Dr. Geo. Kemp,
 the  laminarian species, especially Laminaria digitate, L. saccharina, and L.
 bulbosa,  which are  deep-water sea-weeds and  contain  more  potassium  than
 sodium, are particularly rich in iodine.  In  a paper on the extraction of iodine
 from sea-weeds, Dr. Kemp makes  many useful suggestions, having chiefly in
 view the prevention of the waste of the element, which takes place in the  ordi-
 nary kelp process. (Chem. Gaz., July 1, 1850.)
   Preparation.   Iodine  is obtained from kelp, and in Great Britain is manu-
 factured  chiefly at 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 nearly all the salts,
 except iodide of sodium, are separated, they being less soluble than the iodide.
 The remaining liquor, which is dense and dark-coloured, is made very sour by
 sulphuric acid, which causes the evolution of carbonic acid, sulphuretted hydro-
 gen, and sulphurous acid, and  the  deposition of sulphur.   The liquor is then
 introduced into a leaden  still, and distilled with  deutoxide of manganese into a
 series of  glass receivers, inserted into one another, in which the  iodine is con-
 densed.   In this  process the  iodide of sodium is decomposed, and the iodine
 evolved;  and the  sulphuric acid, deutoxide of manganese, and  sodium unite,
 so as to form 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
 peculiar odour, somewhat resembling that of  chlorine, and a  hot acrid taste.
 Applied to the skin it produces a  yellow stain, which  soon disappears.   Its
_sp. gr. is 4-9.   It  is a volatile substance, and evaporates even at common tem-
 peratures.  When  heated it volatilizes more  rapidly, and, when the temperature
 reaches 225°, it melts and rises in a rich purple vapour, a  property which sug-
 gested its name.   Its vapour  has the sp. gr. 8'7, being 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 freely soluble  in  alcohol and ether, but requires
 7000 times its weight of  water to dissolve  it.   If water stands on iodine for
 some time, especially in a strong light, it apparently dissolves more iodine; but
 the result depends upon the formation of hydriodic acid, in a solution of which
 iodine is  more soluble than in water.   The  solution of iodine 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 potas-
 sium; and the same effect is produced, to some extent, bv tannic  acid.  Its so-
 lution in tannic acid is called iodo-lannin, of which MM. Socquet and Guiller-
 mond make a syrup for internal, and an aqueous solution for external use.  For 
PART I.
Iodinium,.
425
 the formulas, see the B.  and F. Medico-Chir. Bev., July,  1854, p. 181.   It is
 also soluble in glycerin,  as ascertained by M. Cap, in 1854.  In chemical habi-
 tudes iodine resembles chlorine, but its affinities are weaker.  Its eq. is 126-3,
 and symbol I.   It  combines with most of the non-metallic, and nearly all the
■ m«tallic elements, forming a 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, and with hydrogen, a gaseous acid, called  hydriodic acid.
    Tests, die.  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 in combination, as it always is  in the animal fluids, a little nitric acid,
 free from iodine, must be added to the solution suspected to contain it.   Thus,
 in testing urine for iodine, the  secretion is  mixed with  starch, and acidulated
 with a drop or two of nitric acid; when,  if iodine be  present, the colour  pro-
 duced will vary  from a  light purple to  a deep  indigo blue, according to  the
 amount of the element present.   Sometimes, in mineral waters,  the proportion
 of iodine is so minute, that the starch test, in  connexion with nitric acid, gives
 a doubtful coloration.   In such cases, Liebig  recommends  the additionto the
 water of a -very  small quantity of iodate of potassa, followed by a little starch
 and muriatic acid.  Assuming the iodine  to  be  present as hydriodic acid,  the
 liberated iodic acid  sets free the iodine of the mineral water, and becomes itself
 deoxidized, thus increasing the amount of  the  free iodine (5HI and IO. = 5HO
 and LJ.   This test would be fallacious, if  iodic acid, mixed with muriatic acid,
 coloured  starch; but this is not the case.   Still,  Liebig's test is inapplicable in
 the  presence of  reducing agents,  such as  sulphurous acid, which would give
 rise to free iodine from the test itself, independently  of the presence of the ele-
 ment in the water tested. (Dr.  W. Knop.)   Another test for iodine, proposed
 by M. Rabourdin, is chloroform, by the use of which he supposes that the ele-
 ment may be not only detected in organic substances, but approximatively esti-
 mated.   Thus, if 150 grains of a solution, containing one part in one hundred
 thousand of iodide of potassium, be treated with 2 drops of nitric and 15 or 20
 of sulphuric acid, and afterwards shaken with 15 grains of  chloroform, the lat-
 ter acquires a distinct violet tint. M. Rabourdin applies his  test to the detection
 of iodine in the  several varieties of cod-liver oil.  For this purpose heincine- 4
 rates, in an iron  spoon, 50 parts of the specimen of oil with 5 of pure caustic
potassa, dissolved in 15  of water, and exhausts the cinder with the smallest
possible quantity of water.   The solution is filtered,  acidulated with nitric and
sulphuric acids, and agitated with 4 parts of chloroform.  After a time the chlo-
roform subsides,  of a violet colour more or less deep according to the  propor-

   *  Dr. R. H. Brett, of Liverpool, has found that when a small portion of several of
the alkaloids, or their salts, is mixed with about an equal portion of iodic acid and a
few drops of water, and the mixture gently heated, a succession of distinct explosions,
attended by the evolution of gas, takes place.  Dr. Brett finds that this phenomenon
occurs with all the alkaloids yet tried by him, but not with other classes of organic
substances, whether nitrogenous or non-nitrogenous, and  thinks it will prove a valua-
bfe test for the former. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Nov.  1854.)  According to Mr. R.
F. Fairthorne, of this city, several of the more poisonous alkaloids, dissolved by'the aid
of an acid, yield, with the officinal compound solution of iodine, precipitates, insoluble
in weak sulphuric, muriatic, or acetic  acid.  He, therefore, infers that the above men
tioned solution might prove useful as  an antidote to the poisonous effects of the alka-
loids. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., May, 1856.)— Note to the eleventh edition. 
426
Iodinium.
PART I.
   tion of iodine present.   M. Lassaigne considers the  starch test more delicate
   than that of chloroform.   For detecting iodine in the iodides of the metals of
   the alkalies, he considers bichloride of  palladium as extremely delicate, produ-
   cing brownish flocks of biniodide of palladium.  According to M. Moride, ben-
   zine is a good test for free iodine, which it readily dissolves, forming a solution*
   of a bright-red colour, deeper in proportion to the amount of iodine taken up.
   As benzine does not dissolve chlorine or bromine, it furnishes the means of
   separating iodine from these elements.   Mr. D. S. Price has pointed out the
   nitrites as  exceedingly sensitive tests of iodine, combined as an iodide.  The
   suspected liquid is mixed with starch paste, acidulated with muriatic acid, and
   treated with solution of nitrite of potassa.   The iodine is set free,  and a blue
   colour appears, more or less deep, according to the proportion of iodine present.
   By this test, iodine may be detected in an aqueous solution, containing only one
   in 400,000 parts.  A similar test had been previously proposed by M. Grange.
      Adulterations.  Iodine is said  to be occasionally adulterated with mineral
   coal, charcoal, plumbago, and black oxide of manganese.  These are easily de-
   tected  by their fixed nature, while  pure iodine is  wholly volatilized  by  heat
   Herberger found native .sulphuret of antimony in one sample,  and plumbago
   in another; and. Righini has detected as much as 25 per cent, of  chloride of
   calcium.  The presence of  iodide of cyanogen has been noticed  by F. Meyer
   and by T.  Klobach.  (See Iodinium Purum.)   When present,  it rises at the
   commencement of the sublimation of the iodine, in the form of white crystals,
   having a pungent odour.  An impurity which is frequently present in commer-
   cial iodine  is water.   Before 1840, Dr.  Christison had not met with any  Brit-
   ish iodine which did not contain from fifteen  to twenty per cent,  of moisture.
   If considerable, it is  easily discovered by the iodine adhering 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.  Accordingly, 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 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 per-
   fect solution, which  is yellowish or brownish if the iodine be pure, but colour-
   less if  there be above two per cent, of water or other impurity."
      3Iedical Properties.  Iodine was first employed as a medicine in 1819, for
   the  cure of goitre, by Dr.  Coindet,  sen., of Geneva.   It operates as a general
   excitant of the vital  actions, especially of the absorbent and glandular systems.
   Its effects are varied by its degree of concentration, state of combination,  dose,
   &c.; and hence, under different circumstances of the remedy and of the system, it
  ^ may prove corrosive, irritant, desiccant, tonic, diuretic, diaphoretic,  and emmena-
■0 gogue.  It probably acts by passing into the circulation; at least it has been
   proved by numerous observations that, whether taken  internally, or  applied ex-
   ternally, it always enters into the secretions, particularly the urine  and saliva,
   not, however, uncombined,  but in  the  state of hydriodic acid, or  an iodide.
   Cantu detected it not only in the urine and saliva, but also in the sweat,  milk,
   and blood.   According to Dr.  John C. Dalton, jun., of New York, iodine, taken
  Jm a single moderate dose,  appears in the urine in thirty  minutes, and may be
   detected for  nearly twenty-four hours.   In two cases in which large doses of
   iodide of potassium  had been taken for six or eight weeks, and the  medicine
   intermitted, all trace of iodine disappeared from the urine in eighty-four hours. 
PART I.
Iodinium.
427
 From  this observation Dr. Dalton  infers, as Becquerel had previously done,
 that iodine does not accumulate in the system, and that, therefore, the effect of
 moderate doses is probably equal to that of large ones, the excess of the remedy
 constantly passing off, principally by the kidneys.  But iodine is not, like iron,
1 a reconstructive element, and does not act by supplying anything to the system.
 Hence, its rapid elimination by the  urine  may have a therapeutic effect; and
 this effect may be in proportion to the amount eliminated.  It is certainly not
 an  unreasonable supposition, that the medicine, while passing  off in larger
 or  smaller quantity by the kidneys, may carry with it more or  less  abnormal
 material, and thus act as a sorbefacient.
    The tonic operation of iodine is evinced by its increasing the appetite, which
 is a frequent effect of its use.  Salivation is occasionally  caused by it, and
 sometimes soreness of the mouth only.   In some cases, pustular eruptions and
 coryza have been produced;  especially when the remedy has  been  given in the
 form of  iodide of potassium.  In an overdose it acts as an irritant poison.
 Doses of two drachms, administered to dogs, have produced irritation of the
  stomach, and death in seven days ;  aud the stomach was found studded with
 numerous little ulcers of a yellow colour.  From four to six grains, in man,
 cause  a sense of constriction in the throat, sickness  and pain 'at the stomach,
 and at length vomiting and colic. Even in medicinal doses, it sometimes causes
 alarming symptoms; such  as fever, restlessness, disturbed sleep, palpitations,
 excessive thirst, acute pain in the stomach, vomiting and purging, violent cramps,
 frequent pulse, and, finally, progressive emaciation, if the medicine is not laid
 aside.  The condition of the system, marked by these effects of iodine, is called
 iodism.   Upon their first  appearance, the  remedy should be discontinued, and
 a milk diet  prescribed.   Though iodism, when it occurs, is generally the result
 of incautious doses of the medicine, too  long continued, yet it sometimes arises,
 under  other circumstances,'from causes not well understood.   On  the other
 hand,  large doses have been given for a long time with perfect impunity.  Dr.
 Lugol, of Paris, has never observed alarming effects to arise from iodine, given
 in the doses and in the state of dilution  in which he prescribed it.  On the con-
 trary,  many of his patients gained flesh, and improved in  general health.
    Notwithstanding this testimony, we have evidence  that emaciation is some-
 times  produced by iodine; and that a long course of the remedy has in some
 instances occasioned absorption of the mammas, and wasting of the testicles.
 On the other hand, Dr. T. H. Silvester, who had the opportunity of  making
 extensive observations  in  St. Thomas's Hospital,  London,  on the effects  of
 iodine in the form of iodide of potassium,  did not meet with a single instance
 of  atrophy  or absorption of the glands.   Numerous cases  of syphilitic peri-
 tonitis were  successfully treated, enlarged testicles from a syphilitic cause re-
 duced, and chronic induration of the inguinal glands removed;  but in no case
 was atrophy or absorption of the breast or testicle observed.   It would thus ap-
 pear that iodine, as a general rule, does not affect the healthy glands, but acts
 upon abnormal material, such as tumours,  enlargements, and thickenings.
    The variable operation  of iodine may to some extent be accounted for by
 the more or less amylaceous character of the food; starch'having the property
 of uniting with iodine and rendering it mild.  Dr. Lebert, who  has practised
 both in Switzerland and France, explains the fact in another way.  Under his
 observation,  the accidents produced by iodine,  with scarcely an exception, were
 in those cases of goitre in  which the remedy acted rapidly in removing the tu-
 mour; while in scrofulous, tuberculous, and syphilitic patients, free from goitre,
 though the  medicine was given in considerable doses, no injury to the system
 ensued.  He  supposes'  that the bad  effects, in the goitre cases, arose from the
 too prompt absorption of  the abnormal material of  the tumour, which,  enter- 
428
Iodinium.
part r.
 ing the circulatioh  in  the  course of its elimination, produced the poisonous
 effect, and not the iodine itself. (Ann. de Therap., 1855, p. 228.)
   Iodine  has been principally employed in diseases of the absorbent and glan-
 dular systems.   It  has been used with  success in ascites, especially when con-
 nected with diseased liver.   It acts most efficiently immediately after tapping ■
 It has proved successful with several British practitioners in ovarian tumours
 but has failed in the hands  of  others.   Dr.  B.  Roemer, of  Otter Bridge, Va,
 reports three cases of ovarian tumour, removed by the combined internal and
 external use of the remedy.  (Am. Journ. of Med, Sci., Apr. 1857.)  In gland-
 ular enlargements and morbid growths, it has  proved more efficacious than in
 any other class  of diseases.  Dr. Coindet discovered its extraordinary power
 in curing  goitre;* and it has been used with  more or less advantage in enlarge-
 ments  and indurations  of  the liver, spleen, mammas, testes,  and uterus.   In
 hepatic affections of this kind, where mercury has  failed or  is inadmissible,
 iodine is our best resource.   In chronic diseases of the uterus, with induration
 and enlargement, and in hard tumours of the cervix and indurated puckerings
 of the edges of the os tineas, iodine has occasionally effected cures, 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 no-
 ticed by several  practitioners.  It has been recommended in gleet; also-in gonor-
 rhoea and  leucorrhoea,, after  the inflammatory symptoms have subsided.  In the
 latter complaint, iodine, rendered soluble by  iodide of potassium, has been used
 successfully, in  the  form of injection, by Dr. T. T. Russell, of Pattersonville,
 La.   He joined to the local treatment,  the internal use of the  tincture of chlo-
 ride of iron. (Am, Journ. of Med. Sci., April, 1854.)  In pseudo-syphilis and
 mercurial  cachexy, it is one  of  our best  remedies, in the form  of iodide of po-
 tassium.  In the same form it is a favourite remedy in chronic rheumatism, and,
 by Gendrin, was employed in acute gout, with  the supposed effect of cutting short
 the fits. Dr. Manson, as early as  1825, recorded cases of the efficacy of iodine
 in several nervous diseases, such  as chorea  and paralysis.   In various  scaly
 eruptions,,  the internal and external  use of the remedy is very much relied on.
   But it is in scrofulous diseases  that the most striking results have been ob-
 tained by the use of iodine.   Dr. Coindet first  directed attention to its effects
 in scrofula, and Dr.  Manson reported a number of cases of this affection,  in a
 large proportion of  which  the disease was  either cured or meliorated.   The
 latter  physician  derived benefit from  its use also in white  swelling, hip-joint
 disease, and  distortions of the spine, diseases admitted to be  connected with
 the  scrpfulous taint.   We are indebted, however, to Dr. Lugol for the most
 extended researches in relation to the use of iodine in scrofula.   This physician
 began his trials in the hospital  Saint Louis,  in 1827, and published his results
 in three Memoirs, in  1829, 1830,  and 1831.   The scrofulous  affections, cured
 by Dr. Lugol by the iodine treatment, were glandular tubercles, ophthalmia,
 ozasna, lupus, and fistulous and carious ulcers.
 _  The most eligible form of iodine  for internal  administration, is its solution
 in water, aided  by iodide of potassium.  This is the form preferred by Dr.

  * }]• Chatin, finding, according to his observations, a great variation in the amount
 oi iodine m the air, water, and soil of different localities, has founded on this supposed
 fact an explanation of the prevalence'of goitre and  cretinism in some places, and  its
 absence in  others.  Thus, in certain  parts of France, near Paris, which he calls the
 Paris zone, the amount of iodine thus distributed is comparatively large, and goitre
 and cretinism are unknown; while, in  the Alpine valleys, where only one-tenth the
 amount of iodine is found, these affections are endemic. The conclusions of M. Chatin
are cout.roverted by the experiments, so far as they go, of M.' Lohmeyer, of Ciottingen,
and of M Metzmsky of Vienna, who failed to detect iodine in the air of  those cities,
the inhabitants of which are free from goitre—Note to  the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Iodinium.
429
Lugol; and an equivalent solution has been made officinal by* the London Col-
lege.  (See Liquor Botassii Iodidi Compositus.)  The London solution is too
bulky for convenient prescription; and hence the concentrated solution, adopted
in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which may be prescribed in drops, and diluted suf-
ficiently at the moment of being taken, is preferable.  (See  Liquor  Iodinii
 Compositus.)   The tincture of iodine is not eligible for internal use;  for, when
freshly prepared, the iodine is precipitated from it by dilution with water;  and,
as  a  consequence, the irritating solid iodine will come in contact with the sto-
mach when the dose is swallowed.   The same objection is not applicable to the
compound tincture, or to the simple tincture after having been long kept.  (See
 Tinctura Iodinii Composita and  Tinctura Iodinii.)   Dr. Lugol made three
iodine solutions of different strengths; namely, three-quarters 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.
His mode of administration was to give  two-thirds of the weak solution, or
half a grain of iodine daily, for the first fortnight; the same solution entire for
the second and third fortnight; the medium solution during the fourth and
fifth fortnight;  and, lastly, in some cases, the strong solution for the remainder
of the treatment.
   Since the  publication of Dr. Lugol's memoir, his practice has been imitated
and extended.   Dr.  Bermond,  of  Bordeaux, has  succeeded  with the  iodine
treatment  in enlarged testicle from a venereal cause, scrofulous ophthalmia of
six years' duration, and scrofulous ulcers and abscesses of the cervical and sub-
maxillary glands.   In numerous other cases of scrofula under his care, iodine
proved beneficial; though, before its commencement, the cases underwent no
improvement.   The only peculiarity in  Dr. Bermond's treatment was that, in
some cases, he associated opiates with the iodine.  In ophthalmia, the colly-
rium employed by him consisted of thirty drops of tincture  of iodine, thirty-six
of laudanum, and four fluidounces of distilled water.   When the local appli-
cation 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 parotid,  consisted of lead plaster (diachylon)  and
iodide of potassium, each, four parts, and iodine and extract of opium, each,
three parts.  In confirmation of Dr. Bermond's statements, M. Lemasson has
published a number of cases, proving the efficacy of a  combination  of iodine
and opium in the local treatment of scrofulous ulcerations.  One of the com-
binations which he employed consisted of fifteen  grains of iodine, a drachm
of iodide of  potassium, and two drachms of Rousseau's laudanum, made into
an  ointment with two ounces of fresh lard.
  ^ The favourable results obtained by Dr. Lugol in the treatment of scrofulous
diseases by the iodine preparations are so numerous, as to leave no doubt of
their  efficacy in these affections.   To  judge fairly, however, of his results,
it is not sufficient to  give iodine;  but it should be given in the  manner, and
with the observance of all the rules which he has laid down.   We can readily
conceive that a dilute  aqueous  solution of iodine  may act differently from the
tincture; for a therapeutical agent may in a dilute form  be introduced gradu-
ally into the current of the circulation, and thus produce important alterative
effects; while in a concentrated form it may create  irritation  of the stomach
without being absorbed, and thus prove  mischievous.  A case in point is fur-
nished by natural mineral waters, which, though generally containing a minute
proportion of saline  matter, often produce remedial effects which cannot be
obtained by their constituents in larger doses.  These views are confirmed and
extended by M. Benj. Belli, in an able paper on the  efficacy of a certain dilu-
tion of medicines, illustrated by examples, drawn from  iodine, bromine, iron, 
430
Iodinium.
PART I.
antimony,  belladonna,  oil of turpentine, and common salt, published in the
Annuaire de Therapeutique for 1857, p. 270.  They correspond also with the
views of Dr. A. Buchanan, of Glasgow, who gives iodine in the form of iodide
of starch, and  of  hydriodic acid, largely diluted  with  water. (See Iodide of
Starch and Hydriodic  Acid, in Part III.)
  The external treatment by iodine  may be divided into general and topical.
By its use in this way it does not create a mere local effect; but, by its absorp-
tion, produces its peculiar constitutional impression.  The external treatment,
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  valu-
able  by him, on account of the great extent of the skin, which furnishes the
means of introducing a considerable quantity of iodine into the circulation
without deranging the digestive functions, an object of great importance,  when
the medicine disagrees with the stomach.   The iodine  bath for adults should
contain from two to four  drachms  of iodine, with double  that  quantity of
iodide of potassium, dissolved in water, in a wooden 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 having been determined upon, 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.
  The iodine baths,  which may be directed three or four times a week, usually
produce  a  slight  rubefacient  effect;  but, occasionally,  a  stronger  impression,
causing the epidermis to peel off, particularly of the arms and legs.  The skin
at the same time acquires a deep-yellow tinge,  which usually disappears in the
interval between the baths.
  The topical application of iodine is made by means of several officinal pre-
parations.  (See Unguentum Iodinii  and  Unguentum  Iodinii Compositum.)
Besides these, several others  have been employed  topically.  Lugol's iodine
lotion consists  of  from two to four grains of iodine, and double that quantity
of iodide of potassium, dissolved in a pint  of water.   It is used as a wash or
injection, in scrofulous ophthalmia, ozasna, and fistulous  ulcers.  His rubefa-
cient iodine solution is formed by dissolving half an ounce  of iodine and an
ounce of iodide of potassium in  six  fluidounces of water.  This  is useful for
exciting scrofulous ulcers, for touching the eyelids, and  as an  application to  re-
cent scrofulous cicatrices, to render them smooth.   The  rubefacient solution,
added to warm water in the proportion of about a fluidrachm to  the  gallon,
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 cer-
tain eruptions, especially where the object is  to promote the falling off of scabs.
The rubefacient preparation of iodine, at present most commonly employed, is
the tincture.  (See Tinctura Iodinii.) The preparation, called iodine paint,
is a  tincture, twice as strong as the officinal  tincture, and is made by dissolving
a drachm of iodine in a fluidounce of alcohol, and allowing the solution to  stand
in a glass-stoppered bottle for several months before it is used, when it will be-
come thick and syrupy.  It is applied, with a glass or camel's hair brush, in one
or more coatings, according to the degree of effect desired.  Iodine paint is
used as a counter-irritant, with advantage, in pains of the chest;  in aphonia,
applied to the front of the throat; in chronic pleuritic  effusion, or consolidated
lung, applied extensively opposite to  the diseased part;  in periostitis, whether
syphilitic,  strumous, or the result of  injury; in inflammation of the joints; in
serous effusion  into bursas; and in the cicatrices of burns.   When thus  used, 
PART I.
Iodinium.
431
it must be borne in mind that the iodine acts also by being absorbed.   Another
valuable application of it is for the removal of cutaneous nasvi.  Lugol's caustic
iodine solution is made of iodine and iodide of potassium, each, an ounce, dis-
solved in  two fluidounces of  water.   This is used to destroy soft  and fungous
granulations, and has been employed with decided benefit  in lupus.   Another
caustic  solution of iodine, under the name of iodized glycerin, is  made by dis-
solving one part.of iodide of potassium in two parts of glycerin, and add;- g
the solution to one part of iodine, which it  completely dissolves.   Dr. Max
Richter, of Vienna, to whom the  credit belongs of having introduced into prac-
tice the solution of iodine in  glycerin, found this caustic particularly useful in
lupus, non-vascular goitre, and scrofulous and constitutional syphilitic  ulcers.
The solution is applied, by means of a hair pencil, to the  diseased surface, which
must then be  covered with gutta percha paper, fixed at the  edges by strips  of
adhesive plaster,  in order to  prevent the evaporation of the iodine.  The appli-
cation produces burning pain, which rarely lasts for more than two hours.  The
dressing is  removed in  twenty-four hours, and pledgets, dipped in cold water,
applied.  The propriety of repeating the  application is determined by the ap-
pearance  of the part, and the amount of diseased structure.  This iodine caustic
is too strong for ordinary local use. A weaker solution is recommended by Dr.
Szukits, formed of one part of iodine to five of glycerin, for  application to the
neck, female breast, abdomen, &c.   After four or five paintings it causes exco-
riation, which requires its discontinuance, and  the use of cold applications.
   Iodine is used by injection into various cavities.   It has been employed in
this way  for the  cure or relief of  hydrocephalus, pleuritic effusion, hydroperi-
cardium,  ascites,  ovarian dropsy, hernia, hydrocele, dropsy  of the joints, and
chronic abscesses.   Dr. J. M. Winn, of London, reports a case of chronic hydro-
cephalus in an infant, in which the injection of iodine was used after tapping,
with  the apparent effect of retarding the re-accumulation of the fluid.  M. Aran,
of Paris, tried the same treatment,  after tapping, in  two cases of pleuritic effu-
sion,  and with success in one of the cases.   The same physician reports  a case
of hydropericardium, relieved by twice tapping the sac, and twice injecting it
with iodine within the space of twelve days.  (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci,,  April,
1856, p. 499.)   Dr. Costes has tried these injections in ascites, but not with
encouraging results.  In practising them in this disease, Dr.  Tessier lays down
these rules; first,  not to empty the peritoneal cavity before performing the in-
jection; as the injected fluid  requires dilution  by the effused fluid;  second, to
regulate the amount of the injected fluid by the nature of the effused fluid, using
twice as much, if the latter is decidedly alkaline and albuminous; and third, to
practise a tapping some days  before the time  of injecting, if the abdomen be
very voluminous, in order to diminish the peritoneal  surface.   Iodine injections
in ovarian cysts were first practised, in 1846, by Dr. Allison, of Indiana, in a
case that  terminated favourably.   They are now advocated by Prof.  Simpson,
of Edinburgh, who has employed them  in twenty or thirty cases, with variable
but encouraging results.   The injection causes little or no pain,  if the case is
one  of  genuine cystic dropsy.  Three  cases of the radical cure of hernia by
similar  injections  are reported by M. Jobert, of Paris. (Am, Journ. of Med,
Sci., Jan. 1855, p.  241.) In hydrocele iodine has superseded the wine injection
formerly employed.  It would seem hazardous to inject dropsical joints with a
substance so irritating as iodine;  and yet Velpeau is stated to have  repeatedly
used it in these cases with success; and, when the operation has failed, no bad
consequences, it is alleged, have followed to the joint.  In  injecting chronic
abscesses,  of course little or no danger  would be incurred.   In all these cases,
the object is to excite a new action in the  walls of  the  cavity, with the effect
either of  obliterating  it by the adhesive inflammation,  or of  restoring  its 
432                            Iodinium.                        part i.

secreting surface to a healthy condition.  Iodine injections have been used with
advantage in fistula  in ano, effecting the cure, when successful, by exciting ad-
hesive inflammation.  This treatment  originated with  Mr. Charles Clay, of
London, and is praised by Dr. Boinet, who recommends that it should always
be tried, before having recourse to the knife.  For the mode of preparing iodine
injections see Tinctura Iodinii.
   As connected with the subject of iodine injections, it is proper to  notice in
this place the method of treating serpent bite and other poisoned wounds, pro-
posed by Prof. Brainard, of Chicago.   This consists in infiltrating the  tissues,
where the bite has been inflicted, with from half a drachm  to a drachm and a
half of a solution, made of five grains of iodine and fifteen of iodide of potas-
sium in a fluidounce of distilled water.  A cupping glass is applied  over  the
wound as soon as possible ;  and the infiltration is effected by passing beneath
the skin, under the edge of the cup, a small trocar, through the cannula of which
the solution is injected.  Forty experiments were  tried with this treatment on
pigeons, kittens,  and dogs, with  generally successful results.  Prof. Brainard
proposes to  extend it to dissection wounds, and all poisoned wounds of a dan-
gerous character.  (See Prof. Brainard's Essay, &c,  Chicago, 1854; also N. Y.
3Ied.  Times, iii. 210.) Dr. E. Harwood treated successfully two cases of snake
bite, by simply brushing the tincture of iodine  over  the wound.  (Boston Med.
and Surg. Journ., May 17, 1854, from the N. W. 3Ied,  and Surg. Journ.)
   Enemata  containing iodine have been used, by several practitioners, in the
chronic dysentery and diarrhoea of both adults and children, with decided benefit,
a  prominent effect being the  relief of tenesmus.   They are supposed  to  act
locally on ulcers  in  the colon and rectum, and generally by absorption.  The
preparation  of iodine used was the tincture, rendered miscible with water, with-
out precipitation, by iodide  of potassium.   The formula recommended by M.
Delioux is from three to  six fluidrachms of the  tincture, with from fifteen to
thirty grains of iodide of potassium, dissolved in half a pint of water.   The in-
jection should be  preceded by an emollient enema to empty the intestine, and
should be repeated once or twice daily, gradually increasing its  strength.   If
the pain be  severe, a laudanum injection will bring immediate relief.
   Dr. Norman Cheevers, of India, strongly recommends iodine gargles in mer-
curial salivation.   The gargle employed by him was composed of from  four to
ten fluidrachms of the compound tincture of iodine and a pint of water.
   Iodine, in the  state of vapour, has been employed by inhalation; and the
experiments, as yet  tried, have been in the treatment chiefly of phthisis and
chronic bronchitis.   Sir Charles Scudamore, Sir James Murray, and Dr. Corri-
gan have recommended 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 ioduretted solution,
gradually increased,  with half a drachm of the tincture, added to a portion of
water at 120° Fahr., nearly sufficient to half fill the inhaler.  M. Piorry employs
iodine vapour in  phthisis in a different way.   He places one or two scruples
of iodine, or from one to  three fluidounces of the tincture in a quart jar, and
causes the patient to take a deep inspiration from the air in the vessel, one or
two hundred times a day.   The  patient is made to inhale  iodine vapour also
during sleep, by placing iodine in several saucers near his pillow, and in nume-
rous vials, attached to his bedstead.  Modes of internal treatment, appropriate
to each case, were concurrently adopted. M. Piorry  avers that, in almost every 
PART I.
Iodinium.
433
 case subjected to iodine  treatment in this way, there was a diminution of the
 space in which the physical signs of diseased lung were manifested.  Many pa-
 tients with cavities in the lungs were  apparently cured.  (Banking's Abstract,
 no. 20,  p. 70, from Comptes Bendus, Jan.  24, 1854.)   Another application
 of iodine inhalations is to the cure of aphonia, a plan of treatment, suggested
 by Prof. Pancoast, of this city.   A successful case of this affection, of twenty
 months' standing, treated in this way, is related by Dr. Edward B.  Stevens.
 (Charleston 3Ied. Journ,, March, 1854, from the Iowa Med. Journ.)
   Another  method of administering iodine vapour by inhalation in  phthisis
 and chronic bronchitis has been proposed by M. Barrere, of Toulouse.   It con-
 sists in  forming what he  calls iodized camphor, which is to lie taken like snuff.
 This is prepared by putting in a snuff-box, powdered camphor, with a hundredth
 part in bulk of iodine, contained in a muslin  bag.  In the course of a few hours,
 the substances, by  occasional shaking, unite,  forming a powder resembling
 iodine in  colour.  The difficulty in practising ordinary iodine inhalation de-
 pends chiefly on the irritation caused by the vapour, which excites  cough and
 fatigues the patient. According to M. Barrere, this  inconvenience is avoided by
 the use of the  iodized camphor.   A  pinch of it produces  sneezing and some
 smarting in the nostrils;  but,  when the vapour reaches the lungs, it causes a
 refreshing sensation, which induces the patient to draw a long and deep breath.
 (Ann. de TJierap., 1855,  p. 232.)  The only remaining proposition for iodine
 inhalation that we have  seen,  is  the one made by M. Huett, who recommends
 the use  of hydriodic ether.  This has  been employed by him, with success, in a
 case of phthisis with cavities at the top of the left lung.
   M.  Marchal (de Calvi), under the impression that cod-liver oil owed its chief
 virtue to the presence of iodine, proposed, in 1848, to prepare an iodized oil,
 formed of one part of iodine to  fifteen of almond oil, and incorporated with
 almond  emulsion.  In accordance with this proposal, M. Personne devised the
 following formula.  Five  parts of iodine are  mixed with a thousand of almond
 oil, and the mixture is subjected to  a jet  of steam, until decolorized.  The
 same operation is repeated with five additional parts of iodine.  The oil is then
 washed with a weak alkaline solution, to remove the hydriodic acid, developed
 in the process.   By this  mode of proceeding, it  may be presumed that the
 iodine is intimately united with the oil, along with which it would find an easy
 entrance into the system; and that, while about half of  the iodine is  lost  as
 hydriodic acid, the remainder takes the place of the hydrogen eliminated from
 the oil.  In 1851, the French Academy appointed MM. Guibourt, Soubeiran,
 Gibert, and Ricord, to report upon the therapeutic value of a definite combina-
 tion of iodine and oil.  The reporter (Guibourt) approved of M. Personne's pro-
 cess ; and MM. Gibert and Ricord reported favourably of the therapeutic effects
 of the preparation. M. Gibert deemed it to possess considerable resolvent power
 in certain chronic eruptions and glandular enlargements; and M.  Ricord, after
 trial for a year, obtained satisfactory results in various scrofulous affections, the
 iodized oil acting more promptly than  cod-liver oil.  M. Personne's iodized oil
 differs little in appearance and taste from almond oil, and is easily taken alone
 or in emulsion.  The usual dose is two fluidounces daily, which may be increased
 to three  fluidounces or  more.  (See Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xxiii. 502.)
  M. Berthe and M. Lepage have objected to M. Personne's iodized oil, that
 it is of variable iodine strength, and that it is  liable to become rancid, in conse-
 quence of the use of steam in its preparation.  M Berthe makes an iodized oil,
 which he alleges to be free from these objections, by heating to about 176°, five
 parts of iodine with  a thousand  parts of almond oil, in  a water bath, until
decoloration shall have  taken place.  The resulting  oil is  colourless, perfectly
transparent, without odour or rancidity, not acted on by starch, and of a con-
       28 
434
Iodinium.                        part i,
stent composition.  To  shorten the time in preparing the oil, M. Lepage dis-
solves the iodine in three times its weight of ether, before adding it to the oil,
and  briskly shakes the mixture for eight or ten minutes.   The preparation u
then heated in a water bath, to  decolorize  it,  and  drive off the  ether.  JVI.
Hugounenq  objects to this process, that, if  the oil be completely deprived of
the odour of ether, the heating must be continued for several hours.  He also
objects to any  process which requires the continued application  of heat, as
rendering the oil liable to become quickly rancid.   His  plan is to rub up the
iodine, for five or six  minutes, in a porcelain mortar, with  a  small  portion of
the oil, and then gradually to add the remainder.   A red limpid liquid is ob-
tained, which may be completely decolorized by exposing it for fifteen minutes
to the sun's rays.  Iodized oil, thus prepared, has the odour and taste of almond
oil, is not more liable  to become rancid than the pure oil, and is  free from hv-
driodic acid. (Journ. de  Pharm., Mars, 1856.)  From the above statements it
is not easy to determine which is the best method of preparing iodized oil; but
it may be useful to  state that the preparation may be made with good olive
oil, instead of the more expensive  almond oil.
   In eases 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.
   Iodine is officinal:—
     I. Purified.
         Iodinium Purum,  Dub.
    II. As SIMPLE TINCTURE AND OINTMENT.
         Tinctura Iodinii, U S.;  Tinctura Iodinei, Ed.
         Unguentum Iodinii, U. S.
   III. Combined with sulphur.
         Sulphuris  Iodidum, U.S., Bond.; Sulphur Iodatum, Dub.
           Unguentum Sulphuris Iodidi, U S.,  Lond.
   IV. Combined with  metals.
         Arsenici Iodidum, U. S.
           Liquor  Arsenici et Hydrargyri Iodidi, U S.;  Arsenici et Hydrar
                  gyri  Hydriodatis Liquor, Dub.
         Ferri Iodidum, U S., Ed,, Dub.
            Liquor  Ferri Iodidi, U. S.
            Syrupus Ferri Iodidi,  Lond,, Dub.; Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, Ed.
          ■ Pilulas Ferri Iodidi, U S.
         Hydrargyri Iodidum, U. S., Lond.; Hydrargyri Iodidum Viride, Bvb.
            Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond.
         Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum, U. S., Dub.; Hydrarg. Biniodidum, Ed.
            Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi Rubri, Dub.
         Plumbi Iodidum,  U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
            Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond,, Dub.
         Potassii Iodidum, U.S.,  Lond., Ed,, Dub.
            Emplastrum Potassii  Iodidi, Lond,
            Unguentum Potassii Iodidi, U.S., Lond., Dub.
    V, Associated with iodide of potassium.
          Liquor Iodinii Compositus,  U S.;  Iodinei Liquor Compositus, Ed.
          Liquor Potassii  Iodidi  Compositus, Lond,; Potassii Iodidi Liquor
                Compositus, Dub.
          Tinctura Iodinii Composita, U.S., Lond,, Dub.
          Unguentum Iodinii Compositum,  U S., 'Lond.,  Dub.;  Unguentum
                Iodinei, Ed.                                       p. 
 part I.                     Ipecacuanha.                          435


            IPECACUANHA. U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                             Ipecacuanha.

   The  root of Cephaelis Ipecacuanha.  U. S., Lond., Ed,, 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 Cephaelis
 Ipecacuanha; and no other is known by the name in the shops of this country.
 Our chief attention will, therefore, be confined to this root, and the plant which
 yields it; but, as others are employed in South America, are occasionally export-
 ed, 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 attention.
   The  botanical character of the ipecacuanha plant was long unknown. Pison
 and Marcgrav, who were the first to treat of this medicine, in their work on the
 natural history of Brazil, published at Amsterdam, A. D. 1648, described in
 general terms two  plants; one producing a whitish root, distinguished by the
 name of white ipecacuanha, the other, a brown foot which answers in their de-
 scription precisely to the  officinal drug.  But their account was not sufficiently
 definite to enable botanists to decide upon the character of the  plants.   The
 medicine was generally thought to be derived from a species of Viola, which
 Linnaeus designated as V. Ipecacuanha.   Opinion afterwards turned in favour
 of a  plant  sent to Linnasus by Mutis, from New Granada,  as  affording the
 ipecacuanha of that country and of Peru.  This was described in the Supple-
 mentum of  the younger Linnasus, A. D.  1781, under the name of Psychotria
 emetica, and was long erroneously considered as the source of the true ipeca-
 cuanha.  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 inserted
 it with a figure in the Linnasan Transactions without acknowdedgment, enjoyed
 for a  time the credit due to his countryman.  In the paper of Brotero the plant
 is named Callicocca Ipecacuanha;  but the term Callicocca, having been ap-
 plied  by Schreber, without sufficient reason, to the genus already established and
 named,  has  been universally abandoned 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. Rubiaceas, Juss.
 Cinchonaceas, Lindley.
   Gen.  Ch.   Flowers in an involucred head.   Corolla tubular.   Stigma two-
 parted.   Berry two-seeded.  Beceptacle chaffy.  Willd.
   Cephaelis Ipecacuanha. Richard, Hist Ipecac, p. 21, t. i.; Marti us, 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  branched,
 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,

  * M. Weddell states that the word ipecacuanha is nowhere in Brazil used to desig-
nate the  Cephaelis, which is generally calledpoaya. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., xvi. 34.) 
436
Ipecacuanha.
part i.
pubescent, green, and furnished with leaves  seldom exceeding 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 insertion of
each pair of leaves are deciduous stipules, embracing the stem, membranous at
the base, and separated above into numerous bristle-like divisions.  The flowers
are very small, white, and collected to the number of eight, twelve, or more, each
accompanied with a green bracte, 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.   Weddell, however, states that
the remains of the root, often left in the ground  when it is collected, serve the
purpose of propagation, each fragment giving rise to a new plant. The root is
collected chiefly by the Indians, who prepare it by separating it from the stem,
cleaning it, and hanging it up in bundles to dry in the sun.   The Brazilian
merchants carry on a very brisk trade in this drug.  According to Weddell, most
of it was, at the time he wrote, A. D. 1851, collected in the interior province of
Matto-Grosso, upon the upper waters of the Paraguay, where it was  discovered
in the year 1824.  The chief places of export are Rio Janeiro, Bahia, and Per-
nambuco.  It is brought to the United States in large bags or bales.
   Properties.  Genuine ipecacuanha is in pieces two  or three lines thick, va-
riously bent and contorted, simple or branched, consisting of an interior slender,
light straw-coloured, ligneous cord,  with a thick  cortical  covering, which pre-
sents on its surface a succession of circular, unequal, prominent rings or  rugas,
separated, 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 by French pharma-
ceutists.   The cortical part is hard,  horny, and semi-transparent, breaks 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 fragments of  stems,
with  occasionally portions of the  root attached.   Much stress has been laid
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 sometimes light-gray or ash-coloured.   Hence the distinc-
tion into brown, red, and gray ipecacuanha.  But these are all derived from
the same plant,  are essentially the  same in properties and composition, and
probably differ only in consequence of difference in age, 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 brought to our market.  The
red, besides the colour of its  epidermis, presents a rosy tint when broken, and 
PART I.
Ipecacuanha.
437
  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 furrows, and is still more decidedly bitter.  Many years since we saw
  in this market bales of gray ipecacuanha, with very imperfectly developed rings,
  which were said to -have come from  Caracas.   This commercial variety after-
  wards quite disappeared; but, under the  name  of Carthagena ipecacuanha, it
  would seem to  have been again imported into New York. (Am. Journ, of
  Pharm., xxv. 474.)  When the bark  in either variety is opaque, with a  dull
  amylaceous aspect, the root is less  active.   As  the woody part  is nearly inert,
  and much more  difficult of  pulverization than the cortical, it  often  happens
  that, when the root is powdered, the portion last remaining in the mortar pos-
  sesses 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
  emetia, discovered by Pelletier in the year 1817.  The cortical  portion of the
  brown ipecacuanha, analyzed by this chemist under the erroneous name of Psy-
  chotria emetica, yielded in 100 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
 detected in the cortical part traces of gallic acid.  The bark of red ipecacuanha
 was found by Pelletier to contain but 14 per cent, of impure emetia.   In addi-
 tion to these principles, Bucholz found extractive, sugar, and resin ; and Erwin
 Willigk, afterwards, traces of a disagreeably smelling volatile oil, phosphatic
 salts, and  a peculiar acid which he  named ipecacuanhic acid, and which had
 previously been mistaken for the gallic.  It would seem to belong to the tannic
 acid group.  (See Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxiii. 352.)  Good ipecacuanha con-
 tains about 80 per cent, of cortical and 20 of ligneous matter.
   Emetia, when perfectly pure, is whitish, inodorous, slightly bitter, pulverulent,
 unalterable in  the air, very fusible, sparingly  soluble in cold water and ether,
 more soluble in hot water, and very soluble in alcohol;  it 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 nitrogen.
 It is, however,  very difficult to procure it in this state  of purity, and the propor-
 tion afforded by the root is exceedingly small.   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 bitterish 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 prepared 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 mat-
 ter, exhausting the residue with  alcohol, evaporating the alcoholic solution to
 dryness, and subjecting the extract to the action  of cold water, which dissolves
 the emetia with some free acid, and leaves the wax and other matters.  To sepa-
 rate 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 carbonate.  The salt is thus  decomposed,  and the organic alkali,  being  in-
soluble, is precipitated with the excess of the earth.  The precipitate is washed 
438                            Ipecacuanha.                         part i,

with cold water, and digested in alcohol, which dissolves the emetia;  the alco-
holic 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
the 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 Ipecacuanhas.   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 given
to them. The two most worthy of notice are the ipecacuanha of New Grenada and Peru,
and the white ipecacuanha of Bra-zil.   On each of these we shall offer a few remarks.
  1. Peruvian Ipecacuanha.   Striated Ipecacuanha.   Black Ipecacuanha.  This is the
root of Psychotria emetica, formerly supposed to produce the genuine Brazilian ipecacu-
anha.  This plant, like the Cephaelis, belongs to the class and order Pentandria Mono-
gynia, and to the natural order Rubiacese of Jussieu.  A description of it, sent by Mutis,
was published by Linn-eus, 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 have been 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 rugae of  the true  ipeca-
cuanha.  The longitudinal direction of the wrinkles has given it the name of striated
ipecacuanha.  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  root of the Ce-
phaelis.  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 ligneous portion is yellowish, and
perforated with numerous small holes visible by the microscope.   Peruvian ipecacuan-
ha 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, 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 va-
riety was noticed in the work of  Pison;  but the vegetable which produced it was not
 satisfactorily 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 Richardsonia, the Richardia of Linnaeus.  R. scabra, or R. Braziliensis of
 Gomez, and R. emetica are specially indicated by Martius.  For the root usually called
 white ipecacuanha, Guibourt has proposed the name of undulated ipecacuanha, derived
 from the peculiar 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 appearance 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 3-5 parts  of
 emetia in the hundred.  It  is said to be sometimes mixed with the genuine ipecacu-
 anha ; but we have discovered none in the bales that we have examined.
    According to Martius, different species  of lonidium (Viola, Linn.) produce also what
 is  called white ipecacuanha.  The roots of all the species of lonidium possess emetic  or 
PART I.
Ipecacuanha.
439
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Ipecacuanha is in large doses emetic, in smal-
ler, diaphoretic and expectorant, and in still smaller, stimulant to the stomach,
exciting appetite  and facilitating digestion.   In quantities not quite sufficient
to vomit, it produces nausea, and frequently acts on the bowels.  As an emetic
it is mild but tolerably certain, and, being usually thrown from the stomach by
one or two efforts, is less apt to produce dangerous effects, when taken in an
overdose, than some other  substances  of the same class.   It is also recom-
mended 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 1672, and did not come into use till some years
afterwards.    John Helvetius, grandfather of the famous author of that name,
having been associated with a merchant who had imported a large quantity of
ipecacuanha into  Paris, employed it as  a secret remedy, and  with so much suc-
cess in dysentery  and other bowel affections,  that general attention was drawn
to it;  and the fortunate physician received from Louis XIY. a large sum of mo-
ney and public honours, on the condition that he should make it public.
   As an emetic it is peculiarly adapted by its mildness and efficiency to 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  medicines, 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 comparative risk of injury.   In dysentery it has
been supposed to  exercise peculiar powers.  As a nauseating remedy it is used
in asthma, hooping-cough, and the hemorrhages;  as a  diaphoretic, combined
with opium,  in numerous  diseases. (See  Pulvis Ipecacuanhse et Opii.)   Its
expectorant properties render it useful in catarrhal and other pulmonary affec-
tions.  It has been given, also, with supposed advantage, in very minute doses,
in dj*spepsia,  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 neces-
sary, at intervals of twenty minutes till it operates.   In  some persons much
smaller quantities prove emetic, and we have known an  individual who was
generally vomited by the fraction of a grain.   The  operation may be facilita-
ted,  and rendered  milder, by draughts of warm water, or warm chamomile tea.

purgative  properties, and some of them have been reported to be equal to the genuine
ipecacuanha.  The root of /. 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 Ce-
phaelis.   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 lonidium 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 /. Mar-
cucci; but Sir  W. Hooker found the specimen, received from Dr. Bancroft, to be iden-
tical with the /. parviflorum of Ventenat. Lindley thinks a specimen he received under
the same name from Quito, to be the /. microphyllum of Humboldt.  If useful in ele-
phantiasis, it is so probably by its emeto-purgative action. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
vii. 186.)*
  * See a paper on ipecacuanha by E. E. Griffith, M. D., in the Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., vol. 3,
p. 1S1, for a more extended account of the roots which have been used under the name of ipecacuanha. 
440                Ipecacuanha.—Iris Florentina.              part i.

An infusion in boiling water, in the proportion of two drachms to six fluidoun-
ces, may be given in the dose of  a fluidounce repeated as in the former case.
For the production of nausea, the dose in substance may be two grains, repeat-id
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, in that 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; and, if given in overdoses, it may produce
dangerous and even fatal consequences.  From the  experiments of Magendie,
it appears to have a peculiar direction to the mucous  membranes of the aliment-
ary canal and the bronchial tubes.  Ten grains of the impure alkali, adminis-
tered 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 ipecacuanha is used.  It will  excite vomiting when
applied to a blistered surface after the removal of the cuticle.
   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, pro-
duces a  copious eruption, which continues out for many  days, without 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.  Pilula  Conii Composite;  Pulvis Ipecacuanhae et Opii; Syrupus
Ipecacuanhas ;  Trochisci Ipecacuanhas ; Trochisci Morphias et Ipecacuanhae;
Vinum Ipecacuanhas.                                                AV.


            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, Iris fcetidissima, I. Florentina, I. Germanica,  I. pseudo-acorus, and
I. tuberosa have at various times been admitted into use.   Of these I. Flo-
rentina 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 remaining  three are bent backward, and
bearded within at their  base with yellow-tipped white hairs.   The fruit is a
three-celled capsule, containing many seeds. 
 part I.            Iris Florentina.—Iris  Versicolor.               441

   This plant is a native of Italy and other parts of the south of Europe, where
 it is also cultivated.   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  forms and  size, often
 branched, usually about as thick as  the thumb, knotty, flattened, white, heavy,
 of a rough though not fibrous fracture, an agreeable 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.  Yogel 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.  According  to Landerer,  the  acrid principle is volatile, sepa-
 rating in the form of a stearoptene  from water distilled from the root.  (Arch.
 der Pharm.,  lxv. 302.)
   3Iedical 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 present
 it is valued for its agreeable  odour.  It is occasionally chewed to conceal an
 offensive breath, and enters into the  composition  of tooth-powders.   In  the
 form of small round balls, about the size of a pea, it is used by the French for
 maintaining the discharge from issues, a purpose to which it is adapted by its
 odour, by the slight 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.

   The rhizoma of Iris versicolor. U. S.
   Iris. See IRIS FLORENTINA.
   7ns versicolor.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 233; Bigelow, Am. Med.  Bot. i. 155.
 This indigenous speciea 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 infusion
 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 con-
 siderable time. (Andrews.)
  Blue flag possesses the cathartic, emetic, and diuretic properties  common to
most of its congeners.  It was said by Mr. Bartram to be much esteemed by
the southern Indians; and Dr. Bigelow states that he has found it efficacious
as a  purgative, though inconvenient  from the distressing nausea and prostra- 
442
Iris Versicolor.—Jalapa.
PART i.
tion which it is apt to occasion.  Dr. M. H. Andrews, of Michigan, has em-
ployed it 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. (N  Y.  Journ. of 3Ied., ix. 129.)  Dr. Macbride
found it useful in dropsy.  It is, however, little used by the profession at large,
and 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.

                                 Jalap.

   The root of Ipomasa Jalapa (Coxe, Am.  Journ,  of 3led. Sciences). U. S.
Exogonium Purga.  The tuber. Lond. The root. Dub.  Ipomasa Purga.  The
root.  Ed.
   Jalap, Fr.; Jalappen-Wurzel, Germ.;  Sciarappa, Ital, ; Jalapa, Span.
   The precise botanical origin  of jalap  remained long unknown.  It was at
first ascribed by Linnasus  to a Mirabilis, and afterwards to a  new species of
Convolvulus, to which he gave the  name of C. Jalapa.   The  correctness of
the latter reference was generally  admitted; and, as the Ipomsea macrorrhiza
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 it
is now an admitted fact, 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 Ipomsea 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 consider-
ation of the subject;  but the subsequent  general admission of the views then
advocated renders an equal degree of minuteness now unnecessary.   It is suffi-
cient to state that Dr. Coxe received living roots of jalap from Mexico in 1827,
and  succeeded in producing a perfect flowering  plant, of which a description,
by Mr. Nuttall, was published  in the Am. Journ, of Med.  Sci. for  January,
1830; that  the same plant was afterwards cultivated in France and  Germany
from roots transmitted to those countries  from Mexico; and that one of the
authors  of  this work has produced, from roots  obtained in the vicinity of
Xalapa,  and sent to him by the late Dr. Marmaduke Burrough,  then United
States consul at Yera 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  and British Pharmacopoeias, this origin
of jalap is now recognised; but the Edinburgh College has  adopted Hayne's
and Wenderoth's name of  7. Purga, thus overlooking the prior claims of the
American authorities.  J. H. Balfour (Curtis's Bot. Mag., Feb. 1847), main-
tains that the plant belongs to the genus Exogonium of Choisy,  as  defined in
De Candolle's Prodromus, being distinguished  from Ipomasa  by its exserted
stamens; and the London and  Dublin Colleges endorse this  reference.
   Ipom^a.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.   Convolvulaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Sepals five.  Corolla campanulate.  Stamens included. Style one.
 Stigma two-lobed; the lobes capitate.  Ovary two-celled; cells two-seeded.  Cap-
sule two-celled. Lindley.
   Lpomsea Jalapa.  Nuttall, Am. Journ. of Med. Sciences, v. 300;  Carson,
Illust of Med. Bot. ii.  13, pi. 61. — Ipomsea Purga.  Hayne, Darstel. und Be- 
PART I.
Jalapa.
443
schreib. &c. xii. 33 and 34;  Lindley, Flor. Med, 396.—Exogonium Purga.
Balfour, Gurtis's Bot, Mag., 3d 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 which 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 of Mr. Nuttall,
published in Dr. Coxe's paper in the American Journal of the Med, Sciences.
   The jalap plant is a native of Mexico, and derived its name from the city of
Xalapa, in the state of Yera Cruz, in the neighbourhood of which it grows, at
the height of about 6000 feet above the ocean.   The drug is brought from the
port of Yera Cruz in bags, containing usually between 100  and 200 pounds.
   Properties.  The tuber comes either whole, or divided longitudinally into two
parts, or in transverse circular slices.   The  entire tubers are irregularly round-
ish, 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 undulated fracture, exhibiting
numerous resinous points, distinctly visible with  the  microscope.  It is exter-
nally brown and wrinkled,  internally of a grayish colour, diversified by concen-
tric darker circles,  in which the matter is denser and  harder than in the inter-
vening 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, some-
what 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 ex-
tract, 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.   Buchner  and Herberger supposed that they
had discovered a basic substance, which they called jalapin.   G. A. Kayser
found that the resin of jalap consists of two portions, one of which, amounting
to seven parts out of ten, ia hard and insoluble in ether, the other is soft and
soluble in that menstruum.   The hard resin he named rhodeoretin, and found
to be identical with the jalapin of Buchner and Herberger.   By  reaction with
the alkalies it is converted into an acid, called rhodeoretinic acid.  Rhodeoretin
is slightly soluble in water, freely so in alcohol, and insoluble in ether; and the
alcoholic solution is precipitated both by ether and water.    It is dissolved  by
solutions of the alkalies, more quickly if heated, and is not precipitated by acids,
having become soluble by conversion into the acid above referred to.  It purges
violently in the dose of three or four grains, and is supposed to  be the active
principle of jalap.  Mayer has confirmed and extended the observations of Kay- 
444
Jalapa.
PART i.
 ser.  The formula of rhodeoretin, according to the latter chemist, is C,.,H  0
 according to the former, C73Hri0O38.  (See Chem. Gaz., iii. 15, and xi. 21.)  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, 17*9 of extractive, 14-5 of gummy extract,  8-2 of
 a colouring substance which becomes red under the influence of the alkaline car-
 bonates, 1-9 of uncrystallizable sugar, 15-6 of gum mixed with some saline mat-
 ters, 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 Extractum sive Besina Jalapae.
   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 quan-
 tity of the latter he procured only 48 parts.   Hence worm-eaten jalap should
 be employed for obtaining the resin, but should not  be pulverized,  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 attracted particular attention
 are mentioned in the note below.*   Jalap should be rejected when it  is light,

  *  Adulterations, Spc.  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 Part Third) It is
 probable, however, that the adulteration which has been considered as bryony root, is
 the mechoacan, which in Europe is sometimes called American bryony, and was formerly
 erroneously supposed to be derived from a species of Bryonia. Mechoacan  is a product
 of Mexico, which was taken to Europe even before the introduction of jalap. The plant
 producing it has been conjectured to be Ipomaea macrorrhiza of Michaux, which is be-
 lieved to grow in Mexico near Vera Cruz, as well as in our Southern States, and the
 root of which is said to weigh, when of full size, from fifty to sixty pounds, and, accord-
 ing to Dr. Baldwin, has little or no purgative power.  But this  origin is quite  uncer-
 tain.  Mechoacan is in circular slices, or fragments  of various shapes, white and fari-
 naceous within, and, as in the European markets, generally destitute of bark, of which,
 however, portions of a yellowish colour sometimes continue to adhere.   The  larger
 slices are sometimes marked with faint concentric stri-e ; and upon the exterior surface
 are brown spots  and ligneous points, left by the radicles after removal.  (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 starchy  parenchyma there was an 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 prob-
 ably the same with that referred to by French writers as the product of a plant de-
 nominated 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  Guibourt's Histoire des Drogues, is de-
 scribed under the title of fusiform jalap.  A description of it was first published  in this
 ✓ -^o7^7^11'* D*B* Smith>in a PaPer uPon Ipomaea Jalapa, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm.
 o<m i<vL      an account of the  Plant> the reader is referred  to the same Journal (x.
2Z4:.) The  recent root is large,  spindle-shaped, sometimes twenty inches in length,
branched at its lower extremity, yellow on  its outer  surface, and white and  milky
within.  The drug, as described by Guibourt, is in circular pieces, two or three  inches
m 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 vertically into quarters.  The horizontal cut surface  is dark from
exposure, unequal from the greater shrinking in desiccation of some parts  than others,
and  presents the extremities of numerous fibres, which are  often concentrically ar-
ranged, and run in the longitudinal direction  of the root.   Internally the colour is
grayish, 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 
PART I.
Jalapa.
445
 of a whitish colour internally, of a dull fracture, spongy, or friable.  Powders
 of calomel and jalap, taken on  long voyages to 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 Wackenroder to a fungous growth.  (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 exten-
 sively 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

 and nauseous.   The root, 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.  It has cathartic
 properties similar to those of the true jalap, but feebler, 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 purgative principle, is considerably less in the male jalap; while
 that of lignin, which is wholly inert, is about double. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 166.) This
 resin,  according to G. A. Kayser, differs from jalap resin in consisting of only one prin-
 ciple, which is entirely soluble in  ether.  But both resins  are distinguished from all
 others by  being  gradually dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid, and deposited
 again after some hours in a soft state. (Chem. Gaz., No. 53, from Liebig's Annalen.)
   A false jalap was  some 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 over-
 grown jalap.  A specimen, brought to Philadelphia, and examined by a  Committee of
 the College 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 somewhat wrinkled, with broad flatfish  light-brown ridges and shallow
 darker furrows, internally grayish-white, with distant darker concentric  circles, some-
 times uniformly  amylaceous, of a dull rough fracture, a loose texture, a slight, pecu-
 liar, 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 dif-
 fered from mechoacan by the 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 inu-
 lin, 10 of gum and albumen, 23-2 of lignin,  and 1-i-X of saccharine matter and salts of
 lime, including loss.  In doses of from fifteen to twenty grains it produced no effect on
 the system.  A similar root was described  by Guibourt by the name of rose-scented
jalap.  It was taken to France from Mexico, mixed with genuine jalap.  It proved equal-
 ly inefficacious as a  purgative, and probably had the same origin.  This spurious drug
 is probably the product of  a Convolvulus  or Ipomaea.  See report by Messrs. Ellis,
 Duhamel, and Ecky, in the  American Journal of Pharmacy (xiv. 289).
  Two varieties of false jalap, imported  into New York, are described by Mr. John H.
 Currie in the N.  Y.  Journ. of Pharm. for Jan. 1852.  The first corresponds  with the root
above  described as that of Convolvulus Orizabensis, or male jalap, both in appear-
ance and in the character of its resinous ingredient.  The second is a tuberous root,
resembling in shape, colour, and size the butternut, or fruit of Juglans cinerea, being
black or nearly so externally, dull over most of the  surface but glossy in spots, with
deep longitudinal incisions, internally yellow or yellowish-white, with  a horny frac-
ture, and upon the transversely cut surface  marked with sparse dots as  if from deli-
cate fibres.   It contains no resin, and appears to be inert. 
446
Jalapa.—Juglans.
PART i.
assist or qualify its operation.  In dropsical complaints it is usually combined
with bitartrate of potassa; and the same mixture is much employed in the treat-
ment of the hip disease, and scrofulous affections of other joints.  With calo-
mel it forms a cathartic compound, which 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 hyper-
catharsis.   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 of the Ed. College, from four to  eight grains;  of the extract
of the U. S. and Lond. Pharmacopoeias, from ten to twenty grains.  The latter
extract is preferable to the alcoholic, as it more completely represents jalap itself.
The dose of  calomel and jalap is ten grains of each; of bitartrate of potassa
and jalap,  two  drachms of the former and ten or fifteen grains of the latter.
  Off. Prep. Extractum Jalapas; Extractum sive Resina Jalapas; Pulvis Jala-
pas  Compositus; Tinctura Jalapas; Tinctura Sennas et Jalapas.          W.

                          JUGLANS.  U.S.

                               Butternut.

  The inner bark of the root of Juglans cinerea.  U. S.
  Juglans.  Sex. Syst  Monoecia Polyandria. — Nat. Ord.  Juglandaceas.
  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 vermifuge
from the times  of Hippocrates, and has been recommended in syphilis and old
ulcers.  The expressed oil of the fruit has been  deemed efficacious against the
tape-worm, and is also used as a  laxative injection.  The leaves,  long occasion-
ally employed for various purposes both in regular and domestic practice, have
been found by Professor ISegrier, 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 ever resulted from a long-continued use of the remedy.  It  appears to act
as a moderately aromatic bitter and astringent. (Arch. Gen., Se serie, x. 399 and
xi.  41.)  The leaves of our J. nigra or common black walnut, or those of J.
cinerea, the only officinal species, would probably  answer as good a purpose.
  Juglans cinerea. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 456; 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 names  of butternut, oilnut, and white walnut  In favoura-
ble  situations it attains  a great  size, rising sometimes  fifty feet, with a trunk
three or four feet in diameter at the  distance of five feet from the root.  The
stem divides, at a small distance from the ground, into numerous nearly hori-
zontal branches,  which spread widely, and form  a  large  tufted head.  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 end.   These
are two or three inches in length, oblong-lanceolate,  rounded at the base, acu-
minate, 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 
PART I.
Jug lans.—Juniper us.
447
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 extremity 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, 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.  The tree,
if pierced immediately before the leaves unfold, yields a richly saccharine 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 be rubefacient.  The inner bark is the
medicinal portion, and that of the root, being considered most efficient, is directed
by the national Pharmacopoeia.   It should be collected in  May or June.
   On the living tree, the inner  bark when first uncovered, is of  a pure white,
which becomes immediately on exposure a fine lemon colour, and ultimately
changes to deep brown.   It has a fibrous texture, a feeble odour, and a peculiar,
bitter, somewhat acrid taste.  Its medical virtues are extracted by boiling water!
Dr. Bigelow could detect no resin in the bark ; and the presence of tannin was
not evinced by the test of gelatin, though a brownish-black colour was produced
by sulphate of iron.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Butternut is a mild cathartic, operating with-
out  pain or irritation, and resembling rhubarb in  the property of evacuating
without debilitating the alimentary canal.  It was much employed, during our
revolutionary war, by Dr. Rush and other physicians attached to the army.  It
is especially applicable to cases of habitual costiveness and other bowel affections,
particularly dysentery, in which  it has acquired considerable  reputation.   In
connexion with calomel it has sometimes been used  in our intermittent and re-
mittent fevers, aud 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. Extractum Juglandis.                                  \j


                    JUNIPERUS.  U. S., Lond.

                               Juniper.

   The fruit of Juniperus communis. U S., Lond.
„Wfyn- JUXIPERI  CACUMINA.  Tops of  Juniperus communis.  JU-
M1EK1 PkUCIUS.  Berries of Juniperus communis. Ed.   JUNIPERUS
COMMUNIS.  The tops and befVies.  Dub.
  Geneyi-ier commun, Bales de Genievre, Fr.; Gemeiner Wachholder, Wachholder-
beeren, Germ.; Ginepro, Ital.; Enebro, Bayas de enebro, Span.
  Juniperus. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Monadelphia.—Nat Orel, Pinaceas or Coniferas.
  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, 
448
Juniperus.
part i.
   Juniperus communis.  Willd. Sp. Plant iv. 853 ;  Woodv. 3Ied. Bot p. 13
t.  6.   This is an erect evergreen shrub, usually small, but sometimes twelve or
fifteen feet high, 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  flowers are  dioecious, and
disposed in small, ovate, axillary, sessile,  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 Ame-
rican 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 high, spread-
ing 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  the 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 " huile de cade," from the interior reddish wood of
the trunk and branches, by a distillation per descensum. (See oil of cade in
Part Third.)   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 in-
ferior in strength, and are not much used.   The best come from the south of
Europe,  particularly from Trieste  and the  Italian ports.   They are globular
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; and
covered with a glaucous bloom, beneath which they are of a shining blackish-
purple colour.  They contain a brownish-yellow pulp, and three  angular seeds.
They have an agreeable somewhat aromatic odour, and a sweetish, warm, bit-
terish, slightly terebinthinate taste.   These properties, as well as their medical
virtues, they owe chiefly to a volatile oil.  (See Oleum Juniperi.)   The other
ingredients, according to Trommsdorff, are resin, sugar, gum, wax, lignin, water,
and various saline substances.   The proportion of these ingredients varies ac-
cording 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 perfectly ripe it has been partly changed into
resin, and in those quite black, completely so. The berries impart their virtues to
water and alcohol.   They are very largely consumed in the  preparation of gin.
   The tops of Juniper are  directed  by the Edinburgh  and Dublin Colleges.
Their odour is balsamic,  their taste  resinous and bitterish ; and they possess
similar virtues with the berries.             d
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Juniper berries are gently stimulant and
diuretic, imparting to the  urine the smell of violets, and producing occasionally,
when 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 diseases, catarrh of
the bladder, and atonic  conditions of the alimentary canal  and uterus.   They 
 part I.          Juniperus.—Juniperus  Virginiana.              449

 may be given in substance, triturated with sugar, in the dose of one or two
 drachms three or four times a day.  But the  infusion is more convenient.  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 berries, 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 ; Infusum Juniperi; Oleum Ju-
 niperi; Spiritus Juniperi Compositus.                                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. 3Ied. Bot.
 iii.  49; Michaux, N. Am,  Sylv. iii. 221.   This species of Juniper, commonly
 called red cedar, is an evergreen tree of slow growth, seldom very large, though
 sometimes rising forty or fifty feet, with a stem more than a foot 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,
 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 Burlington,
 in Vermont, to the Gulf of Mexico; but it is most abundant  and vigorous
 in the southern section.  The interior wood is  of a reddish colour, and highly
 valuable on account of its great durability.  Small excrescences, which are some-
 times 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, somewhat
 pungent taste.   These properties reside chiefly  in a volatile 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, chlo-
 rophylle, 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.
  3Iedical 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  circum-
 stances, diaphoretic.   It is, however,  much less  energetic; and,  though advan-
tage  may, as has been asserted, have accrued from it in amenorrhcea,  chronic
rheumatism, and dropsy, it  has not acquired the confidence of  the profession
generally.   Externally applied it acts as an irritant; and  an  ointment, pre-
pared 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
       29 
450
Kino.
PART i.
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 preparations is as effectual
as the analogous preparation of savine.*                                \\

                   KINO. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                   Kino.

   The inspissated juice of Pterocarpus Marsupium, and of other plants. U. S.
Pterocarpus  Marsupium.  Juice  from incisions in  the bark, hardened in  the
sun. Lond.  Concrete exudation of Pterocarpus erinaceus, and of other unde-
termined genera and species. Ed., Dub.
   Kino, Fr., Germ., Ital.; Quino, 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  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 commer-
cial history of the drug.  We shall first give an account of the general properties
of the medicines denominated kino, and then  treat of the several varieties.
   General Properties.  Kino, as found in the  shops,  is usually in small, irre-
gular, angular, shining fragments, seldom so  large as a pea, of a dark reddish-
brown or blackish  colour,  very  brittle, easily pulverizable, and affording a red-
dish 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 astringent taste, with a some-
what 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  has been
supposed to consist chiefly of a modification of tannic  acid or tannin, with ex-
tractive, gum, and sometimes probably a little resin ; but we  need  a careful
analysis of the different well-ascertained varieties.  The aqueous solution is pre-
cipitated by gelatin, the soluble salts of iron, silver,  lead, and antimony, bichlo-
ride of mercury, and 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 essentially 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.   It is now ascertained,
through the united researches of Drs. Pereira, Royle, Wight, and  others, to be

  * In the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal (xl. 469), several cases of poisoning
are recorded by Dr. S. C. Watt, of Gouverneur, New York,  resulting from the use of
'  cedar oil," which we  presume to be the volatile  oil procured by distillation from the
red cedar,  though no information on that point is given.  It appears  that this oil has
the reputation of producing abortion, and was taken, in three of the cases  described,
with a view to this effect.  In one  instance a fluidrachm  was taken, in another a fluid-
ounce, and m both of  these  cases recovery took place.  Two  of the  cases were fatal.
The symptoms were burning in the stomach, sometimes vomiting, violent convulsions,
coma, and a very slow pulse.  The  operation of the poison  was mainly on  the brain.
No abortive effect was  experienced in either case.   The stomach, on examination after
death, showed marks of inflammation, but not violent.— Note to the ninth edition. 
PART I.
Kino.
451
 the product of Pterocarpus 3Iarsupium, a lofty tree, growing upon the moun-
 tains of the Malabar coast of Hindostan.   Kino is the juice of the tree, ex-
 tracted 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 Bom-
 bay.   It is sometimes imported into this country directly from the East Indies,
 but more commonly from London.  From a communication in the Journal of
 the Asiatic Society of Bengal, by the Rev. F. Mason, it appears that kino is
 also collected in the Tenasserim provinces, in further India, and has been ex-
 ported from Maulmain to  Europe.  It is produced by a tree called Pa-douk,
 which is supposed to be a  species of Pterocarpus; but its precise character was
 not certainly known. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 134.)   Dr. Christison has
 subsequently recognised, in a description of this tree furnished to him by Mr.
 Begbie,  of  Maulmain, the precise characters of Pterocarpus Marsupium;  so
 that  this kino has the same origin with that from Malabar.
  _ East  India kino is in small, angular, glistening fragments, of a uniform con-
 sistence, appearing as if formed by the breaking  down of larger masses.   The
 larger fragments are opaque and nearly black; but minute splinters are  some-
 times translucent, and  of  a  deep garnet redness when viewed by transmitted
 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, re-
 sulting 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 chem-
 ical relations, it corresponds  with the account already given of kino in  gene-
 ral.  According to Vauquelin, it contains  75 per cent, of  tannin and peculiar
 extractive, 24 of red gum, and 1 of insoluble matter.   But new views have been
 advanced as to its composition.   When kino is boiled in water, the decoction
 deposits  on cooling a bright-red substance; and a similar deposition takes place
 when a cold filtered  aqueous solution is long exposed with a broad surface  to
 the air.   Dr. Gerding  considers this  deposit as the result  of the combination
 of oxygen with kino-tannic acid,  and calls  it kino-red, (Chem.  Gaz., ix.  260,
 from Liebig's Annalen.) Hennig, who has examined East India kino with some
 care, considers this kino-red as a colouring matter in intimate combination with
 the tannic  acid, which he is disposed to think identical in its pure state  with
 tannic acid  of galls;  and he extends the same views to the  other forms of this
 astringent principle which  give greenish precipitates  with the sesquisalts  ot
 iron, and which are generally believed to be somewhat different, as they occur
 in different plants.  Finding this  red colouring matter to possess acid proper-
 ties, he has  named it kinoic acid,   According to  Hennig, kino consists of tan-
 nic acid with a trace of gallic acid, kinoic acid, pectin, ulmic acid, and inorganic
 salts with excess of earthy  bases.  (See  Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 544.)
   2.  West India or Jamaica  Kino.   This is believed to be the product of the
 Coccoloba uvifera, or sea-side grape, a tree twenty feet or more in height,  bear-
 ing 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 de-
 coction of the wood and bark,  which are very astringent.  Many years since, a
 thick  reddish-brown liquid was imported into Philadelphia from  the West
 Indies, which, when dried by exposure  to the air in shallow vessels or by heat,
 afforded an  extract having  all the properties of kino, for which it was sold by
the druggists.  This has been long exhausted; but  some years since, a consi-
derable quantity of West India kino was brought  into this market, which may
still enter into the consumption of the country. It was contained in large gourds, 
  452                              Kino.                           part i.

  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 rect-
  angular form.  The consistence  of these fragments is uniform, their surface
  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 translucent and
  of a ruby redness.   They are readily broken by the fingers  into smaller frag-
  ments, are easily pulverized, and yield a  dull-reddish powder,  considerably
  lighter-coloured than that of the former variety.   The West India kino is with-
  out odour, and has a very astringent bitterish taste, with a scarcely observable
  sweetish after-taste.  It adheres to the teeth when chewed, though rather les?
  than the East India variety, and colours the saliva red.  The solubility of Ja-
  maica 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  ordinary of-
  ficinal 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.  Considering the nature of this
  substance, the form of kino in which it was found is probably, like that from the
  East Indies,  an inspissated juice.   Guibourt, who states that Jamaica kino is
  but slightly dissolved by cold water, must have operated on a different product.
     3. South American Kino.— Caracas Kino.   In 1839, when the fourth edi-
  tion of this Dispensatory was published, an  astringent extract was described,
  which had recently been  introduced into  our market, derived, as  we were in-
  formed, from Caracas, and  known by that name to the druggists.   Since that
  period it has come much more extensively into use.  It is  probably the same as
  that described by Guibourt, in the last edition of his History of Drugs, as the
  kino of Columbia.   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 red-
  dish-brown or dark port-wine colour.   It is opaque in the mass,  but translu-
  cent in thin  splinters, very brittle, and of a fracture always shining, but in some
  masses wdiolly 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 ir-
   regularly.   Some  of the masses  are very impure, containing pieces of bark,
   wood, leaves, &c.; others are more homogeneous, and  almost free from impuri-
   ties.  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 difference
   between the two varieties either in colour, lustre, taste, the colour of the pow-
   der, 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 em-
   barrassed 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. 
PART I.
Kino.
453
   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 Pterocar-
 pus erinaceus of Lamarck and Poiret.*   The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges
 accordingly refer kino in chief to this plant; but, in so doing, have overlooked
 the  fact that not one of the varieties  now used is brought  from  Africa.  The
 importation of African kino has long ceased; and the most experienced phar-
 macologist cannot speak with' certainty of having seen a specimen.   That de-
 scribed by Guibourt has turned out to be the Butea gum;\ and the description
 in the first edition of  Christison's Dispensatory evidently applies to the com-
 mon East India  kino.   A  specimen  given to Dr. A. T. Thomson  as African
 kino, and 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 astring-
 ent 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 3Ied. Obs.
 and Inq., i. 358.)
   5.  Botany Bay Kino.   This is the concrete juice of Eucalyptus resinifera,
 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.  According
 to Mr. White, a single tree is capable of  furnishing 500 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 commerce.  According to
 information received by Dr. Thomson, its importation into Great Britain must
 have ceased soon after that  period (Thomson's  Dispensatory, 1826, p. 506);

   * A particular account of Pterocarpus erinaceus and its concrete juice, with a figure
 by Dr. W. F. Daniell, is contained in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, for August, 1854
 (vol. xiv. p. 55).
   f Butea gum is the concrete juice of the Butea frondbsa 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 pulverizable, 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, 5-05 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 medi-
 cine.  It is, however, very seldom imported into England, and never, at present, into
 this 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. 
454
Kino.
PART I.
but Dr. Pereira speaks of it as imported in boxes, and has himself met with a
parcel of  it from Van Dieman's Land.   Ainslie informs us that he has seen it
in the markets of Hindostan.   Until after the publication of the last edition
of this Dispensatory, we had never met with it in this country;  but a specimen
has recently been presented to  us by Mr.  S. W. Osgood, druggist, of New York,
with  the  information that it had been brought to that city in a vessel  directly
from  western Australia. *
   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 reddish-brown
powder.  It  is infusible, without  odour,  of an astringent taste followed by
sweetness, and when long  chewed adheres to the teeth. (Duncan.)  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 writers  mu^t have
experimented with  different substances.   According to Dr.  Duncan,  alcohol
dissolves the whole except  impurities; and the tincture, with a  certain  propor-
tion 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 substances are very nearly the same.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.    Kino is powerfully astringent, and in this

  * Of the specimen presented to us by Mr. Osgood,  one portion is in the liquid state,
consisting, I  presume, of the  juice of  the tree  not yet inspissated, another portion is
concrete.  The liquid, which is contained in a corked  and sealed bottle, is of a deep
reddish-brown colour, transparent and  redder in very thin  layers, and somewhat
viscid, with a slight solid deposit.  The concrete parcel consists, for the most part, of
very small grains, from the size of powdery particles up to that of a pea.  But with
these  are  mixed pieces of a larger size, and two of them comparatively very large,
being not less than two or three  inches long by an inch, more or less, in breadth and
thickness.  These latter consist of a thick  irregular deposit of the  concrete  juice on
pieces of a thick, spongy, soft,.and very brittle bark, which may be  easily broken by
the nail, and fragments of which of all sizes are mixed with the proper kino,  which it
resembles  in  colour, though  somewhat lighter.   In  the irregular angular form of its
granules, their dark reddish-brown colour and shining surface, their extreme brittle-
ness and ready pulverization, the reddish colour of their powder, and their astringent
bitterish taste, this drug corresponds closely with the more common varieties of kino;
and, if- deprived of the cortical  matter  with which it is mingled, might, I  have no
doubt, be  used advantageously for the general purposes of the medicine.  If the juice
could be imported in quantities, and inspissated here, a pure  product might be in-
sured.  Examined at our request by Professor Procter, this kino formed, when rubbed
with water, a soft adhesive mass, and yielded to the water 67 per cent, of its weight
in solution;  though, as it was very slowly dissolved, more might have been taken up
by the water, had the treatment been longer continued.  Alcohol of  sp. gr. 0835 dis-
solved the whole with the exception of 1-5 grains, which might well  have been impu-
rity, as particles of the bark may have been embedded in the fragments examined.
The tincture was  not precipitated by water.   The watery solution gave precipitates
with  gelatin, lime-water, sesquichloride of iron,  and  sulphate of copper, and slight
ones with  corrosive sublimate and tartar emetic— Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Kino.—Krameria.
455
country is much used for the suppression of morbid discharges.   In diarrhoea,
not  attended with febrile excitement or inflammation, it is often an excellent
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 leucorrhoea and  diabetes; and in passive hemorrhages, particu-
larly that from the uterus.  It was formerly  used in intermittent fever.
   It may be given in  powder,  infusion, or tincture.   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 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 epistaxis.  A case of
obstinate hemorrhage from a wound in the palate, after  resisting various
means, yielded to the application of powdered 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; Pulvis Aluminis  Compositus;  Pulvis
Catechu Comp.; Pulvis Kino Comp.; Tinctura Kino.                 W.


              KRAMERIA.  U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Rhatany.

   The root of Krameria triandra.  U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.
   Ratanhie, Fr.; Ratanhiawurzel, Germ.; Ratania, Ital., Span.
   Krameria. Sex. Syst  Tetrandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord. Polygaleas, De
Cand.  Krameriaceas, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch,  Calyx none.  Corolla four-petaled;  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, 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.   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  cha-
racter of Willdenow, 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.   The name rhatany is said to express, in the
language of the  Peruvian Indians, the creeping character of the plant.
   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 sea-
sons, 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 exported
is obtained in the southern provinces of  Peru, particularly in  Arica and Islay.
(Trav. in Peru, Am. ed., p. 214.)
  The  K. Ixina, growing  in the West  Indies, and northern parts of South
America, affords a root closely analogous in appearance and properties to  that 
456
Krameria.
part i.
of the Peruvian species; but the latter only is officinal. This root is occasionally
imported into Europe,  and is  known in England by the  name  of  Savanilla
rhatany, derived from the port of New Granada, from which it was imported.
It has been described by Dr. Mettenheimer of Giessen, and more recently by Dr.
Schuchardt of Dresden, whose  accounts of it are more particularly  referred to
in the notes below.*
  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 thickness,
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 cylin-
drical, and as much as two  or three feet in length.   Sometimes 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.  Rhatany 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 cortical than the ligneous part.
The smallest pieces are therefore preferable, as they contain the largest propor-
tion 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,  saccha-
rine matter, and an acid which Peschier considered as peculiar, and named kra-
meric acid.   The tannin is in three states ; 1st, 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 sub-
stance which  imparts to the infusion and tincture 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, de-
coction, and tincture of rhatany,  and are incompatible in prescription.
   Cold water, by means of displacement or percolation, extracts  all  the astrin-

  * Savanilla Rhatany.  Mettenheimer describes a false rhatany, which has  occurred in
German commerce, as follows.  The body of the root is from 1 to 2 inches thick, and 4
long, knotty, with many branches ; but these are generally separate, from 4 to 12 inches
long, and nearly half an inch thick.  The body resembles the genuine; but the branches
are smoother, in parts somewhat shining, with deeper longitudinal furrows, and trans-
verse fissures, which sometimes divide the bark quite around the root.  They are more
undulating, and, as well as the body, have more frequent wart-like  elevations.  The
false root is more bitter than the genuine, with a thicker bark,  and in mass  has a dirty
violet reddish-brown colour.   Exteriorly the bark is of a dirty dark brownish-red, with
a granular fracture ; interiorly it is lighter coloured, with a fibrous fracture; and when
cut with a knife has a shining surface.  The ligneous part is pale-red, hard, of  a short-
fibrous fracture, and, when cut across, dull and without the dark central point of the
genuine root. The false root is inodorous. Its taste is more astringent than that of the
genuine.  Its source is unknown.  (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, March  24,1852, p. 221.)
  The above description, which we leave entire, corresponds closely  with that of a
variety of the  drug, known  in English commerce as Savanilla  rhatany, given by Dr.
Schuchardt, of Dresden, by whom it is referred, in all probability correctly,  to Kra-
meria Ixina. In addition to what has been stated above,  it may be mentioned that in
this variety of  rhatany, the bark adheres more firmly to the root than in the genuine,
that it has a more abrupt and less fibrous fracture, and consequently is more readily
pulverized, and that both the wood and bark contain  a large proportion of tannic acid.
(See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xvi. 29 and 132, from Botanische Zeitung.)   A root, sent
to this city  from London, as a specimen of the rhatany known there as Savanilla, cor-
responds exactly with the description here given.—Note to the tenth and eleventh  editions. 
part I.                  Krameria.—Lacmus.                      457

gency of rhatany, forming a clear deep-red infusion, which, upon careful evapo-
ration, 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  apo-
theme is dissolved, and a considerable quantity of the pure tannin becomes in-
soluble 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 preparation, and the
extract resulting from its evaporation, though greater in weight than that from
the cold infusion, contains much less  soluble  and active matter.  Alcohol dis-
solves 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 encum-
bered with much inert matter. (See Extractum Kramerise.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Rhatany is gently tonic and powerfully as-
tringent ; and may be advantageously given in  chronic diarrhoea, passive hemor-
rhages, 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 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.   It has the advantage  over the
astringent extracts imported, that,  being brought in the state of the root, it is
free from adulteration, 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.  The  propor-
tions 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, and
may be  given, the  first in the dose of fifteen or twenty grains, the second  of
two or three  fluidrachms, and the  third of half .a fluidounce.   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 leucorrhoea.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum  Kramerias;  Infusum Kramerias; Syrupus Kramerise;
Tinctura Krameriae.                                                 W.

                           LACMUS. Ed.

                               Litmus.

  A peculiar colouring matter from Roccella  tinctoria. Ed.
  Turnsole; Tournesol, Orseille, Fr. ;  Lakmus, Germ.
  Three purple or blue colouring substances are known in commerce,  obtained
from lichenous plants.  They are called  severally litmus, orchil, and cudbear.
The lichens employed are different species of Boccella, Lecanora, Variolaria,
and others.  They grow on alpine  or  maritime rocks, in various parts of the
world, and for commercial purposes are collected chiefly upon the European and
African  coasts, and the neighbouring  islands, as the Azores, Madeira, Canaries,
and Cape de Verds.   The particular species most employed are probably Leca-
nora tartarea or Tartarean moss, growing in the north of Europe, and Boc-
cella tinctoria or orchilla weed, which abounds upon the African and insular
coasts, and is called commercially,  in  common with other species of the  same
genus, Angola weed, Canary weed, &c, according to the place from which it
may be brought. 
458
Lacmus.
part i.
  The principles in these plants upon which their valuable properties depend,
are themselves colourless, and yield colouring substances by the reaction of
water, air, and ammonia.   They are generally acids, and are named lecanoric,
orsellic, erythric, &c, according  to their use or origin.  What is the exact
chemical change by which the colouring matters are developed is not determined;
but the original body, in some instances at least, undergoes a series of changes,
before the ultimate result is obtained.   Dr. Stenhouse proposes  that the prin-
ciples should be extracted from the plants at their place of collection, so as to
diminish the cost of carriage.  For this purpose the lichens, having been finely
divided, are to be macerated with milk of lime, the infusion thus  obtained to be
precipitated with muriatic or acetic acid, and the precipitate to be dried  with a
gentle heat.   Almost the whole of the colouring principles are thus extracted,
and obtained in a  small bulk.  To test the value of the plants  as dye-stuffs,
they may be macerated in a weak  solution of ammonia, or a solution of hypo-
chlorite of lime may be added to their alcoholic tincture.  In  the former case,
a rich violet-red colour is produced; in the latter a deep  blood-red colour in-
stantly appears, but soon fades.   All the three colouring  substances above re-
ferred to may be obtained from the same plants.
   Lacmus  or Litmus is prepared chiefly if not  exclusively in Holland.  The
process consists in macerating the coarsely powdered lichen, in wooden vessels
under shelter, for several weeks, with occasional agitation, in a mixture of urine,
lime,  and potash or soda.  A fermentation ensues, and the mass,  becoming first
red and ultimately blue, is  after the last change removed, mixed with calcareous
or silicious  matter to give it consistence, and with indigo to deepen the colour,
and then introduced into  small moulds, where it hardens.   Its comes to us in
rectangular cakes  from a  quarter of an inch to an inch  in  length, light, friable,
finely granular, of an indigo-blue or deep-violet colour,  and scattered over with
white saline points.  It  has the combined odour of indigo and  violets, tinges
the saliva of a deep-blue, and is somewhat  pungent  and saline to the taste.
From most vegetable blues it differs in not being rendered green by alkalies.  It
is reddened by acids, and restored to its  original blue colour by  alkalies.
   Its chief  use in  medicine is as a test of acids and alkalies.   For this purpose
it is employed either in infusion, or in the form of litmus-paper.   The infusion,
usually called tincture of litmus, may be made in the  proportion of one part
of litmus to twenty of distilled water, and two parts of alcohol may be added
to preserve it.   Litmus-paper is prepared by first forming a strong clear in-
fusion with one part of litmus to  four of water, and dipping slips of white un-
sized paper into it, or applying it by a brush to one surface only of the paper.
The paper should then be carefully dried, and kept in well-stopped vessels, from
which the light is excluded.   It should have a uniform blue or slightly purple
colour, neither very light nor very dark.  As a test for alkalies, the paper may
be stained with an infusion of litmus previously reddened by an acid.
   Orchil or archil, as prepared in England, is in the form of a thickish liquid,
of a  deep reddish-purple colour, but varying  in the tint,  being  in one variety
redder than in the other.   The odour is ammoniacal.  It is made by macerating
lichens, in a covered wooden vessel, with  an ammoniacal liquor,  either consist-
ing of stale urine and lime, or prepared by distilling an impure salt of ammonia
with  lime and water. (Pereira.)   It is said to be occasionally adulterated with
the extracts of coloured woods, as logwood, sappan-wood, &c.   A mode of de-
tecting these adulterations is given by Mr. F. Leeshing in the Chemical Gazette
of June 1, 1855 (p.  219).
   Cudbear is in the form of a purplish-red powder.  It is procured in the same
manner as orchil; but the mixture, after the development  of the colour, is dried
and pulverized. 
 part I.          Lacmus.—Lactuca.—Lactucarium.               459

   The difference in the preparation of these colouring substances  and litmus
-appears to be, that potash or soda is added, in the  latter, to the ammoniacal
 liquid used.  Orchil and cudbear are employed as dye-stuffs, and sometimes, in
 like manner with litmus, as a test  of acids and alkalies.                W.

                         LACTUCA.  Lond.

                                 Lettuce.

   Lactuca sativa. The leaves. Lond,
   Off Syn,  LACTUCA SATIVA. The leaves. Dub.
   Laitue, Fr.; Garten Lattig, Germ.; Lattuga, Ital.; Lechuga, Span.

                LACTUCARIUM.  U.S., Ed., Dub.

                             Lactucarium.

  _ The inspissated juice of Lactuca sativa.  U S. Inspissated juice of Lactuca
 virosa and sativa. Ed., Dub.
   Lactuca. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia ^Equalis.—Nat. Ord. Composites Cicho-
 raceas, De Cand.  Cichoraceas, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Beceptacle  naked.  Calyx imbricated, cylindrical, with a mem-
 branous margin. Pappus simple,  stipitate.  Seed smooth.  Willd,
   The plants of this genus yield  when wounded a milky juice, to which, indeed,
 they  owe their generic name.  In  some of them this juice possesses valuable
 narcotic properties.   This is the case, among others, with L. sativa, L. virosa,
 and L. altissima.  The two former are officinal, and are here described.  It was
 supposed that our native L. elongata or wild lettuce might have similar virtues;
 and 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.   But,
 according to M.  Aubergier, who experimented with different species of Lactuca,
 in order to ascertain from which  of them lactucarium  might be most advan-
 tageously obtained, the milky juice of this plant is of a flat and sweetish taste
 without bitterness, contains much mannite, but no bitter principle, and is des-
 titute of narcotic properties. (Ann. de Therap., 1843, p. 18.)  The probability
is that it is nearly or quite inert.   It was, therefore,  discarded,  at  the  last
revision, from our national Pharmacopoeia.
  Lactuca sativa. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1523. The garden lettuce is an annual
plant.  The stem, which rises above two feet, 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 in-
florescence it abounds in a milky juice, which readily escapes from incisions in
the stem,  and has been found to  possess decided medicinal as well as sensible
properties. This juice is more abundant in the wild than the cultivated plants.
That  of L. sativa, inspissated by  exposure to the air, has been adopted as offi-
cinal in the U. S. and British Pharmacopoeias, under the name of Lactucarium.
The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges admit also  L. virosa as a source of it.
  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 
460
Lactuca.—Lactucarium.
PART I.
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 con-
cretes, and assumes a brownish colour somewhat like  that of opium.  The fol-
lowing mode of collecting it was recommended by Mr. Young, of Edinburgh.
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
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 be-
come very bitter.  These parts, being separated, are macerated for twenty-four
hours in water, then boiled for two hours; and the clear decoction, having been
allowed to drain off through a sieve, is evaporated in shallow vessels by sim-
ple exposure.  The resulting extract, according to Mr.  Probart, has half the
strength of lactucarium, and may be obtained at one-sixth of the cost.
  The  London College directs 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 preparation
is liable to be quite inert.  The thridace of Dr. Francois, at one time supposed
to be identical with lactucarium, is in all  probability nothing more than 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 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 Therap., 1843, p. 18.)
  Lactucarium is in small  irregular lumps,  of a reddish-brown colour ex-
ternally, and of a narcotic odour and bitter taste.    As prepared near  Edin-
burgh, it is coinmonly in roundish,  compact, and rather  hard masses, weighing
several ounces.  (Christison.)   In  colour, taste, and smell it bears considerable
resemblance 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 sensible
properties  and therapeutical  effects to opium, it was conjectured to contain
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 
PART  I.
Lactuca.—Lactucarium.
461
 bitterness to impurities, separated from which it is without taste and inert.   It
 is at least doubtful whether the  constituent upon which the medical virtues of
 lactucarium  depend  has yet been isolated.   We give in a note the  results of
 various analyses of this medicine.   They all relate to the lactucarium obtained
 from Lactuca virosa.*

   * Buchner published experiments on lactucarium in 1832. His results are not essen-
 tially different from those subsequently obtained.  The principle, named by him lac-
 tucin, 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 combinations, and not easily obtained perfectly
 white and crystallized. (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., vii. 74.)
   Dr. Walz, in an inaugural thesis  published at Heidelberg in 1839, gives the follow-
 ing constituents of lactucarium from L. virosa; viz., a peculiar principle denominated
 lactucin, volatile  oil, a fatty matter easily dissolved by ether, and another of difficult
 solubility in that fluid, a reddish-yellow tasteless  resin, a greenish-yellow acrid resin,
 common  sugar, uncrystallizable sugar, gum, pectic acid, a brown humus-like acid, a
 brown basic  substance, albumen, oxalic, citric, malic, and nitric acids, potassa, lime,
 and  magnesia.   Lactucin, as obtained  by Walz, is in yellow crystalline needles, in-
 odorous, 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 alkaline or acid reaction. (Annal. der Pharm., xxxii. 97.)   It was
 obtained by treating lactucarium with alcohol acidulated with one-fifteenth of concen-
 trated yinegar, adding an equal volume of water, precipitating by subacetate of lead,
 separating the excess of lead by sulphuretted hydrogen, filtering, evaporating by a gen-
 tle heat, treating  the residuum by ether, and allowing the solution to evaporate.
   M. Aubergier, in his  memoir presented to the French Academy in  1842, gives  the
 following as the result of his analysis :  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.
 asparamide ;  4. a crystallizable substance having the property of colouring green the
 sequisalts  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 mag-
 nesia, oxides  of irori and manganese, and silica.  The bitter principle  above referred
 to separates from  its solution in boiling water upon cooling, in pearly scales.  By the
 action of alkalies it loses its bitterness, which is  not restored by acids.   The  lactes-
 cence of the fresh juice of lettuce is owing to a mixture of wax and resin, and not to
 caoutchouc.  (Ann. de Th4rap., 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 considers the  lactucin of these two chemists  as  impure, and denies that
 it is the active principle, which, he thinks, is probably an organic alkali.  He obtained
 the lactucin pure  by treating the  lactucarium of L. virosa with boiling alcohol,  aiid
 filtering while hot.  It was  deposited  on  the cooling of the liquid, and afterwards
 purified by frequent crystallization from alcohol, and treatment with animal charcoal.
 lhus obtained, it  was without 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.  Thieme
 could not divide this into the two kinds noticed by Walz as differing in their solubility
 m ether, and, considering it as peculiar, proposed for it the name of lactucerin.
    .a^o *? °ent analysis of lactucarium is by Ludwig.  That chemist found in 100
 parts 48-63 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 alcohol, and crystallization.  Thus obtained, it is in snow-white aggregated
 granules dissolves m 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 hieher heat with the escape of white
odorous vapours, is incapable of saponification by caustic potassa, and is therefore  not
properly a fat, and m alcoholic solution  faintly reddens  litmus paper.   It consists of 
462
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. R, Coxe, of  Philadel-
phia, enjoys the credit of having first proposed the employment of its inspis-
sated milky juice as  a medicine.   From experiments with a tincture prepared
from lactucarium, Dr. Coxe obtained the same results as usually follow the ad-
ministration of laudanum.  Dr. Duncan, senior, of Edinburgh, afterwards paid
particular attention to the subject, and, in his treatise on pulmonary consump-
tion, recommended lactucarium as a substitute for opium, the anodyne proper-
ties 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 Pharmacopoeias.   Dr. Francois,
a French physician, also  investigated the medicinal properties of the inspissated
juice of  lettuce.   According to that author, it is  sedative; diminishing the ra-
pidity 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 experi-
ence in relation  to  lactucarium is, that it has,  in  a  much inferior degree, the
anodyne and calming properties of opium, without its disposition to excite the
circulation, to produce headache and obstinate constipation, and to derange the
digestive organs.   In this country the medicine 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 be administered from idiosyncrasy  of the patient.   It is, however, very
uncertain.   The dose 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. A syrup has also been prepared, and used to some extent in France.
  Water distilled from lettuce (eau de laitue) is used in France as a mild seda-
tive, in the quantity of  from two  to four ounces.  The fresh leaves boiled in

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 in-
soluble in water, alcohol, and ether.  Of the 51-37 parts soluble  in water, 6-98 were
albumen,  1-75 lactucerin held in solution  by other substances,  27-68 bitter  extract
soluble  in  water  and  in alcohol, and  14-96  watery extract  insoluble in alcohol of
0.830.  The former of these extracts was found to contain a peculiar acid  substanoe
called lactucic acid, and the lactucin  of Aubergier.  To  obtain these  principles, 80
parts of lactucarium, in fine powder, were triturated with 80 of pure cold diluted sul-
phuric acid,  and  then mixed with 400 parts  of alcohol 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,
which left behind a viscid  substance ; the aqueous solution 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 evapo-
ration.  Lactucic acid is of difficult crystallization, light-yellow, strongly bitter, with-
out sour taste, of an acid reaction, and readily soluble in alcohol 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 sulphuric 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, mag-
nesia, and oxide of iron.  Distilled with diluted  sulphuric acid, it gave an  acid pro-
duct 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 the eighth edition. 
part I.               Lactuca Virosa.—Lappa.                    463
  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 Lactuca. Extractum Lactucas.
    Off. Prep,  of Lactucarium. Tinctura Lactucarii;  Trochisci Lactucarii.
                                                                     W.

                    LACTUCA  VIROSA.  Dub.

                             Acrid Lettuce.

    Laitue vireuse, Fr.; Gift-Lattig, Germ; Lattuga salvatica, Ital.
    Lactuca. See Lactuca.
    Lactura  virosa. Willd. Sp. Plant iii.  1526; Woodv. Med. Bot p.  75, t,
  31.   The acrid or 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, com-
  monly 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 a native of Europe.
    L.  virosa is lactescent, and has a strong disagreeable smell  like that of opium,
  and  a bitterish acrid taste.   The inspissated expressed juice is the part used!
  It lsbest prepared while the plant is in flower ; as  the milky fluid, upon which
  its virtues depend, is then  most  abundant.   Lactucarium is now  procured from
  this species, which is said  to yield it in greater quantity, and of  better quality
  than  the garden lettuce.  Mr.  Schutz, of Germany, obtained only 17 grains'
  on the average, from a single plant of the garden lettuce, while  a plant of l'
  virosa yielded  56 grains.
  _  Medical Properties and Uses.   The extract or  inspissated expressed juice
 is  a sedative narcotic, said also  to be gently laxative, powerfully diuretic and
 somewhat diaphoretic.   It is employed in Europe, particularly in Germany, in
 the treatment 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 pro-
 perties, and is  used for the same purposes.                            \y


                      LAPPA. U. S.  Secondary.

                               Burdock.
   The root of  Lappa minor.  U S.
   Bardane, Fr.; Gemeine Klette, Germ.; Bardana, Ital, Span
   Arctium. Sex. Syst.  Syngenesia .Equalis.— Nat. Ord.  Compositus Cina-
 reas, De Cand.  Cynaraceas, Lindley.
 ^  Gen.Gh. Receptacle chaffy.  Calyx globular; the scales at the apex  with
 inverted hooks. Seed-down bristly, chaffy.  Willd
   Arctium Lappa. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1631; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 32 t 13
—Lappa major. De Cand. Prodrom. vi. 661.   Burdock is biennial, 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, pubescent, branching, and three or
four feet m height, bearing very large cordate, denticulate  leaves, which are 
464
Lappa.—Lauro-cerasus.
part i.
green on their upper  surface, whitish and downy on the under, and stand on
long footstalks.   The flowers  are  purple, globose, and 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 quadrangular.
  This plant, which is the one  intended  in  the  Pharmacopoeia, 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 intro-
duced.   The root, which should be collected in spring, loses four-fifths of its
weight by drying.
  The ddour 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.
  3Iedical 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 affections.  To
prove effectual its use must be long continued.   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.  A syrup has also been prepared from it. The seeds are diuretic,
and have been used in the same complaints,  in the form of emulsion, powder,
and tincture. The dose is a drachm.  The leaves have also been employed both
externally and internally in cutaneous eruptions and ulcerations.       W.

                  LAURO-CERASUS. Ed,, Dub.

                            Cherry Laurel.

  Leaves of Prunus lauro-cerasus. Ed,  Cerasus Laurocerasus. The leaves. Bub.
  Laurier cerise, Fr.; Kirschlorbeer, Germ.;  Lauro ceraso, Ital.
  Cerasus. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Amygdaleas.
  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., 232.)
  Cerasus  Lauro-cerasus. De Cand. Prodrom. ii. 540.—Prunus Lauro-
cerasus. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii.  988; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 513, t. 185.—This
is a small evergreen  tree, rising fifteen  or twenty feet,  with long spreading
branches, which, as well as the trunk, are covered with a smooth blackish bark.
The leaves, standing 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 is  an  oval drupe, very similar in shape and struc-
ture to a small black cherry.
  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 hydrocyanic
acid.   The leaves only are officinal.
  In their recent and entire state they have scarcely any smell; but, when braised,
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 ker-
nel. By drying they  lose their odour, but retain their bitterness.   They yield 
PART I.
Lauro-cerasus.—Laurus.
465
 a peculiar volatile oil and hydrocyanic  acid by distillation with water, which
 they strongly impregnate with their flavour.  One pound, avoirdupois,'of the
 fresh leaves  yields 40-5 grains of the oil.  (Cent.  Blatt, A. D.  1855, p. 205.)
 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  hot been determined how far the mode of production of this oil re-
 sembles that  of bitter almonds. (See Amygdala Amara.)  Chemists have failed
 in obtaining  amygdalin from the leaves.   That the oil exists already formed,
 to a certain extent, in the fresh leaves, is rendered probable by the fact, stated
 by Winckler, that they yield it in considerable  quantity when distilled 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 pro-
 perties 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 ac-
 tive 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. Fou-
 quier has administered several ounces without  effect.   Another  source of in-
 equality 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 development.   It is not, therefore, to be regretted, that
 the want of the plant in this country has prevented the general introduction of
 the distilled water into use.
   Off. Prep. Aqua  Lauro-cerasi.                                     W.

                           LAURUS. Lond.

                             Bay Berries.

  Laurus nobilis.  The fruit. Lond.
  Laurier, Fr.;  Lorbeer, Germ.; Allorg, Ital. ; Laurel, Span.
  Laurus.  Sex. Syst. Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord, Lauraceas.
   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 mid-
 dle 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 toge-
 ther 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 bor-
dering on the Mediterranean.   Its leaves and fruit, and an oil  expressed from
the latter, are the officinal parts.
       30 
466
Laurus.—Lavandula.
PART i.
  The leaves have a fragrant odour, especially when bruised, and a bitter, aro-
matic,  somewhat astringent taste.  They yield by distillation a greenish-yellow
volatile oil, upon which their  properties chiefly depend.   Water distilled 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 expres-
sion  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.  The sophistication may be detected by means  of boiling alcohol,
which dissolves the laurel oil.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.  The leaves,  berries, and oil of the bay tree
are excitant and narcotic; but at present are  never used internally as  medi-
cines ;  and in this  country are scarcely employed in any manner.   Their chief
use is to communicate a pleasant odour to external remedies.   Dr. A. T. Thom-
son says that he has found an infusion of the berries useful in impetigo.
  Off. Prep. Confectio Rutas ;  Emplastrum Cymini.                  W.


                 LAVANDULA.  U. S., Ed., Dub.

                               Lavender.

  The flowers of Lavandula vera.  U S., Dub.   The flowering heads. Ed.
  Lavande, Fr.; Lavandelblumen, Germ.; Lavandola, Ital.; Espliego, alhucema, Span.
  Lavandula.  Sex. Syst Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Laniiaceae
or Labiatae.
  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 botanists.  Of
these, the officinal plant, the  narrow-leaved variety of Linnasus, has been de-
nominated by De Candolle L. vera, while the broad-leaved variety still retains
the title of L. Spica.   The latter is scarcely cultivated in  the United States.
  Common lavender is a small shrub, usually not more than two or three feet
high, but sometimes  as much as six feet.  The stem is woody below, and
covered with a brown bark ; above, is divided into numerous, slender, straight,
herbaceous, pubescent, quadrangular branches,  furnished 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, form-
ing terminal cylindrical spikes.  Each whorl is accompanied with two bractes.
The corolla is  tubular  and labiate, with the lower lip divided into three seg-
ments, 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 in our
gardens, and in this country flowers in August.  It is said that in fields, when
too thickly planted, it is apt to suffer from a disease consequent on the noxious
influence of its own aroma, which is relieved by thinning  the plants. (Pharm.
Journ. and Trans., x.  119.)   All parts of it are aromatic; but  the flowers
only are officinal.   The spikes should be cut when they begin to bloom. 
 PART I.     Limon.—Limonis Cortex.—Limonum Succus.         467

   Lavender flowers have a strong fragrant odour, and an aromatic, warm, bit-
 terish taste.   They retain their fragrance long after drying.   Alcohol extracts
 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  Lavandulse.)   Hagan 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 per-
 fumery, 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 Lavandula?; Spiritus Lavandulae.                W.

                            LIMON. U. S.

                                Lemons.
   The fruit of Citrus Limonum (De Candolle).  U S.
   Off. Syn. LIMONES. Fruit of Citrus medica and Citrus Limonum.  Lemons
 and Limes.  Ed.
   Limons, Citrons, Fr.; Limonen, Citronen, Germ.; Limoni, Ital.; Limones, Span.

                    LIMONIS CORTEX. U. S.

                             Lemon Peel.
   The outer rind of the fruit of Citrus Limonum. U. S.
   Off. Syn. LIMONUM CORTEX. Citrus Limonum. The  recent and dried
 exterior  rind  of the fruit.  Lond,  Rind of the fruit of Citrus Medica  Ed
 LIMONES.  CITRUS LIMONUM. The fresh rind  of the fruit.  Dub.

                   LIMONUM SUCCUS.  Lond.

                             Lemon Juice.
   The juice of the fruit. Lond,
   Off. Syn. LIMONES.  CITRUS LIMONUM.  The juice of the fruit. Dub.
   For some general remarks on the genus Citrus, see Aurantii Cortex.
   Citrus medica. Willd. Sp.  Plant iii. 1426 ; Woodv.  Med. Bot p. 582, t.
 189.  This tree closely resembles the G. Aurantium before  described.  The
 leaves, however, are larger, slightly indented at the edges, and  stand upon foot-
 stalks 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 as  distinct
 species, but which scarcely differ except in 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, rugged, 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, var.  limon of Linn., 
468         Limon.—Limonis Cortex.—Limonum Succus.      part i.

Citrus Limonium of Risso) is smaller  than the preceding, with a smoother
and thinner rind, a pointed nipple-shaped summit, and a very juicy, acid pulp.
In other respects it closely resembles 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 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 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 propor-
tional 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 dis-
tillation, an essential oil, which  is much used for its flavour.  Both this and the
rind itself are recognised  in all the  Pharmacopoeias.  (See Oleum Limonis.)
When the white spongy portion  of the rind is boiled in water, and the decoction
evaporated, crystals are deposited of a substance, called hesperidin.   This is
bitter, but, as it is found  most largely in the spongy and comparatively tasteless
part of the rind, it may be doubted whether it is entitled to be considered as
the active bitter principle. (See Am, Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 553.)   Lemon
peel yields its virtues to water, wine,  and alcohol.
   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 retain
for any length of time its  original flavour unaltered.  The best medicinal sub-
stitute for lemon juice is  a solution of crystallized citric acid in water, in 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 con-
taining 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 concentrating it
either by evaporation with a gentle heat,  or  by exposure to a freezing tempera-
ture, which congeals the watery portion, and  leaves the acid much stronger than
before.   When used, 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 dete-
riorated.  Lemon syrup is  another form in which  the juice is preserved.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   The rind of the lemon is sometimes used to

  * 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.
Limon.—Linum.
469
 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 sweetened
 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
 Citratis.)  One of the most beneficial applications of lemon juice is to the pre-
 vention  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 has been thought to modify favourably, by
 substituting  the citrate of their respective alkalies for the native salts.  It has
 recently been employed with great supposed advantage in acute rheumatism,
 having been given in quantities varying from one to four fluidounces, from four
 to six times a  day.   It has been used with benefit as a local application in
 pruritus of the scrotum, and in uterine hemorrhage after delivery.
    Off. Prep, of the Peel.  Infusum Aurantii Compositum ; Infusum Gentianas
 Comp. ; Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus ;  Tinctura Limonis.
    Off. Prep, of the Juice.  Acidum Citricum ; Liquor Potassas Citratis ; Syr-
 upus Limonis.                                                      W.


                         LINUM. U. S., Dub.

                                Flaxseed.

   The seeds  of Linum usitatissimum.  U. S., Dub.
   Off. Syn.  LINI SEMEN.  Linum  usitatissimum.  The seed. Lond,; LINI
 SEMINA.  Seeds  of  Linum  usitatissimum.  LINI FARINA.  Meal of the
 seeds deprived of their fixed oil by expression. Ed.
   Linseed; Grains de lin, Fr.; Leinsame, Germ.; Semi di lino, Ital.; Linaza, Span.
   Linum. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Pentagynia.—Nat Ord. Linaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-leaved. Petals five.  Capsule five-valved,  ten-celled.
 Seeds  solitary. Willd.
   Linum usitatissimum.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1533 ; Woodv. 3ted. 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 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 com-
 posed  of five  ovate, sharp-pointed, three-nerved leaflets,  which are membranous
 on their border.   The petals are five, obovate, striated, minutely scalloped at
 their extremities, and spread into funnel-shaped blossoms.  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 elevated
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  both sides with acute edges, some-
what pointed at one  end, about a line in length, smooth, glossy,  brown ex- 
470
Linum.
PART I.
ternally, and yellowish-white within.   They are inodorous, and have an oily
mucilaginous taste.   Meyer found  in  them fixed oil, wax, resin, extractive
tannin, gum, azotized mucilage, starch,  albumen, gluten, and various  salts.
M.  Meurein could find no starch, but detected phosphates which had  escaped
the notice of Meyer.  (Journ. de Pharm,, 3e ser., xx. 97.)   Their investing
coat abounds in a peculiar gummy matter or mucilage, which is readily im-
parted to hot  water, forming a thick  viscid fluid, that  lets fall white flakes
upon the addition of alcohol, and affords a copious dense precipitate with sub-
acetate 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 confusion.  Nor is it strictly a distinct proximate prin-
ciple;  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 Til 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 free acetic acid, silica, and  various salts of potassa and
lime.   Meurein discovered in the mucilage extracted by cold water, albumen,
and a very small proportion of  an oleo-resin, which resides in the coats of the
seed, and to which they owe their peculiar odour and taste.
  The interior  of the seed, or nucleus, is rich in a peculiar oil, which is sepa-
rated by expression, and extensively employed in the arts. (See Oleum Bini.)
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, much employed  for luting by practical
chemists.  The cake  remaining after the  expression of the  oil, usually called
oil-cake, still retains  the mucilaginous matter of  the  envelope, and affords a
nutritious food for cattle.  This is the Lini Farina of the Ed. Pharmacopasia.
  Flaxseed is sometimes accidentally or fraudulently mixed with other seeds,
especially of plants growing among the flax.  We have seen a parcel contain-
ing a considerable proportion of the seeds of a species of garlic*
  Medical Properties and Uses.   Flaxseed is demulcent and emollient.  The
mucilage obtained by infusing the entire seeds in boiling water, in the propor-
tion of half an ounce to the pint, is much and very advantageously employed
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 administration by the mouth,

  * liqht-coloured Flaxseed.  A variety of flax has recently originated, and is now
largely cultivated in Ohio, the seeds of which, instead  of having the brown colour of
ordinary flaxseed, are of a greenish-yellow, and the flower white instead of blue.  Ac-
cording to information obtained by Mr. E.  L. Wayne, of Cincinnati, the plant is more
productive than the common flax; and the seeds are preferred by some in the manu-
facture of oil.   Prof. Procter states that, so far as he  could  judge from a somewhat
superficial examination, they differ from the common seeds  chemically only in the
absence of the brown colouring matter. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 493.)— Note to
the  eleventh edition. 
 PART I.          Linum Catharticum.—Liriodendron.              471

 but superior as a laxative enema.  The meal mixed with hot water forms an
 excellent emollient poultice.
   Off. Prep.  Cataplasma Carbonis; Catap. Conii;  Catap. Lini;  Catap.  Sina-
 pis; Cataplasma Sodas Chlorinatas; Infusum Lini Compositum.        W.


                 LINITM CATHARTICUM. Ed.

                            Purging Flax.

   Herb of Linum catharticum. Ed.
   Lin cathartique, Fr.; Purgirfiacks, 67erm. ; Lino purgativo, Ital.; Cantilagua,  Span.
   Linum.  See LINUM.
   Linum catharticum.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i; 1541; Smith, Flor. Brit 344.
 This is an  annual plant, six or eight inches high, having erect, slender stems,
 dichotomous near the summit, furnished with opposite, obovate-lanceolate, en-
 tire 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 fell into disuse.   Attention has been  again called
 to it as an excellent remedy in muscular rheumatism, catarrhal affections, and
 dropsy  with disease of the liver.  From four to eight grains of  the extract,
 given twice or thrice daily, are  said to operate as a purgative and  diuretic,
 without inconvenience to the patient.  (Medical Times, July, 1850.)  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.
         s
               LIRIODENDRON.  U.S.  Secondary.

                           Tulip-tree Bark.

   The bark of Liriodendron tulipifera. U S.
   Liriodendron. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Magnoliaceas.
   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 the boast of Ameri-
 can 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 occasionally  met  with which  greatly exceed these
 dimensions.  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  lobes, of which  the upper one is
 truncated and notehed 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 be-
low their apex.  This peculiar  form of the leaf  serves to distinguish the tree 
472
Liriodendron.
PART I.
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 appearance bear some resemb-
lance 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 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 filaments, and long linear an-
thers.  The  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, imbricated 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 fer-
tility of the  banks of the  Ohio and its tributaries.   Throughout the United
States it is known by the inappropriate name of American poplar.   When in
full bloom, about the middle of May, it presents, in its profusion of flowers, its
shining, luxuriant foliage, its elevated stature, and elegant outline, one of Ihe
most magnificent objects which  the vegetable  kingdom  affords.   The interior
or heart-wood is yellowish,  of a fine grain, and compact without being heavy,
and  is much employed in the making of furniture, carriages, door-panels, Ac.
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
of the root is thought to be the most active.
   Deprived of the epidermis, it is yellowish-white; the bark of the root being
somewhat darker than that of the stem or branches. It is very light and brittle,
of a feeble, rather disagreeable  odour, strongest in the fresh bark, and of a bit-
ter, pungent, and aromatic taste.   These properties are weakened by age, and
we have found  specimens of the bark long kept in the  shops, almost insipid.
The peculiar properties of liriodendron  appear to reside in a volatile principle,
which partially 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 liriodendrin.   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 210°, of a
slightly aromatic odour, and a bitter, warm, pungent taste.  It does not unite
either with acids or with alkalies; and the latter precipitate it from the infusion
of the bark by combining with  the matter which  renders  it soluble in water.
Water precipitates it  from its alcoholic solution.   It is obtained by macerating
the root in alcohol, boiling the tincture with magnesia till it assumes an olive-
green colour, then filtering,  concentrating 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 ex-
tracted  by water and  alcohol, but are injured by long boiling.
   Medical Properties.   Liriodendron 'is a  stimulant tonic, with diaphoretic
properties.  It has been used as a substitute for Peruvian bark in intermittent
fevers, and has  proved serviceable in chronic rheumatism, dyspepsia, and other
complaints in which a gently stimulant  and tonic impression is desirable.  The
dose of the bark in powder is from  half a drachm to two drachms.  The infu-
sion  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  dose of the saturated tincture is a
fluidrachm.                                                           W. 
PART I.
Lobelia.
473
                LOBELIA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                 Lobelia.

   Herb of Lobelia inflate. U. S., Ed., Dub.  The herb in flower. Lond.
   Lobelia.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.  Lobeliaceas.
   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.  Tornng.
   Lobelia in fata. 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, often called Indian tobacco, is an annual or biennial indige-
 nous plant, usually a foot or more in height, with a  fibrous root, and a soli-
 tary, erect, angular, very hairy stem,  much branched about midway, but rising
 considerably above the summits of the highest branches.   The leaves are scat-
 tered, sessile, oval, acute, serrate, and hairy.  The flowers are numerous, small,
 disposed in leafy terminal racemes, and upon short axillary footstalks. The seg-
 ments of the calyx are linear and pointed.  The corolla, which is of a  delicate
 blue, 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.*
   Lobelia inflate 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 occurrence
 of frost.   All parts of it are medicinal;  but, according 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 powder.   As found in the shops, it is often in ob-
 long 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 poste-
 rior parts of the tongue and  palate, very closely resembling that occasioned by
 tobacco, and attended, in like manner, with a flow of saliva and a nauseating
 effect.  The powder is greenish.  The plant yields its virtues readily to water
 and alcohol. Water distilled from it, has its odour without its acrimony. Prof.
 Procter found the plant to contain an odorous volatile principle, probably vola-
 tile  oil; a peculiar alkaline principle  named lobelina;  a peculiar acid, first no-
 ticed 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 con-
 tain at least twice as  much of lobelina, in proportion, as the whole plant, which
 yielded only one  part in  five  hundred.   They contain also thirty per cent, of a
 nearly colourless fixed oil,  having the drying property in an extraordinary de-
 gree.  Lobelina was obtained by Prof. Procter by the  following process.  The
 seeds were treated with alcohol acidulated with acetic acid, until deprived of

  *  In case of poisoning from lobelia, it may be very desirable to be able to recognise
the seeds.   The following microscopic characters of them are given by Mr. Frederick
Curtis in the Lond. Med. Gaz. for July, 1851  (p. 160). They are almond-shaped, about
l-30th of an inch long  by  l-75th broad,  puce-coloured, regularly marked with longi-
tudinal ridges and furrows, and cross ridges generally at right angles with the former,
so that the surface presents the appearance of basket-work.   No other seeds examined
by the author could be mistaken for them, except those of Lobelia cardinalis, which,
however, are larger, coarser, of  a lighter  colour, and with the superficial rectangular
chequering less distinct.—Note  to the tenth edition. 
474
Lobelia.
PART I.
 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 no longer acrid; and the ethereal solution, having been decant-
 ed, was allowed to evaporate spontaneously.  The residue, which was reddish-
 brown, and of 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 allow-
 ing 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 wrater,  but much more copiously in alcohol and ether •
 and the latter fluid readily removes it from  its aqueous solution.   It has an
 alkaline reaction, and forms soluble and crystallizable salts  with sulphuric, ni-
 tric, and muriatic acids, and a very soluble but not crystallizable salt with acetic
 acid.  It forms an insoluble compound with  tannic acid, which instantly pre-
 cipitates 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 ebulli-
 tion with water without change.   Prof. Procter introduced a grain of it diluted
 with water into the stomach of a cat, which  became immediately prostrate, re-
 mained for an hour nearly motionless, with dilated pupils, and had not wholly
 recovered at the end of fifteen hours.   It did not occasion vomiting  or purging.
 There can be little doubt that it is the narcotic principle of lobelia. (Am. Journ,
 ofBharm., ix. 105, and xiii. 1.)*  The late Dr. S. Colhoun, of Philadelphia^
 was the first to announce the existence of a peculiar 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 lobelina is, that, in pre-
 paring lobelia for use, 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 capsules,
 chewed for a short time, occasion giddiness, headache, general tremors, and
 ultimately nausea and vomiting.   When swallowed in the full dose, the medi-
 cine produces speedy and  severe  vomiting, attended  with continued and dis-
 tressing 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.  Dr. Letheby
 found 110 grains of it in the  stomach of a patient killed by this poison, and
 states that he has known much  less to cause death.  (Lond. Med,  Times and
 Gaz., March, 1853, p.  270.)   From experiments made by Mr.  Curtis and Dr.
 Pearson  on hedgehogs  and cats, it  would appear that the poison produces
 inflammation  of the alimentary mucous membrane in those  animals, but that
death mainly results from the suspension of respiration ;  the heart continuing
to act after that process has  ceased.  It  is probable that  it paralyzes, by a
directly depressing influence, the respiratory centres in the medulla oblongata.
Death has often resulted from its  empirical use.  Its poisonous effects are most
apt to occur, when, as  sometimes happens, it is not rejected by vomiting.  In its

  * Mr. William Bastick, of London, published in the Pharmaceutical  Journal  and
 Transactions for December, 1850,  an account of lobelina and its mode of extraction,
apparently in entire ignorance of the previous experiments and observations of Prof.
Procter.  His process does not differ essentially from that above given.   In one mag-
nesia is used to decompose the native salt of lobelina, in the other lime; the caustic
alkalies not  being applicable to  the purpose, as they decompose this organic alkali
with great facility.—Note to the ninth edition. 
PART I.
Lobelia.—Lupulina.
475
 action  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 em-
 pirics 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 well 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
 vomit.   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
 been used also in catarrh, croup,  pertussis,  and other laryngeal and pectoral
 affections ;  and we have seen it apparently advantageous in some of these com-
 plaints, especially in  severe  croup, and  in  chronic bronchitis with dyspnoea;
 but it should always be used with caution.   Administered by injection it pro-
 duces the  same distressing sickness of stomach, profuse perspiration, and uni-
 versal relaxation, as result from a similar use of tobacco.  Dr. Eberle adminis-
 tered a strong decoction of it successfully by the rectum in a case of strangulated
 hernia.  It has  been employed 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.)  A case is recorded in the Charleston Med. Journ.
 and Rev. (xi. 58), by Dr. Gaston of Columbia,  S.  C, in which the tincture of
 lobelia was successfully used  in a case of tetanus.
   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 adminis-
 tered 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.  L. cardinalis or  cardinal  flower, distinguished for its showy red
 flowers, is supposed to possess anthelmintic properties ; but is seldom  used.  L.
 syphilitica is  said to  have been used by the  Indians in the cure of syphilis, but
 has been found wholly inefficacious 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 employed, 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 Lobelias; Tinct.  Lobeliae JEtherea.             W.

                     LUPULINA.  U. S.,  Dub.

                                Lupulin.
   The powder attached to the strobiles of Humulus Lupulus.  U. S., Dub.
   Lupulina is described under HUMULUS, p. 408.

  * Professor Procter prepares  a fluid extract by macerating eight  ounces of finely
bruised lobelia mixed with a fluidounce of acetic acid, in a pint and a half of diluted
alcohol,  for twenty-four hours; then percolating  with an equal  quantity of diluted
alcohol,  and afterwards with water,  until three pints of liquor  are obtained ;  next
evaporating to ten fluidounces, straining, adding  six fluidounces of alcohol, and finally
filtering through paper.  Each teaspoonful of this preparation is equal to  half a fluid-
ounce of the tincture, which represents about 30 grains of the  powder. (Am. Journ.  of
Pharm., xxiv. 207.)—Note to the tenth edition. 
476                Lycopus.—Magnesiae Carbonas.             PART I.
                   LYCOPUS.  U.S. Secondary.

                              Bugle-weed.

   The herb of Lycopus Yirginicus. U. S.
   Lycopus. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceas or Labiatas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx tubular, five-cleft, or  five-toothed.  Corolla tubular, fonr-
lobed, nearly equal; the upper segment  broader, and emarginate.  Stamens
distant.  Seeds four, naked, refuse.  Nuttall.
   Lycopus Virginicus. Michaux, Flor. Boreal, Americ. i. 14;  Rafinesque,
Med. Flor.  vol. ii.  The bugle-weed 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,
remotely serrate in the middle, somewhat rough, purplish, and beset with gland-
ular dots on their  under surface.   The flowers are minute, in small axillary
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.
   Lycopus Europseus  is said to be frequently collected and sold for L. Vir-
ginicus.  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.
   3Iedical 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 introduced
into notice by Drs. Pendleton and Rogers, of New York, who obtained favour-
able effects from it in incipient phthisis and pulmonary hemorrhage.  (N. Y.
Med. and Phys. Journ.^, i. 179.)   It  proves  useful by diminishing the fre-
quency of the pulse, quieting irritation, and allaying cough.   The  use of it has
been extended with advantage to the hemorrhages generally. (Transact, of the
Am. 3Ied. 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 daily.     W.

     MAGNESLE  CARBONAS.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                       Carbonate of Magnesia.

   Magnesia alba, Lat.;  Carbonate de magnesie, Fr.; Kohlensaure Magnesia, Germ.;
Carbonate di magnesia, Ital.; Carbonate 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 U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  The British Colleges still retain it among
the preparations, and direct it to be prepared by decomposing the sulphate of
magnesia with carbonate of soda.   The London College dissolves four pounds
nine ounces of carbonate  of soda, and four pounds of sulphate of magnesia,
separately, in two gallons (Imp. meas.) of distilled water;  then mixes the so-
lutions, boils for two hours, constantly stirring with a  spatula, and adding a
little distilled water now and then so as nearly to preserve the measure; and, 
PART I.
Magnesise Carbonas.
477
 lastly, pours off the liquor, washes the precipitate with boiling distilled water,
 and  dries it.  The Edinburgh  and Dublin processes  differ from the above
 mainly in the shorter period of boiling, which in the former is fifteen or twenty
 minutes, in the latter only ten.
   Under the name of Magnesia Carbonas Ponoerosum or Heavy Carbo-
 nate of Magnesia, the Dublin  College also directs the salt to be prepared in the
 following manner.  It must  be recollected that the  Dublin weights  are the
 avoirdupois.  Ten ounces of sulphate of magnesia having been dissolved in
 half a pint (Imp. meas.) of boiling distilled water, and twelve ounces  of  crys-
 tallized carbonate of seda in a pint, the solutions are mixed and evaporated to
 dryness.  The residue is digested for half an hour with two pints (Imp. meas.)
 of boiling distilled water;  the undissolved matter is collected on a calico filter,
 and  treated repeatedly with warm distilled water until the washings  cease to
 yield a precipitate with nitrate of baryta; and, finally,  the product is dried at a
 heat not exceeding 212°.
   Carbonate of potassa is  less eligible than carbonate  of soda for the prepara-
 tion of carbonate of  magnesia.   It is difficult to separate  the last portions of
 sulphate of potassa from the precipitate, and carbonate of potassa usually con-
 tains silica, which is thrown down with the magnesia.  The  consequence is  that,
 when prepared with that  salt, carbonate of magnesia is liable to be  gritty to
 the touch, and to have a saline taste.  The following method is said to be pur-
 sued by some of the best manufacturers.  To a saturated solution of 100 parts
 of sulphate of magnesia, a solution of 125  parts of crystallized carbonate of
 soda is gradually added, the  solutions being constantly stirred.   The  mixture
 is heated to ebullition, to complete the precipitation of the magnesia, which is
 then washed with tepid and finally with cold water, until the washings no longer
 give a precipitate with barytic salts.  When sufficiently washed, the carbonate
 is allowed to drain for one  or two days on large 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 a square and compact form.
   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.
   Much of the carbonate  of magnesia used in this country is imported from
 Scotland.  In New England it is prepared from the bittern  of saltworks, which
 consists chiefly of sulphate of magnesia and chloride of  magnesium; and it is
 manufactured in Baltimore from the sulphate of  magnesia prepared  in  that
 city.  The Scotch  magnesia is generally put up in cases of 120 lbs. each, the
 American in boxes containing 50 lbs.
   When  made from the bittern of salt works, carbonate of magnesia  is  con-
 taminated 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 crystallization,
 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 strong
heat, by all the acids, by potassa, soda, lime, baryta, and strontia, and by acidu-
lous 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 Dub- 
478
Magnesise Carbonas.
PART i.
lin process for the heavy has been already given.   It may also, according to
Dr. Pereira, be prepared as follows.   " Add one volume of a cold saturated so-
lution of carbonate of soda to a boiling mixture 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 supernatant liquor,  and wash the precipi-
tate with hot water on a linen cloth: afterwards dry it by heat in an iron pot."
Dr. Pereira states that the light carbonate, when examined with  the micro-
scope, is seen to consist of  an amorphous powder,  more or less intermiiHed
with slender prismatic crystals, which, appear as if  they were eroded or efflor-
escent ; the heavy carbonate consists of granules  of various sizes, without any
traces of the prismatic crystals observed in the former variety.
   A solution in carbonic acid water, prepared by passing carbonic acid gas into
a reservoir containing carbonate of magnesia suspended in water, has  been in-
troduced into use as a cathartic and antacid. Dinneford's magnesia is a solu-
tion of this nature.   According to Dr.  Christison, it contains only  nine grains
of carbonate in the fluidounce, though 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 sulphate, or both, from insufficient washing;  also chloride of so-
dium, alumina, and carbonate of lime.   If water boiled on it changes turmeric,
an  alkaline carbonate is indicated.  If chloride of barium produces a precipi-
tate in the water, the presence  of a sulphate or carbonate is shown; and if
nitrate of silver produces the same  effect, a chloride is indicated.  When dis-
solved in an excess of muriatic acid, an excess of ammonia will throw down
alumina, which is seldom  absent in minute quantity; and oxalate of ammonia,
afterwards added to the filtered muriatic solution, will throw down oxalate of
lime, if that earth be  present. If the same solution, nearly neutralized, be ren-
dered blue by ferrocyanuret  of potassium, the presence of iron is indicated.
   Composition.  According to Berzelius, carbonate of magnesia of the shops
(magnesia alba) is a  combination of three eqs. 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 eqs. of carbonate
(acid 66, magnesia 60, water 27) = 153 +one eq. of hydrate (magnesia 20, wa-
ter 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.  Ac-
cording to Phillips, whose analysis agrees with a subsequent one by Fownes,
four eqs. 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 sulphate
of magnesia with 170 per cent, of carbonate of soda, and using only cold water
throughout, obtained  a  very light, spongy, somewhat  coherent carbonate of
magnesia, containing  32 acid, 33 base, and 35 water.  By using 120 per cent.
of the carbonate, and  boiling for fifteen minutes, he obtained a heavy, granular
precipitate, containing 35 acid, 42 base, and 23 water.
  3Iedical 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 laxative
antacid; and,  though apt to produce  flatulence in consequence of the extrica-
tion of its carbonic acid in the stomach and bowels, and therefore in  ordinary
cases  inferior to calcined  magnesia, it sometimes  operates favourably, in con-
sequence of  this very  property, in sick  stomach attended with  acidity.  Car- 
PART I.
Magnesiae Sulphas.
470
 bonate of  magnesia is also an excellent antilithic when uric acid is secreted in
 excess.  The dose is from half a drachm to two drachms, which may be given
 in water or milk.   In order that it may be accurately diffused through water,
 it should be previously rubbed down with syrup or ginger syrup.*
   Carbonate of magnesia is a useful agent for diffusing camphor and the vola-
 tile  oils through water, in preparing several of the medicated waters.    a
   Off. Prep. Hydrargyrum cum Magnesia; Liquor Magnesias Citratis; Mag-
 nesia ;  Mistura Camphoras cum  Magnesia;  Trochisci Magnesias.   D. B.  S.

       MAGNESIA SULPHAS.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                        Sulphate of Magnesia.

   Epsom salt; Sulfate de magnesie, Fr.;  Schwefelsaure  Magnesia, Germ.; Solfato di
 magnesia, Ital.; Sulfate de magnesia, Span.
   Sulphate  of magnesia  is  a constituent  of sea-water,  and of some saline
 springs.   It also occurs native,  either  crystallized in slender,  prismatic, adher-
 ing  crystals, or as an efflorescence on certain rocks and soils, which contain mag-
 nesia and a sulphate or sulphuret.  In the United States it is found in the great
 caves, 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 disseminated
 in the earth of the  cavern,  one bushel of which yields from four to twenty-five
 pounds of  the  sulphate.  It also appears on the walls of the  cavern, and, if
 it be removed, acicular crystals again appear in a few weeks.  (Cleaveland.)
   Sulphate of  magnesia was originally procured by evaporating the waters of
 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 crystal-
 lization of common salt from sea-water, furnished by careful  evaporation pre-
 cisely 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, although
 most frequently the salt prepared in this way is deliquescent from the presence
 of chloride of magnesium.  It  may be freed  from  this impurity 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  improvements of chemistry, other and
 better processes have been adopted.  In the neighbourhood of Genoa and Nice,
 sulphate of  magnesia  is prepared in  large quantities from  a schistose rock'
 containing magnesia and sulphuret of  iron.  The  mineral is roasted and ex-
 posed  in heaps  for some months to the action of air and water.   It  is then
 lixiviated, the sulphate of iron decomposed by lime-water, and the salt 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 sufficient

  * Dalbfs carminative consists of  carbonate of magnesia J^ij, oil of peppermint tilj,
oil of nutmeg njjj, oil of aniseed niiij, tincture of castor mjxxx, tincture of assafetida
n\xv, tincture of opium tr^v, spirit  of pennyroyal Tl\xv, compound  tincture of carda-
mom  rti^xxx, peppermint water f^ij. 
480
Magnesise Sulphas.
part i,
quantity of muriatic acid to dissolve out the lime, and then converted the mag-
nesia into a sulphate either by sulphuric acid or sulphate of iron.
  The salt is extensively manufactured in Baltimore and Philadelphia from the
silicious hydrate of magnesia, or magnesite.  This mineral occurs in veins in the
serpentine  and other magnesian rocks which abound in the neighbourhood of
BaMmore, and in the southern counties of Pennsylvania.  The advantage which
it possesses over the dolomite, in the preparation of this  salt, is the almost entire
absence of lime,  owing to which there is little or no waste of acid, and the ope-
ration  is much simplified.   The mineral is reduced to a fine powder, and satu-
rated with  sulphuric acid.   The mass is then dried and calcined 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 re-
maining portion of iron.  The salt is crystallized and dissolved a third time, in
order to purify it.   The sulphate prepared by this  process  is generally very
pure and clean,,  although  it sometimes contains sulphate of iron.
  Properties, die.   Sulphate of magnesia is a colourless transparent salt, with-
out smell, and of a bitter, nauseous, saline taste.   It crystallizes in quadrangular
prisms, terminating in a four-sided pyramid or in a dihedral summit. It usually
occurs in small acicular crystals, which are produced by agitating the  solution
while crystallizing.   It slowly effloresces in  the  air.   At 32° F.  100 parts of
water dissolve 25*76 parts of the anhydrous salt, and,  for every increased degree,
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 at 212°.  They melt  in their water of crystalli-
zation, and at a high temperature fuse into an enamel. (Berzelius.)   The salt
consists of one eq. of acid 40, one of base 20, and seven of water 63=123.
   Sulphate of magnesia is  completely decomposed by potassa, soda, and their
carbonates ; by lime, baryta, and strontia, and their soluble salts. Ammonia par-
tially decomposes it, and forms with the remainder a double sulphate. The bicar-
bonates of potassa and soda do not decompose it, 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 produce
no extrication of muriatic acid gas, the fact proves the  absence of all chlorides.
An aqueous solution of  100 grains of the salt should yield, when completely
decomposed by a boiling  solution of carbonate of soda, 34 grains of dry car-
bonate of magnesia.   If  the dry precipitate be less,  the specimen tested is not
all sulphate of magnesia, and probably contains sulphate of soda.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Sulphate  of magnesia is a mild and safe ca-
thartic, 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 tho-
rough 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 most agreeable form for ad-
ministering the  salt, and that in which it usually agrees best with the stomach,
is a solution in  carbonic acid water with lemon syrup.  By Dr. Henry, of Dub-
lin, it is highly recommended in connexion with sulphuric acid. To seven ounces 
PART I.
Magnolia.
481
 of a saturated aqueous solution of the salt he adds an ounce of the diluted sul-
 phuric acid of the Pharmacopoeias, and gives a tablespoonful  of the mixture
 for a dose, in a wineglassful of water. *
   Off. Prep.  Enema Catharticum ; Magnesias Carbonas ;  Magnesias Carbonas
 Ponderosum ;  Pulvis Salinus Compositus.                        D. B. S.

                   MAGNOLIA.  U. S. Secondary.

                               Magnolia.

   The bark of Magnolia glauca, Magnolia acuminata, and Magnolia tripetala.
 U.S.
   Magnolia.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia. — Nat. Ord. Magnoliaceas.
   Gen.  Ch.  Calyx three-leaved.  Petals  six or more. Capsules two-valved,
 one-seeded, imbricated in a cone.  Seeds berried, pendulous.  Bigelow.
   The medicinal properties of the Magnolia 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 richness  of
 their foliage, and the magnificence as well as delicious odour of their flowers ;
 and 31. grandiflora of the Southern States rivals in magnitude the largest
 inhabitants of our forests.   The Pharmacopoeia designates 31. glauca, 31. acu-
 minata, and M. tripetala, each of which we shall briefly describe.
   1. 3Iagnolia glauca. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 1256 ;  Bigelow,  Am, 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-
 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 composed  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 inr-
 serted 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.
   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 is seldom met
 with in the interior, 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, dec.
   2. 31. 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 surface.  The
 flowers are five or six inches in diameter, bluish or cream-coloured, slightly odor-

  * It is  said that a solution of an ounce of the salt in about a pint of water, boiledi
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.)
       31 
482
Magnolia.—Malva.
part i.
ous, 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 interior mountainous regions 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 cither
to the east or the west of that range.   It  is called cucumber tree, from the
resemblance of its  fruit in shape and size to the common cucumber.
   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 shady situations, with a strong, deep, and fertile soil.
   The leaves of  this species are highly recommended by Dr. J.  S. Wilson, of
Alabama, as a dressing for blisters.  He scalds them previously to their applica-
tion, but presumes  that they would answer as well in their natural state. (South.
Med. and Surg.  Journ., July, 1854.)
   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
of Magnolia grandiflora, examined by Dr. Stephen Procter, was found to con-
tain volatile oil,  resin, and a principle analogous to the liriodendrin of Profes-
sor Emmet.  (Am,  Journ.  of Pharm., xiv. 95.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Magnolia 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 advantageously
in these complaints, and in remittents, especially of a typhoid character.  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 tincture, made
by macerating the  fresh bark or fruit in brandy, is a  popular remedy in chronic
rheumatism.                                                        W.


                            MALVA.  Ed.

                           Common Mallow.

   Herb of Malva sylvestris. Ed,
   Mauve sauvage, Fr.; Waldmalve, Germ.; Malva, Ital., Span.
   Malva. Sex. Syst  Monadelphia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Malvaceas.
   Gen. Ch,  Calyx double, the exterior three-leaved.  Capsules very many, one-
seeded.  Willd,
   Malva syl&stris. 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, 
 PART r.             Malva.—Manganesii Oxidum.                 483

 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, pur-
 plish, 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, growing abundantly on waste
 grounds and by the way-sides, and flowering from May to August.  It is some-
 times cultivated in our  gardens.  Other species, indigenous or naturalized in
 this country, are possessed of  the same  properties, which are in fact common
 to the genus.   Malva rotundifolia is one of the most common, and  may be
 substituted for  M. sylvestris.
   The herb and  flowers have  a weak, herbaceous, slimy taste, without odour.
 They abound in  mucilage, which they readily impart to water; and the solu-
 tion 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 also are mucilaginous.
   3Iedical 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 liquids.   They are also used as an emollient injection ;
 and the fresh plant forms a good suppurative or relaxing  cataplasm in exter-
 nal inflammation.  It was formerly among the culinary herbs.          W.


                 MANGANESII  OXIDUM.  Ed.

                        Oxide of Manganese.

   Off. Syn.  MANGANESII BINOXIDUM. Lond.; MANGANESII PER-
 OXYDUM. Dub.
   Manganese, Peroxide of manganese, Deutoxide of manganese, Black oxide of man-
 ganese, Pyrolusite; Oxide noir de manganese, Fr.; Braunstein, Germ.; Manganese, Ital.,
 Span.
   The officinal 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
 1714, and is obtained from the  native black oxide  by intense ignition with char-
 coal.  As obtained by  C.  Brunner, by  decomposing" the fluoride by sodium,
 manganese is brittle, grayish-white, and very hard, being  capable of cutting
 glass, and scratching  the best  tempered  steel.  It is  susceptible of the most
 perfect polish, and is not altered, even in moist air, at the ordinary temperature
 Its sp. gr. varies from  7*1 to 7*2. (Chem. Gaz., May 1, 1857.)  Deville suspects
 that Brunner's  manganese contains a little carbon.  This chemist obtained the
 metal by heating the black oxide in excess with charcoal, in a lime crucible. The
 metal, thus  obtained, is more  refractory than iron;  while that procured by
 Brunner fused  at  the same heat as white cast  iron. (Ibid.,  June 1  1857 )
 The eq. number of manganese  is 27*7. With oxygen it forms'five compounds
 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 hypermanganic acids.
Assuming one  eq. of  manganese in each of these compounds,  the protoxide
contains one, the sesquioxide one and a half, the deutoxide two, manganic acid
three, and hypermanganic acid  three and a  half equivalents of oxygen.  Be- 
484
Manganesii Oxidum.
part r.
sides  these, there  exist a double  oxide, of a brownish-red colour, called red
oxide, consisting of one eq. of protoxide and one of sesquioxide; and invariably
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 constituent of
organic matter.   It has been detected in minute quantity in bone, hair, brain,
epidermis, gastric juice, bile, urine, and pus, and has been found by Millon and
others in the blood.  M. Glenard, of Lyons, denies that it is a normal constit-
uent of the blood, although  sometimes present; but the evidence of numerous
experimenters shows that it generally exists in that fluid;  and, when not de-
tected, it may be because the quantity present is too minute for discovery.  Ac-
cording to Mr. E.  Davy, caustic potassa, dissolved in  an equal weight of water,
forms a delicate test for manganese, not obscured by the presence of other metals.
The smallest portion of matter, suspected to contain the metal, being finely pul-
verized or in solution, is placed upon a slip of silver foil, and a drop of the test
added.  Upon evaporating to dryness with a spirit-lamp, and raising the heat,
the characteristic green manganate of potassa will appear on the foil.  (Chem.
Gaz., March 15, 1854.)  Manganese is a constituent of all arable land, and is
found in the ashes  of most of the vegetables which form the food of man and the
inferior animals.  In the mineral kingdom, it occurs sometimes as a sulphuret,
rarely as a  phosphate,  but very abundantly as the black or deutoxide, called
pyrolusite.   It is  the 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
lustre, 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 a black powder, insoluble in water, and
containing 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 to its
muriatic solution.   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 obtaining
that gas.  Good  samples, after  being dried, lose, when  heated to whiteness,
twelve per cent, of oxygen.   It is distinguished from  sulphuret of antimony
by its infusibility, and  by causing the  evolution of chlorine on being heated
with muriatic acid.  When of a brown colour, it is not of good quality.
   But few mines of deutoxide of  manganese exist;  {hough the metal itself is
very generally diffused throughout the mineral kingdom.  It occurs most abund-
antly in Bohemia, Saxony,  the Hartz, France, and Great Britain.  In the
United States no mines have been  opened, except in Yermont, from which State
an inferior brown  ferruginous manganese is supplied through Boston. Besides
this source, the mineral is received from Nova Scotia, France, Germany, Eng-
land, 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 occa-
sionally it is received from England  ready pulverized.   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 Yermont; but that from Ger-
many, England, and Scotland is the best, and commands the highest price.
   Aledical Properties and  Uses.  Deutoxide of manganese  is deemed tonic
and alterative.   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 begins with a staggering gait, 
 part I.             Manganesii Oxidum.—Manna.                 485

 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,
 an ointment may be made of one or  two drachms of the oxide to an  ounce of
 lard.  For a notice of other compounds of manganese which  have been tried
 as medicines, see the article 3Ianganese in  Part  Third.
   This oxide is used in the arts for obtaining  chlorine  in  the manufacture of
 bleaching powder, for giving a black glazing to  pottery, and for freeing glass
 from the colour which it derives from iron.  In the laboratory, it is employed
 to obtain oxygen and chlorine, and to form the salts of manganese.  In phar-
 macy it is  used for liberating chlorine from muriatic acid and from common
 salt, and iodine from iodide of sodium, contained in kelp.
   Pharm. Uses.  In preparing Chlorinii  Liquor; Chloroformum, Dub. ; Li-
 quor Sodas Chlorinates.                                           •  B.

                 MANNA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Manna.

   The  concrete juice  of Ornus  Europaea. U S.   Fraxinus rotundifolia, and
 Fraxinus Ornus ?  The juice obtained by incision, hardened in the air. Lond.
 Sweet concrete exudation, probably from several  species of Fraxinus  and Or-
 nus. Ed.   Fraxinus Ornus.  An exudation from this and other species. Dub.
   Manne, Fr.; Manna, Germ., Ital.; Mana, Span.
   Manna is not the product of one plant  exclusively.  Besides Ornus Euro-
 paea indicated by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, it is said to be  obtained also from
 several other trees, belonging to the genera Ornus  and Fraxinus, among which
 0. rotundifolia, F. excelsior, and F. parviflora  have been particularly desig-
 nated.  Burckhardt states that a species of manna, which exudes from the ta-
 marisk of the north of Africa (Tamarix Gallica, Ehrenberg), is used by the
 Bedouin Arabs of  the neighbourhood  of Mount  Sinai with their food.  This
 substance, however, according to Mitscherlich, contains no mannite, but consists
 wholly of mucilaginous sugar.  The manna used in India is said to be the pro-
 duct  of Eedysarum Alhagi of Linn., Alhagi Maurorum  of  De Candolle, a
 thorny shrub which grows abundantly in the deserts of Persia and Arabia.  It
 is much inferior to that obtained from  the Ornus.   A substance closely resem-
 bling manna is procured by exudation from Eucalyptus mannifera, growing
 in New South Wales.  It contains a saccharine matter called melitose, different
 from mannite, and from all the varieties of sugar in properties, though isomeric
 with glucose.  It is susceptible of the vinous  fermentation. (See Am. J. of
 Pharm., xxviii. 157.)  Another manna found in New Holland is produced by
 exudation from the leaves of Eucalyptus dumosa, when very small, and some-
 times appears spread over large extents of  country like a kind  of snow.  The
 natives  use it for food.  It is a complex body, containing sugar, gum, starch,
 inulin, and lignin. (Journ. de Chim. et de Pharm., xvi. 240.)  The substance
 known in France by the name of Briangon manna, is an exudation from the
 common European larch (Larix Europsea or Pinus Larix), and differs chemi-
 cally from ordinary manna in containing no mannite. Larix Cedrus, of Mount
 Lebanon, yields a similar product, which has some  repute in  Syria as a remedy
 in phthisis. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiii. 411.)   A substance  resembling
 manna, of a sweet, slightly bitter, and terebinthinate taste, and  actively purga-
tive, exudes from incisions in Pinus Lambertiana, of Southern  Oregon, and is
used by the natives. (Nar. of U. S. Expl. Exped., v. 232.)   M. Berthelot has
extracted from  this product a peculiar saccharine principle, which he calls 
486
Manna.
PART I.
pinite.   It is very sweet, but does not undergo the vinous fermentation. (See
Am. Journ,  of Pharm., xxviii. 157.)
   Ornus. Sex. Syst Diandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Oleaceas.
   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 Linnasus.
   Ornus Europsea. 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 mode-
rate height, usually from twenty to twenty-five feet, very  branching, with op-
posite, 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 0. rotundifolia  are natives of Sicily, Ca-
labria, 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  usually cut down, 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 the whole period during which the  trees
yield manua, extending sometimes, it is said, to thirty or  even forty years.
Straw  or chips are frequently placed so as to receive the juice, which concretes
upon them.   The manna varies in  its character according  to the mode of col-
lection, nature  of the season, and 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 named flake manna, or 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 incisions yield the inferior varieties.   It is in irregu-
lar, unequal  pieces, often several  inches long, resembling stalactites, rough,
light, porous, brittle, whitish or yellowish-white, and frequently concave on the
surface by which  they were attached to the trunk, and which is often soiled by
impurities, sometimes by adherent fragments of the bark.   When broken, these
pieces  exhibit a crystalline or  granular  structure.   This variety is sometimes
in small fragments, generally less than an inch in length.
   2. Common  manna—manne 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.   Common manna  consists of

  * A syrup prepared from the inner bark of this tree has been employed, in Europe,
by Dr.  Devergie, with supposed advantage, in chronic eczema and impetigo.  The bark
contains much tannin, and a mucilaginous principle, which renders diluted alcohol  a
better menstruum than boiling water.  (Journ. de  Pharm., 3e ser., ix. 347.) 
PART I.
Manna.
487
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 dis-
posed 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, viscous 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 im-
ported into this country,
   Attempts have sometimes been made to counterfeit manna; but the facility
of detection renders frauds of this kind unprofitable, and they are not often
practised.  Dr. R. P. Thomas has described in  the Am. Journ.  of Pharm.
(xxiv. 208) a sophisticated drug, which was brought into  our markets under
the name of -manna, but differed from  the genuine drug both in sensible  and
chemical properties, not even containing mannite.  Baume describes a  method
in which common manna is purified so as to resemble flake manna.    It con-
sists in dissolving  common manna in a  little water, allowing the liquid to
settle, decanting it in  order to separate the impurities, 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 con-
tains less mannite than flake manna, and less of the nauseous principle; but is
said not to operate less effectively as a laxative.
   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 on cooling.  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.   Fourcroy and Yauquelin
found  manna 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 de-
pend; and 4. a small  quantity of mucilage.  Leuchtweiss  obtained from  105
parts of manna 11-6  of water,  0-4 of insoluble matter, 9T of sugar, 42*6 of
mannite, 40-0 of  a mixture of mucilaginous matter containing mannite, resin,
organic acid, and  a  nitrogenous substance, 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. Its composition is  C12H14012.  Unlike sugar,
it does  not undergo  the vinous fermentation ;  but, if mixed with chalk and
cream cheese, and kept for some weeks at the temperature of 104° F., it yields
alcohol largely, with  the disengagement of carbonic acid and hydrogen, and
the production  of lactic acid.  No fungus is produced, as in the ordinary fer-
mentation of sugar. (Berthelot, Journ. de Pharm. et  de Chim., xxx. 269.)  It
may be  obtained by boiling  manna in  alcohol, allowing the  solution to cool,
and  redissolving the crystalline  precipitate.   Pure mannite is now deposited. 
488
Manna.—Maranta.
part i.
 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 ultimately
 deliquesces into a liquid, which, on the addition of yeast, undergoes the vinous
 fermentation.   This is probably owing to its conversion into sugar by the ab-
 sorption of enough oxygen to neutralize the slight excess of hydrogen, wiiich
 constitutes the only essential difference in composition  between it and proper
 sugar.   That which is dryest resists this change the longest.   It  is said that
 manna, recently gathered, is  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 infu-
 sion ; but the best flake  manna may be administered in substance.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Cassias; Syrupus Sennas.                      W.

                   MARANTA.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed.

                               Arrow-root.

   The fecula of the rhizoma of Maranta arundinacea.  U S.  Fecula of the tuber.
 Lond.  Fecula of the tubers of Maranta arundinacea and Maranta indica.  Ed.
   Off. Syn.  MARANTA ARUNDINACEA.  Arrow Boot.  Fecula of the
 tubers.  Dub.
   Arrow-root, Fr.; Amerikanisohes Starkmehl, Arrowmehl, Germ.
   Maranta.   Sex. Syst. Monandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord, Marantaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Anther attached to the petal-like filament.   Style petal-shaped.
 Stigma three-sided.  Flowers panic!ed. 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-lanceolate, 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 ramifica-
tion of which  is a solitary linear bracte.   The calyx consists  of three small lan-

  * Gr. Ruspini  prepares mannite more economically from  common manna, by first
melting 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, expres-
sing, dissolving the residue in boiling water with animal charcoal, filtering the liquid
boiling hot, and, lastly, evaporating to a pellicle.  The mannite separates, upon cool-
ing, in beautiful truncated quadrangular prisms, perfectly white, and transparent.  (/.
de Pharm., 3e se'r., x. 117.)  Another method is to dissolve flake manna in water,pre-
cipitate gummy and other principles J?y solution of subacetate  of lead, filter, throw
down the excess of lead by sulphuric acid, evaporate the solution, and mix with alco-
hol.  On cooling, the mannite is deposited. (Bonsall, Arch, der Pharm., cxxxiv. 70.) 
PART I.
Maranta.
489
 ceolate 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 cul-
 tivated.   It is cultivated  also in the East Indies, Sierra Leone, the south' of
 Africa, and our Southern States, especially Georgia and Florida.  The plant is
 easily propagated by cuttings of the root.   The fecula is prepared in the  fol-
 lowing 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 amylaceous 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.
 The 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 3Iaranta Allouya and M.
 nobilis, besides 31. arundinacea.   Under the name of M. Indica, Tussac de-
 scribes a distinct species, which he says was originally brought from the East
 Indies, and is now cultivated in Jamaica.   This, however, is  generally con-
 sidered as a mere  variety of M. arundinacea, from  which it differs chiefly in
 having leaves more  elongated at the point, and smooth on both sides.   Yery
 fine  arrow-root is obtained in  the East Indies from  the root of Curcuma an-
 gustifolia, 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  31. arundinacea has  been  introduced from the West Indies
 into Ceylon, where good arrow-root is prepared from it.  A fecula, closely re-
 sembling that  of the Maranta,  is said by Guibourt to be prepared in the West
 Indies from the root  of the cassava plant (Janipha 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 J. Manihot   A variety of
 arrow-root has been imported from the Sandwich Islands.  Mr. Nuttall, during
 a visit to these islands, found that it was the product of a species of Tacca,
 which he described by the name of  Tacca oceanica. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
 ix. 305.)   It is said that a similar product is obtained from Taccapinnatif da,
 growing in the East India province of Arracan. (Pharm. Journ. and  Trans.,
 vi. 383.)   Arrow-root has been brought 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)  ; but care must be taken not
 to confound this with the genuine maranta from the same State.  Attempts
 have been made to substitute finely prepared potato starch for arrow-root; and
 there is no doubt that  in nutritive properties it  is quite  equal; but patients
 complain  of an unpleasant 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 un-
pleasant flavour.  Prof. Procter has  rendered musty arrow-root sweet and fit
for use by washing  it thoroughly with two successive portions of cold water, 
490
Maranta.—Marmor.
part i.
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 com-
mon starch, and that of the potato.  These may be detected by the aid of the
microscope.  Muriatic acid has been proposed as a test.   A mixture of 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 ser., ii.  246.)
   As the microscope offers the best means of distinguishing the different varie-
ties  of fecula sold as arrow-root, or used for  its  adulteration, it is proper to indi-
cate 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 gene-
rally 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 pro-
jection.   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 described 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 poly-
hedral granules, with few and not very distinct rings, and a small, circular hilum,
which cracked  in a linear or stellate manner.   The Florida or Zamia 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 tous-les-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, af-
fording a light, very mild, and easily digested  article of diet, well adapted for
the sick and convalescent,  and peculiarly suited, from its demulcent properties,
to bowel complaints and diseases of the urinary passages.   It  is much used as
food for infants after weaning, or when the  mother's milk is insufficient.  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 table-
spoonful 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 preparation may be rendered more
palatable by lemon-juice and  sugar, or in  low forms of  disease by wine and
spices.   For children, arrow-root is usually prepared with milk.
   Off. Prep. Trochisci Ipecacuanhas.                                  W.


                        MARMOR. U. S., Ed.

                                 Marble.

  White  granular carbonate of lime.  U. S.  Massive crystalline  carbonate of
lime. Ed. 
PART I.
Marmor. —Marrubium.
491
   Off. Syn.  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;  for
 the latter, the purer varieties must be selected.
   The officinal marble is a white granular substance, having a sp. gr. varying
 from 2-7 to 2-8.  It is brittle, pulverizable, and insoluble in water.  It is wholly
 dissolved by 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 compo-
 sition 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 pharma-
 ceutic operations.  Marble,  sufficiently pure  for these purposes, is found in
 various parts of the United States.  It is necessary, however, to reject the dolo-
 mitic marbles, which  contain a considerable proportion of magnesia.
   Marble is used by the Edinburgh College, as an agent merely for removing  ex-
 cess 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;  Calcis Murias; Calx; Liquor Calcii Chlo-
 ridi; Potassas Bicarbonas; Sodas Bicarbonas.                           B.


                  MARRUBIUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                              Horehound.

   The herb of Marrubium vulgare.  U S.
   Marrube blanc, Fr.; Weisser Andorn,  Germ.;  Marrubio, Ital., Span.
   Marrubium.  Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat Ord. Lamiaceas
 or Labiatas.
   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 to 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  foot-
 stalks.   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 scalloped.  The seeds are four, in the bottom of the calyx.
 The 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.
   The herb has a strong rather agreeable odour, which is diminished by dry-
ing, and  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,
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, amenorrhcea, phthisis, and various 
492
Marrubium.—Mastiche.
part i.
cachectiG affections.   By its gently tonic powers it may have proved advanta-
geous 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 domes-
tic 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.  The  resin flowing from incisions in the bark.  Lond.
Concrete resinous exudation. Ed., Dub.
   Mastic, Fr.; Mastix, Germ.; Mastice, Ital.; Almastiga, Span.; Sakes, Turk.; Arah
Arab.
   Pistacia. Sex. Syst Dioecia Pentandria.—Nat. Ord.  Anacardiaceas.
   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 lentisk is a shrub or small tree, seldom 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, and usually alternate,
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 has a narrow foliaceous expansion on each side.   The flowers are
dioecious, and very small.   The  male are in an axillary am ent; the female are
arranged alternately upon a common peduncle, which is also axillary.
   The tree is a native of the countries bordering upon the Mediterranean ; but
does not yield  mastich  in all places.   The drug is obtained chiefly from the
island of Scio, in  the Grecian Archipelago, where the tree is cultivated for this
product.  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 received upon  cloths, or the bare earth, and concretes
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 consist of yellowish
agglutinated tears, with others of a darker colour and less translucent, and often
fragments of wood, bark, or earthy matter intermingled.
   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-
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,
chloroform, and oil  of turpentine,  scarcely soluble in the fixed oils, and insolu-
ble in water.  It consists chiefly of resin, with masticin, and a minute pro-
portion of volatile oil,  which can  scarcely be said to have been obtained in a 
PART I.
Mastiche.—Matico.
493
 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 re-
 sinous bodies;  and, in seasons of scarcity, with sea-salt.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Mastich was formerly thought to possess pro-
 perties analogous to those of the  turpentines,  and was used in debility of the
 stomach, hasmoptysis from ulceration, leucorrhoea, chronic diarrhoea, &c.; but
 its virtues  were overrated, and it is at present  scarcely ever given internally.
 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.  The alcoholic solution
 has been employed as a styptic in bleeding from the nose, leech-bites, &c, being
 applied by means of a camel's hair pencil directly to the bleeding vessel.   Dis-
 solved in alcohol or oil of turpentine, it forms a brilliant varnish.   A solution
 made by macerating half an ounce of mastich and fifteen grains of caoutchouc
 in two fluidounces of chloroform, and filtering  in close vessels, forms  a varnish
 highly esteemed by some microscopists.
   The following mode of  applying it to carious teeth has been recommended.
 Dissolve four parts of mastich in one of ether, in a bottle well stopped. With
 the solution thus formed, which is yellow and of an 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 pro-
 tects from  the action of the air, and of the  food taken into the mouth.
   Off. Prep. Tinctura Ammonias Composita.                         W.

                            MATICO.  Dub.

                                 Matico.

   Artanthe elongate.   The leaves. Dub.
   Piper.   See CUBEBA.
   Piper angustifolium.   Ruiz and Pavon, Flor. Peruv.—Piper elongatum.
 Yahl.—Artanthe elongata. Miquel; Dub. Pharm,; Lindley, 3Ied. and CEco-
 nom. Bot.  p. 133, fig.  195.   This is a shrub with a jointed stem about twelve
 feet in height.   In a dried specimen received from Dr. Ruschenberger, of the
 U.S. Navy,  the leaves are  sessile or very shortly petiolate, oval-lanceolate,
 acuminate, 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 strong  spicy taste.   The
 spikes are  solitary, opposite  the leaves, and cylindrical.   The bractes are pel-
 tate or cucullate; the flowers hermaphrodite.  The plant is a native of Peru.
   The leaves, spikes and  stalks are mixed  together, and more or less  com-
 pressed, in  the packages of the imported drug; and are all possessed of activity,
 though the leaves only are recognised by the  Dublin College.   Their shape and
 general aspect have been  described above,  as well as their  smell and taste.
 They are readily pulverized, forming a light, greenish, absorbent powder.   Ac-
cording to Dr. Hodges, they contain chlorophylle, a soft dark-green resin, brown
and yellow colouring matters, gum, salts, lignin, a light-green, thickish volatile
oil, and a  peculiar bitter principle, soluble  in water  and alcohol, but not in
ether,  which he calls maticin. (Philos. Mag., Sept. 1844, p. 206.)  The vola-
tile oil and maticin are probably the active ingredients. 
494
Matico.—Matricaria.
part i.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Matico is an agreeable  aromatic tonic and
stimulant, having a tendency, like cubebs, to act on the urinary passages.   It
has long been known as a medicine in Peru.   Dr.  Martius  speaks of its use by
the natives externally as a vulnerary, and internally as aphrodisiac  (Pharm.
Cent.  Blatt, 1843, p.  12); and, according  to Dr. Scrivener, who  practised
medicine at Lima, it is much employed in Peru locally for arresting hemor-
rhage, and in  the treatment of ulcers.  (Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xviii.  175.)
In  1839 it was  brought to England, and was prescribed by Dr. Jeffreys,  of
Liverpool, with advantage, in diseases of the mucous membranes, as gonorrhoea,
leucorrhoea, menorrhagia, catarrh of the bladder,  hemorrhoids, and epistaxis.
Others have employed it with benefit in similar cases and in diarrhoea; and it
is  said  to  have  proved useful  in  hasmoptysis, hasmatemesis, dysentery, and
hematuria.  Dr. Ruschenberger gives strong testimony in its favour in several
of the diseases mentioned.   Its  most useful internal application  is probably as
an alterative stimulant to  the diseased mucous membranes.   If efficient as a
hasmostatic, it must be on principles similar to  those upon which oil of turpen-
tine acts; for it is not astringent.  As a local styptic  it probably acts mechani-
cally in the same manner as agaric.   The dose of the  powder is from half a
drachm to two drachms three times a day.  The infusion and tincture are offi-
cinal. (See Infusum Matico and Tinctura 3Iatico.)
  The root of another species  of Piper, P. methisticum (3Iacropiper me-
thysticum, Miquel), is used in the  Sandwich  Islands to form  an intoxicating
drink, 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.  The root
is said to be an excellent remedy in  gonorrhoea  (Ann. de Therap., 1857, p.
61); and a tincture of it  has been  recently strongly recommended by Dr. B,
W. Pritchard,  used internally and locally, as  a remedy in gout.  (Med. Times
and Gaz., Dec. 1854, p. 591.)
   Off. Prep. Infusum Matico;  Tinctura Matico.                      W.

                MATRICARIA.  77. S. Secondary.

                          German Chamomile.

  The flowers of Matricaria Chamomilla. U. S.
  Matricaria.   Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord.  Compositas-
Senecionideas, De Cand. Asteraceas, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx flat, imbricate, with scales  having scarious margins.  Re-
ceptacle naked, terete.  Pappus none.
  3Iatricaria 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, membra-
nous, and translucent at the margin.  The ray  florets  are white, at first spread-
ing, and ultimately reflected.  The disk is of a deep-yellow colour, at first fiat,
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.
  The dried flowers of the Matricaria are considerably smaller  than common 
PART I.
Matricaria. —Me I.
495
 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 taken up 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.
   3Iedical 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 an-
 thelmintic.  It is much employed in Germany; but in this country scarcely at
 all, unless  by 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 by Apis mellifica.  U. S.   Juice of flowers deposited in the
 comb, clarified.  Lond,  A saccharine secretion.  Ed., Dub.
   Miel, Fr.; Honig, Germ.; Miele, Ital.; Miel, 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 certain
 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.  Several cases of poisoning, from
 eating honey from a particular source, are recorded in the New Jersey Med.
 Reporter for November, 1852 (p. 46).  Still, it probably undergoes 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 infe-
 rior kind is procured  by submitting the comb  to pressure;  and, if heat be
 employed previous to expression, the product is still more  impure.
   Honey is collected in different parts  of the United States; but much also of
 that used in the shops is imported from the West Indies.
   In the recent state honey is fluid ;  but, on being kept, it is apt to form a crys-
 talline deposit, and to be 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
 usually yellowish, and occasionally of a brown or reddish tinge. It  has a pecu-
 liar  agreeable odour, varying somewhat with the flowers from which it was
 collected, and a very sweet, feebly aromatic taste, which is  followed by a slight
 prickling or sense of acrimony in the fauces.   Its sp. gr. is about 1 -333. (Dun-
 can.)  Cold water  dissolves it readily, alcohol with less facility.   It contains
 crystallizable sugar analogous to that of grapes, and, according to Soubeiran,
 two other kinds of sugar, one of which is changed by acids, and has  the pro-
 perty of  turning to  the right the  plane of polarization ;  and the other, not
 acted on  by acids, and possessed of a strong left-handed rotating power.  ' The
 first of these two sugars is not always present;  as there  is reason to  believe that
 it is in time wholly changed by acid  into granular sugar.   It is especially
abundant in the honey taken from the comb.  The second variety is very similar
to the uncrystallizable sugar produced by the reaction of acids on  cane sugar, 
496
Mel.—Melissa.
part i.
being identical with it in composition, and like it incapable of crystallizing, and
very sensitive to the action of alkalies.   But  it is distinguished by the impos-
sibility of converting it into  granular  sugar, and by having nearly twice the
rotating power of common uncrystallizable sugar.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3c ser.,
xvi.  252.)   Honey contains, besides these saccharine  principles, 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 ingre-
dients, leaving the crystals nearly untouched.  The same end may be attained by
melting the honey, saturating its acid with carbonate of lime, filtering the liquid,
then setting it aside to crystallize, and washing the crystals with alcohol.  In-
ferior honey usually contains a large proportion of uncrystallizable sugar and
vegetable acid.  Diluted with water, honey undergoes the vinous fermentation.
  In warm weather, honey, if not very pure, sometimes  ferments,  acquiring a
pungent taste and  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.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Honey possesses the same medical properties
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 de-
mulcent 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 ; Confectio Rutas;  Linimentum J^ruginis;  Mel
Boracis; Mel Despumatum; Mel Rosas; Oxymel; Oxymel Scillas; PilulasQuinias
Sulphatis.                                                           W.

                  MELISSA.  77. & Secondary, Ed.

                                 Balm.
  The herb of Melissa officinalis.  U S., Ed,
  Melisse, Fr.; Garten-Melisse, Germ.; Melissa, Ital.; Torongil,  Span.
  Melissa.  Sex. Syst Didynamia  Gymnospermia. — Nat. Ord, Lamiacese
or Labiatas.
  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 cor-
date. 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, quad-
rangular 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 footstalks, the uppermost nearly sessile.  The  flowers are white or yel-
lowish, upon short peduncles, and in axillary whorls, surrounding only half the
stem.  The calyx is tubular, pentangular, and bilabiate,  with the upper lip tri-
dentate 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 use  the herb  should be cut before the
appearance of the flowers, which begin  to expand  in July. 
 PART I.              3Ielissa.—Mentha Piperita.                   497

   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 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 degree.  It
 contains also tannin, bitter extractive,  and gum.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Balm scarcely produces any remedial effects
 upon  the system.  The  quantity of oil which  it contains  is not more than
 sufficient to communicate an  agreeable 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., Dub.  The herb in flower,  recent
 and dried. Lond.
   Menthe poivree, Fr.; Pfeffermiinze, Germ.; Menta piperita, Ital.; Pimenta piperita,
 Span.
   Mentha.  Sex. Syst Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat Ord.  Lamiaceas 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 3Ied, Bot ii. 16, pi. 63.  Peppermint is a perennial
 herbaceous plant, with a  creeping root, and quadrangular, channeled, purplish,
 somewhat hairy stems, branched towards the top, and about two feet in height.
 The leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate, serrate, pointed, smoother on the up-
 per than the under surface, and of a dark-green  colour, which is paler beneath.
 The flowers are small, purple, and in terminal obtuse spikes, interrupted below.
 The calyx is tubular, furrowed, 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  culti-
 vators of this herb have observed that, in order to maintain its flavour in per-
 fection, 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.  For some interesting remarks in relation
 to the cultivation of peppermint in England, the reader is referred to the Am.
 Journ. of Pharm. (xxiii. 239.)
   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
Piperita.)  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 grateful aromatic stimulant,
       32 
498      Mentha Piperita.—Mentha  Viridis.—Menyanthes.  part i.

much used for all the purposes to which  medicines of this  class are applied.
To allay nausea, relieve spasmodic pains of the stomach and bowels, expel flatus,
and cover the" taste or qualify the nauseating or griping effects of  other medi-
cines, are among the most common of these purposes.  The fresh herb, bruised
and  applied to  the epigastrium,  often allays sick stomach, and is 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  generally preferred.
   Off. Prep. Aqua  Menthas Piperitas;  Oleum Menthas  Piperitas; Spiritus
Menthas.                                                           W.

         MENTHA  VIRIDIS.  77. S.,  Lond., Ed,,  Dub.

                              Spearmint.

   The herb of Mentha viridis.  U. S., Ed., Dub.   The herb in flower, recent
and dried. Lond.
   Menthe a epi, Fr.; Grune Miisze,  Germ.; Menta Romana, Ital. ; Yerba buena pun-
tiaguda,  Span.
   Mentha. See MENTHA PIPERITA.
   Mentha viridis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 76; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 338,1.121.
Spearmint, sometimes called simply mint, differs  from 31. piperita chiefly in
having sessile or nearly sessile, lanceolate, naked leaves; elongated, interrupted,
panicled spikes; setaceous bractes;  and stamens  longer than the tube of the
corolla.   Like the 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 long settled parts of
the country.  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 is obtained by distillation, and is imparted
to alcohol and water by maceration. (See  Oleum Menth.se Viridis.)
   Medical Properties. The virtues and  applications of this plant are the same
as those of peppermint.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Menthse Yiridis; Infusum Menthas Yiridis; Oleum Mentha
Yiridis.                                                             W.

                       MENYANTHES. Ed.

                               Buckbean.
   Leaves of Menyanthes trifoliata. Ed.
   Bog-bean ; Menyanthe, Trefle d'eau, Fr.; Bitterklee, Germ.; Trifogolio fibrino, Ital.;
Trifolio palustre, Span.
   Menyanthes. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord, Gentianaceas.
   Gen.  Ch. Corolla hirsute.  Stigma bifid. Capsule one-celled.  Willd.
 ^Menyanthes  trifoliata. Willd. Sp.  Plant, i.  811; Bigelow,  Am. Med. 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 upon long stalks, which proceed from the end of the root, and are
furnished at their base with sheathing stipules.  The leaflets are obovate, ob-
tuse, entire or bluntly denticulate, very smooth, beautifully green on their upper
surface,  and paler beneath.   The flower stalk is erect, round, smooth, from six
to twelve inches  high, longer than  the leaves, and terminated by a conical 
PART I.
Menyanthes.—Mezereum.
499
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 aud sagittate;  the germ  ovate, supporting a slender 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, always moist, and  occasionally overflowed
with water.  It prevails, in the United States, from the northern boundary to
Yirginia.  In this country the flowers appear in May, in England not till June
or July.   All parts of  it are efficacious,  but the leaves only are officinal.
   The taste of  buckbean is intensely bitter and somewhat nauseous, the Odour
of the leaves faint and disagreeable.  Its virtues 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, remov-
ing the lead by hydrosulphuric acid, filtering and  evaporating  the liquor, ex-
hausting 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 is chemically neuter.  (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 esteem in Europe  as a remedy in  numerous com-
plaints, among which were intermittents, rheumatism, scrofula,  scurvy, dropsy,
jaundice, and various cachectic  and cutaneous affections.   In most of these it
was administered under a vague impression of its alterative powers.  It is little
employed in this country; but, as it is a native  plant, and  applicable to cases
where a combined tonic and purgative  effect is demanded, it is desirable that
country practitioners should be aware of its properties.
   The dose of  the powdered leaves or root as a tonic is from twenty to thirty
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 re-
peated three  or four times a day.   A drachm of the powder, or a gill  of the
strong decoction generally purges, and often occasions vomiting.       W.

                    MEZEREUM.  77. S., Lond.

                                Mezereon.

   The bark of  Daphne Mezereum and Daphne Gnidium.  U. S.  Daphne Meze-
 reum.  Bark of the root.  Lond.
   Off. Syn.  MEZEREON. Root-bark of Daphne Mezereon.  Ed., Dub.
   Bois gen til, Fr.; Kellerhals, Germ.; Mezereo, Ital.; Mecereon, Span.
   Daphne.  Sex. Syst. Octandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Thymelaceas.
   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—D. 3Iezereum and D. Gnidium—the former of  which is recog-
nised in the British Pharmacopoeias, the latter in the French Codex, and both
in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States.
   L Daphne Mezereum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 415; Woodv. 3Ied. 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,
very easily separable from the wood.  The leaves spring  from  the ends of the
branches, are deciduous, sessile, obovate-lanceolate, entire, smooth of a pale- 
500
Mezereum.
PART I.
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. Daphne 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.   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, Daphne Baureola or spurge
laurel, is said to furnish a portion of  the mezereon of commerce; but its pro-
duct is inferior in acrimony, and consequently in medicinal activity.
   The bark of the root was formerly directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, 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 supplied is evi-
dently the bark of the stem; and the  Pharmacopoeia at present very properly
directs the bark, without  designating the part  from which it must be taken.
British writers state that the bark of the root is the most active.   The berries
and leaves of the plant are also active; and the former have sometimes proved
fatal to  children who have eaten them.   Pallas states that they are used as a
purgative by the Russian peasants, and that thirty berries are required to act.
French authors observe that fifteen are sufficient to  kill a Frenchman. A tinc-
ture of them is used  in Germany as a  local application in neuralgia. (Ann. de
 Therap., 1854, p. 42.)  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 inch or less in breadth, sometimes flat, sometimes partially
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 green-
ish 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 in-
odorous.  Its taste is at first sweetish, but afterwards highly acrid and even
corrosive. It yields  its virtues to water by decoction.
   Yauquelin  discovered a peculiar principle in the bark of Daphne Alpina.
This has subsequently been found in other species,  and  has received the name
of daphnin.   Gmelin and Bar found it in the bark of D.  3Iezereum, associated
with wax, an acrid resin, a yellow colouring  matter, reddish-brown extractive,
an uncrystallizable and fermentable sugar, a  gummy matter containing azote,
ligneous fibre, malic  acid,  and  several malates.   Daphnin is in prismatic crys-
tals  grouped together,  colourless,  transparent,  brilliant, slightly 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 alco-
holic  extract  of the  bark  with water,  decanting  the solution, precipitating 
part I.                 Mezereum.—Monarda.                     501

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 solu-
tion to the point of crystallization.   Though daphnin is  probably not inert,
it is  not the principle upon which the virtues of mezereon  chiefly depend.
Yauqnelin thinks that in the recent plant they 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 distilling 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  combina-
tion of an acrid fixed  oil with another substance. The acrid principle of meze-
reon 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, Pharm. Transact, i. 395.)
   3Iedical 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 occa-
sionally employed in France by regular practitioners for the purpose of forming
issues.   A small square  piece,  moistened with vinegar, is applied to  the skin,
and renewed twice a day till a blister is formed, and occasionally afterwards to
keep up the  discharge.   It is slow in its  operation,  generally requiring from
twenty-four to forty-eight hours to vesicate..  An irritant ointment is  prepared
from mezereon, which is  used for maintaining the discharge from blistered sur-
faces, 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 vomit-
ing.   In overdoses it produces the fatal effects of the acrid poisons; and a  case
of apparently severe narcotic effects  has been recorded. (Am. Journ.  of Med.
Sci., xxi. 518.) It had at one time much reputation as a remedy in the second-
ary stages of syphilis, and still enters as an ingredient into the officinal com-
pound decoction of sarsaparilla.   It has also been thought to  act favourably
as an alterative in scrofulous affections,  chronic rheumatism, and obstinate dis-
eases of the skin. For this purpose it is usually administered in decoction. (See
Decoctum Mezerei.)  Dr. Withering cured a case of difficult swallowing from
palsy, by directing the patient to chew frequently small pieces of the root.   The
dose of the bark in substance is ten grains; but it is seldom used in this way.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum  Mezerei; Decoctum  Sarsaparillas Compositum;  Ex-
tractum Sarsaparillas  Fluidum; Unguentum Mezerei.                  W.


                         MONARDA.  U.S.

                              Horsemint.

   The herb of Monarda punctata. U. S.
   Monarda.  Sex. Syst  Diandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Lamiaceas or La-
biatas. 
502
Monarda.—Mori Succus.
part i.
   Gen, Ch, Calyx five-toothed, cylindric, striate. Corolla ringent, with a long
cylindric tube; upper lip linear, nearly straight and entire, involving the fila-
ments; lower lip reflected, broader, three-lobed, the middle lobe longer. Nuttall.
   Monarda punctata. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 126; Am. Med. Recorder, vol. ii. p.
496.   This is an indigenous perennial or biennial plant, with herbaceous, ob-
tusely angled,  downy, whitish, branching stems, rising one or two feet in height,
and furnished with oblong-lanceolate, remotely serrate, smooth, punctate leaves.
The flowers are yellow, spotted with red or brown, and  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 occasionally
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 introduced into
the primary catalogue of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia on account of the volatile
oil which it affords.  (See Oleum 3Ionardse.)
   Off. Prep. Oleum Monardas.                                      W.

                      MORI SUCCUS.  Lond.

                           Mulberry Juice.

   Morus nigra. The juice  of the fruit. Lond.
   Mures, Fr.;  Schwarze Maulbeeren, Germ.; Morone, Ital.; Moras, Span.
   Morus.  Sex. Syst. Monoecia Tetrandria. — Nat. Ord.  Urticaceas.
   Gen. Ch, Male.  Calyx four-parted.  Corolla none.  Female. Calyx four-
leaved.  Corolla none. Styles two.  Calyx berried. Seed one.  Willd.
   Morus 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 vermifuge,
especially in cases of  the tape-worm, in the dose of two drachms infused in eight
ounces of boiling water.  The juice of the fruit is the officinal portion.
   The fruit is oblong-oval, of a dark reddish-purple almost black colour, and
consists 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.
   3Iedical 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 their juice, and  used as an agreeable addition to gargles in inflam-
mation of the  throat.   They are,  however, more  used as food than medi-
cine.   Our native mulberry, the fruit of 3Iorus rubra, is quite equal to that
of the imported species.   3Iorus alba, originally  from China, and now ex-
tensively 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.                            •             W. 
PART I.
Moschus.
503
               MOSCHUS.  U.S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.

                                Musk.

  A peculiar concrete substance obtained from Moschus moschiferus. U. S. A
concrete substance found in the follicle of the prepuce. Lond.   Inspissated
secretion in the follicles of the prepuce.  Ed,, Dub.
  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.
  Moschus moschiferus.   Gmelin,  Syst. Nat  i. 172; Reese's  Cyclopaedia.
This animal bears a close resemblance to the deer in shape and size.  It is usu-
ally about three feet in length and two feet high, with  haunches considerably
more elevated than the shoulders.  From its upper jaw two tusks project down-
wards 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 narrow, and the tail very short.   The fleece, consisting of strong,
elastic, undulated hairs,  varies in colour with the season, the age of the  ani-
mal, and 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, pro-
jecting  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, opening
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 interally by a smooth membrane, 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 liquid,
and a portion  is occasionally forced  out by the  animal, to which it communi-
cates its odour.
  The musk deer inhabits the vast mountainous regions of central  Asia, ex-
tending 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 pro-
cured from the mountains on the southern borders of Siberia, and brought into
the market through Russia,  is comparatively feeble.   The best is  imported

  * According  to Col. Frederick Markham, as  much as two ounces  are  sometimes
found, and the average for a full grown animal is an ounce ;  but, as many of the deer
are killed young, the pods in the market probably do not contain more than half an
ounce upon an average.  He states that the musk of the young animal, though not so
strong as that of the old, has a  much pleasanter smell.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,
xv. 472 ; from " Shooting in the Himalayas," &c.)—Note to the eleventh  edition. 
504
Moschus.
PART I.
 from China, and is said to be the product of Tonquin.  A variety intermediate
 between these is procured in the Himalaya Mountains and Thibet, and sent to
 Calcutta.   We derive our chief supply from Canton, though portions are occa-
 sionally brought hither from Europe.
   Two  varieties  are  known in commerce, 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 brownish-
 yellow or reddish-brown hairs, and containing at most a drachm and a half of
 large-grained, dark, strong-scented musk, of an ammoniacal odour.  The Rus-
 sian, is in longer and larger bags, small-grained, of a light yellowish-brown
 colour, and of a weaker and more fetid odour, with less smell of ammonia.
   Properties.   Musk is in grains or lumps concreted together, soft and unctu-
 ous 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 diffusive, that one part of  musk  communicates
 its smell to more than 3000  parts of inodorous powder. (Fee.)   In some deli-
 cate individuals it produces headache and other disagreeable symptoms, and has
 even caused 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 principles.  Guibourt and Blondeau ob-
 tained water, ammonia, stearin, olein, cholesterin, an oily acid combined with
 ammonia, volatile  oil, muriate of ammonia, chlorides of potassium and calcium,
 an uncertain acid combined with ammonia, potassa, and lime, gelatin, albumen,
 fibrin, a highly carbonaceous matter soluble 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  constituents, Geiger
 and Reinman found a peculiar bitter resin, osmazome, and a peculiar substance
 in part combined  with ammonia.  According to  Guibourt  and Blondeau, it
 contains 47  per cent, of volatile matter, thought by some  to  be chiefly am-
 monia, by others to be a compound of ammonia 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 545
 per cent., and other chemists intermediate proportions.   The proportion solu-
 ble in alcohol, as ascertained by different  experimenters, varies from 25 to  62
 per cent,  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 transparent, and of a reddish-brown colour, with the pecu-
 liar odour of the medicine.  The action of potassa upon musk is accompanied
 with the extrication of ammonia, 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 Guibourt,  without diminishing the activity of  the medicine.
 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. (Pharm. 
PART I.
Moschus.
505
 Cent. Blatt, A. D.  1843, p. 406.)  Camphor rubbed up  with musk is  also
 said to destroy its odour.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiii. 85.)
   Adulterations.   The price  of this medicine is  so high, and its sources so
 limited, as to offer strong temptations to adulteration ;  and little genuine un-
 mixed musk is to be found in  the  market.   The sophistication commences in
 China, and is  completed in Europe and this country.  A common practice in
 the East is to  open the sac,  and to supply the  place of the musk with an adul-
 terated mixture.  Sometimes the scrotum of the animal is filled with this mix-
 ture, and not unfrequently the  sacs are made  out of the skin.  Dried blood,
 from its resemblance 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 dif-
 fused through the mass, and renders the discovery of the fraud sometimes dif-
 ficult.  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 exhibit
 innumerable cells, which are  wanting in the spurious. (Chem. Gaz., Feb. 1846,
 p. 79.)  Musk which burns with difficulty, has a feeble odour and a colour either
 pale  or entirely black, feels  gritty to the finger, is very moist, or contains  ob-
 vious  impurities, should be  rejected.  Russian musk is  said never to be adul-
 terated before  leaving Russia.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Musk is stimulant and antispasmodic, in-
 creasing the vigour of the circulation, and exalting the nervous energy, without
 producing, either as an immediate  or  secondary  effect,  any considerable  de-
 rangement 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 advantage may be expected from it when a prostrate state of the sys-
 tem, attended  with great nervous agitation, or irregular  muscular action, calls
 for the united influence of a highly diffusible stimulant and powerful antispas-
 modic.  Such are  low cases of typhous  disease, accompanied with  subsultus
 tendinum, tremors, and singultus.  Such also are many instances  of gout in the
 stomach, and  other spasmodic affections of that organ.   In very obstinate hic-
 cough we have found it more effectual  than any other remedy;  and have seen
 great  advantage from  its use in those alarming convulsions of  infants origin-
 ating  in spasm of the intestines.   It is said  to have done  much good, com-
 bined  with opium, and administered in very large doses,  in tetanus.  Epilepsy,
 hysteria, asthma, pertussis, palpitations,  cholera, and colic, are also among the
 spasmodic  affections in which  circumstances may render its employment desira-
 ble.  The chief obstacles to its general use are its high price, and the uncertainty
 in regard to its purity.  Musk was unknown to the ancients.  Aetius was the
 first writer who noticed it  as a medicine.  It was introduced into Europe
through  the Arabians, from whose language 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.1  To children it may be ad-
ministered with great advantage in the form of enema.*                 W.

  * Vegetable Musk.  It has been proposed to substitute for musk the volatile oil of
certain plants, having the characteristic odour of that product.  The Malva moschata 
506
Mucuna.
PART i.
             MUCUNA. U. S. Secondary, Lond., Ed.

                                 Cowhage.

  The bristles of the pods of Mucuna pruriens.  U. S.  Bristles of the fruit.
Lond.  Hairs from the pod. Ed.
  Off. Syn. DOLICHOS. Mucuna pruriens.  The hairy down of the pod. Dub.
  Pois a gratter, Fr.; Kuhkratze, Germ.; Dolico Scottante, Ital.
  Mucuna.  Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria. — Nat Ord.  Fabaceas or Legu-
minosas.
  Gen, Ch. Calyx campanulate, bilabiate; the lower lip trifid, with acute seg-
ments, the middle one longest; the upper lip broader, entire, obtuse.  Corolla
with the vexillum ascending, shorter than the wings and keel; the wings ob-
long, 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.)
  3Iucuna pruriens. De Cand.  Prodrom.  ii. 405 ; Lindley, Flor. 3Ied. p.
254.—Dolichos 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 vicinity,
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 sur-
face, 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 pendant spikes about a foot
in length.  The fruit is a coriaceous pod,  shaped like the Italic letter/, 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 tropical 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 3Iucuna prurita. The
part usually imported is  the pod, of which the hairs are officinal.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.   The spicula  are said to possess powerful
vermifuge properties,  and are thought  to act mechanically, by penetrating 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 the decoction is in the least  degree anthelmintic.  The medicine
was first employed  as a vermifuge in the West Indies, and  thence passed into
British practice.   There can be no reasonable doubt of 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

and Mimulus moschatus, have been used for this purpose.  Dr. Hanon, of Belgium, has
experimented  with the  distilled oil of these plants, and found it, in the dose of two or
three drops, to be an energetic excitant of the primse viae and encephalon, producing
a sense of weight at the epigastrium with excitation, vertigo, headache, dryness of the
pharynx and oesophagus, general  lassitude, yawning, somnolence, and sleep in five or
six  hours.  The pulse is  little affected;  and no unpleasant symptoms are felt on
awaking.  He has found it an admirable remedy in hysterical disorders, and various
nervous affections attendant on other diseases when not inflammatory, and thinks
that it is in no respect inferior to musk in antispasmodic properties. (Journ. de Pharm.
et de Chim., xxv. 66, from Presse Mid. Beige.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
 parti.   Mucuna.—Myristica.—Myristicx Adeps.—Macis.       507

 in some tenacious vehicle.  The usual mode of preparing i{ is to dip the pods
 into syrup or molasses, and scrape off the 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 tea-
 spoonful for a child three or four years old,  to be given every morning for three
 days, and then followed by a brisk cathartic.   M. Blatin has proposed to employ
 cowhage as an external irritant; seven grains being mixed with an ounce of lard,
 and seven or eight grains  of the ointment rubbed for ten, fifteen, or twenty
 minutes on the skin.   A  stinging and burning sensation is produced, followed
 by white elevations, which  soon disappear, leaving no unpleasant effect.
   The root of M. pruriens (31. prurita, figured in  Curtis's Bot. Mag. N. S.
 xii., Oct. 1856, tab. 4945) 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.

              MYRISTICA.  U S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.

                               Nutmeg.

   The kernels of the fruit  of Myristica moschata U S., Dub.  Myristica offi-
 cinalis.  The seed deprived of the testa. Lond.   Kernel of the fruit of Myris-
 tica officinalis.  Ed,
   Noix muscade, Fr.; Muskatnuss, Germ.; Noce moschata, Ital.; Nuez moscada, Span.

                   MYRISTICA  ADEPS. Ed.

                      Concrete Oil of Nutmeg.

   Concrete expressed oil from the kernel of the fruit of Myristica officinalis.  Ed.
   Off. Syn. MYRISTICA  OLEUM.   Myristica  officinalis.   Concrete  oil
 expressed from the seed.  Lond.

                     MACIS. U. S. Secondary.

                                 Mace.
   The arillus of the fruit of Myristica moschata.  U S.
   Macis, Fr.; Muskatbliithe, Germ.; Macis, Ital.; Macias, Span.
   Myristica.  Sex. Syst. Dicecia Monadelphia. — Nat. Ord. Myristicaceas.
   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.
   3fyristica moschata.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 869; Woodv.  Med. Bot p. 698,
 t. 238.—M. officinalis.  Linn. Suppl. 265; Lindley, Flor. 3fed.  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 alternately
 on  short  footstalks, are  oblong-oval, pointed,  entire,  undulated,  obliquelv
 nerved, bright-green  and somewhat  glossy  on their upper surface, whitish be-
 neath, and of an aromatic taste.  The flowers are male and  female upon  dif-
 ferent trees.  The  former are disposed in axillary, peduncled, solitary clusters;
 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, smooth, at first pale-green,  but
yellow when ripe, and marked with a longitudinal furrow.  The external cover-
ing, which is at first  thick and fleshy, and  abounds in an austere,  astringent 
508
Myristica.
PART I.
juice, afterwards  becomes dry and coriaceous, and, separating into two valves
from the apex, discloses a scarlet reticulated membrane or arillus, commonly
called  mace, closely investing a thiu, brown, shining shell, which contains the
kernel or nutmeg. Not less than eight varieties of the plant are said by Craw-
ford to be cultivated in the East Indies.
   Myristiea  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 were  long derived.  But the
plant is now cultivated in Sumatra,  Java, Singapore, Penang, and other parts
of the East  Indies; and has been introduced into the Isle of France and Bour-
bon, Cayenne, and some of  the West India islands.
   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 rejected.   The mace is then
carefully separated, so as to break it as little as possible, is flattened, and dried
in the sun, and  afterwards sprinkled with  salt water, with  the view of con-
tributing 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 kernels, hav-
ing 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.  Dr. Lumsdaine has found them
to keep better, if rubbed over with  dry lime, than when prepared in the moist
way. (See Am. Journ. of Sci. and  Arts, Nov. 1851.)
   Nutmegs are brought to this country either directly from the East Indies, or
indirectly through England and Holland.  They are also occasionally imported
in small quantities 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 ap-
pearance.   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,
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.   The volatile oil is obtained
by distillation with water.  (See Oleum 3Iyristicse.)   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.
   Nutmegs have bee^: punctured and boiled in order to extract their essential
oil,  and the orifice afterwards closed so carefully as not to be discoverable un-
less by breaking the kernel.  The fraud may be detected by their levity.   They
are  also apt  to  be injured by  worms, which,  however, attack preferably the
parts  least  impregnated with the volatile oil.   The Dutch  were formerly said
to 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 the large and oval.   They should be rejected when very light,
with a feeble taste and smell, worm eaten, musty, or marked with black veins. 
 part I.               Myristicse Adeps.—Macis.                    509

    A kind of nutmeg is occasionally met with, ascribed by some to a variety of
 M. moschata, by others to a different species (Myristica fatua), which is dis-
 tinguished 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 disagreeable taste.   It  has been called male, wild,  or  long nutmeg, the
 other being designated as the female or cultivated nutmeg*
    The concrete or expressed oil of nutmeg (Myristic.se Adeps, Ed.  Myris-
 ttc.e Oleum, Lond,), commonly called oil of mace, is obtained by bruising nut-
 megs, exposing them in a bag to steam,  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 10 to  12 per  cent, of this  oil.   The
 best 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
 :md ether ;  43-75 of a white, pulverulent, inodorous substanee, insoluble  in these
 liquids ; and 416 of volatile oil.   The pulverulent constituent, which received
 from Playfair the name  of myristicin, has  a  silky lustre, melts at 88°, and
 yields in saponification glycerin and myristicic acid.   An inferior kind is pre-
 pared in Holland, and sometimes found in the shops.  It is in hard, shining,
 square cakes, lighter coloured 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 some-
 times sold for  the genuine  oil.  It is made by mixing 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, U S.)  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 resembling those of nutmeg.   It contains, according to M. Henry, a vola-
 tile 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 proportion 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 mot 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 stomach.  It
 is usually given in substance, and is brought by grating to the state of a powder.
 Mace possesses properties essentially the same with those of nutmeg; and, like

   * A few years since, attention was called to a California product, derived from Tor-
 reya California, and, from its resemblance to  the  fruit of the Myristica, called Cali-
fornia  nutmeg.  It is, however, quite distinct in its characters from the true nutmeg,
 and cannot be substituted for it.  At the  same time a variety of nutmeg appeared in
 our markets, which was at first supposed to be the California  product referred to; but,
 on examination by Prof. Jos. Carson, was found to be the variety of drug mentioned in
 the text as the male or wild nutmeg, and to be wholly distinct from the fruit of the
 Torreya.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 247 and 499.)— Note  to the eleventh  edition. 
510
Macis.—Myrrha.
PART I.
that medicine, has been known, when taken in excess, to produce alarming sen-
sorial disturbance.  (G. C. Watson, Prov. 3Ied. and S. 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 vola-
tile oil, the latter may be substituted, in the dose of two or three  drops.  The
expressed oil is occasionally used as a gentle external stimulant, and is an ingre-
dient in the Emplastrum Picis of the Lond. and Ed. Pharmacopoeias.
  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 Nutmeg.   Acetum Opii; Confectio Aromatica;  Electuarium
Catechu; Oleum Myristicas; Pulvis Aromaticus ; Pulvis Catechu Compositus;
Pulvis Cretas Compositus; Spiritus Armoracias Comp. ; Spiritus Lavandulae
Comp. ;  Spiritus Myristicas; Syrupus Rhei  Aromaticus;  Trochisci  Cretas;
Trochisci Magnesias.
  Off. Prep,  of the Concrete Oil. Emplastrum Picis.                 W.

                MYRRHA U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Myrrh.

  The concrete juice of Balsamodendron  Myrrha. U. S.  Gum-resin exuded
from the bark.  Lond,   Gummy resinous exudation. Ed., Dub.
  Myrrhe, Fr., Germ.;  Mirra, Ital., Span.; Murr, Arab.; Bowl, Hindoost.
  Though myrrh has been  employed from the earliest times,  the plant which
yields it was not determined till quite recently.   The Amyris Eatafof Forsk-
hal, seen by that traveller in Arabia, was supposed by him to be the myrrh tree,
but without sufficient proof.  Afterwards  Ehrenberg  met on the frontiers of
Arabia Felix  with a plant, from the bark of which he collected a gum-resin pre-
cisely similar  to the myrrh of commerce.  From specimens of the plant taken
by Ehrenberg to Germany, Nees von  Esenbeck referred  it to the genus Bal-
samodendron of Kunth, and named it  Balsamodendron 3lyrrha.  This genus
was formed by Kunth from Amyris, and includes the Amyris Kataf of Forsk-
hal, which may possibly also produce a variety of myrrh.   The new genus dif-
fers 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;  Carson,
Illust. of 3Ied. 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 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 the one  at the end.  The fruit is oval-lanceolate, pointed, longitudinally
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  Acacias and Euphorbias.  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 quali-
ties is now brought from the East Indies, whither it is carried from Arabia and
the north-eastern coast of Africa.  Aden in the former region, and Berbera in
the latter would appear, from the statements of Mr. James Yaughan, to be the
chief entrepots of the trade. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii.  226.)  It is
usually imported in  chests containing between one and two hundred weight. 
PART I.
Myrrha.
511
 Sometimes the different qualities are brought separate;  sometimes 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 inflammable, but does
 not burn vigorously, and is  not fusible by heat.   Its sp. gr. is stated at P36.
 The  inferior kind, commonly called India myrrh, is in pieces  much  darker
 than those described, more opaque, less  odorous, and often abounding with im-
 purities.   We have  seen pieces of  India myrrh enclosing large crystals of com-
 mon 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 irregular pieces, of
 a dirty reddish-brown colour, a vitreous brownish-yellow fracture, semitranspa-
 rent,  of a faint odour of myrrh, and a bitter balsamic teste. Myrrh is best pur-
 chased in mass; as in powder it is liable to adulterations 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 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 dis-
 tillation a volatile oil rises, having the peculiar 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 per cent, of volatile oil, 23 of a
 bitter resin, 46 of soluble, and 12 of insoluble gum.  (Ann. de Chim., lxvii. 52.)
 Pelletier obtained 34 per cent, of resin, with a small proportion of volatile oil,
 and 66 of gum.   A more recent  analysis by Ruickoldt gave  2-183 per cent.
 of volatile oil, 44-760 of resin, 40-818  of gum or arabin, 1-475 of water, and
 3-650 of carbonate of lime and magnesia, with some gypsum and sesquioxide
 of iron.  The resin, which  he calls myrrhin, is neuter, but becomes acid
 when kept for a short time in fusion.  In the latter state, M.  Ruickoldt pro-
 poses  to  call it myrrhic  acid.  (Archiv. der Pharm., xii.  1.)  According to
 MM. Bley and Diesel, myrrh containing  little volatile oil always has an acid
 reaction, which they ascribe to the oxidation of the oil.  They found formic
 acid in the specimen examined by them.  (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, but  becomes whitish
 and opaque.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 228.)   According  to M. Righini,
 if powdered myrrh,  rubbed for  15  minutes with an equal weight of muriate of
 ammonia, and 15 times its weight of water gradually added, dissolve quickly and
entirely, it  may be considered pure. (Journ. de Chim. Med,,  1844, p.  33.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Myrrh  is a stimulant  tonic, with some tend-
ency to the lungs, and perhaps  to the  uterus.   Hence  it  is employed as an 
512
Myrrha.—Nux Vomica.
part I.
expectorant and emmenagogue in  debilitated states  of the system, in the ab-
sence of febrile excitement or acute inflammation.   The complaints in which it
is usually administered are chronic catarrh, phthisis pulmonalis, other pectoral
affections in which the secretion of mucus is abundant but not easily expecto-
rated, 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  3Iistura Ferri Composita.   The infusion is also  sometimes  given,
and an aqueous extract has been recommended  as milder than myrrh in sub-
stance.   The tincture is used chiefly as an external application.
  A plaster of myrrh is made by rubbing together powdered myrrh, camphor,
and balsam of Peru, of each an ounce  and a half, then adding the mixture to
32 ounces of lead plaster previously melted,  and stirring well until the plaster
thickens  on cooling.   It is then to be formed into rolls.   This plaster may be
employed in all cases where a gentle and long continued  stimulant or rubefa-
cient effect is desired.
  Off. Prep.  Decoctum Aloes Compositum;  Decoctum Myrrhas; Mistura Ferri
Comp.; Pilulas Aloes et  Myrrhas; Pil. Assafoetidas,  Ed,; Pil. Ferri Comp.;
Pil. Galbani Comp.; Pil. Rhei Comp.;  Tinctura  Myrrhas.             W.


            NUX VOMICA. US.,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                            Nux Vomica.

  The seeds of Strychnos Nux vomica. U. S., Lond,, Ed,, Dub.
  Noix vomique, Fr.; Krahenaugen, Brechniisse, Germ,; Noce vomica, Ital.; Nuez
vomica, Span.
  Strychnos. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord, Apocynaceas.
  Gen. Ch.  Corolla five-cleft.  Berry one-celled, with a ligneous rind. Willd,
  Strychnos Nux vomica.  Willd.  Sp. Plant i.  1052; Woodv. Med. Bot. y.
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 long, flexu-
ous,  smooth,  and dark-green, with opposite, roundish-oval, entire, smooth, and
shining leaves, having three or five ribs, and  short footstalks.  The flowers are
small, white,  funnel-shaped, and in terminal corymbs.  The fruit is  a  round
berry, about as large as an orange, with a smooth, yellow or orange-coloured,
hard, fragile rind, and many seeds embedded in a juicy pulp.
  The tree is a native of the East Indies, growing in Bengal, Malabar, on the
Coromandel coast, in Ceylon,  in many islands of the Indian Archipelago, 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 intermittents. The
radices colubrinse and lignum colubrinum of the older writers, long known in
Europe as narcotic poisons, have been ascribed to this species of Strychnos,
under the impression that it is identical  with Strychnos Colubrina, to which
Linnasus refers them.   They have  been ascertained by Pelletier and Caventou
to contain a large quantity of strychnia.  The bark  is said by Dr. O'Shaugh-
nessy to answer exactly to the description given  by authors of the false angus-
tura, 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 seeds are the only officinal portion. 
  part i.                      Nux Vomica.                           513

    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  semitrans-
  parent, 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 impart 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 constituents are a  yellow colouring
  matter, a concrete oil, gum, starch, bassorin, and a small quantity of wax.  M.
  Desnoix has  announced the discovery of  another  alkaloid,  which he denomi-
  nates igasuria.  These alkaloids are the active principles of nux vomica,
    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 850 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.   Concen-
 trated 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 alkaloid.  According to  MM. La-
 rocque and Thibierge, chloride of gold produces, with solutions of the salts of
 brucia, precipitates  at first milky, then coffee-coloured, and finally chocolate-
 brown. (Journ. de  Chim. Med,, Oct. 1842.)  Brucia is analogous in its ope-
 ration 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 Angustura bark, in  a manner
 essentially the same with that in which strychnia is procured from nux vomica •
 with this difference,  that the  alcoholic extract,  obtained from the precipitate
 produced by lime or magnesia, should be treated with oxalic  acid, and subse-
 quently with a mixture of rectified alcohol and ether, which takes up the colour-
 ing 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  Erd-
 mann, brucia  is nothing more than a compound of strychnia and resin.
  Igasuria is found in the mother waters from which strychnia and brucia have
been precipitated by lime.  It is strongly bitter; readily crystallizable, with  10
per cent, of water of crystallization; more soluble in water and weak alcohol
       33 
514
Nux Vomica.
part i.
than the two other alkaloids; reddened by nitric acid even more intensely than
brucia; rendered by sulphuric acid at first rose-coloured, and afterwards yellow-
ish and greenish-yellow; dissolved by the diluted acids, which form with it easily
crystallizable salts; precipitated from its solution by the alkalies, and redissolved
by them  in excess, especially by potassa;  precipitated yellow by bichloride of
platinum, and white by tannic acid; slowly precipitated by iodide of potassium
in light reddish-yellow mystals;  and thrown down as crystalline needles by bi-
carbonate of soda, in  the presence of tartaric  acid, in which property it re-
sembles strychnia, but differs from brucia.   One of its most distinguishing pro-
perties is its solubility in water, of  which it  requires at  212° only 200 parts
for solution, while brucia requires 500 parts, and strychnia 2000.   M. Desnoix
inferred from his experiments on animals that it is intermediate  in power be-
tween the two other alkaloids of nux vomica.
   As a test for nux vomica, Yielgruth proposes to treat a few grains of the sus-
pected powder with proof spirit, evaporate the tincture to dryness at a heat not
exceeding 96°, then add a drop or two of dilute sulphuric acid, and again raise
to the heat mentioned.   If nux vomica is present, a beautiful carmine red colour
is produced, which disappears in ten or fifteen minutes after  cooling, and re-
appears,  but less brightly, on the reapplication of the heat.
   Medical Properties and  Uses. Nux vomica is very peculiar in its action. 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 di-
rected chiefly to  the  nerves 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 mo-
tion.   There seems to be a tendency to permanent involuntary muscular con-
traction, as in tetanus; but at the same time frequent starts  or  spasms occur,
as from electric shocks.   These  spasms are first brought  on  by some exciting
cause,  as by a slight blow or an attempt to move; but, if the medicine is per-
severed 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, tight-
ness of the chest, and retention of urine are frequently experienced, to a greater
or less extent, according to the quantity of the medicine administered.  It some-
times, also, produces pain  in the head, vertigo, contracted pupil, and dimness
of vision.   Sensations on the surface analogous to those attending imperfect
palsy, such as formication,  tingling, &c, are  often experienced.   The  pulse is
not materially affected, though sometimes slightly accelerated.   Strychnia, given
to the inferior animals, has been observed strikingly to lessen the bulk of the
spleen. In  over-doses, the medicine  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.   Yet  it poisons animals which have
no lungs.  (Am.  Journ. of Med. Sci., N.  S.,  xviii. 369.)  Upon  dissection, no
traces of inflammatory action are observable,  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 intervention of the brain is not essential.   That it
enters the circulation, and is brought into contact with the  parts upon which
it acts, is rendered evident  by the experiments of Magendie and others.   For
further observations on  the effects of this  poison, and for the modes of obviat-
ing them, see Strychnia in Part II. of this  work. 
PART I.
Nux Vomica.
515
    Nux vomica has long been employed in India, and was known as a medicine
 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  inter-
 mittents, dyspepsia, pyrosis, gastrodynia, dysentery, diarrhoea of debility, colica
 pictonum, worms,  mania, hypochondriasis, hysteria,  rheumatism,  and hydro-
 phobia.  It is said to have effectually cured obstinate spasmodic asthma.   Its
 peculiar influence upon the nerves of motion, to which the public attention was
 first called by Magendie, suggested  to M. Fouquier, a French physician,  the
 application  of the remedy to  paralytic affections,  in which he met with  great
 success.  Others have subsequently employed it with variable results; but  the
 experience in its favour so much predominates, that it may now be considered
 a standard remedy in palsy.   It is  a singular fact, 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 inflammation or organic
 lesion of the brain or spinal marrow, until after the removal  of the primary
 affection.  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,
 spermatorrhoea, and impotence.  Upon the same principles, it is said to  have
 proved useful in obstinate constipation from deficient contractility of the bowels;   '
 and is thought to promote the action of cathartics, when added to them in small
 proportion.  It has recently been recommended in neuralgia, chorea, and atonic
 dropsy, and  has been  found peculiarly useful in gastralgia, gastro-enteralgia,
 and other debilitated conditions of the alimentary canal.
   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 experienced.
 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  grat-
 ing; 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 Col-
 lege directs that the seeds should be first well softened with steam,  then sliced,
 dried, and ground in a coffee-mill.  It has been recommended that, before being
 pulverized, they should be deprived  of their  exterior coating,  which is easily
 done when they are exposed for a short time to the action of hot water.
   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 Extractum Nucis Vomicse )
 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.
 With  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 from  one-sixteenth to one-twelfth of a grain, repeated
 twice or three times a day, and gradually increased.  Even the  quantity men-
 tioned often produces spasmodic symptoms, and these generally occur when the
 dose is augmented to half a grain three times a day; but in the latter quantity
 the remedy, if pure, is unsafe.   The  system is not so soon habituated 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.    Strychnia has
been applied  externally with  advantage in amaurosis.  It should be sprinkled
upon a blistered surface near the temples, in the quantity of from one-fourth to
one-half a grain, morning and evening; and the quantity may be gradually 
516               Nux Vomica.— Olea.— Olea Fixa.            parti.

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 found this alkali very
useful in small doses as a tonic.  He employed for this purpose one-eighth of a
grain frequently repeated.  It is very important, in reference to the dose, that
it should contain no strychnia.
  Off. Prep. Extractum Nucis Yomicas; Strychnia; Tinctura Nucis Yomicas
                                                                    W.
                                 OLEA.

                                  Oils.

  These are liquid  or  solid substances, characterized by an unctuous feel, in-
flammability, 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 influence
of caloric.
                       1. OLEA FIXA.  Fixed Oils.
  These are sometimes termed expressed oils, from the mode in which they are
procured.   Though existing in greater or less  proportion in various parts of
plants, they 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 boiling 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  number 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  con-
gelation, olive oil becoming solid  a little above 32° F., while linseed oil re-
mains fluid  at 4° below zero.   They  are not volatilizable without  decomposi-
tion.  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 com-
pounds of  carbon and hydrogen.  Heated in the open air they take fire, burn-
ing 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, ex-
posed 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 mag- 
PART I.
Olea Fixa.
517
nesia 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 decompose 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 acid upon vegetable matter.   Several acids are dissolved by them
without producing any sensible change.  They combine with salifiable bases;
but  at the moment of combination undergo a change, by which  they are re-
solved into a peculiar substance called glycerin, and into the oleic and margaric
or other fatty acids,  which unite with  the base employed.   The compounds  of
these acids with potassa and soda are called soaps.  (See Sapo and Emplas-
trum Plumbi.) The fixed oils dissolve many of the organic alkalies, the vola-
tile oils,  resin,  and other proximate principles of plants.
   The fixed oils, whether animal or vegetable, in their natural state, consist  of
at least two distinct oleaginous ingredients, one liquid at ordinary temperatures,
and the  other  concrete.   The  liquid  is a distinct proximate principle called
olein; the concrete consists of stearin or margarin, the former being found
most largely in animal, the latter in vegetable oils  or fats,  and the two not
unfrequently existing together in the same oil.   But several oils have peculiar
constituents, differing in properties from either margarin or stearin, and specially
named according to the substance containing them; as palmitin  in palm oil,
butyrin in butter,  &c.   As the most frequent of these proximate constituents
of the fixed oils, and existing  in many different oleaginous  substances, olein,
margarin, and  stearin  merit a special notice.  Preliminarily, however, to their
individual consideration, it will be proper to refer to the existing views in rela-
tion to their nature and composition generally.
   It is supposed  that these oleaginous principles are of the nature of  salts,
consisting severally of an acid combined with a substance called glycerin, which
acts the part  of a base.   When, therefore, one  of them is treated with an
alkaline  solution, it is decomposed; its acid uniting with the  alkali to form
soap, and the glycerin being set free.   The  analogy between these fatty salts
and those consisting of inorganic ingredients may be carried still further;  as
glycerin is supposed to be, like the inorganic bases, an oxide, and to consist  of
a  compound radical called glyceryl  (C6H7) with five eqs. of oxygen, united
with one eq.  of water;  its formula  being C6H7,Os-f HO.   The  fatty acids,
existing in these oleaginous salts, are named severally from  the oily principle
containing them.   Thus  the acid of olein is called  oleic acid, that of stearin
stearic acid, and that of margarin margaric acid.  It must be admitted that
this view of  the nature of the oily principles was at  first received with  some
hesitation;  and many supposed that,  when an  alkali with water was made to
act on the oils, the resulting fatty acids and glycerin  were generated  by the re-
actions set on foot between the oil  and water, and did not preexist in the oil.
In favour of this view was the fact, that the presence of water was necessary to
the change.  But this is explained by the supposition that the oxide of glyceryl
cannot exist separately unless combined with water, the presence  of which,
therefore, is necessary to  detach it from its  combination with the fatty acid in
the oils.   Moreover, the  received view has  been synthetically confirmed; for
M. Berthelot has succeeded in combining glycerin with various acids, forming
salts, and among  others  with oleic, stearic, and margaric acids,  thus recon-
structing olein, stearin, and margarin out of their constituents. 
518
Olea Fixa.
part i.
   Olein. Elain. Liquid Principle of Oils.   It is extremely difficult to ob-
tain olein pure.  Being the liquid menstruum which, in most oils, holds the
concrete principles in solution, it has  for  the latter an  affinity which  retains
portions of them with a tenacity not easily overcome.  As ordinarily procured
therefore, olein contains more or less of margarin or stearin or both.   In this
somewhat impure state, it is obtained either by the agency of alcohol or by ex-
pression.   When one of the oils, olive oil for example, is dissolved in boiling
alcohol, the solution, on cooling, deposits the concrete principles, still retaining
the  olein, which it yields  upon evaporation.   The  other method consists  in
compressing one  of the solid  fats, or of  the liquid oils  rendered concrete by
cold, between folds of bibulous paper, which absorb the. olein, and give it up
afterwards by compression under water.   Olein is a liquid of oily consistence
becoming concrete at 20° F.,  colourless when  pure, with little  odour and a
sweetish  taste,  insoluble in water, soluble in boiling  alcohol and ether, and
composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  These elements are believed to
be so combined as to  form a salt, consisting of one eq.  of glycerin C8H 0.4-
two eqs.  of oleic acid* C.2H6B06,HO=C78H74013, the binoleate of glycerin ox
dinolein of Berthelot.  By reaction with  nitric acid, olein is converted into a
deep-yellow, butyraceous mass.  If this be treated with hot  alcohol, a deep
orange-red  oil is dissolved, and a peculiar fatty matter remains called elaidin,
This is white, fusible  at 97°, insoluble in water, readily  soluble in ether, and
supposed to be isomeric with olein.   It is resolved by saponification with the
alkalies  into elaidic acid and glycerin; and is,  therefore,  elaidate  of glycerin.
It is now generally thought that olein, as obtained from  different oils, is not
precisely identical in properties; and a distinct compound  is recognised consist-
ing of one eq. of glycerin C6H705 and one of oleic acid without water C36H33
O3 —C^H^Og, the oleate of glycerin, or monolein of Berthelot.
   Stearin.   This exists abundantly in tallow and other animal fats.  It may
be  obtained by treating the concrete  matter of lard,  free from olein, by cold
ether so long as anything is dissolved.  The margarin is thus taken up, and
stearin remains.  A better method is to dissolve suet in  heated oil of turpentine,
allow the solution to cooL submit the solid matter to expression in unsized paper,
repeat the treatment several times, and finally dissolve in hot ether, which de-
posits the stearin on cooling.   This is concrete, white, opaque in  mass, but of
a pearly appearance as crystallized from  ether, pulverizable, fusible at about
143°, soluble in boiling alcohol and ether, but nearly insoluble in those liquids
cold, and quite insoluble in water.   It consists of glycerin and stearic acid; but
there are several varieties of it, having different points of fusion, and somewhat
differing in composition.   Besides the natural stearin, which appears to consist
of four eqs. of  stearic acid and one of glycerin, Berthelot obtained two others
by heating glycerin with stearic acid;  one of them with one eq. of each of its
components, the other with two of the acid and one of the base.
  Margarin.   This is obtained by treating the concrete matter of oil, pre-
viously deprived of olein, with cold ether, and allowing the liquid to evaporate;
or by boiling a mixture of  stearin and margarin with ether, which dissolves
fefbth, but deposits the former on cooling, and yields the latter upon subsequent
evaporation.  It resembles  stearin closely, differing mainly in its lower melt-
ing point, in being soluble in cold ether, and in  yielding margarates on saponi-
fication.  The natural margarin is stated to consist of four eqs.  of margaric

  * Oleic acid has been proposed as a solvent of the vegetable alkaloids for external
use.   Its supposed advantages are that it  dissolves  these principles more freely than
the oils themselves, and that the compound it forms with them would  probably find
ready entrance into the system.   It is not, however, in general use. (See Am. Journ.
of Pharm., xxvii. 72.) 
PART I.
Olea Fixa.— Olea Volatilia.
519
acid and  one of glycerin.   Another has been produced  artificially which is
considered as a monomargarin, consisting of one eq. of each of its components.
   As stated above, there is some reason to  consider olein, stearin, and marga-
rin, as being  rather representatives of sets of proximate principles,  than as
quite distinct and  peculiar;  and this appears to have been the  impression of
Berzelius.   It is possible, as may be inferred from the observations of Berthe-
lot, that the several oleins, stearins, and margarins may differ in the proportion
in which the acid constituent combines with the glycerin.*
   Some very interesting facts, in reference to the spontaneous changes wdiich
the fixed oils undergo, have been recently developed by MM. Pelouze and Boudet.
It appears,  from their researches, that the  oils are  accompanied, in the seeds
which contain them, with principles which act as a ferment, and cause the oils to
resolve themselves  spontaneously into the several fatty acids which they afford
on saponification, and into  glycerin.   This change takes place in the  seeds as
soon  as the cells containing the  oil are broken, so as to permit the contact of
the fermenting principle existing in the grain.   Sometimes the fermenting prin-
ciple  is to a certain extent separated from  the seeds along with the oil.  In
such  a case, the oil undergoes this resolution into the fatty acids and glycerin
after  expression.  Such was ascertained to be  the case .with palm oil, in which,
after  long keeping, MM. Pelouze and Boudet detected the presence of glycerin,
and of  palmitic and oleic acids.   They moreover proved that, under  the con-
tinued influence of the  ferment, the fatty acids themselves  undergo  changes,
among which is the conversion of the oleic into sebacic acid; and it is  probable
that,  with a  still  longer continuance of the same influence, the oil would be
completely destroyed.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Avril, 1856, p.  274.)
   The ultimate constituents of the fixed oils are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen;
the hydrogen being in much larger proportion than is necessary to saturate the
oxygen.  Those which are least  fusible contain most carbon and least oxygen;
and, according  to De Saussure, their solubility in  alcohol is greater in pro-
portion to their amount of oxygen. (Berzelius.) Some of them  contain a very
minute proportion of nitrogen.

                 2. OLEA YOLATILIA.  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.   They exist in all odoriferous vegetables, sometimes  pervading the
plant, sometimes confined to a single part;  in some instances contained in dis-

   * Some interesting results in relation to the fixed oils were obtained by MM. Pelouze
and Boudet, and published in  the Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 385.  According 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 ob-
tained from different oils, is owing to the existence of definite combinations of margarin
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 linseed
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 elai'dic acid, and in the other is not thus
changed.—Note to the fourth edition. 
520
Olea  Volatilia.
PART i.
 tinct cellules, and preserved after desiccation, in others formed upon the surface
 as in many flowers, aud exhaled as soon as formed.  Occasionally two or more
 are found in different parts of the same plant.  Thus the orange tree produces
 one 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 dis-
 tillation, out of substances of a different nature pre-existing  in the  plant.
   The volatile oils are usually yellowish, but often brown, red, green, or blue
 and occasionally colourless.   There is reason, however, to believe that, in all
 instances, the colour depends on foreign matter dissolved in the oils.  They have
 a strong odour, resembling that of the plants from which they were procured
 though generally less agreeable.   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 P17.
 They partially rise in vapour at ordinary temperatures, diffusing their peculiar
 odour,  and are completely 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 con-
 gelation.  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,  they 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 altera-
 tion is  complete, the remaining portion of oil may be recovered by distillation.
 Some of them  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 impreg-
 nated 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 preparing 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 Saussure, 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, unc-
 tuous, fetid substances, formerly called balsams of sulphur.  They absorb chlo-
 rine, 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.  When 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 organic alkalies.   Exposed to the
air and  light they acquire a decolorizing property, analogous to that of chlo-
rine, which is ascribed by Faraday to their combination with the ozonized oxy-
gen of the atmosphere. For some interesting observations on this property of 
PART I.
Olea Volatilia.
521
the volatile oils, the reader is  referred to papers by Dr. J. L. Plummer, of
Richmond, Indiana, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. (xxv. 398 and 508).*
   The volatile, like the fixed oils, consist of distinct principles, which are con-
gealed 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 dis-
tillation with water.  The name of stearoptene has been proposed for the former,
that of eleoptene for the latter.   The  solid crystalline substances deposited by
volatile oils upon standing are also called stearoptenes. Some of them are deno-
minated camphors, from their resemblance to true camphor.  Some are isomeric
with  the oils in which they are formed, others are oxides.  Certain oils', under
the influence of water, deposit crystalline hydrates of the respective oils.
   In reference  to their  ultimate constituents, the  volatile oils  may be divided
into three sets:  1. the non-oxygenated, consisting exclusively of carbon  and
hydrogen, as the oils of turpentine and  copaiba;  2. the oxygenated oils, con-
taining  carbon, hydrogen,  and oxygen, as oil of cinnamon  and most of the
aromatic oils;  and 3. the sulphuretted, containing sulphur, as the oils of horse-
radish and mustard.  In relation to the first division, or non-oxygenated oils,
it is a remarkable fact, that, however differing in sensible properties, almost all
of them contain carbon and hydrogen in the same proportion ; their formulas
being the same, or differing only in the whole number of equivalents; as CSH4,
CinH8, and C^H^, of which the last two are simple multiples of the first.
   The volatile oils are often sophisticated.  Among the most common adultera-
tions 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 becomes milky when
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  was  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.   M. Borsa-
relli 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°, occasionally 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 unchanged. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 429.) J. J. Bernoulli pro-
poses as a test dry acetate of potassa, which remains unaffected in a pure oil,
but is dissolved if alcohol is present, and forms a distinct liquid.  (See Am. Journ.
of Pharm., xxv. 82.)  Sometimes volatile oils of little value are mixed with the
more costly.   The taste and smell afford in this case  the best means of detect-
ing the fraud.   The specific  gravity of the oils may also serve as a test of purity.

  * See also the same journal (xxviii. 197), for some curious facts in relation to a,
repulsive influence exerted upon, and changes of colour produced in  a mixture of
chromate of potassa and sulphuric acid, by different volatile oils at sensible and some-
times considerable distances from the mixture, effected probably through the vapour
of the oils.—Note to the eleventh edition. 
522
Olea  Volatilia.—Oleum Amygdalae.
PART I.
 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 haymens
 that an unadulterated oil may thus be separated into two portions.  The differ
 ence of apparent effect produced by iodine with the several oils has been pro-
 posed as a test.   According to Liebig, when this element is made to act on a
 volatile oil, a portion of it combines with the hydrogen of  the oil forming hv
 driodic acid, while another portion takes the place of the lost hydrogen   Oil of
 turpentine may be detected by remaining in part undissolved, when the suspected
 oil 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 milkv
 as it would do if pure.   The latter test will not apply to the oil of rosemarv
 (Journ. de Pharm., Be ser., vii. 303.) G. S.  Heppe suggests a very delicate test
 of oil of turpentine and most other non-oxygenated oils, when used to adulterate
 one of the oils containing oxygen.  A piece of nitroprusside of copper of the
 size of a pin's head, is put into a little of the suspected oil in a test-tube and
 heated until the liquid begins to boil.  The boiling  must be continued only a
 few seconds.  If the oil be pure and oxygenated, the nitroprusside of copper
 will become black, brown, or gray; if oil of turpentine, or one of the other non-
 oxygenated oils be present, the deposit will be green or bluish-green, and the
 supernatant liquid colourless or yellowish. (Chem. Gaz.; Ay. 15,1857', p. 155 )
   Volatile oils may be preserved without change in small well stopped bottles
 entirely filled with the oil, and excluded from the light.                W.

                  OLEUM  AMYGDALA. US.

                            Oil of Almonds.
   The fixed oil  of the kernels of the fruit of Amygdalus communis  U. S
   Off Syn  AMYGDALA OLEUM. Amygdalus communis, vara, amara et
 dulcis.  The oil expressed from the seed. Lond.
 dra?U^e«dn'amandeS' ^''" Mande151' Germ-' 01io di mandorle, Ital.; Aceyte de almen-
   See AMYGDALA.
   This oil is obtained equally pure from sweet and bitter almonds.  In its pre-
 paration the almonds, having been deprived of a reddish-brown powder adher-
 ing to their surface, by being rubbed together in a  piece of coarse linen, are
 ground m  a mill resembling a coffee-mill, or bruised in a stone mortar, and then
 pressed in canyaS> sacks between plates of iron slightly heated.  The oil, which
 is  at first turbid  is clarified by rest and filtration.  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 oetter.   Bitter almonds, treated in this way, are said to impart a
 smell of hydrocyanic acid  to the oil.  M. Boullay obtained  54 per cent, of oil
 from sweet almonds, Yogel 28  per cent, from bitter almonds
 m  Oil of almonds is clear and colourless, or slightly tinged of a greenish-yellow,
 is  nearly inodorous and has a bland sweetish taste.   It remains liquid at tern-
 peratures 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 maybe 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 pleas-
ant emulsion, useful in pulmonary affections attended with cough.  From a
fluidrachm  to a fluidounce may be given at a dose.
   Off. Prep. Unguentum Aquas Rosas.                               w. 
PART I.
Oleum Amygdalse Amarse.
523
           OLEUM AMYGDALA  AMAR^E.  U.S.

                        Oil of Bitter Almonds.

   The oil obtained by distilling with water the kernels of the fruit of Amygda-
lus communis—variety amara. U. S.
   When bitter almonds are expressed, they yield a bland fixed oil; and the re-
siduary cake, reduced to powder by grinding, and submitted to  distillation with
water, gives over a volatile oleaginous  product, commonly called oil of bitter
almonds.   This does not  pre-exist  in  the almond, but is produced by the re-
action of water upon the amygdalin contained in it, through the intervention of
another constituent denominated emulsin.  (See Amygdala Amara.)   It is ob-
tained also by the distillation of the leaves of the cherry-laurel, and of various
products of the genera Amygdalus, Cerasus, Prunus, and others. (See note, page
96.)  Mr. Whipple obtained, upon an average, from the ground  bitter almond
cake, 1-35 per cent, of the oil.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,  x. 297.)
   Oil of bitter almonds has a yellowish colour, a bitter, acrid, burning taste,
and the odour of the kernels in a high degree.  It is heavier than water, soluble
in alcohol and ether, slightly soluble in water, and  deposits, upon standing, a
white crystalline substance consisting chiefly of benzoic  acid.  Besides a pecu-
liar volatile oil, it contains also hydrocyanic acid, with  a small  proportion of
benzoic acid, and of a concrete principle called benzoine.  It may be  obtained
pure by agitating it strongly with hydrate of lime and a solution of protochlo-
ride of iron, submitting the mixture to distillation, and drying  the oil which
comes over by digestion with chloride of calcium.   Mr. George Whipple states
that, if crude oil be redistilled into a solution of nitrate of silver,  and again dis-
tilled from a fresh  solution of the same  salt, it is  obtained entirely free from
hydrocyanic acid, which reacts with  the silver, and remains behind as  cyanuret
of silver.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 348.)  Thus purified it is colour-
less, but still retains its peculiar odour, with a burning,  aromatic taste ; and is
destitute of the poisonous  properties of the oil in its original  state, dependent
on hydrocyanic acid.   The odour  of the oil of bitter almonds has been errone-
ously ascribed to that acid, which, on examination, will be found to smell differ-
ently and more feebly.  Like most other volatile oils, this may produce delete-
rious effects if taken very largely.  Hippuric acid is found in the urine of ani-
mals to which it  has  been given freely.   The sp.  gr. of the crude oil varies
from 1-052 to  1-082, and  is said to be greater when the  oil is  distilled from
salt water than in  the  ordinary mode.   That of the purified oil is 1-043, and
its boiling  point  356°.  It probably  consists  of a compound  radical called
benzyl (C14H502) with  one eq. of hydrogen, and is therefore a hydruret of
benzyl.  This  radical is capable of uniting  with other  bodies, and forming a
series of compounds.   The benzoic  acid which the oil  of bitter almonds de-
posits on standing does not pre-exist in it, but  results from the  absorption of
oxygen.  The concrete substance above referred to by the name of benzoine is
isomeric with the oil, crystallizable in colourless shining prisms,  without smell
or taste, fusible at 248°, and volatilizable  unchanged at a higher temperature.
It is formed abundantly in the original impure oil by the reaction  of  alkalies;
but cannot be produced in  it when deprived of hydrocyanic acid.*

  * Nitrobenzole, or Artificial Oil of Bitter Almonds.  This substance was discovered by
Mitscherlich, who obtained it by the reaction of nitric acid on  benzole, a  carbohydrogen
originally procured by distilling benzoic  acid with lime. (See Part Third.) It  is charac-
terized by having  an odour  closely resembling that, of  the oil of bitter almonds, for
which it has recently been substituted to a considerable extent in perfumery, in con- 
524         Oleum Amygdalse Amarse.—Oleum Bergamii.      part i.

  Zeller mentions as characteristics of the officinal oil, by which its genuineness
and purity may be known, its peculiar odour and high specific gravity; its ready
solubility in sulphuric acid, with the production of a reddish-brown colour, but
without visible decomposition ; the slow action of nitric acid ; the slow and par-
tial solution of iodine without further reaction ; the want of action of chromate
of potassa upon it;  and the production of crystals when it is dissolved in an
alcoholic solution of potassa.  (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ix. 575.)  Mr.
Redwood states that a very small proportion of alcohol may be detected in the
oil, by the effervescence, with disengagement of nitrous vapours, which ensues
when the oil, thus contaminated, is mixed with an equal volume of nitric acid
of the sp. gr. P5.  With pure oil no other effect is obvious than a slight change
of colour. (Ibid., xi. 486.)   If sulphuric acid produce with the oil a bright-red,
instead of a brownish-red colour, it indicates that the oil has probably been dis-
tilled with salt water, in which case it is apt, according to Mr. Ferris, to deposit
a blood-red matter, occasionally complained of by druggists. (Ibid., p. 565.)
  3tedical Properties and Uses.  The unpurified volatile oil of bitter almonds,
which is the product directed by the Pharmacopoeia,  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 caused the death  of a dog of
middle size.   The case  of a man is recorded, who  died in ten  minutes  after
taking two drachms of the oil.   It might probably be substituted with advan-
tage 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 Schrader, 100 parts of the oil
contain sufficient acid for the production of 22-5 parts of Prussian blue; but
the proportion is not  constant, varying, according  to  Mr. Groves, from 8 to
12-5 per cent.  From  one-fourth of a drop to  a drop may be given for a dose,
to be cautiously increased till some effect upon the system is observed.  It may
be administered in emulsion with gum  Arabic, loaf sugar, and water.  It has
been employed externally, dissolved in water in the proportion of one drop to a
fluidounce, in  prurigo senilis  and other  cases of troublesome itching.  To facili-
tate the solution  in water, the oil may be previously dissolved in  spirit.
   Off. Prep.  Aqua Amygdalas Amaras.                               W.

                    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. BERGAMOT^E  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
generally ranked 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-

sequence of the discovery of benzole among the products of the distillation of coal tar,
and the facility thus offered for preparing  nitrobenzole cheaply.  In its preparation a
large glass worm is used, bifurcated at its  upper end,  so as to form two funnel-shaped
tubes.  Into one of these concentrated nitric acid is poured, and into the other benzole,
and the two, meeting at the point of junction of the tubes, form the compound in ques-
tion, which is cooled as it passes through the worm, and is afterwards fitted for use by
washing it with water, or dilute solution of carbonate of soda.  Much of it is consumed,
in London, for scenting soap, in confectionery, and for culinary purposes, to which it
is even better adapted than the proper oil of bitter almonds, because free from hydro-
cyanic acid. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xi.  421.)—iVote to the tenth edition. 
PARTI.   Oleum Berg amii.—Oleum Bubulum.— Oleum Cajuputi.  525

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, terminated
by an obtuse point, with concave receptacles of oil in the rind.
   The pulp of the fruit is sourish, somewhat aromatic, and not  disagreeable.
The rind is shining, and of a pale-yellow colour, and abounds in a very grateful
volatile oil.   This may be obtained 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 oil of lemons.  (See Oleum  Limonis.)  It is brought
from Italy, the south of France, and Portugal.
   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.  It  is distinguished from the  lemon and orange oils by readily dis-
solving in liquor potassae,  and forming  with  it a  clear  solution.  (Zeller.)
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 Compositum.                     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 hoofs.   The fat and oil which rise to the sur-
face  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  con-
cretes, 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
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 U. S. Pharmacopoeia as
an ingredient of the ointment of nitrate of  mercury.   It has recently been
used as a substitute for cod-liver oil in scrofulous diseases, and, according to
Dr.  C. R. Hall,  of England, with  happy effects, especially in cases in which
the latter does not agree with  the stomach.   It is apt to be laxative, and in
certain cases  proves useful in this way.   It is  given in the same dose as the
cod-liver oil.  (See Am. Journ. of 3Ied. Sci., N. S., xxiv. 498.)
   Off. Prep. Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis.                       W

             OLEUM  CAJUPUTI. U.S. Secondary.

                              Cajeput Oil.

   The volatile oil of the leaves of  Melaleuca Cajuputi. U. S.
   Off. Syn. CAJUPUTI.  Melaleuca minor. Oil distilled from the leaves. Load.;
CAJUPUTI  OLEUM.  Volatile oil of the leaves of Melaleuca  minor. Ed.;
CAJEPUTUM.  Melaleuca Cajeputi. Volatile oil of the leaves. Dub. 
526
Oleum Cajuputi.
part i.
  Huile de cajeput, Fr.; Cajeputol, Germ. ; Olio di cajeput, Ital.; Knyuputieh, Malay.
  Melaleuca.  Sex. Syst  Polyadelphia Icosandria. — Nat. Ord, Myrtaceas.
  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 Melaleuca
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 corres-
ponds  with the arbor alba  minor of Rumphius, and is a smaller plant than
M.  leucadendron.   It is possible, however, that the oil  may be obtained from
different species of Melaleuca; as M.  Stickel, of Jena, succeeded in procuring
from the leaves of 31. hypericifolia, cultivated in the botanical garden 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.)
  Melaleuca Cajuputi.  Rumphius, Herbar. Amboinense,  torn. ii. tab. 17;
Roxburgh, Trans.  Lond. Med. Bot. Soc. A. D. 1829;  Journ. of the Phil. Col.
of Pharm., vol. i. p. 193.—Melaleuca 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.   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 ex-
hale a strong aromatic  odour.  The flowers are small, white, inodorous, sessile,
and 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 prepared
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 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.  varies from 0-914 to 0'9274.   The oil is wholly solu-
ble  in alcohol.  When  it is distilled, a light colourless liquid first comes over,
 and 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 per-
 formed;  and Guibourt  obtained two grains and a half of oxide of copper from
 a pound of the commercial oil.  But neither Brande nor Goertner could detect
 copper in specimens examined by them; 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 rectification.
 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 copper,  either accident-
 ally present,  or added with a view of  imitating or maintaining the fine colour
 of the oil.  The proportion of copper, however, is not so great as to forbid  the
 internal  use of the oil; and  the metal may be separated  by distillation with
 water, or agitation with a  solution of ferrocyanuret of potassium.
    The high price  of cajeput oil has led to  its occasional adulteration.  Oil of 
part I.         Oleum Cajuputi.—Oleum Cinnamomi.              527

rosemary,  or that of turpentine, impregnated with camphor and coloured with
the resin of milfoil, is said to be employed for the purpose.   The best test, ac-
cording to Zeller, is iodine, which,  after a moderately energetic  reaction, with
little increase of temperature, and but a slight development of orange vapours,
occasions immediate inspissation into a loose coagulum, which soon becomes a
dry greenish-brown, brittle mass.
   3fedical 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 much esteemed by
the Malays and other people of the East, who consider it a panacea.  They are
said to employ it with great success in  epilepsy and palsy. (Ainslie.)   The
complaints to which it is best adapted are  probably chronic rheumatism, and
spasmodic affections of the stomach and bowels, unconnected with inflammation.
It has been 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 introduced
into the hollow of the carious tooth. The dose is from one to five drops, given
in emulsion, or upon a lump of sugar.                               W.


               OLEUM CINNAMOMI.  U.S., Dub.

                           Oil of Cinnamon.

   The volatile oil of the bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum and Cinnamomum
aromaticum. U S.  Of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. Dub.
   Off. Syn. CINNAMOMI OLEUM.  Cinnamomum Zeylanicum.  Oil distil-
led from the bark. Lond.; CINNAMOMI OLEUM. Volatile oil of the bark
of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum.  CASSLE  OLEUM.  Volatile oil of the bark of
Cinnamomum Cassia. Ed.
   Huile de cannelle, Fr.; Zhnmtol, Germ.; Olio di cannella, Ital.; Aceyte de cannela,
Span.
   See CINNAMOMUM.
   The U.  S. Pharmacopoeia includes, under the name of Oil of Cinnamon, both
the oil procured from the Ceylon cinnamon, and that from the  Chinese cinna-
mon 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, there does not
seem to be sufficient ground for maintaining any officinal distinction between
them.   Nevertheless, the Edinburgh College has given them distinct names,
designating the one as  oil of cinnamon, and the other as oil of cassia.
   Oil of cinnamon of Ceylon  is prepared in that island from inferior kinds of
cinnamon, of insufficient value to pay the export duty.  The following account
of the method of extraction 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 receiver, and continues to be deposited for ten or  twelve
days.  In future distillations, the saturated cinnamon water is employed with
sea-water to macerate the cinnamon.  Eighty pounds of the freshly prepared
bark yield about 2-5 ounces of the lighter  oil, and 5-5  of the heavier.   From
the same quantity 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 
528
Oleum Cinnamomi.
part i.
 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,  and when  undiluted is  excessively hot and pun-
 gent.   It is said sometimes to have 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 it is pale-yellow, becoming red with age.  Its flavour is
 similar to that of the Ceylon oil, though inferior; and it commands  a  much
 less price.   Zeller states that it is heavier, less liquid, and sooner rendered turbid
 by cold, and that in the Ceylon oil iodine dissolves rapidly, with a  considerable
 increase of heat, and the production of a tough residue, like extract; while in
 oil of cassia the reaction is slow,  quiet, and with little heat, and the residue is
 soft or liquid.  The following remarks apply to both.
   Oil of cinnamon has the sp. gr. of about 1 -035. Alcohol completely dissolves
 it; and, as it does not rise in any considerable quantity at the boiling tempera-
 ture of that liquid,  it may be obtained by forming a tincture of  cinnamon and
 distilling off the menstruum.  When exposed to  the air, it absorbs  oxygen, and
 is slowly converted  into a peculiar acid denominated cinnamic acid, two' dis-
 tinct resins, and water.   Cinnamic acid is colourless, crystalline, sourish,  vola-
 tilizable, 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 cause the elimination of hippuric acid by urine. (Journ. de Pharm.,
 Se ser., iii.  64.)   It may be obtained by distilling the balsam of Tolu.   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, into a crystalline mass, thought to be a compound
 of the oil  and acid.  From the researches  of Dumas and Peligot, it appears
 that there exists in the oil a compound radical, named cinnamyle (C18II7Oa),
 which with one eq.  of hydrogen forms pure oil of cinnamon, or  hydruret  of
 cinnamyle, and with one of oxygen anhydrous cinnamic acid.  Crystallized cin-
 namic acid contains, in addition, one eq. of water.  All the constituents of the
 ordinary oils of cinnamon are supposed to be derived from the pure oil or hy-
 druret of cinnamyle by the absorption of oxygen.   The oil has been produced
 artificially by Strecker from styrone, a derivative from styrax.  (See Styrax.)
   Oil  of cinnamon is said to be frequently adulterated with oil of cloves, which,
 according to Ulex, cannot be detected by the smell or taste.  Thus sophisticated,
 it is stated,  on the same authority, to evolve a very acrid vapour when a  drop
 is heated on a watch-glass, to  swell up and evolve red vapours if treated  with
 fuming nitric acid, to remain liquid with concentrated caustic potassa, and  to
 assume an  mdigo-blue colour when protochloride of iron is added  to its  alco-
 holic solution ; none of which events happens when the  oil is pure. (Archiv.
 der Pharm., Jan. 7, 1853.)   It is said also to be frequently adulterated  with
 alcohol and fixed oil, the mode of detecting which is given in page  521.
   3fedical Properties and Uses.   This oil  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
 conciliates the  stomach.  As a powerful  local stimulant, it is sometimes pre-
 scribed in gastrodynia, flatulent colic, and languor from gastric debility.  The
 dose is one  or two drops,  and may be administered in the form of emulsion.
 Mitscheriich found six drachms to kill a moderate-sized dog  in five hours, and
 two drachms in forty hours.  Inflammation and  corrosion of the gastrointes-
tinal mucous membrane  were observed after death. 
PART I.
Oleum Limonis.
529
   Off. Prep. Aqua Cinnamomi; Essentia Cinnamomi; Mistura Spiritus" Vini
 Gallici; Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus; Spiritus Cinnamomi.         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. Volatile oil expressed
 from the rind of the fruit. Lond. Volatile oil of the rind of the fruit of Citrus
 medica. Ed.; CITRUS LIMONUM.  The volatile oil. Dub.
   Huile de citron, Fr.; Citronenol, Germ.; 01iodilimone,/ta/.; Aceyte de limon, Span.
   SeeLIMON.                                                      F
   The exterior rind of the lemon abounds in a volatile oil, which, being con-
 tained 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  de-
 canted, and kept in stopped bottles.  By a similar process, the oil called by  the
 French huile de cedrat is procured from the citron.  (See Oleum Bergamii and
 Bimon.)  These oils may also be obtained by distillation; but thus procured,
 though clearer, and, in consequence 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  generally preferred.  They are brought originally from
 Italy, Portugal, or the south of France.
   Properties.   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 yel-
 low, and has the sp. gr. 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 pure, it consists
 exclusively of carbon and hydrogen, in the same  proportion as in pure oil of
 turpentine,  or camphene; its  probable formula  being CTf4.   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
 crystalline substance is analogous to artificial camphor, produced by the action
 of muriatic acid upon oil of turpentine, and is a compound of the oil and acid.
 The oil of lemons is said to consist of two isomeric oils.
   It is often adulterated by the fixed oils and by alcohol.  But in this country
 the most frequent sophistication is with oil of turpentine, which is difficult of
 detection from its  similar composition  and specific gravity.  Perhaps the best
 test of the presence of this oil is the terebinthinate smell produced when the
 adulterated oil is evaporated from heated paper.  Oil of lemons, procured  by
 expression, is apt to let fall a deposit,  and to undergo chemical change.  Mr.
 J. S.  Cobb has  found no method so effectual to obviate this result, and at the
 same time  to retain unimpaired the flavour of  the oil, as to shake it with a
 little  boiling water, and allow the mixture to stand.   A mucilaginous matter
 separates, and floats on the surface of the water, from which the purified oil may
 be decanted. (Annals of Pharm., ii. 86.)
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Oil of lemons has the stimulant properties of
 the aromatics; but is chiefly used to impart flavour to other medicines.  It has
 been commended as  an application to the  eye in certain cases of ophthalmia.
  Off. Prep. Liquor Potassas Citratis; Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus; Syrupus
Acidi Citrici;  Trochisci Acidi Tartarici;  Unguentum Veratri Albi.     W.
34 
530                 Oleum Lini.—Oleum Morrhuee.            part i.
                        OLEUM LINI.  U.S.

                             Flaxseed Oil.
   The oil of the seeds of Linum usitatissimum. U. S.
   Off. Syn.  LINI OLEUM.   Linum  usitatissimum.  Oil expressed from the
 seeds. Lond., Ed,  LINUM USITATISSIMUM.  The oil expressed from the
 seeds.  Dub.
   Linseed oil; Huile de lin, Fr.; Leinol, Germ.; Olio di lino, Ital.; Aceytedelinaza Snnn
   See LINUM. .                                                  '  p '
   This oil is obtained by expression from the seeds of Linum usitatissimum
 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 coating.   The oil is thus obtained more free from mucilage, but more
 highly-coloured and acrid than  when procured by cold expression.  For medi-
 cal use, therefore, it should be  prepared without heat; and, as it is apt to be-
 come rancid quickly on exposure, should  be  used  as soon  after expression as
 possible.   It may, however, be rendered  sweet again  by agitation with warm
 water, rest, and decantation. Flaxseed  oil has  a yellowish-brown colour, a dis-
 agreeable odour, and a nauseous somewhat acrid 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;  and has the pro-
 perty of  drying, or becoming solid on  exposure  to  the air.   Its acrimony is
 owing to the presence of a small proportion of an acrid oleo-resin.   From its
 drying property, it is highly useful in painting, and the formation of printers' ink.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  It is laxative in the dose of a fluidounce; but
 on account of its disagreeable  taste is seldom  given internally.   It has, how-
 ever, been highly recommended  as a cure for  piles in the dose of two ounces of
 the fresh oil morning and evening.  It is sometimes  added to purgative ene-
 mata; but its most common application is externally to burns, usually in com-
 bination  with lime-water.
   Off. Prep. Ceratum Resinas Compositum; Linimentum Calcis.       W.


               OLEUM  MORRIULE. U.S., Dub.

                             Cod-liver Oil.
  A fixed oil obtained from the liver of Gadus Morrhua.  U. S.  Morrhua vul-
 garis. The  oil obtained from the liver.  Dub.
   Off. Syn.  MORRHUA OLEUM.   Gadus Morrhua.  The oil obtained from
 the liver. Lond.
  Oleum jecoris Aselli; Huile de morue, Fr.; Stockfischleberthran, Germ.
  Gadus. Class Pisces. Order Jugulares. Linn. Malacopterygii Subbrachiati.
 Family Gadidas.  Cuvier.
   Gen. Ch.  Recognised by the ventrals  attached under the throat, and attenu-
 ated to a point.
   Gadus Morrhua.  Linn. Syst. Nat ed. Gmelin, i. p. 1162;  Cuvier, Regne
 Animate, n. 212;  Bloch.  Ichthyologie, pi. lxiv._Morrhua vulgaris. Storer,
 Synops. of Fishes of N  Am. p. 216.   The  common cod is between two and
three feet long, with brown or yellowish spots on the back.   The body is
moderately  elongated and somewhat compressed, and covered with soft rather
 small scales, of which the head  is destitute.   Of the fins, which are soft, there
are three on the back, two anal, and a distinct caudal; and the fin under the
throat is narrow and pointed.   The jaws are furnished with pointed irregular 
PART I.
Oleum Morrhux.
531
teeth, in several ranks.   The  gills  are large with seven rays.   This species of
cod inhabits the Northern Atlantic, and is especially abundant on the banks of
Newfoundland, where it finds  food adapted to its wants.
   Besides the common cod, several other species  of Gadus, frequenting the seas
of Northern  Europe and America, contribute to  furnish  the cod-liver oil of
commerce.   Among these De Jongh mentions Gadus  callarias or dorsch
(Morrhua Americana of Storer), G. molva or  ling,  G.  carbonarius or coal-
fish, and G. pollachius or pollock, as affording the oil on the coast of Norway;
while, from information obtained by Professor Procter, there is reason to believe
that, on our own coast, in addition to the pollock above mentioned, it is obtained
also from the hake (G. merluccius) and the haddock (G. Mglifinus).
   Preparation.  Fishermen have long been in the habit of collecting this oil,
which is largely consumed in the arts, particularly in the preparation of leather.
Upon the coasts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New England, the boats
which fish near the shore, being small, soon  obtain a load, and running in to
land, deliver their cargoes to persons whose business it is to cleanse and salt the
fish.  The oil is prepared either in the huts of the fishermen, or more largely
at establishments to which the livers are conveyed in quantities.  These are put
into a boiler with water, and heated until they are broken up into a pultaceous
mass, which is thrown upon a strainer covering the top of a cask or tub.   The
liquid portion passes, and upon standing  separates into two parts, the oil ris-
ing to the  surface  of the water.  The oil is then drawn off, and, having been
again strained, is prepared for  the market.   Another  and improved method,
which has come into use  since the extensive employment of the oil as a medi-
cine, is to heat the livers in a large tin vessel by means of steam externally ap-
plied.  The pultaceous mass resulting is drained as before  mentioned; the livers
themselves containing, besides oil, a considerable portion of watery fluid, which
passes off with it in the form of emulsion, and separates on  standing.  The oil
thus procured is called shore oil, and is the purest kind.   The crews of the
larger boats, which fish upon the banks far from land, cleanse the fish on board,
and, throwing the  offal into the sea, put the livers into barrels or other recept-
acles, where they undergo a gradual decomposition, the oil rising to the surface
as it escapes from the disintegrating tissue.  The  oil which first rises, before
putrefaction has very decidedly commenced, approaches in  purity to the shore
oil, but is somewhat darker and less  sweet.   This is sometimes drawn off,  con-
stituting the straits oil of the fishermen.   The remaining mass, or the whole,
if the portion which first rises  be not separated, continues  exposed for a variable
length of time to the heat of the sun, undergoing putrefaction, until the boat,
having  completed  her cargo, returns to port.  The contents of the  casks are
then put into boilers, heated with water, and treated as already described.  Be-
fore being finally put into barrels, the oil is heated to expel all its water.  Thus
prepared, it is denominated banks oil, and is of the darkest colour,  and most
offensive to the taste and smell.  Much of the oil prepared by the fishermen is
collected by the wholesale dealers, who keep it in very large reservoirs of ma-
sonry in their cellars, where it becomes  clarified by repose, and is pumped  into
barrels as wanted  for sale.  By the  further exposure, however, which it thus
undergoes, it acquires a still more offensive odour;  while that which has been
originally introduced into barrels, and thus kept excluded from  the air, is better
preserved.  The above facts in relation to  the collection of cod-liver oil have
been mainly derived from a very interesting paper by Professor Procter, in the
Am. Journ, of Pharm. (xxiii. 97).   To the same journal (xxvi. 1) the reader
is referred for an account, by Dr. E. H. Robinson, of Nova Scotia, of the method
in  which the oil is prepared by the fishermen of that Province.
   The oil is sometimes procured by expression.  Mr. Donovan  recommends the 
532
Oleum  Morrhuse.
PART r.
 following plan, which affords a very fine oil.  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 re-
 moved from the fire, and its contents introduced 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.
    Properties.  Three varieties of cod-liver oil  are  known in the market, the
 white  or pale-yellow, the brownish-yellow, and the dark-brown, correspondinsr
 to the three commercial varieties already alluded to.   These differ in no essen-
 tial character, but simply from the mode of preparation;  the pale being pre-
 pared  from  fresh sweet livers, the dark-brown from livers in a state  of putre-
 faction, and the brownish-yellow from those in an intermediate state; and the
 three varieties run together by insensible shades.  The colour of the pale is from
 the slightest tint of transparent yellow, to a fine golden yellow, that of the light-
 brown very  similar to the colour of Malaga wine, that of the dark-brown what
 its name implies, with opacity in mass, but transparency in thin layers.  They
 are of  the usual consistence of lamp-oil, and  have a  characteristic odour and
 taste, by which they may be distinguished from other oils.   This smell and taste
 are familiar  to most persons, being very similar to those of shoe-leather, at least
 as prepared  in this country, where the curriers make great use of the cod-liver
 oil.  We regard these sensible  properties as the most certain test of the gen-
 uineness of the oil.   They are much less distinguishable in the pale than in the
 dark-brown  varieties, but we have met with no specimen which did not possess
 them in some degree.   In the  purest they are scarcely repulsive, in the dark-
 brown  they are very much so.   When a decided smell of ordinary fish-oil is per-
 ceived,  the medicine may always be suspected.  It is quite distinct from that
 peculiar to the cod-liver oil.  The teste of all the varieties is more or less acrid,
 and m  the most impure is bitterish and  somewhat empyreumatic.  The sp gr'
 at 72°  F., as ascertained by Prof. Procter, varied from 0-915 to 0-9195- the
 first being that of the hake oil, the second that of the haddock, while the sp gr
 of the purest oil from the common cod was 0-917.   De Jongh found the sp gr
 at 63°  F., of the pale 0-923, of the light-brown 0-924, of the dark-brown 0-929.
 The oil from the cod does not congeal at 14° F., though that of G. carbonarius
 and of  the livers of  different species  of Raja, let fall at  that  temperature a
 solid fatty matter, supposed to be margarin.   Alcohol dissolves from 2-5 to 6
 percent  water from 0-637 to  P28 per  cent, of different varieties;  the pale
 yielding least to these solvents.  (Journ. de Pharm., Jan 1854 p  39 )
   From an analysis of the oil by De Jongh, it appears to consist of a peculiar
 substance named gaduin; oleic and margaric acids with glycerin; butyric and
 acetic acids;  various biliary principles, as fellinic, cholic, and  bilifellinic acids,
 and bilifulvin; a  peculiar substance soluble  in alcohol; a peculiar substance
 insoluble m water, alcohol,  or ether;  iodine, chlorine, and  traces of bromine;
 phosphoric and sulphuric acids; phosphorus,  lime, magnesia, soda, and iron.
 These were found in all  the varieties,  though  not in  equal proportion in all;
 yet it is quite uncertain whether the difference had any relation to their degree
 of efficacy.  Gaduin is  obtained by saponifying the oil with soda, decomposing
 the soap by acetate of lead, and treating the  resulting lead soap with ether,
 which dissolves the oleate of lead and gaduin, leaving the margarate of lead be-
  •7   J: , ^hereal solution, which is dark-brown, is decomposed by sulphuric
 acid, which liberates the brown oleic acid.  This owes its colour to gaduin, to
separate which soda is added in excess.  The resulting oleate of soda,  which is
insoluble in an excess of  the alkali, is dissolved in alcohol; and the  alcoholic 
 part I.                     Oleum Morrhuse.                         533

 solution is cooled below 32°, by which means the oleate of  soda is separated,
 the gaduin remaining in solution.   This is precipitated from its solution by the
 addition of sulphuric acid.   Gaduin is a dark-brown substance, brittle and pul-
 verizable when dry, without odour or taste, quite insoluble in water, and in
 great measure soluble in ether and alcohol.   It is insoluble in nitric and muri-
 atic acids, but is dissolved by sulphuric acid, giving a blood-red colour to the
 solution, from which it is precipitated by water and the alkalies.  It is soluble
 in alkaline solutions.  Chlorine decolorizes it.  Its formula is  CyjH^Og.  Gaduin
 itself is yellow, but becomes brown  by exposure to the air.   It has not been
 ascertained to be in any degree connected with the virtues of the oil.   It is not
 improbable that the biliary principles associated with the oil are concerned in
 its peculiar influences; as it is by their presence mainly that this differs from
 other oils.  It has been thought that gaduin itself is of biliary origin.  Winckler
 has inferred from his researches that cod-liver oil is an organic whole, differing
 from all other fixed oils.  Thus, it yields no glycerin upon saponification, but,
 in place of it, a peculiar body which he denominates oxide of propyle.  The fatty
 acids generated are the oleic and margaric.  By reaction with ammonia in dis-
 tillation, the oil yields a peculiar volatile alkali, called propylamin, which has
 a strong pungent odour, recalling  that of herring-pickle, of which  the  same
 alkali is an ingredient.   No other  officinal fatty oil yields  a similar product.
 (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiv. 343.)  Some have been disposed to ascribe
 the virtues of the oil to its iodine and bromine;  but these are in too small pro-
 portion for much effect, and the oil  has produced results which have never been
 obtained from iodine and bromine themselves.   The presence of iodine cannot
 be detected  by the  usual tests.  It is necessary to convert the oil into a soap,
 and to carbonize this before it will  give  evidence of iodine.   The  proportion
 never exceeds 0*05 per cent, or 1 part in 2000.   The oil is capable of dissolv-
 ing a larger proportion; and,  if any specimen contain more,  there is reason to
 suspect that it has been fraudulently added.
   Tests of Purity.  In consequence of the great demand for  this oil it has not
 unfrequently  been adulterated  with other fixed oils, and  occasionally others
 have been  fraudulently substituted for it.  The importance, therefore, is obvious
 of ascertaining  some mode of testing its purity and genuineness.  There is rea-
 son to believe that all the oils from the livers of the Gadidas have analogous pro-
 perties.   They  have been indiscriminately used; and upon the results of  their
 employment is based, in part, the present reputation of the medicine.  They
 may, therefore, be considered as in fact one oil, so far as their medicinal use is
 concerned.   Unfortunately  chemistry has yet  discovered no  perfectly reliable
 test.  The furthest that it has yet gone is to point out certain reactions, which
 may be considered as evidences  of the presence of biliairy principles in the oil,
 thus indicating its hepatic origin.   Among these probably the most character-
 istic is that of  sulphuric acid,  a drop of which, added to fresh cod-liver oil, on
 a porcelain plate, causes a centrifugal movement in the oil, and gives rise to a
 fine violet colour, soon passing into  yellowish or brownish-red.   Sometimes,
 instead of assuming the violet hue, the colour immediately becomes a clear red'
 or dark brownish-red.  This is said to be especially the case  with those speci-
 mens of the oil which  have been prepared by boiling the livers with water.
 Shark-liver oil responds in like manner to the test of sulphuric acid, but is said
 to have the sp.  gr. 0*866, which is much lower than that of any variety of the
 genuine oil.   Strong nitric acid causes instantly, when agitated with cod-liver
 oil, a pinkish or rose-red colour, which  soon becomes brown; while no  such
effect is produced  on other animal or vegetable oils.  According  to Winckler,
the oil should afford the smell of herring-pickle when heated with potassa, lime,
and muriate of  ammonia.   But the most reliable tests are the sensible proper- 
534
Oleum Morrhum.
PART I.
  ties of odour and taste.  If there be none of the  peculiar shoe-leather smell
  and taste, or if a  strong lamp-oil odour is perceptible, the oil may be suspected
  Little of importance can be inferred from the colour. Some have been disposed
  to prefer the dark  offensive oil; but our own experience accords with that of those
  who have found the pale or light-brown equally efficient; and for facility of ad-
  ministration and acceptability to the stomach the latter is greatly preferable.
    It is important that the oil should be secluded from the air, which effects  a
  gradual change, no doubt  impairing its' efficiency.   Hence, the vessels contain-
  ing it should be full; and apothecaries ought to keep it in bottles well stopped,
  holding about the quantity generally wanted for use at one time.
    Medical Properties and Uses.  Cod-liver oil has been long popularly em-
  ployed in Northern Europe in rheumatic and strumous diseases.   It was first
  brought to the notice of the profession generally by German practitioners, and
  had acquired great reputation on the continent before it was used to any extent
  in Great Britain.   At Manchester, in England, it was employed by the medical
  profession in the treatment of chronic rheumatism and gout, as early as 1766 -
  but it was not until the  appearance of the treatise of Professor Bennet, of
  Edinburgh, in  1841, that it came into general notice in Great Britain and the
  United States.   It is at present one of the most esteemed remedies in the cata-
  logue of the Materia Medica.  The diseases in which it has proved most efficient
  are chronic rheumatism and gout, and the various morbid affections connected
  with a scrofulous  diathesis, such as external glandular  scrofula, diseases of the
  joints and spine, carious ulcers, tabes mesenterica, rickets, and phthisis.   It has
  been found useful also in chronic cutaneous eruptions, lupus, ulcers of the mouth,
  some varieties of  palsy, chronic pectoral complaints  not tuberculous, obstinate
  constipation, intestinal  worms, and incontinence of urine; and maybe employed
■4 with the hope of good in all chronic cases in which the disease appears to con-
  sist mainly in impaired digestion, assimilation, and nutrition.   In pulmonary
  consumption, in the experience  of the  author, it has  far exceeded in efficacy
  any other remedy or combination  of remedies that  he has hitherto employed.
  It is necessary, however, to persevere for four or six weeks before looking for
  any decidedly favourable result, though the change does  often begin earlier.
  In most cases remarkable temporary relief is afforded; in many, the disease is
  favourably modified, and its fatal termination postponed; and in some, cures
  appear to have been effected.
    As to its mode  of action, there has been much difference of opinion.   Some
  consider it merely as a nutritive agent, having the advantage over other oleagi-
  nous substances of a readier entrance into the system, and more easy assimila-
  tion.  But we  cannot agree with this opinion.   Other oleaginous substances,
  certainly not less  nutritious, have  not  been equally efficient, though taken in
  much larger quantities.  If this be the true  explanation, persons living chiefly
  on milk which  abounds in  oil, or on fat pork, ought to show a special exemp-
  tion from scrofulous complaints.   The probability appears to us to be that, in
  consequence of some peculiar principle or principles it contains, it exercises a
  stimulant and  alterative influence  on the  processes of  assimilation and  nutri-
 , tion ; thereby causing the production of healthy tissue, instead of that abortive
  material which is deposited by the blood-vessels in scrofula and phthisis.  With
  our views of the modus operandi of cod-liver oil, it would of course be contra-
  indicated in  all cases where there is existing plethora, or a strong tendency to
  it.   The medicine has  been accused of having occasionally produced serious
  congestion of the lungs.
    The dose is a tablespoonful three or four times a day for adults, a teaspoon-
  ful 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 
parti.   Oleum Morrhuae.— Oleum Myristicse.—Oleum Olivse.    535

mixed with some vehicle calculated to conceal its taste, and obviate nausea.
For this purpose recourse may be had to any»of the aromatic waters, to the
aromatic tinctures, as  the tincture of orange-peel, diluted with water, or to  a
bitter infusion, as that of quassia.   It may be given floating on the vehicle, or
mixed with it by means of gum, or the yolk of eggs, with sugar, in the form of
an emulsion.  Perhaps the best vehicle, when not contra-indicated, is the froth
of porter.  Let a tablespoonful of porter be  put into the bottom of a glass,
upon the surface of this the oil, and over all some of the froth of  the porter.
A small piece of orange-peel may  be chewed before and after taking the medi-
cine.  The oil is sometimes  applied  externally  by friction, and, in cases of
ascarides or lumbricoides, is injected into the rectum.   It has been recom-
mended locally in chronic articular affections, paralysis, various chronic cutane-
ous eruptions, and opacity of the cornea, after the subsidence of inflammation.
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 long used internally, to occasion some-
times an exanthematous or eczematous eruption.
   The olein of cod-liver oil has been recommended by Dr. Arthur Learned,
when the oil  itself disagrees with the stomach.   He has found it to produce
the same remedial effects, and to be much better borne.  It may be given in the
same dose.   A solution of quinia in the oil has been proposed in cases where
the two medicines are jointly indicated.  It may be made by adding the freshly
precipitated alkaloid to the oil, in  the proportion of two grains to a fluidounce,
and heating them together, by means of a water-bath, until the mixture be-
comes quite clear.                                                   W.

              OLEUM  MYRISTICA. U.S., Dub.

                            Oil  of Nutmeg.

   The volatile oil of the kernels of the fruit of Myristica moschata. U. S.  From
the seeds or fruit.  Dub.
   Off. Syn. MYRISTIOE OLEUM.  Volatile oil from the kernels of the
fruit of Myristica officinalis. Ed.
   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.   The oil
may be used for the same  purposes as nutmeg, in the  dose of two or  three
drops ;  but is not often employed.
   Off. Prep. Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus.                         W.

                  OLEUM OLIVSE.  U. S., Dub.

                              Olive  Oil.

   The  oil of the fruit of Olea Europosa.  U. S.  Oil obtained from the pericarp.
Dub.
   Off. Syn. OLIVSE OLEUM. Olea Europosa. Oil expressed from the fruit,
Lond.   Expressed oil of the pericarp.  Ed.
   Huile d'olive, Fr.; Olivenol, Germ.; Olio delle olive, Ital.; Aceyte de olivas, Span. 
536
Oleum Olivae.
part i.
   Olea.  Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord, Oleaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla four-clef^ with subovate segments.   Drupe one-seeded
 Willd.
   Olea Europcea.  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 some
 times much larger,  especially  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 footstalks, are ever-
 green, firm, lanceolate,  entire, two or three  inches in  length, with'the ectos
 somewhat reverted, smooth and of a dull-green colour on their upper surface
 whitish and almost silvery beneath.   The flowers  are small, whitish, and dis-
 posed in opposite axillary clusters, about half as long  as  the leaves, and ac-
 companied 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.  Clusters of not less  than thirty flowers
 yield only two or three ripe olives.
   The olive tree, though believed by some to  have been originally from the Le-
 vant, flourishes at present in all the countries bordering  on  the Mediterranean
 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 chiefly cultivated in
 Italy and the south of France, and the latifolia in Spain.   The latter bears
 much larger fruit than the former;  but the oil is less esteemed.
   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 pro-
 perties, but is not now employed.  Analyzed  by Pelletier, it was found to con-
 tain resin, a little benzoic acid, and a peculiar principle analogous to  gum
 which has been named olivile.   But the fruit is by far the most useful product!
 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 es-
 teemed 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 oiives 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 process.
 Ine best, called virgin oil, is obtained from the fruit picked before perfect ma-
 turity, and immediately pressed.  It is  distinguished 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.  An inferior  kind, employed in  the arts, espe-
 cially m 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, allowed to ferment, and again introduced  into the press
  Olive oil is imported in glass bottles,  or in flasks surrounded by a kind of net-
work of grass, and usually called Florence flasks.   The best  comes from the
south of France, where most care is exercised  in the choice of the fruit
  Properties. The pure oil is an unctuous liquid, of a pale-yellow or greenish- 
PART I.
Oleum Olivse.
537
 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 par-
 tially soluble in alcohol, at least unless this liquid be in very large proportion.
 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 per cent, of  olein, and 28 of  margarin.  Olive
 oil is solidified by nitrous acid and nitrate of mercury,  and converted into a
 peculiar fatty substance, called elaidin.   The olein of all  oils which have not
 the drying property 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 dis-
 agreeable smell, a sharp taste, a thicker consistence, and a deeper colour;  and
 the change is promoted by heat.   It is frequently adulterated with the cheaper
 fixed oils, especially with that of poppies ; but the adulteration 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 purity  will be  indi-
 cated by the  degree  of concretion.  Another mode has  been indicated by M.
 Poutet, founded on the property possessed by supernitrate of mercury of solidi-
 fying 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 mixture 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 con-
 sistence 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. Marchand, strong sulphuric acid produces with poppy
 oil a lemon-yellow colour, which rapidly becomes darker, and, after ten or fifteen
 minutes, is followed by tints of rose-colour and bright violet, which are never
 afforded with the same reagent by  pure olive  oil.  (Ibid.,  xxvi.  432.)   M
 Diesel  states  that the pure oil is coloured green  by common  nitric acid •
 whereas  if mixed with rape  oil,  it  is rendered of a yellowish-gray colour'
 (Arch, der Pharm,  x\vi. 287.)  According  to M. Behrens,  whose statement
 is confirmed  by MM.  Guibourt and  Reveil,  the  presence  of oil of sesamum
 is known  by the beautiful deep-green colour immediately produced when the
 suspected  oil  is added, in equal weight, to a mixture of equal parts of sulphuric
 and nitric acids; which acids  cause with the pure oil, at first, a bright-yellow
 colour.  (Jpurn. de Pharm., 3e ser., xxiv. 351.)  Immense quantities  of lard
 oil are said  to be exported from this country to  France, and employed in the
 adulteration  of olive oil.  The reaction with nitric acid would probably serve
 to detect this adulteration, which, however, in a pharmaceutical point of view
 is  of little inconvenience.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Olive oil is nutritious  and mildly laxative
 and is occasionally given in cases  of irritable intestines, when the patient ob-
jects to more disagreeable medicines.  Taken  into the stomach in large  quanti-
 ties,  it serves  to  involve acrid and  poisonous substances, and  mitigate their 
538                 Oleum Olivse.— Oleum 11 icini.              PARTI.

action.   It has  also  been  recommended as a remedy for worms, and is a very
common ingredient in laxative enemata.   Externally applied, it  is useful 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  substances.   In
the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, it is thought, when smeared over
the skin, to afford some protection against the plague;  and applied 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 phar-
macy, as a constituent of liniments, ointments, cerates, and plasters.
   The dose as a laxative is from  one to two fluidounces.
   Off. Prep.  Enema  Catharticum.                                    W.


                  OLEUM RICINI.  U. S., Dub.

                              Castor Oil.

   The oil of the seeds of Ricinus communis. U. S., Dub.
   Off. Syn.  RICINI OLEUM.  Ricinus  communis.  Oil obtained from the
seeds by heat or pressure. Lond,  Expressed oil of the  seeds.  Ed.
   Huile de ricin, Fr.; Ricinusol, Germ.; Olio di ricino, Ital.; Aceyte de ricino, Span.
   Ricinus.  Sex. Syst.  Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord.  Euphorbiaceas.
   Gen.  Ch. Male. Calyx five-parted. Corolla none.  Stamens numerous. Fe-
male.  Calyx three-parted.  Corolla none.  Styles three, bifid.  Capsules three-
celled.   Seed  one.  Willd.
   Ricinus communis.  Willd. Sp. 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 the
temperate latitudes of North America and  Europe it is annual;  though M.
Achille  Richard saw, in the south of France, in the vicinity of Nice, on the
seacoast, a small wood consisting entirely 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, branching, and from three to eight feet or more in
height.   The leaves are alternate,  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  peduncles, 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,
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 expelled
by the bursting of the capsule.
   This  species of Ricinus is a native of the East Indies and Northern Africa,
naturalized in the West Indies, and cultivated in various parts of the world, in
few countries more largely  than in the United  States.   New Jersey, Virginia,
North Carolina, and  the States upon the  right  bank of the Ohio, especially
Illinois, are the  sections in which it is most abundant.  The flowers appear in
July,  and the seeds ripen successively in August and September.  A decoction
of the leaves is said to be employed effectively, in  the Cape Verde Islands, as a
local application to the breast, for promoting the secretion of milk.   The offi-
cinal part is the fixed oil extracted from the seeds. 
part I.                       Oleum Ricini.                          539

   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 side upon  which it is situated into
two flatfish surfaces.   In its general appearance the seed is thought to resem-
ble 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 separable
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 be-
come rancid, and are then unfit for the extraction of the oil, which is acrid and
irritating.   In 100 parts 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.   Mr. Henry
Bower could find no starch, but separated from the seeds an albuminoid prin-
ciple, which acted with amygdalin and water  like  emulsin, producing  the
odour of oil of bitter almonds, though in a less degree. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
xxvi. 208.)  It is highly probable that it is this  principle which, acting as a
ferment on the oily matter of the seeds, gives  rise to  changes  in its nature
which render them rancid.   More  recently, Mr. G. J. Scattergood found  the
odour of  castor oil to be developed in the beans when  bruised with water, and
much more powerfully in those long kept  than in the fresh.   The water dis-
tilled from the seeds has a  peculiar nauseous odour, quite distinct from that of
the oil.  (Ibid., xxviii. 207.)
   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 main-
tains 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 dis-
sipated by the heat of boiling water.   This  view is strengthened by the experi-
ments of Mr. Scattergood above referred to;  as the water distilled from the seeds
proved  decidedly purgative in the dose of half a fluidounce, and in twice the
quantity both purged and vomited.  The same experimenter found that the resi-
due, after the seeds had been exhausted by ether and  alcohol, was inert in the
dose of 28 grains; and the ethereal extract proved a mild cathartic in the dose
of from two to five  fluidrachms.   After expression of the oil, and treatment
with pure alcohol, M. Calloud found the residue  to  be powerfully emetic in
the  quantity of 30 grains, taken  in  two doses.  (Journ. de Pharm., Se ser.,
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 has been practised  in the East and West
Indies, 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 dis-
sipate 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 
540                           Oleum Ricini.                       part i.

West India oil has generally a  brownish colour, an acrid taste, and irritating
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 power-
ful  screw press.   A whitish oily liquid is thus  obtained, which is transferred
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 pro-
cess  is completed by boiling it with a minute proportion of  water, and con-
tinuing the application of heat till  aqueous vapour  ceases to rise, and till a
small portion of the liquid, taken out in a vial, continues perfectly  transparent
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 brown-
ish hue, and an acrid peppery taste.  After the completion of  the process, the
oil is put into barrels,  and 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 carefully prepared, it is apt to deposit a
sediment upon standing;  and the apothecary may  find 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  decantation.  We have
been told that the oil in barrels occasionally deposits in cold weather a copious
whitish sediment, which it redissolves when the temperature  rises.   A large
proportion of the drug consumed in  the eastern  section of the  Union has been
derived, by way of New Orleans, from  Illinois and the neighbouring States,
where it has been at times  so  abundant that it has been used for burning in
lamps, and  for lubricating machinery.* We are  informed, however, that at
present (A. D. 1857), in consequence of a failure of  the crops and the conse-
quent high price of  the oil, considerable quantities have been imported from
the East Indies.
  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.  Such a preparation has been employed  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. (See Am. Journ.  of Med. Sci., N.  S., xiii.  143.)
         *
  * For a particular, account of the mode of cultivating the castor oil plant, and pre-
paring the oil, in the  Western States, see a paper by Prof. Procter in the Am. Journ.
of Pharm. (xxvii. 99).  It is stated in this paper that, by the aid of an improved
press, the product  of oil  has been so much increased,  that 15 bushels of seeds will
yield 40 gallons of oil.  Most -of the seeds  produced in Illinois are  now  expressed in
St. Louis.—Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Oleum Ricini.
541
    Properties.  Pure castor oil is a thick, viscid, colourless liquid, 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.   It has been supposed that adulterations with other fixed oils might
  thus be detected, as the latter are much less soluble in that fluid; but Pereira
  has shown that castor oil has the property of rendering a portion of other fixed
  oils soluble in  alcohol; so that the test cannot be  relied on.  (Pharm.  Journ.
  and Trans., ix. 498.)  Such adulterations, however, are.seldom practised in
  this country.   Castor oil is also soluble in ether.   Its proximate composition
  is but  imperfectly understood.   When exposed to destructive distillation, it
  yields  various  gaseous products, volatile oleaginous liquids, and two peculiar
  substances called acrolein and oenanthole; and there is left  behind a spongy
  elastic mass of remarkable properties.  By nitrous acid the oil is solidified, and
  converted into  a fatty  substance, which was named at first palmin, but after-
  wards  ricinelaidin, from its analogy with the product of a similar reaction
  on  olive oil.   This principle yields palmic or ricinelaidic acid and glycerin
  on  saponification.  When castor oil itself is saponified by an alkali, a  liquid
  and a solid  fatty acid are developed,  the  former of which is called ricinoleic
  acid, and the latter has not yet been satisfactorily determined.  MM. Bussy
  and Lecanu considered that there were two concrete acids produced, one of
  which was margaric acid, and the other peculiar, and called by them ricinic acid.
 But, according to  Saalmiiller, there is only one solid acid, which sometimes ap-
 peared to him to have the constitution of stearic acid, and sometimes of palmi-
 tic,  but the precise character of which is yet uncertain.  Ricinoleic acid is con-
 verted by caustic potassa into caprylic alcohol and sebacic acid, with disengage-
 ment of hydrogen; and the same products are obtained by the reaction of potassa
 with castor oil  itself. (See Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Aout, 1855 p  113 )
 M. Lefort gives the formula C56H5aOs,  as representing the ultimate composition
 of castor oil.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xxiii. 348.)  Its purgative property
 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 become
 rancid, and is then unfit for use.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Good castor oil is a mild and speedy cathar-
 tic usually operating with little griping or uneasiness, and evacuating the con-
 tents of the bowels without much  increasing the alvine secretions   Hence  it
 is particularly applicable  to constipation  from collections of indurated feces
 and to cases m which acrid substances have been swallowed, or acrid secretions
 have accumulated in the bowels.  From its mildness it is also especially adapted
 to diseases  attended with  irritation or  inflammation of the  bowels as colic
 diarrhoea, dysentery, and enteritis.  It is habitually resorted to in cases of preg-
 nant 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 more 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 difficult of administration, not so  much 
542
Oleum Ricini.—Oleum Rosse.
PART I.
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
adhesiveness to the mouth.  In a few cases, the disgust which it excites is utterly
unconquerable by any effort of resolution.  It is desirable, therefore, to obviate
this inconvenience as far as possible by the mode of exhibition.   A common
method is to  give it floating in 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, or the froth of porter;
but these  are  often contra-indicated by their stimulant property.  When the
stomach is unusually delicate, the oil may be made into an emulsion with mu-
cilage or the yolk of an egg, loaf sugar, and an aromatic water.   Tragacanth
has been recommended as producing a better emulsion than gum Arabic.  Lauda-
num may  be added in cases of intestinal irritation.  It has  been  proposed to
give the oil in the air-bladders of fishes, which may be preserved in alcohol for
the purpose.   Castor oil may also be beneficially used as an enema, in the quan-
tity of two or  three fluidounces,  mixed with some mucilaginous liquid.  It has
been recommended as a local application to the breasts of nursing women, to
promote the secretion of milk.
   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 substitute
for olive oil in unguents and cerates.   But the slightly irritating properties of
even the mildest castor oil render it unfit for those preparations which are in-
tended to  alleviate irritation.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Calomelanos Compositas, Dub.                   W.

                   OLEUM  ROS.E.  U.S., Dub.

                             Oil of Roses.

   The volatile oil of the petals of Rosa centifolia. U S., Dub.
   Off. Syn. ROSJE 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 R. damascena in Northern India,  R. moschata in Persia,
and R. centifolia (provincialis) in the north of European Turkey. It is fur-
nished in  very minute proportion; not  more than three drachms having been
obtained by Colonel Poller, in Hindostan, from  100 lbs. 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.)
   Landerer states that, at Damascus and other parts of Asia Minor, the oil is
prepared by dry distillation.   The buds being collected before sunrise are placed
in a glass retort; and the distillation is effected by a salt-water bath,  care be-
ing taken so to regulate the heat as not to scorch the petals.  The water  of the
fresh roses and their oil come over together, and the latter, floating on  the top,
is  separated in the usual mode.
   Oil of roses is nearly colourless, or presents some shade of green, yellow, or 
part I.         Oleum Sesami.— Oleum Terebinthinee.             543
 red; but, according to Polier, the colour is no criterion of its value.  It is con-
 crete 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 dissolves it, though
 not freely when cold.   It consists of two oils, one liquid, the other concrete at
 ordinary temperatures.   These may he separated by freezing the oil, and com-
 pressing it between folds of blotting paper, which absorbs  the liquid oil, and
 leaves the concrete  or stearoptene.   The  latter consists exclusively of  carbon
 and hydrogen ; the former, of these with 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.  Gui-
 bourt has offered certain tests  by  which he thinks the purity of the oil may be
 determined. (See Am. Journ,  of Pharm., xxi. 318.)   It is said  that  the oil
 of one of the sweet-scented Pelargoniums,  perhaps the rose-geranium, is much
 employed in Turkey for the purpose  of adulteration, to which it is adapted by
 its odour, and by the  circumstance that it concretes like the oil of roses.  (N. Y.
 Journ,  of Pharm,, i. 47.)
   Od of roses may be added, as a grateful perfume, to  various spirituous pre-
 parations for internal use, and to cerates and ointments.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Rosre.                                          w.


               OLEUM SESAMI.  U. S. Secondary.

                              Benne Oil.

   The oil of the seeds of Sesamum Indicum and Sesamum orientale   U S
   See SESAMI FOLIA.                                      '   '


           OLEUM  TEEEBINTIIINLE.  U.S.,  Dub.

                          Oil of Turpentine.

   The volatile oil distilled from  the  turpentine of  Pinus palustris and other
 species of Pinus.  U. S. From the  turpentine of Pinus sylvestris Dub
   Off. Syn.  TEREBINTHLN.E OLEUM.  Pinus palustris, and P  Tceda ?
 Oil distilled from the  turpentine and  rectified. Lond,  Volatile oil of the liquid
 resinous  exudation of various species of Pinus and Abies Ed
 fia^ll^f ^ tgltbenth<jne' Fr''  TerPenthinol, Germ.; Olio' della trementina,
 Ital, ;  Aceyte de trementina, Span.                                           '
   See TEREBINTHINA.
   This oil 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 em-
 pyreumatic.  To  obtain it quite pure it should be redistilled from a solution of
 caustic potassa   The turpentine  of Pinus palustris is  said to  yield about 17
 per cent, of oil; while the common turpentine of Europe affords 24 per cent.
 Large quantities are distilled in North Carolina for exportation
  Pure od of turpentines 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  sp. gr. 0*86 at 72° F. ; is highly volatile  and inflam-
mable; boils at a temperature somewhat  higher than  300°; is very sli-htly
soluble in water,  less soluble  in  alcohol  than  most other  volatile oils,  and
readily soluble  in ether.   Boiling alcohol dissolves  it with facility, but  de- 
544
Oleum  Terebinthinse.
PART I.
posits most of the  oil upon cooling.  One hundred parts of alcohol of 0-81
dissolve 13-5 parts  of the oil at 72°.   As found  in commerce,  it always con-
tains 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. (Seepage 168.)   According to  Blanchet
and Sell, it consists of two distinct isomeric oils,  which, by the absorption  of
oxygen, are converted into two distinct resins, corresponding 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.   Heated in close
vessels to 482° F.,  oil of turpentine undergoes certain changes in properties,
without  any discoverable change  of composition. (Ibid,, Be ser., xxiv. 428.)
It absorbs muriatic acid, forming with  it two compounds, one a red dense liquid,
the other a white crystalline  substance resembling camphor, and hence called
artificial camphor.  The latter consists of the unaltered oil (camphene) com-
bined with the acid, and is therefore 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 forming  a liquid compound with muriatic acid.  Nitric
acid converts oil of turpentine into resin, and by long boiling into turpentinic
acid.   Mixed with  water and chloride of lime, and then distilled, the oil yields
a liquid which M. Chautard found to  be identical with chloroform. (Ibid.,  Be
ser., xxi. 88.) On exposure to air and light, it deposits white acicular crystals,
which are without taste or smell, insoluble in cold water, but soluble in ether
and alcohol. (Boissenot, Journ. de Chim.  Med.,  ii. 143.)  White crystals  of
stearoptene, heavier than water and fusible at 20°, separate  from the oil  at
the temperature of 18° below zero.  These  are probably a hydrate of the oil.
The hydrate may be produced by  exposing on a plate  four volumes of the  oil
recently distilled, three of alcohol,  and one of nitric acid.  Crystals form at the
end of a week or more.  This  happens  though the  oil may be mixed with others,
and may serve to detect adulterations with it of oils which do not have the same
composition. (Berthelot, Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xxviii. 451.)
   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 Edinburgh Col-
lege directs the oil to be rectified by  distilling it with about four measures of
water.   But the process is difficult, in consequence 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  resinous  portion.  About one-fifth of the alcohol
is retained by the oil, but is readily separated by  agitation with water.
   The oil as obtained from different species of pine or fir, though having many
common properties, and identical in  composition, is somewhat different, espe-
cially in relation to its influence on polarized light.  Thus, the oil used in this
country, derived from Pinus palustris, produces deviation of the plane of polari-
zation to the right,  while the  French oil, from  Pinus maritima,  has the con-
trary effect.  M. Berthelot, after numerous experiments, has come to the conclu-
sion, that the oils  of turpentine of the formula C20Hl6,  whether from the same
or  different trees, are  mixtures of several  isomeric carburets, constituting per-
manent varieties, which carry their distinctive character with them into combi-
nation, as in their artificial camphors and hydrates, which have the same rotatory
power as their respective oils.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xxv.  263.) 
PART I.
Oleum  Terebinthinse.
545
    3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Oil of turpentine is stimulant, diuretic, oc-
  casionally diaphoretic, anthelmintic,  in  large doses cathartic, and  externally
  rubefacient.  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, fre-
  quently 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 im-
  parts 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 apartment impregnated
  with its vapours.  In large doses it occasions slight vertigo, or a sense of ful-
  ness in the head, sometimes amounting to intoxication, attended frequently with
  nausea, and succeeded generally, though not always,  by speedy and brisk ca-
  tharsis.   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 in small and repeated doses.   In some constitutions it produces,
  even when taken internally, an erythematic eruption on the skin.  Persons \j*ho
  inhale its vapour are liable to strangury and even bloody urine.  We have seen
  cases of hasmaturia in seamen from on board vessels loaded with turpentine.
    The  oil is employed in numerous  diseases.   As a stimulant it  sometimes
  proves serviceable in low forms of fever.  We have found it extremely useful in
  the advanced stage of typhoid or enteric  fever; and especially in cases in which
  the tongue has partially or completely thrown off its fur in flakes, and after-
  wards become dry, with a surface destitute of its ordinary papillary appearance
  and  often contracted and fissured.  The remedy has, in our hands, proved
  almost  uniformly successful  under these  circumstances.  With small doses of
  the oil  frequently repeated, the tongue becomes moist and again coated  the
  tympanitic state of the bowels disappears, and the patient goes on  to recover
  as m a favourable case of fever.   Its efficiency, however, in  typhoid fever is
  ascribable not so much to its stimulant properties,  as to an alterative influence
  upon the  ulcerated surface of the bowels characteristic of that disease.   The
 medicine has been recommended as  a  counter-irritant  in yellow and puerperal
 fevers ;  and may undoubtedly be given with advantage in the latter stages of
 these diseases,  and  in  other  instances of gastric and enteric inflammations
 which require a resort to stimulation.   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
 passive hemorrhages, particularly from the bowels, in disordered conditions of
 the alimentary canal attended with  sallow countenance, foul tongue  tumid ab
 domen, sour or  fetid eructations, and general depravation of health, in obstruc-
 tions of the bowels, in chronic dysentery  and diarrhoea, in obstinate gleets and
 leucorrhoea in suppression of urine, and retention and incontinence of urine from
 debility, and in  chronic nephritic and  calculous affections.   In certain cases of
 dysentery, whether acute or chronic, when the tongue is quite dry, and smooth
 as it from defect of the papillary structure, no remedy has proved so efficient in
 our hands as oil of turpentine.   We have seen it also very beneficial in hasmo-
 ptysis.   As a vermifuge it is highly esteemed, especially in cases of tasnia   It
 appears  to destroy or debilitate the worm,  which,  losing its  hold  upon the
 bowe s,  is then easily discharged.  In  cases of worms in the stomach it is very
 useful    Ihe worms, in this instance,  are destroyed, and then  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 occasionally useful.   As a local  stimulant it may  be  given
beneficially in some instances of flatulent colic, and  gout in the stomach.
       35 
546              Oleum Terebinthinse.— Oleum  Tiglii.          parti.

  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 tasnia 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 on sugar, or in emulsion
with gum Arabic,  loaf sugar, and cinnamon or mint water.
  In the form of enema, the oil has been employed in amenorrhcea, and to pro-
mote uterine contraction in child-birth, 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  oil of turpentine.
From half a fluidounce to two fluidounces may be administered, suspended by
the yolk of eggs in half a pint or a pint of water, or some mucilaginous fluid.
  Externally applied, oil of turpentine  irritates and speedily inflames the skin-
and, in low forms  of fever with coldness of  the surface, is when heated one of
the most  efficacious  rubefacients.   It  is also used as a liniment in rheumatic
and paralytic affections, and various internal inflammations.   It should gene-
rally, in mild cases, be diluted with olive oil; and in some constitutions, even in
this state, produces such violent inflammation of the skin,  with extensive erup-
tions, 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 usefuj in allaying the burning
pain and  promoting a  disposition to heal.   For this purpose, however, it is
usually mixed with resin cerate (basilicon ointment), so as to form a  liniment
capable of being spread upon linen rags. (See Linimentum Terebinthinse.)*
The oil  has been recommended also in anthrax and erysipelas.
  Oil of turpentine has been recommended in the form of bath, in affections in
which its constitutional impression is desired.  For this purpose Dr. T. Smith,
of Cheltenham, England, employs from five  to ten fluidounces of the oil, with
half a fluidounce of the oil of rosemary, and two pounds of carbonate of soda
in each bath.  The breath becomes  strongly impregnated with the terebinthi-
nate odour. (Braithwaite's Retrospect, xxi. 355.)   Baths of the vapour  of
turpentine are stated to be very beneficial in chronic  rheumatism. They are
said to be borne well, for twenty-five minutes, at a temperature from  140° to
160° F.  (Arch. Gen., 4e ser., xxviii. 80.)   Inhalation of the vapour has been
recommended by Skoda in gangrene of the lungs.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Terebinthinas;  Emplastrum Hydrargyri; Enema Tere-
binthinas; Linimentum Cantharidis; Linimentum Crotonis; Linimentum Tere-
binthinas ; Oleum Terebinthinas Purificatum.                          W.


                      OLEUM  TIGLII.  U. S.

                              Croton Oil

   The oil of the seeds of Croton Tiglium.   U S.
   Off. Syn. TIGLII OLEUM.  Croton Tiglium. Oil expressed from the seeds.

  * 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.  Ii. Olei Terebinth,  fgviij, Olei Lini f^viij, Olei Succini f^iv, Olei Juniperi fjiv,
Petrolei Barbadensis fjiij, Petrolei Americani (Seneca oil) fjj! Misce. 
     PART I*                     Oleum  Tiglii.                          547

     Lond,;  CROTONIS OLEUM. Expressed oil of the seeds of Croton Tiglium.
     Ed,; CROTON OIL.  Croton Tigljum.  The expressed oil of the seeds. Dub.
       Huile de Croton, Fr.; Crotonol, Germ.; Nervalum unnay, Tamool.
       Croton.  See Cascarilla.
       Croton Tiglium. Willd. Sp. Plant  iv. 543;  Woodv. Med, Bot 3d ed., vol.
     5, p. 71.  This species of Croton is a small tree or shrub, with a few spread-
     ing branches, bearing alternate petiolate leaves, which are ovate, acuminate,
     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
     India.   It is pervaded by an acrid purgative  principle, probably analogous to
     that found in other plants belonging to the family of Euphorbiaceas.   Rum-
     phius says that the root is employed in  Amboyna, in the dose of a few grains,
     as a drastic pu*ge in dropsy;  and, according to the same author, the leaves
     are so acrid tfkt,  when chewed and swallowed, they excite 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 most active part.   These have  been long employed in
     India as a powerful purgative, and were  employed so early as the year 1630
     in  Europe, under the names of grana  Molucca and grana tiglia.   But in
     consequence  of their violent effects they fell into neglect, and had ceased to be
     ranked among marines, when, at a comparatively recent period, attention was
     again called to .them by the  writings of some  English  physicians in  India.
     They are now imported for the sake of  their  oil, which is the only product of
     the plant considered officinal.
       These seeds are rather larger than a grain of  coffee, oblong, rounded at the
     extremities, with two faces, the external  considerably more convex than the in-
     ternal, se/arated from each other by longitudinal ridges,  and each divided by
     a similar longitudinal ridge, so that the  whole seed presents an irregular quad-
     rangular figure.  Sometimes, as in the coffee grain, 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 mottled, and
  y   sometimes nearly black.  The kernel or nucleus is  yellowish-brown, 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, whichMissolves the oil, and leaves it behind when evaporated.  Guibourt
     recommends,  after the first expression, to digest  the residue with alcohol at a
     temperature of 120° to 140° F., and then submit it to a new expression.  The
     alcohol is to be separated by distillation from the  oil, which is then to be mixed
     with the first product.  According to Dr. Nimmo, the seeds consist of 64 per
,.   cent,  of  kernel, and 36 of envelope.   From the seeds imported into England
    about 22 per  cent, of oil is obtained  by simple expression.  Guibourt  by his
    process, obtained 52 per cent, from the kernels,  equivalent to about 35 from
    the seeds.  Croton seeds yielded  to Brandes upon analysis, independently of
    the shell, traces of a volatile oil, fixed oil, a peculiar fatty acid called crotonic 
548
Oleum  Tiglii.
PART I.
 acid, an alkaloid which he  called crotonin, resin, stearin, wax, extractive
 sugar, starch, gum, albumen,  gluten, lignin, and salts.  The crotonin has been
 subsequently found to be nothing more than a magnesian  soap with an alka-
 line reaction.   The crotonic acid, which is separated along with the oil on
 expression, has been thought  to be the active principle of the seeds, but is now
 said to be inert.  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 dis-
 tilling.  (Christison''s Dispensatory.)  The acid solidifies at 23° F., is highly
 volatile,  has a very acrid taste, is very irritating to the nostrils, and forms salts
 with  alkaline bases  called  crotonates.  It is this  principle, probably, which
 causes the dust and exhalation from the croton seeds 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, varies from a pale yellow to
 a  dark reddish-brown.  That imported from India is  usually pale, that  ex-
 pressed in  Europe dark, like  the deepest coloured  sherry.   Its  consistence is
 rather viscid, and is increased  by time.   Its smell is faint, but peculiar, its taste
 hot and acrid, leaving in the  mouth a disagreeable  sensation which continues
 for many hours.  The oil is wholly soluble in ether and oil  of turpentine.   Its
 relations to pure alcohol differ somewhat with the variety of the oil.  That ob-
 tained by expression in England is  wholly and readily soluble, forming a solu-
 tion which is permanent at ordinary temperatures; while the India or pale oil
 forms an opaque mixture, which becomes clear and uniform  upon  being heated,
but separates on standing into  two portions, one consisting of alcohol somewhat
 diminished in  bulk, the other  of the oil correspondingly increased in bulk by
retaining a portion of the alcohol.   It is possible that the difference in colour,
 and in their relations  to alcohol, between the India and English oils, may be
 owing to a change in the kernels from being kept.
   Some croton oil examined by M. Dublanc, of Paris, when agitated with ten
times  its  weight of alcohol, was separated into two parts, one of which amount-
ing to 6 per cent, was dissolved by the alcohol, the other remained undissolved,
but retained 50 per cent, of alcohol.  The latter, upon being repeatedly treated
 with alcohol, lost all its acrimony; while the portion dissolved was extremely
acrid.  From  these observations it would appear that the acrid and probably
active principle of the oil is dissolved  by the alcohol; while a bland fixed oil,
which constitutes the chief part of it, is not taken up by that liquid.
   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 standing,
without having undergone  any apparent diminution.-'   This, however, is not
true of the oil expressed in England.   The test was intended to detect the  pre-
sence  of castor oil, which would be dissolved by the alcohol, and thus occasion
a diminution of the bulk.
   We were told by the late Dr. M. Burrough, who was for some time in India,
that much of the oil there  prepared, 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 Jatropha Curcas, the seeds of which are known by
the name of Barbadoes nuts.  (See Tapioca.)  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.  Dr. Hamilton states that croton seeds are afforded by
 Croton Parana, growing in Ava and the Eastern parts of Bengal;  and it is 
PART I.
Oleum  Tiglii.— Opium.
549
 probable that a portion of the croton oil of commerce is  obtained from these
 seeds. (Trans.  Lin. Soc, xiv. 257.) These facts may explain some of the dis-
 crepancies in reference to the effects of alcohol above mentioned.
   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 ad-
 vantage 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 more than a cen-
 tury ago to the Dutch physicians, it did not attract general notice till about 1820,
 when it was introduced into England by Mr. Con well.   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 used
 in almost all cases in which powerful and speedy purging is demanded. Dropsy,
 apoplexy,  mania, and visceral obstructions, are among the complaints in which
 it  has been  particularly recommended.  It has  recently  been  employed with
 great asserted benefit in neuralgia, epilepsy, 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 externally, the oil  produces inflammation  of the skin,
 attended with a pustular eruption, and has been used in this way in rheumatism,
 gout, neuralgia, glandular and other indolent swellings, and in laryngeal and
 pulmonary diseases.  It should be diluted with three parts  of olive oil, soap
 liniment, oil of turpentine, or other  convenient vehicle, and  applied as a lini-
 ment twice or oftener in the twenty-four hours.  Sometimes the insusceptibility
 of the skin is such  as to require its application undiluted.   The oil may also
 be applied externally, in the form of  a plaster, made by incorporating 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.  It has been said that fouf drops,  used externally by friction
 around the umbilicus, will produce a  purgative effect; but this is denied by Dr.
 Barlai, of Tuscany, who states that it is only when the oil is applied to the skin
 divested of the cuticle that it will operate upon the bowels.
   The dose for an adult is one or  two  drops, and is most  conveniently admin-
 istered in the form  of pill.  A 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 advan-
 tageously resorted to when a minute quantity of the medicine is required;  as
 it affords the means of readily dividing the dose.
   Off. Prep. Linimentum Crotonis.                                   W.


                 OPIUM.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                                 Opium.

   The concrete juice of the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum. U. S.,Ed,,
Dub.  Juice emitted from the unripe incised fruit, hardened  in the air. Lond.
  Opium, Fr.; Opium, Mohnsaft, Germ.; Oppio, Ital.; Opio, Span.; Affioni, Turk.;
Ufyoon, Arab.; Sheerikhaskash, Persian; Ufeem, Hindoo.
  Papaver.  Sex. Sys^Polyandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord. Papaveraceas. 
550
Opium.
PART i.
 ,  Gen. Ch.  Corolla four-petaled. Calyx two-leaved.  Capsule one-celled, open-
 ing by pores under the persistent stigma. Willd,
   Opium is at present generally believed to be  derived exclusively from the
 Papaver somniferum; though every species of poppy is capable of yieldiii"- it
 to a greater or less extent, and some authors have indicated the Papaver orien-
 tate 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. 3Ied. Bot. p. 376
 t. 138.  There are several varieties  of this species, of which the two  most pro-
 minent 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 described as
 the  proper  opium  plant.   The white poppy is annual, with a round, smooth
 erect, glaucous, often branching stem, usually rising two or three feet  in height'
 but  sometimes five or  even six feet  in favourable  situations.   The leaves are
 large, variously lobed and toothed, and alternately disposed on the stem, which
 they closely embrace.   The flowers are  terminal, 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 com-
 posed 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 glaucous,  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 somewhat  smaller and more globular, and  the  seeds  are of a
 brown or blackish colour.
   All parts  of the poppy contain a white, opaque, narcotic juice; but the leaves,
 analyzed by M. Blondeau, yielded none of the 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.  (See Papaver.)   The seeds are destitute
 of narcotic properties, and are even used as food.  The Romans employed them
in the preparation of various  dainties.   They abound with a bland oil, which
may be extracted by expression.   This is an article of much importance on  the
continent of Europe, particularly in France and Germany.  The oil is  employed
for culinary and  pharmaceutic purposes, in painting, and the manufacture of
soap, and in other ways as a substitute for olive oil.  The poppy does not appear
to elaborate the milky  fluid in which its narcotic properties reside before a cer-
tain 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 potherbs ; and  the pn%»v
of the Greeks, which is believed  to  be  identical with 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 sup-
posed 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  Incha,  Persia, Egypt,  and Asiatic Turkey,  for
opium; and  in several parts of Europe,  especially in the northern departments
of France and in  the south of Germany, mainly for the seeds.  In this comitry
it is found only in our gardens as an ornamental flower. 
PART I.
Opium.
551
  The process for procuring opium from the poppy, as practised by the modern
inhabitants of India and Persia, according to the reports of Kerr and Kcempfer,
is very nearly the same with that described by Dioscorides, as employed in his
own times, about eighteen hundred years since;  and the accounts  of Belon,
Olivier, and Texier, as to the modes of collection in Asia Minor, are not mate-
rially 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 collected, 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.,
xxL 196.)  Considerable quantities of good opium have been obtained in Eng-
land 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.
   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 propor-
tion of water, and inspissate the liquid thus obtained by artificial heat.   The
ancient Greeks were acquainted with both processes, as appears from the writings

  *  So early as the year 1796, a premium was awarded by the  Society for the En-
couragement 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 that 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. Phil.  Journ. (i. 258), and the Quart. Journ. of Science (iv. 69).
  M. Aubergier has cultivated opium  in France, with encouraging results.  Instead
of allowing the juice after the incision to inspissate on the capsule, he collected it im-
mediately, and dried it by artificial heat. One workman collected in a day 300 grammes
(9-64 troy ounces) of juice, which yielded one-quarter of its weight of opium.   The,,
product differed in strength very greatly, according to the variety of poppy used  ; the
yield of morphia having varied from 3 to 17-8 per cent.   He gives the preference to
the purple poppy.  (Ann. de Therap., A. D. 1852, p. 29.)   See also the same work (A.
D. 1853, p. 1)  for  an elaborate report on M. Aubergier's memoir, by a committee con-
sisting of  MM. Rayer, Orfila, and others.  Attempts have been made to introduce the
cultivation of opium into Algiers ; and specimens of the drug produced in that country
have yielded from 7  to 11  per cent, of morphia.  (Journ. de Pharm, et de  Chim., Oct.
1854, p. 293.)
  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 intoxi-  #
cated or stupefied during the period of harvest.  (Gaultier de Claubry, Journ. de Pharm.,
3e se'r., xiii. 105.)
  A very interesting paper, by Mr. S. H. Maltass, on the cultivation and collection of
opium in Turkey,  and its preparation for the market, affording  minute information on
these points, is contained in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, for March, 1854 (p. 395). 
552
Opium.
part i.
of Dioscorides.  The term ortiov, derived from o*oj, juice, they applied to  the
substance procured by incisions, which answers precisely to the modern  opium.
The inspissated expressed juice they called ptjxuviov, from pyxav, 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  materia medica; and, till within a compara-
tively 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 Hin-
dostan, Persia, Egypt, and Asiatic 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 conti-
nental and insular India, where it is habitually employed in the place of  spiritu-
ous  liquors.   Great quantities 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 it was so far inferior to that from Turkey, that
it was at  length excluded from the market, and none  is now 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  even more 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 description formerly current  among authors  was drawn up, 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,  oil of sesamum,
catechu, and even cow-dung.  But a more careful superintendence by the officers
of the Company has 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  perfection.  Hence it was long  generally known by the
name  of Opium  Thebaicum, and laudanum is still frequently  directed in  pre-
scriptions  as Tinctura Thebaica.   Its cultivation has been again introduced
into Egypt; and considerable quantities are 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 different 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 was 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  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 probalde supposition, that
these capsules are removed during the operation which the masses undergo in
the hands of the  merchants, after  leaving those  of the  cultivators.  We are 
PART I.
Opium.
553
 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.  According to Dr. A. T. Thomson, one-
 fourth part of Turkey opium generally consists of impurities.  Sand,  ashes, the
 seeds  of different plants, extracts of the poppy, Lactuca virosa, Glycyrrhiza
 glabra, and Chelidonium glaucum, gum Arabic, tragacanth, salep, 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.  (See  Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xv. 238.)   According to Mr.
 Wilkins, who witnessed the collection of opium, the inspissated juice of  the
 grape, thickened  with  flour, is often used for the  same  purpose.  (Pharm.
 Journ. and Trans., xiv. 400.)  In  England a sophisticated opium  was some
 years  since prepared, so nearly resembling  good Turkey opium in appearance,
 that by the eye alone it was difficult to detect the fraud, and yet was wholly
 destitute of the active  principle of the drug.  Portions of it were  sent into
 the markets both of  France and this country.   It was  probably the  genuine
 drug,  deprived of its morphia by some process which did  not materially disturb
 the visible arrangement of its particles.*  (Ibid., x.  261.)

   * The great importance of opium renders it desirable that all its commercial  varie-
 ties should be accurately  described, and their relative value so far as possible  ascer-
 tained. 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 Ger-
 many,  have been consulted.  (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, Egyptian, 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 more northern  parts of the opium districts 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 may often be brought from
 the two ports, yet there  seems to be some ground for arranging it under different  varie-
 ties, as derived from these different sources.
   1. Smyrna Opium.  This is the variety which is, beyond all comparison, most abund-
 ant 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,  originally,  perhaps, of a globular form, but variously indented, and
 rendered quite irregular in shape, by the pressure to which they have been  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 out-
 side, but still  soft within.   They are covered externally with  the remains  of leaves,
and with the reddish capsules of  a species of Runjex, which have no doubt been ap-
plied in order to prevent the surfaces from adhering.  Notwithstanding, 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 of the Rnmex are
occasionally found in the interior of the masses.  In the finer parcels of  Smyrna 
554
Opium.
PART I.
   Opium is regarded as inferior when it has a blackish colour; a weak or em-
 pyreumatic smell;  a sweet or slightly nauseous and bitter taste;  a soft, viscid
 or greasy consistence; a dull fracture; or  an irregular, heterogeneous texture'
 from the intermixture of foreign substances.  It should not impart a deep-brown

 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 ; bear-
 ing 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 separated in the process of removing the adhering tears.  In
 the best 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 in-
 ferior specimens the  colour is darker, the smell is often musty, and there is very gene-
 rally 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 ex-
 posure 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 ap-
 pearance from those  of the former variety, being equally irregular in shape, and in like
 manner covered with the capsules of the Rumex. It often, however, differs 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 dif-
 ference in the mode of collecting and preparing the juice.  In the case of the Constan-
 tinople opium, it is probably either removed from the capsules before concretion, or
 subjected to pressure  afterwards.  Merck says that  he has not discovered, in this
 variety,  those  minute portions of the poppy capsules which are usually present in
 Smyrna opium.  The average quality of the Constantinople opium, as above described,
 is about equalto 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.  Not-
 withstanding 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 se-
 lected and sent to the capital.
   Guibourt describes another variety  of Constantinople opium of much inferior cha-
 racter.   " 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  com-
merce of that port, admits no such Constantinople opium as that described by Guibourt.
 (Annal. der Pharm., xxiv.  65.)
  * According to Landerer, little of the opium is produced in the immediate neighbourhood of Smyrna;
the greater portion being brought to that port, on the backs  of camels, from a distance of from ten to
eighteen days' journey. {Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., xxiii. 33.)  The same writer states that the opium is
chiefly prepared at Kara Chissar, near Magnesia.  The incisions are generally made before sunrise. The
juice is partly caught in raussel-shells, and dried in the sun.  This is considered the best.  Every even-
ing the juice which has dried upon  the capsules is scraped off, with a portion of the epidermis. The
poppy is then cut down, and stripped of its leaves, which are boiled in water; and the liquor is evapo-
rated to the consistence of an extract.  With this the inspissated juice is incorporated, and the mixture
is then formed into cakes, wrapped in poppy-leaves, and placed  on shelves to dry. (See Am. Journ. of
Pharm., xxiii. 251.)   It is very evident, from the interior structure of the best Smyrna opium, that it has
not been prepared in the way described by Landerer ; though his  account is probably true in reference
to inferior varieties of the drug.— Note to the tenth edition. 
PART I.
Opium.
555
 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 lips

    II.  EGYPTIAN OPIUM.  This is in flat roundish cakes, of various dimensions, some-
 times as much as  six inches  in diameter, and a pound in weight, usually, howevei-,
 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 exhibit 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 sometimes dark.   Some of the pieces, on
, exposure to the air, become damp and sticky on the surface, indicating the fraudulent
 addition of a deliquescent substance.  The odour is similar to that of Smyrna opium,
 but weaker.  It is  an inferior variety; as the best of it, examined  by Merck, yielded
 only 6 or 7 per cent,  of morphia ;  and a specimen of it was found by Mr. J. Evans, of
 Philadelphia,  to contain not more than 3-55  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 Pre-
 sidency, and called Bengal opium, the other in the  interior provinces, and designated
 by the name of Malwa opium.
    1. Bengal Opium.  For a minute account of the cultivation and preparation of this
 variety of opium, the reader is referred to elaborate papers  by Dr. Eatwell, of Calcutta,
 contained in the eleventh and twelfth volumes of the London Pharmaceutical Journal
 and Transactions, an abstract of which will be found in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. (xxiv.
 118), and in the last edition of Pereira's Materia Medica  (vol. ii. p. 1009, Am. ed.).
 Bengal opium  is 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.   The proportion of active matter
 in this opium  varies somewhat with the season, and in the different specimens. From
 a table given by Dr. Eatwell, it appears that the percentage of morphia varies from 2-17
 to 3-67, and that of narcotina from 3-85 to  5-70.  Prof. Procter found a specimen  of
 Patna opium to yield about 5 per cent, of morphia. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 194.)
 It is, therefore, much inferior to the best Smyrna opium in its yield of morphia, while it
 is richer in narcotina.  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 possibly, in some degree, owing
 to the circumstance, that the juice, after collection, is kept for some time before it is
 made up, and consequently undergoes fermentation.
    The India opium examined by Dr. A. T. Thomson was apparently of inferior charac-
 ter.  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 fri-
 able, 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. Thom-
 son more narcotina than Turkey opium, but only about one-third the quantity of mor-
 phia.   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 of the capsules prepared in France.  Bengal opium  is at
 present  superior to that here described, though still inferior to the Smyrna opium. 
556
Opium.
PART i.
  and tongue, and may even blister the mouth of those unaccustomed to its use
  Its colour is reddish-brown or deep-fawn; its texture compact; its sp. gr. P33fi
  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 tenaci-
  ous;  but when exposed to the air it gradually hardens, and ultimately becomes
  brittle, breaking with a  shining fracture, and affording, when pulverized, a yel-
  lowish-brown  powder, which becomes adhesive upon a slight elevation of tim'.
  perature.  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.   Alcohol  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   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 attracted so much attention, and been
  applied so advantageously to the treatment  of disease.   To Sertiirner,  an apo-
  thecary at Eimbeck, in Hanover, 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 principle.  In the

   There is a variety of Bengal or Patna 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 fer-
 mentation.  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 with-
 out 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
 lurkey 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.)  A specimen of Malwa opium described by Dr. Carson (4m.
 Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 195) broke with  a short rough fracture, which was of a blackish-
 brown colour, here and there showing irregular oily spots. Prof. Procter obtained from
 it 9f per cent, of morphia.
   IV.  PERSIA OPIUM. A variety of opium under this name has sometimes existed 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 Smyrna opium.  It has the liver-Drown 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 m New York, published in the Journal of Commerce, it ap-
 pears that a parcel of  Persia opium, imported into that city from London in 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 cer-
 tainty in relation to the strength of the preparations which may be made from them.
 In the Preparation of laudanum  and the other tinctures into which opium enters, it is
 understood that the drug employed  should have  the average quality of good Smyrna
opium.  The mfenor kinds should be used only for the extraction of morphia. 
PART I.
Opium.
557
following year, Seguin discovered another crystallizable body, which expe-
rience has proved to be the  true narcotic principle  of opium; but he did
not fully investigate its nature, and no  immediate practical advantage accrued
from  his excellent analysis.  About the same time Sertiirner 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 remainedfill 1817, when Sertiirner
announced the existence of a saline compound in opium, consisting  of a pecu-
liar 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 alkaloid, in
which he correctly conceived the narcotic powers of opium to reside,  he  gave
the name of morphium, which has been subsequently changed to morphia, in
order to render it analogous to the titles of the other alkalies.  The acid he
called meconic, a term derived from the Greek name of the poppy.    The cor-
rectness of  the statements of  Sertiirner was confirmed by 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 considerable influence over  the  system.   In the
belief of its narcotic powers,  Robiquet  denominated it narcotin, 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.   Ac-
cording to the views  of its constitution at present admitted, opium contains, 1.
morphia ; 2. narcotin  or narcotina ;  3. codeia; 4. paramorphia ; 5.  narcein ;
6. meconin; 7. porphyroxin;  8. meconic and  sulphuric  acids;  9.  a  peculiar
acid,  not yet fully investigated ; 10. extractive matter;  11. gum ; 12. bassorin ;
13. glucose; 14. a peculiar resinous body  insoluble in ether and  containing
nitrogen; 15.  fixed oil; 16. a substance resembling caoutchouc; IT. an odor-
ous volatile  principle; together with 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 pseudo-
morphia, but which  appears to be only an occasional constituent  of opium.
(See  Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 575.)*   In relation  to their optical properties,

  * Glucose, mentioned in the text  as  one of the ingredients of opium,  has but re-
cently been proved to exist normally in the drug.   M. Lakens  of Toulouse, has found
it in  a tincture of poppy capsules, and in all  the  commercial varieties of opium, in
proportions varying from 3 to 14-5 per cent.  This fact is of some importance in refer-
ence to the use of grape-juice in the adulteration of opium, showing that the presence
of glucose, even in considerable quantity, must  not be considered as a proof of sophis-
tication. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Oct. 1854, p. 265.)
  Besides the components of opium above enumerated, notice has been given of the
discovery  of two  other alkaloids, named respectively papaverine  (papaverina) and
opianine (opiania), of which we shall  here give a brief notice ; though further and re-
peated experiments will be necessary to establish their claims.
  1.  Papaverina (papaverine).  The  discovery of this alkaloid was announced by Dr.
G. Merck.  It is crystallizable in needles, insoluble in water, very sparingly soluble in
cold alcohol  or ether, more soluble in these liquids boiling hot, and deposited by them
on cooling.   With acids it forms salts, most of which are very sparingly dissolved by
water.  The muriate crystallizes with extraordinary facility.  The alkaloid is readily
dissolved by moderately concentrated muriatic acid, from which, on the  addition of
more acid, the muriate separates, assuming the form of an oilv layer at  the bottom
of the vessel, which is readily converted on standing into a mass of acicular  crystals.
These crystals are very sparingly soluble in cold water. The muriate yields with bichlo-
ride of platinum a yellow precipitate which is insoluble in boiling water  or alcohol.
(See  Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 311.)  Papaverina is prepared by precipitating the
aqueous infusion of opium with soda, exhausting the precipitate with alcohol, evapo- 
558
Opium.
part I.
 all the organic bases of opium produce deviation  of the plane of polarization
 to the left. (Bouchardat and Boudet, Journ. de Pharm., Be ser., xxiii. 294 )
   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 its
 preparations we shall treat under another head. (See 3Iorphia.)
   Narcotina or narcotin receives one  or the other  of these names, according
 as it is considered alkaline or neuter.   It exists in  opium, chief!}-, at  least in
 the  free  state, and is left behind  in considerable quantity when  the  druo- is
 macerated with water.   It is white, tasteless, and inodorous;  and crystalhzes
 in silky flexible needles, usually larger  than the crystals of morphia, fusible at
 a moderate elevation of.temperature,  insoluble in  cold water,  soluble in too
 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  denying 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 convenient.  It must be admitted, however to
 have a  very feeble neutralizing  power.  With acetic acid it does not appear to

 rating the tincture to  dryness, treating the residue with a dilute acid, filtering  pre-
 cipitating by ammonia, dissolving the precipitate in muriatic acidx, mixing with the
 solution the acetate of  soda, and treating with boiling  ether the resulting precipitate
 The  ethereal solution deposits the papaverina on cooling.  A characteristic property
 of this alkaloid is that its crystals, when moistened with concentrated sulphuric acid
 acquire  a dark-blue colour.   It consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxvgen!
 its formula  being  NC40H21O8.  (Chem. Gaz.,  March 15, 1850, from Liebigs Annalen.)
 Papaverina  has  been further investigated by Dr. Thos.  Anderson, who confirms the
 statements of Merck. (Chem. Gaz., Jan. 15, 1855, p.  21.)
  2. Opiania (opianine).  This was found by Dr. Hinterberger in some supposed nar-
 cotina, which had been obtained by Engler, an apothecarv of Vienna,  from a parcel of
 Egyptian opium which he was  working for morphia.   An infusion of the opium was
 precipitated by ammonia, and the precipitate, having been washed first with water and
 then with cold alcohol, was dissolved in hot alcohol, and decolorized by animal char-
 coal. A crystalline mass was thus obtained, consisting apparently of morphia and nar-
 cotina.  By repeated solutions  in hot alcohol and crystallization, the former was sepa-
 rated, remaining in the alcohol, while the supposed narcotina was obtained in crystals.
 Ihese, upon being examined by Dr. Hinterberger, proved to be a new alkaloid, to which
 he gave the name of opianine.   It  is in long, colourless, transparent needles, belonging
 to the prismatic system.  When  precipitated by ammonia from the solution of the
 muriate it is m the form of a soft white powder.  It is without smell, and in alcoholic
 solution has a strong and durable bitter taste.  At the temperature of 212^ F. it remains
unchanged.  It is  insoluble in water, and requires for  solution a  large quantity of
boiling alcohol from which it is entirely thrown down, upon cooling, in the  state of
 crystals   In alcoholic  solution it has a strong alkaline reaction ; and from this solu-
tion both opiania itself and its salts are thrown down by alkalies.  Concentrated sul-
phuric acid dissolves without changing it; nitric acid renders it yellow, and, if added
to its sulphuric acid solution, blood-red, but after a short time changing to light-yel-
low.  Its formula according to Hinterberger, is N2C66H36021.   From experiments per-
formed with it on the lower animals, it has been inferred to be powerfully narcotic, and
to resemble morphia in its action.   About  one-tenth of a grain of each of these alka-
loids was given to two cats one to  one cat, and the other to the other, with very similar
effects, which were decidedly narcotic, and continued for  a considerable time,  but had
ceased at the expiration of 24 hours, without fatal effects. (Chem. Gaz., Dec. 1, 1852,
p. 444 from the Proceedings  of the Acad, of Sci. at Vienna, vii. part  3.)~Note to the
tenth edUion.                                                r     ' 
PART I.
Opium.
559
form a permanent combination;  for, though  dissolved by cold acetic acid, it is
separated by heating the solution.  Narcotina consists of nitrogen, carbon, hy-
drogen, and oxygen ; and its formula, according to Hinterberger, is NC^H^O,,,.
It may be distinguished from morphia by its insipidity, 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,
by not decomposing iodic 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.
Hence, if to  a mixture of it with strong sulphuric acid a small piece of nitre
be added, a deep blood-red colour is produced; while morphia, under the same
circumstances, yields a brownish or olive-green colour.  It gives a greasy stain
to paper when heated upon it over a candle.   Heated with an excess of sul-
phuric acid and deutoxide of manganese, it is converted  into an acid called
opianic acid, and into a substance of feeble alkaline properties, which has re-
ceived the name of cotarnin (cotarnia). (Journ. de Pharm., Se ser., vi. 99.)
When subjected to distillation with potassa, it yields a colourless volatile liquid
having alkaline  properties, with the strong smell of herring-pickle  together
with that of ammonia.  This is thought to be a peculiar alkaloid, and has re-
ceived the name of propylamin. (Wertheim, Pharm.  Cent Blatt,  June  1,
1850, p. 421, and Dec. 17, 1831, p. 918.)* Water extracts narcotina 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 maybe separated by the action
of ether,  which dissolves it without  affecting, the morphia, and yields it upon
evaporation.   It may also be obtained by digesting opium in ether, and slowly
evaporating the ethereal solution, which deposits crystals  of  narcotina.   An-
other mode of procuring it is to treat opium, exhausted by previous maceration
in water,  with  dilute  acetic  acid, filter  the solution, precipitate by an alkalf,
wash the  precipitate with water, and purify it by solution  in boiling alcohol^
from which it crystallizes  as the liquid  cools.   Should  it  still be impure, the
solution in alcohol and crystallization may be repeated.
   The proportion of this principle found in opium varies extremely in the dif-
ferent varieties, and in different specimens of the same variety.   Thus in Smyrna
opium iUias been found, according to different observers, in quantities varying
from 1-30 per cent. (Schindler) to 9-36 per cent., in one of the specimens ex-
amined by Mulder.
   Though narcotina  itself is tasteless,  its salts  are very bitter, even more so
than those of morphia,  (Berzelius.)  Their solution reddens litmus, and yields
precipitates with the alkalies and infusion of galls.  It has already been stated
that Robiquet obtained the sulphate and muriate crystallized.

  * There would seem, from the observations  of Wertheim and Hinterberger  to  be
four homologous  modifications of narcotina, having a fixed relation to each other in
composition, the number of eqs. of nitrogen and oxygen being the same in all  while
those  of carbon and hydrogen increase by 2  eqs. in regular progression  Thus 1
normal narcotina (Hinterberger) has the formula  NC42H2,Ol4;  2.  methylic  narcotina
(Wertheim) NC44H230]4; 3. athyhc narcotina (Wertheim) NC46H2.014; and 4. pronvlic
narcotina (Wertheim) NC48H270)4.  Another interesting  point is that  each of these
yields a peculiar volatile alkali by distillation with potassa; and the several products
bear to each other the same chemical relation as exists between the fixed alkaloids
from which they are derived   They are ammonia from the first, methylamin from the
second, nthylamin from the third, and propylamin from the fourth.   The last of these
volatile alkaloids has been referred to in the  text as having the smell  of herring-
pickle.   It is said to be produced also by distilling ergot with potassa.  Methylamin
was procured by Wertheim.  The other products are, we believe, thus far hypotheti-
cal. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt Dec.  17, 1851, p. 918; and Journ. de Pharm., 3e str., xxiii.
154.)—JSote to the tenth edition. 
560
Opium.
PART I.
    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 act power
 fully upon dogs.   One grain dissolved in oil was sufficient to throw the animal
 into a state of stupor,  terminating in death in 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 sporific 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  mav
 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 administered.   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 was  that
 the solution in acetic or sulphuric acid occasioned violent excitement • while the
 contrary 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 dis-
 solved 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 prob-
 ably 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
 strongerantiperiodic properties  than those of quinia.  In  the cases reported
 by him  it was employed in combination with  muriatic acid.   Given in this
 form though powerfully febrifuge, it was found not to produce narcotic effects,
 not to constipate the bowels, and never to occasion  that distressing  headache
 and restlessness which  sometimes follow the use of quinia.   It proved more-
 over, powerfully sudorific.   It was  given in doses of three  grains,  three times
 a   Jay', , •   V fehaughnessy was induced to recommend its employment to his
 medical friends in India, from a knowledge that it had proved effectual in mild
 agues, m the hands of  Dr. Roots and Mr. Jetson in England *
   Codeia  was discovered in 1832 by Robiquet in the muriate of morphia pre-
 pared 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 pre-
 paration of the muriate. (See Morphia.) When the solution of the mixed mu-
 riates of morphia and codeia is treated with ammonia, the former alkaloid is pre-
 cipitated and the codeia, remaining in solution, may be obtained by evaporation
 and crystallization.   It may be purified by treating the crystals with hot ether,
 which dissolves  them and  yields the codeia in colourless  crystals by sponta-
 neons 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

rP^^^Sfwi "^^m ^taI?d hy  different  experimenters  from narcotina, are
11^ "i&rj  tnli'   w  the /tateme»ts, contained in previous notes (see pages 557
SLhtJitZX     existence of a powerful alkaloid (opiania), which may have been
mixed with the narcotina, and  of several different modifications of narcotina itself,
prove to be correct.— Note to the tenth edition.                                 ' 
PART I.
Opium.
561
 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  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 alkaline reaction on test paper,
 and combines with  acids to form salts, some of which are crystallizable, par-
 ticularly 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 solubility 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 sesquioxide of iron.  (Journ. de  Pharm., xix. 91.)  Tinc-
 ture 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 obtained from a solution in ether contain no water.
 Like most of the other organic alkalies, it consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydro-
 gen and oxygen; its received formula being NC33H2n05, and its combining num-
 ber consequently  284,   According to  Dr. Anderson, however, the formula of
 the anhydrous  alkaloid is 1S~C36H2106, with the  addition of two eqs. of water in
 the hydrate. (3Ionth. Journ. of 3Ied.  Sci., May,  1850, p. 492.) 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.
 No 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 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 that 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, disturb digestion,
 or produce constipation.  In sufficient quantity,  it induced sleep, without giving
 rise, like opium, to signs of cerebral congestion.  Dr. Mirandi, of Havana, em-
 ployed  it with  advantage in  several bad cases of dyspepsia.  On the whole,
 there can be no doubt that codeia 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, dis-
 covered 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, precipitating  by am-
 monia, and recrystallizing by  means of  alcohol  or  ether.  Pelletier named it
paramorphia, from its close analogy in composition with morphia, from which,
however, it is quite distinct in properties.   It is  white, crystallizable in needles,
of an acrid and  styptic rather than bitter taste,  fusible at about 300°,  scarcely
       36 
562
Opium.
PART I.
soluble in water, very soluble in alcohol and ether when cold, and still more so
when heated, and capable of combining with the acids, with which it forms salts
not crystallizable from their aqueous solution.   Alkalies precipitate it from its
acid solutions, and, unless in very concentrated solution, do not dissolve 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 sesquioxide of iron.   Prom  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, wdiich 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 resin-like matter  before
dissolving it, while the same acid instantly dissolves narcotina.  It consists of
nitrogen,  carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; its formula being, according to  Dr.
Anderson, NC38H21Oc.  (See Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xxiv. 233.)  The name
of thebain was proposed for it by M. Couerbe, who was disposed to give  the
credit of its discovery to M. Thiboumery, the director of Pelletier's laboratory.
Magendie  considered it closely analogous, 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 crystals,
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 forms a bluish compound with iodine, the colour of which is  destroyed by
heat and the alkalies.   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 neutralize them, and, though at first thought to be alkaline
by Pelletier, is not so considered at present.   It resembles the organic alkalies,
however, in  its constitution, consisting of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxy-
gen.  Its formula, according to Dr. Anderson, is NC46H29018.  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 ammo-
nia, 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,  on cooling, deposited crystals of narcein,  which
were easily purified by repeated solution and crystallization.   Meconin,  which
often crystallizes with it, may  be separated by the agency of  ether.  It has  not
been ascertained  to have any influence upon the system.  Two grains were in-
troduced into the jugular vein of a dog without observable effect.
   3Ieconin, 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°, volatili-
zable 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 precipi-
tating the aqueous  infusion of opium  with ammonia, washing the precipitate
with water until  the latter nearly ceases to acquire  colour, mixing the watery 
PART I.
Opium.
563
 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 boiling alco-
 hol 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 formed upon the cooling of theAolution to the action  of ether,
 which dissolves the meconin, and yields it in a' state of purity by spontaneous
 evaporation.  (Journ. de Pharm., Dec. 1832.)
   Porphyroxin may be  obtained, according  to Merck, 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, evaporat-
 ing the ethereal solution, dissolving  the residue in dilute muriatic  acid, and
 precipitating with ammonia.  Paramorphia  and porphyroxin are thus obtained
 together.   These are to be dissolved in ether, which, by spontaneous evapora-
 tion, deposits the former in crystals, and the latter  in the  form of resin.  The
 porphyroxin is separated  by the cautious use of alcohol, and obtained by the
 evaporation of the alcoholic solution.  It  is neuter, crystallizable in shining
 needles, insoluble in water, soluble in  alcohol and ether, and characterized  by
 the property of assuming a purple-red  or  rose-colour, when heated in dilute
 muriatic acid. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xiv. 187.)
   Ofpseudomorphia, as it is found in opium only as an occasional 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 mor-
 phia, 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 Pliarm,,  viii. 77, or  Journ.  de
 Pharm., xxi. 575.)  But it differs in not forming salts with the acids, and in not
 decomposing iodic acid.  It consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
   3Ieconic 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  sulphate
 of lime are precipitated.   The precipitate, having been washed with hot water
 and with alcohol, is treated with dilute muriatic acid at 180°.  The meconate
 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 de-
 posits pure meconic acid when it cools.  It may be freed from  colouring matter
 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 shonild be understood.
   Incompatibles.   All the substances which produce precipitates with opium
do not necessarily affect its medical virtues; but the  alkalies, and all vegetable
infusions containing tannic  and gallic acids,  are strictly  incompatible; the
former separating and precipitating the active principle, the latter forming with
it an insoluble compound. 
I
564                              Opium.                          part j.

  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 IT. S. Pharmacopoeia.  (See 3Iorphia.)  The Ed-
inburgh 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."
  M. Guillermond gives the following mode of estimating the strength of opium,
as tested by the amount of morphia to be obtained from it.  Take 15 parts of
opium, cut it in pieces, rub it  up with 60 parts of alcohol at 160°, drain the
mixture on linen and express,  treat the residue with 40 parts of alcohol at the
same temperature, unite the tinctures in a vessel with a large mouth into which
4 parts of solution of ammonia (22° Cartier)  have been introduced, and allow
the mixture to stand 12 hours.  The crystals which form are to be put upon
linen, washed repeatedly with water to  separate the meconate of ammonia, and
then introduced into a small vessel of water.   The crystals of  narcotina being
very light, continue suspended  in the water, and may be decanted along with it,
while those of morphia,  remaining at the bottom, may be collected and weighed.
Good  opium, treated in this way, will yield  for  the 15 parts employed from
1-25 to l-75 parts of the crystals of morphia.  (Journ, de Pharm. et de Chim.,
xvi. 18.)*
   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.   The tests should,  therefore, be applied in reference
to the detection of these two principles.  If an  aqueous infusion of the sub-
stance examined yield a red colour with the tincture of chloride of iron, there
is presumptive evidence of the presence  of meconic 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 present, 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  dilute  sulphuric acid, which forms sulphate of lead and leaves
the meconic  acid in solution, or by passing through it a stream of sulphuretted
hydrogen, removing by filtration the precipitated  sulphuret  of  lead,  and heat-
ing 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, ammoniated  sulphate  of copper a
green precipitate, and acetate  of lead, nitrate of silver, and chloride of barium,
white precipitates soluble  in nitric  acid.   Sulphocyanuret of potassium, which,
according to Dr. Wright, is an invariable constituent of saliva (Simon''s Chernis-

  * As the morphia obtained in the above process is not quite free from narcotina, M.
De Vry proposes the following modification.  The mixture of morphia and narcotina,
precipitated from the alcoholic solution by ammonia, after being washed, is to be heated
with a slight  excess  of sulphate of copper dissolved in pure water. The narcotina has
no action on the sulphate of copper, which is decomposed by the morphia, producing
sulphate of morphia and tribasic sulphate of copper.  The latter and the narcotina
remain undissolved, and a solution is obtained containing sulphate of morphia with a
little sulphate of copper.  This, having been filtered, is treated first with  sulphuretted
hydrogen, which precipitates the copper, and afterwards with ammonia which throws
down the morphia.  (Pharm.  Journ. and Trans., x. 77.) 
part I.                           Opium.                              565

try, ii. 6), produces a red colour with the salts of sesquioxide of iron, resem-
bling 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 sulphocyanuret, but not of meconic acid.  Pereira
says  the  acetates  also  redden the salts of sesquioxide of iron, but do  not
afford the results just 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 sulphuretted hydrogen by heat; after which, the
following reagents  may be applied:—viz. 1. nitric acid, which  colours the mor-
phia  red;  2. iodic  acid, which is decomposed by the morphia  with  the extrica-
tion 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 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 proofs may be considered as complete.*
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Opium is a stimulant narcotic.   Taken by a
healthy person, in a moderate  dose, it increases the force, fulness, and frequency
of the pulse, augments the temperature of the skin, invigorates the  muscular
system, 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 functions  of which it
excites sometimes  even to intoxication or  delirium.   In a short time this ex-
citation subsides; a calmness of the corporeal actions, and a delightful placidity
of mind succeed;  and the individual,  insensible  to painful impressions, for-
getting all sources  of care and anxiety, submits himself to a current of unde-
fined  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 out by over-excitement,  no  injurious conse-
quences  ultimately result.   Such is the obvious  operation  of  opium when
moderatelytaken; but other effects, very important in a remedial point of view,
are also experienced.  All the secretions, with the exception of that from the

  * Merck has proposed a test of opium, founded on the property, which characterizes
porphyroxin, of assuming a red colour when heated in dilute muriatic acid.  The sus-
pected liquid is first  to be carefully evaporated, a few drops of solution of potassa are
to be  added, and the mixture agitated with ether.  The ethereal solution being filtered
off, a slip of unsized paper is to be dipped into it and dried; and the moistening and
drying should be repeated several times.  The paper thus prepared is to be moistened
with dilute muriatic acid, and then exposed to the vapour of boiling water.  If it be-
come  reddened, opium may be inferred to exist in the liquid tested.  M. Heusler
states that this test is not applicable to the aqueous solution or extract of opium, be-
cause porphyroxin is insoluble in water ; but Mr. Robertson, of Rotterdam, has found
it to succeed with the watery extract, and  infers that the porphyroxin is  so combined
in opium as to render it in  some measure soluble. (Journ. de Pharm.,  2>e se'r., xxii.
190.)—Note to the tenth edition. 
566
Opium.
PART I.
 skin, are either suspended or diminished; the peristaltic motion of the bowels
 is lessened; pain and inordinate  muscular contraction, if present, are allayed•
 and general nervous irritation is composed, if not entirely relieved.          '
   In doses insufficient to produce the full soporific effect, the stimulant influence
 upon the mental functions continues longer, and the subsequent calming effect
 is sustained for hours; sleep  being not unfrequently prevented, or rendered so
 light and  dreamy that, upon  awaking, the patient will scarcely admit that he
 has slept at all.  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.
   From quantities sufficient to destroy life, after a brief excitement, the pulse
 is reduced in frequency though not in force, muscular strength is diminished, and
 feelings of languor and drowsiness supervene,  which soon eventuate in a deep
 apoplectic  sleep.  A stertorous  respiration - a  dark suffusion of the counte-
 nance;  a full, slow, and labouring pulse; an almost total  insensibility to  ex-
 ternal impressions;  and, when a moment of consciousness is  obtained by vio-
 lent agitation  or irritating applications, a confused state of  intellect, and  an
 irresistible disposition to sink back  into comatose 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
 strong as even  to suggest the use of 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 ensues •
 and this condition will be hastened in  point  of time, though  it will  be more
 under the control of remedies, if the opium be  evacuated 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 extremities;  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  satisfactory
 evidence of its  mode  of operation.   The redness occasionally observed in the
 mucous membrane of the stomach is not constantly present, and is ascribable
 as  much to the irritating effect of remedies prescribed, or to the spirituous
 vehicle of the opiate, as 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 ad-
 ministered, did  not present 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 con-
veyed into  the circulation, and operates upon the brain, and probably upon the
nervous system at large, by immediate contact.   It is an error to attribute the
 anodyne sedative, and soporific effects of the medicine to the previous excite-
ment.   They are, as much as  this very excitement, the direct results of its  ac-
tion 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 
PART I.
Opium.
567
illustration of that principle  of the system, by which any great exaltation of
its functions above the natural standard is followed by a corresponding depres-
sion.   We may be permitted to advance  the  conjecture, that the excitement
which almost immediately supervenes upon the internal use of opium, may be
in some degree produced by means of nervous communication; wdiile the suc-
ceeding narcotic effects are attributable to its absorption and  entrance into the
circulation ; and the ultimate prostration of all the powers of the system is a
necessary consequence of the previous agitation of the various organs.
   On some  individuals opium produces peculiar effects, totally differing from
the ordinary results of its operation.   In very small quantities it occasionally
gives rise to excessive sicknesssand 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 head-
ache, want of appetite, tremors, &c,  which usually follow, in a  slight degree,
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  pos-
sible that some of these disagreeable  effects may arise not from the meconate
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, indeed, 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 tincture, long before physicians  had learned to explain the fact
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, sometimes attended with a
species of miliary eruption.  We have found  the  effect to result equally from
all the officinal 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 administered
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 pleasing
substitute for  alcoholic  drinks,  which are interdicted  by 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 
568
Opium.
part i.
 was nearly contemporary 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 calcu-
 lated to fulfil.   1.  It is excitant in its primary action.  In low or typhoid com-
 plaints,  requiring a supporting  treatment, it exalts the  action of the arterial
 and nervous systems,  and, in moderate doses frequently repeated, may be em-
 ployed with advantage in conjunction or alternation with other stimulants.  2
 It  relieves pain more speedily and effectually than any other known medicine
 taken into the stomach.  If possessed  of no other property than this, it would
 be  entitled to high consideration.  Not to mention 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 ailments, in the treatment of which it is not occasionally
 demanded for the relief of suffering, which, if allowed to continue, might ag-
 gravate  the disorder, and protract if not prevent a cure.   3.  Another very im-
 portant  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 delirium tremens, or the mania of drunkards.  Opium
 produces sleep  in two ways ; first, by its direct operation on the brain, secondly,
 by  allaying that morbid nervous irritation upon which wakefulness often de-
 pends.   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 relaxing spasm,  and in controlling those irregular
 muscular movements which depend  on unhealthy nervous action.  Hence its
 great importance as a remedy in  tetanus ; colic ;  spasm of the stomach attend-
 ing gout, dyspepsia, and cholera  ; spasm of the ureters in nephritis, and of the
 biliary ducts during the passage of calculi; and  in various convulsive affec-
 tions.   5. Probably dependent upon a similar influence over the nervous sys-
 tem, is the property which it possesses of allaying general and local irritations,
 whether  exhibited in the nerves  or bloodvessels, provided the action  do  not
 amount to positive inflammation ; and even in this case  it is often prescribed
 with advantage.   Hence its  use in composing  restlessness, quieting cough,
 and relieving nausea, tenesmus, and strangury.  6. In suppressing morbid  dis-
 charges,  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 principle  it is useful in diarrhoea, when the  complaint consists merely in
 increased secretion into the bowels, without high action  or  organic derange-
 ment ;  in consumption, chronic catarrh, humoral asthma, and other cases of
 morbidly increased expectoration ; in diabetes ; and in certain forms of hemor-
 rhage, particularly that from  the uterus, in combination  with other  remedies.
 7. It remains  to  mention one other indication; that, namely,  of producing
perspiration, in fulfilling which,  opium, conjoined with small doses of emetic
medicines, is pre-eminent.   No  diaphoretic is so powerful or so extensively
 used as a combination  of opium  and ipecacuanha.  We shall speak more fully
 of this application of  the remedy under  the head of Pulvis Ipecacuanha et
 Opii.  It is here sufficient to  say, that  its beneficial effects are especially expe-
rienced in rheumatism, the bowel affections, and certain pectoral  diseases.
  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 
PART I.
Opium.
569
disease to meet several 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 often with severe neuralgic pains, and much nerv-
ous irritation.  In diarrhoea, besides the indications presented by the spasmodic
pain and increased discharge, there is a strong call for  the diaphoretic opera-
tion 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 in-
flammatory excitement, which should be reduced before we can with propriety
venture  upon its employment; and, when there is doubt as  to the sufficiency
of the reduction, the opium should be given in combination with tartarized an-
timony 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 de-
pends upon intestinal spasm, as in colic, it  is sometimes  relieved 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 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 the complaint, or the purpose to be effected.   While in catarrh 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 clay, 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 so-
porific effects of the medicine, is one grain.
   Experience has shown that the action of opium is sometimes favourably
modified  by employing those constituents  only which are  soluble  in water.
Hence the watery extract is sometimes advantageously substituted for the drug
itself, and an infusion for the tincture.* (See Extractum Opii.)

  * A good extemporaneous infusion  of opium cannot well be prepared.  Hence, to ob-
tain the effects of this preparation it  is best  to dissolve the extract in water.   Mr.
Eugene Dupuy,  of New York, first prepares an infusion, and then adds alcohol enough
to preserve it; so that the preparation may be kept ready made by the apothecary, to
be used as a substitute for laudanum. He takes ten drachms of opium, reduces it to
a thin pulp with water, allows the mixture to stand 48 hours, then percolates with
water so as to obtain twelve fluidounces of infusion, to which four fluidounces of alco-
hol of 95  per cent, are added.  The preparation is intended to be  of about the same
strength as laudanum.  Consequently the dose should be from twelve to fifteen minims,
or about as many drops. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiii. 211.)
     « 
570
Opium.
PART I.
   Opium may often be administered with great advantage by the rectum.  In
 this way it operates most advantageously in obstinate vomiting, painful nephri-
 tic and uterine affections, strangury from blisters, and dysenteric tenesmus.  It
 may be employed as a suppository,  or in the form of  enema made with lauda-
 num and a small  quantity of viscid liquid, as flaxseed  tea, mucilage of gum
 Arabic, or starch prepared with hot water.  The quantity, as a general  rule
 may be three times that administered by the mouth;  but the relative suscepti-
 bility of the stomach and rectum  in different persons  is not always the same-
 and the effects produced by the narcotic, given by injection, are sometimes much
 greater than was anticipated.   The practitioner, moreover, should take into
 consideration the previous habits of the patient.   In  an individual long accus-
 tomed 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 propor-
 tionate degree, its absorbing power  or susceptibility;  and that serious conse-
 quences 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 locally as an ad-
 dition to collyria  in ophthalmia, to injections in gonorrhoea, and  to lotions
 and cataplasms  in various complaints of the skin, and external pains, as those
 of  gout  and rheumatism.  It  is also employed in substance, in the  form of a
 plaster or cataplasm made from the powder.   But its external use requires some
 caution, especially when  the skin is  deprived of the cuticle.   Death  is said to
 have resulted from a cataplasm, containing a large quantity of  laudanum ap-
 plied to the epigastrium.  (Ann. de  Thcrap., 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 the stomach-pump, or, when
 this is not attainable, by the  more active emetics, such as tartarized  antimony,
 sulphate of zinc, or sulphate of copper, conjoined  with ipecacuanha.   Emetics
 are preferable to the stomach-pump, when opium  has been  swallowed in sub-
 stance; as the capacity of the tube is insufficient to permit 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 this organ to receive and transmit the ne-
 cessary impressions.   Advantage will sometimes accrue from a moderate  loss
 of blood, which tends to diminish  the cerebral  congestion, and thus not only
 awaken susceptibility to the impression of the emetic, but obviate also the dan-
 ger of hemorrhagic effusion; but the bleeding should not be carried far, in con-
 sequence of danger from the subsequent debility.  For the same purpose of
 favouring the emetic action, it has been recommended  to pass a current of elec-
 tricity through the brain.  After the evacuation of the poison, the chief indica-
 tion is to obviate the debility which  generally supervenes, and which, when 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 am-
 monia  or the aromatic spirit of ammonia, with wine whey,  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 evacua-
tion of the stomach, a little aid  may  enable the system to resist 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 been imitated in 
PART I.
Opium.— Origanum.
571
Europe and this country.  Strong coffee, under these circumstances, has been
found useful, and is obviously suggested in all cases by its powerful influence
in producing wakefulness.   Should other measures fail, resort may be had to
artificial  respiration, by which the functions  of the lungs and  heart  may be
sustained till the brain has struggled through its conflict with the narcotic,
and is enabled to resume its healthful action.   Brodie  has demonstrated that
death from many of the narcotics results from a suspension of the cerebral in-
fluence necessary to sustain the respiratory function, and that the heart ceases
to act in consequence of the cessation of respiration.  If this can be restored
artificially before the contractions of the heart have entirely ceased, the circula-
tion 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
structural derangement, but operates chiefly on the nervous power, a favourable
result is more likely to be  experienced than in poisoning from some other arti-
cles of the same class.  Several cases are  on record, in which patients, appa-
rently in the very last stage, were saved by a resort to  artificial respiration.
   Off Prep.   Acetum Opii; Confectio Opii; Electuarium Catechu;  Emplas-
trum Opii; Extractum Opii; Linimentum Opii; Morphia;  Morphias Murias;
Pilulas Calomelanos et Opii; Pil. Opii; Pil. Plumbi Opiatas; Pil.  Saponis Com-
positas; Pil. Styracis Comp.; Pulvis Cretas Compositus cum Opio; Pulvis Ipe-
cacuanhas et Opii;  Pulvis Kino Compositus; Tinctura Opii; Tinct. Opii Acetate;
Tinct. Opii Ammoniata;  Tinct. Opii Camphorata; Trochisci  Glycyrrhizas et
Opii; Unguentum Gallas Compositum;  Unguentum Opii; Yinum Opii.  W.

                      ORIGANUM. U.S., Ed.

                               Origanum.
   The herb of Origanum  vulgare. U.S., Ed,
   Origan, Fr.;  Gemeiner Dosten, Wohlgemuth, Germ.; Origano, Ital.;  Oregano, Span.
   Origanum.  Sex. Syst  Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat Ord. Lamiaceas
or Labiatas.
   Gen. Ch. Strobile four-cornered, spiked, collecting the calyces.  Corolla with
the upper lip erect and flat, the lower three-parted, with  the segments equal.
 Willd.
   Two species of Origanum have been used in medicine, 0. Majorana, or sweet
marjoram,  and 0. vulgare or common marjoram.   The former, however, is no
longer officinal.  It grows wild in Portugal and Andalusia, and is cultivated
as a garden herb in other parts of Europe, and in  the United  States.  Some
authors, however, consider 0.  Majoranoides, which is. a native of Barbary, and
closely allied to 0.  3Iajorana, as the type of the sweet marjoram of our gardens.
Sweet marjoram 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, probably by mistake, as 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.
   Origanum  vulgare.  Willd. Sp. Plant  iii. 135; Woodv. Med. Bot p. 344,
t. 123.   Origanum or common marjoram is a perennial herb, with erect, pur-
plish, downy,  four-sided, trichotomous stems, about eighteen  inches high, and
opposite, ovate, entire, somewhat hairy leaves, of a deep yellowish-green colour.
The flowers are of a pinkish-purple or rose colour,  disposed in roundish, pani-
cled spikes, and accompanied with ovate reddish bractes, longer than the calyx. 
572
Origanum.—Os.
part i.
 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  "rows
 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 abundant
 and is seldom  collected for use.  It has a peculiar, agreeable, aromatic odour'
 and a warm, pungent taste.   These properties it owes to a volatile oil, which
 is the part chiefly employed.  It may be separated by distillation; but is'mostly
 imported from Europe.  (See Oleum Origani.)
   3Ieclical Properties and Uses.   Origanum 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.                                         "\y.

                                OS. u. s.

                                  Bone.

   Off. Syn.  OSS A. Bones of the ox, or Bos Taurus. 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,  are the kind intended for
 officinal use.
   Properties, &c.   Bones  are  solid, white, and of a lamellated texture, and
 constitute the skeleton of the superior orders of animals, of which they are the
 hardest and densest parts.   They  consist of a cellular gelatinous  tissue, the
 cavities of which are filled with certain  earthy  salts, to  be mentioned pre-
 sently.  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
 the earthy salts of the bone, and constituting the species of  animal charcoal
 called bone-black. (See  Carbo Animalis.)  The portions which distil over con-
 sist of the usual ammoniacal products derived from animal matter.  (See Am-
 monise Murias.)   Before the distillation is performed, the  bones  are boiled
 with water, to  separate the fat, which amounts to  five  or  six  per  cent.; but
 gelatin is at the same time extracted and lost, with the effect of rendering the
 bones less fitted to furnish a good bone-black.   In view of this fact, M. Deiss,
 of Paris,  has proposed  to  extract the  fat  by bisulphuret of  carbon, which
 gives a product of ten or twelve per cent., without injuring the bones for sub-
 sequent conversion into bone-black. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., July, 1856,
 356.)  When bones are calcined in  open vessels, they lose more Of their weight
 in consequence of the combustion of their animal matter, 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 Papirfs
 digester, the whole of it is taken  up, and the earthy salts, deprived  of  their
 cement, crumble into powder, and become diffused through the solution. When
 subjected  to dilute muriatic acid, the earthy salts are dissolved, and the  bone
 softens without losing its shape, and becomes semitransparent and  flexible.
 The portion  remaining  unattacked by the acid is the gelatinous tissue, which
may be converted into gelatin by long boiling.  This portion of bone  is nutri-
tious, and has been prepared so as to form a wholesome aliment by M.  d'Arcet. 
PART I.
Os.—Ovum.
573
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,  concen-
trating the solution until it gelatinizes, and drying the jelly 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, phosphate
of magnesia 2-05, soda with a very little chloride of sodium 3-45 = 100.  Fos-
sil bones have the same general composition.   Human bones differ somewhat
in the proportions of their constituents, and in containing traces of iron and
manganese.   According to Dr. W. Heintz, however, bones exhausted by water,
so as to  remove the colouring matter of blood, contain not  a trace of  iron.
Marchand found one per cent, of fluoride of calcium in human bone.  Bone-
phosphate of lime  consists, according to Mitscheriich,  of  one eq. of acid and
three of  lime.  This analysis makes it a tribasic subphosphate, and the  same
composition has been assigned to it by Dr. Heintz.
   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 de-
structive distillation in close vessels, they yield impure carbonate of ammonia
and empyreumatic  oil, and a carbonaceous residue,  called bone-black.  Cal-
cined, 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 several varieties of gelatin, not only the coarser  sorts,
called size and glue, but  also the finer kinds,  which  are employed, under the
name of  isinglass, in making animal jellies,  and for the fining of wines.  (See
Ichthyocolla and Gornu.)  The hoof bones of the ox, when boiled with water,
furnish a peculiar oil, called neats-foot oil. (See Oleum Bubulum.)
   Off. Prep.  Calcis Phosphas Prascipitatum;  Sodas  Phosphas.         B.


                      OVUM. U. S.,  Ed., Dub.

                                  Egg.

   The egg of Phasianus Gallus. U. S., Ed.,  Dub.
   Off. Syn.  OVI ALBUMEN.  Gallus Bankiva, var. domesticus.  The  white
of the egg.  OVI VITELLUS.  The yolk of the egg. Lond.
   CEuf, 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;  and 4.  the yolk.
   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. 
574
Ovum.
part i.
   3. The white—albumen ovi—is a glairy viscid liquid, contained in very deli-
 cate membranes,  without odour  or taste,  readily soluble in water, coa"-ulable"
 by the stronger acids, by alcohol,  and by a heat of 160° F.   Exposed hi thin
 layers to a current of air, it becomes solid,  retaining its transparency and solu-
 bility in water.   By coagulation  it is rendered sapid, white,  opaque, and inso-
 luble.  At a temperature of 212°, one part of it renders one thousand parts of
 water in which it has been  dissolved  opaque.   It  contains, according to Dr
 Bostock, in 100 parts, 85 of water, 12  of  pure albumen, 2-7 of mucus  or un-
 coagulable 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, sulphate of copper, 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 unaltered, and may be  applied in solution to
 the  same purposes as in its original condition.
   4. The yolk—vitellus 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.   M.  Gobley found 100
 parts of it to contain 51-486 of water,  15-760 of an albuminoid principle de-
 nominated vitellin, 21-304 of margarin and olein, 0-438 of cholesterin, 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 (extraitede
 viande), and 0-553 of colouring matter, traces of iron, traces  of lactic acid, &c.
 (Journ. de Pharm., 3e  ser., xii. 12.)    According  to  MM. Valenciennes'and
 Fremy, there are both albumen and vitellin in the yolk, the former bein<" dis-
 solved by cold water, the latter  precipitated.  They consider  vitellin as cfosely
 analogous to fibrin, from  which, however, it differs in  not  decomposing the
 peroxide of hydrogen.  (Chem.  Gaz., Nov.  1, 1855, p. 410.)  It is  said that
 the  yolk  may be  kept for a considerable time, without observable change, by
 adding to it five per cent, of sulphate of soda, in powder or concentrated solu-
 tion. (Monit. Indust, 1856, No.  2060.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses. Eggs are applied to various purposes in medi-
 cine and pharmacy.   The shells, powdered and levigated, may be used benefi-
 cially as an antacid in diarrhoea.   In common  with oyster-shells, they possess
 the advantage of uniting intimately animal  matter with 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 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 anti-
 dote for corrosive  sublimate and sulphate of copper,  with which it  forms in-
 soluble and comparatively inert compounds.  It is sometimes also used for the
 suspension of insoluble substances in water, but is inferior for this purpose 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 be-
tween folds of gauze over the eye, in some states of ophthalmia
 _  The yolk m 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. Jos Parrish,
of Philadelphia, found great advantage in that complaint from the habitual 
PART I.
Panax.
575
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. Enema Terebinthinas; Mistura Spiritus Vini Gallici.     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 Dioecia, Linn.)—Nat.
Ord. Araliaceas.
   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. Med. Bot. p.
149, t. 58;  Bigelow, Am. 3Ied, Bot. ii. 82. The ginseng has a perennial root,
which sends up annually a smooth round stem, about a foot 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 disposed in a
simple umbel, supported by a peduncle, which rises from  the top of the stem
in the centre of the petioles.  The fruit is a  kidney-shaped, scarlet berry,
crowned with the styles and calyx, with two and sometimes three seeds.
   The plant is indigenous, growing in the hilly regions of the  Northern, Mid-
dle, 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 dif-
ferent 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 of its
virtues, considering it as a remedy for all  diseases, and  as possessing  almost
miraculous powers in preserving health, invigorating the system, and prolong-
ing life.  It is said to have been worth its weight in gold at  Pekin; and the
first shipments made from North America  to Canton yielded enormous profits.
But the subsequent 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 resemblance to
the human  figure, from which circumstance it is said that the  Chinese, name
ginseng originated.  When dried, the root is yellowish-white and wrinkled ex-
ternally, 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 accu-
rately analyzed, but is said to be rich in gum and starch, and contains albumen.
Mr. S. S. Garrigues, of Philadelphia,  obtained from it  a  peculiar substance,
which, he proposes to call panaquilon.  To prepare it he heats a cold infusion
so as to separate the albumen, filters, concentrates to a syrupy consistence, pre- 
576
Panax.—Panis.—Papaver.
part i.
 cipitates by a concentrated solution of sulphate of soda, washes the precipitate
 thoroughly with the  saline  solution, and  then treats it with  alcohol which
 dissolves  the principle in question, and yields it on evaporation.   To purify
 it, he  dissolves it in  water, treats  the  solution with animal charcoal, again
 evaporates, and dissolves the residue  in absolute alcohol, which is finally dis-
 tilled  off.   Panaquilon is an amorphous yellow powder, soluble in water and
 alcohol, but not in ether, of  a sweet bitterish  taste, and has the characteristic
 property that, when treated with strong acids,  it is converted into a white sub-
 stance, insoluble in water, with the escape of carbonic acid and water.   ]\lr
 Garrigues  proposes for this white  substance the name of panacon.  (See Am.
 Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 511.)  The root is sometimes 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 persons, 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.

                            PANIS. Lond.

                                 Bread.
  Wheaten Bread.  Lond.
  See FARINA.
   Off. Prep. Cataplasma Carbonis.

               PAPAVER.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Poppy-heads.

  The ripe capsules of  Papaver  somniferum.  U. S.   The ripe fruit. Lond.
 Capsules not quite ripe.  Ed.   The dried capsules. Dub.
  Capsules des  pavots, Fr.; Kapseln des weissen  Mohns, Germ.; Capidel papavero,
 Ital.;  Cabezas de amapola, Span.
  See  OPIUM.
  In England the poppy is cultivated chiefly for its capsules,  which are gathered
 as they ripen, and taken  to market enclosed in bags.   The Edinburgh College
 directs them  to be  collected  before  they are quite ripe, as they then contain
 more  of the active milky juice; but, cut at this period, they are apt to lose
 their juice through the wounded  surface, unless carefully kept inverted upon
 their crown when drying; and, even when thus treated, they are, according to
 the observations of Buchner, less active than the  capsules collected  after per-
 fect maturity, while they contain more of useless saccharine and mucilaginous
 matter. (Buchner's Report, 3 R., viii. 289 and 326.)   M. Meurein states, as
 the  result of his experiments, that  the richest are those collected just before the
 maturity of the seeds, when the capsules have passed from their glaucous-green
 to a yellowish-green colour. (Journ. de Pharm., Be ser., xxiii. 341.)  They are
 occasionally 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 differ  also  in shape  according to  the variety of the
poppy  from which they are procured.  On the  continent two sub-varieties of
the  white  poppy are recognised, the long, and  the round or depressed.  Of 
PART I.
Papaver.—Pareira.
577
  these, according to Aubergier, the  long are  richest in morphia, and his con-
  clusions are confirmed by Meurein,- who also found the largest capsules most
  efficient.  Those commonly kept in our shops are spheroidal, flattened below,
  and surmounted 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
  recent 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 in-
  stead of light-coloured seeds.   There appears to be no essential difference  in
  their  properties.   Both kinds, when fresh, are glaucous,  but when  dry,  as
  directed in the Pharmacopoeias, are  of a dirty white or purplish-brown colour,
  of a consistence somewhat like that of paper, inodorous,  and with little taste,
  unless long chewed, when they are  decidedly  bitter.  They contain  principles
  similar  to those of opium, which they yield  to water by decoction, and have
  been employed in France for obtaining morphia.
    Medical Properties and  Uses.   Dried poppy-heads, though analogous  to
  opium in medical properties, are exceedingly feeble.  They are sometimes em-
  ployed in decoction, as an external emollient and anodyne application; and, in
  emulsion, syrup, or extract, are often used internally, in  Europe, to calm irrita-
  tion, promote rest, and produce generally the  narcotic effects of opium.
    Off. Prep. Decoctum Papaveris; Extractum Papaveris; Syrupus Papaveris.
                                                                    W.

          PAREIRA.  U. S. Secondary, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                            Pareira Brava.

   The root of Cissampelos Pareira.  U S., Lond, Ed., Dub.
   Cissampelos.  Sex. Syst Dioecia Monadelphia. — Nat Ord. Menispermaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx four-leaved.  Corolla  none.  Nectary rotate. Sta-
 mens four, with connate filaments. Female. Calyx one-leaved, ligulate round-
 ish.  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 sterns^
 and roundish, entire leaves, indented  at  the top, covered with soft hair upon
 their under surface, and supported upon downy footstalks, inserted  into  the
 back of the leaf.  The flowers are very small, and disposed in racemes, of which
 those m  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, true pareira is obtained from another species of
 the same genus,  growing in Brazil, and denominated C glaberrima; while by
 Aublet it is referred to a species of Abuta, of 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 con-
 torted or forked, and covered  with a thin, firmly adhering, grayish-brown bark
 The outer surface is marked with longitudinal and annular wrinkles, and some-
times, 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
      37 
578
Pareira.—Petroleum.
part i.
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 announced, in 1838, the existence in
pareira brava of an organic alkali, for which he proposed the name of cissam-
pelina.  He  procured  it by boiling the root with water acidulated with sul-
phuric acid, precipitating by carbonate  of  potassa, dissolving the  precipitate
again in water acidulated with sulphuric acid, treating  the  solution with ani-
mal charcoal, precipitating anew with carbonate of potassa, drying and pulver-
izing the precipitate, treating it repeatedly with  ether, and evaporating the
ethereal solution.   The alkaloid thus obtained may be rendered entirely pure by
dissolving  it in  diluted acetic acid, precipitating with carbonate of potassa, and
washing and  drying the precipitate. (Annal. der Pharm.,  xxvii. 29.)  It is
probably the chief  ingredient of the bitter substance  obtained  by Feneulle.
Peretti of  Rome and Pelletier afterwards separated an alkaloid 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, leucorrhoea, dropsy, rheumatism, and jaundice.  The pur-
pose for which it is at present chiefly employed is for the relief of chronic dis-
eases 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; and it has subsequently
come into general use in the same affections.   Advantage 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 Pareirse.)  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.   A fluid extract
has  been occasionally  used, prepared by  evaporating a tincture  made with
diluted alcohol, and adding sugar; the constituents being so proportioned that
a fluidounce should represent an ounce of the root.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Pareiras; Extractum Pareirse; Infusum Pareirse.  W.

                    PETROLEUM.  Lond.,  Ed.

                                Petroleum.

  A blackish liquid bitumen, flowing spontaneously from the earth. Lond,
  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 bitu-
mens.   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 as-
phaltum.   Naphtha is a transparent, yellowish-white, very light and inflamma-
ble, limpid liquid,  which is found in  various countries, but most abundantly in 
PART I.
Petroleum.
579
 Persia. It has been used with advantage, in Asiatic cholera, by Dr. Andreosky,
 of the Russian army, by M. E. Cloquet, physician to the Shah of Persia, and
 by M. Moretin, of France.  The dose is from ten to twenty drops, given in half
 a glass of white  wine, or in mint-water. Naphtha consists exclusively of carbon
 and hydrogen ; and, as it contains no oxygen, may be advantageously employed
 for preserving potassium.  From the tar formed in the manufacture 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 dissolving caout-
 chouc ; and the  solution has been usefully employed in forming various surgical
 instruments of that material.   It has also been used, at the  suggestion of Mr.
 Mackintosh, of  Glasgow, for rendering cloth  and other  fabrics  water-proof.
 Two fabrics of the same kind are varnished with the solution on one side, and
 the varnished surfaces are applied to each other, and made to adhere by power-
 ful pressure.  Asphaltum is black, dry, friable, and insoluble  in alcohol.  These
 two varieties of bitumen often exist mixed in nature.  When asphaltum pre-
 dominates, the mixture takes the name of maltha or mineral tar; when 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 Burman
 Empire, and in  Barbadoes, Trinidad, and other West India Islands.  An inte-
 resting account  of the pitch  lake of Trinidad, by Mr. Darling, is contained in
 the ninth volume of the Pharm. Journal and Transactions. The wells of petro-
 leum in Birmah  are said to produce four hundred thousand hogsheads annually.
   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.
   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 alkalies, but dissolves in
 ether and in the fixed and volatile oils.   It consists chiefly of carbon and hy-
 drogen, associated with  a little nitrogen and oxygen.  Rangoon petroleum,
 also called Rangoon tar and Burmese naphtha, has a greenish-brown colour, a
 peculiar, rather  fragrant odour, and the consistence of goose-fat.   It is lighter
 than water.  Heated  to 90°, it becomes  a very mobile liquid.   By distilling
 it in a current of steam, first at 212°, and afterwards super-heated, Drs. W.
 De la Rue and H. Midler obtained 96 per cent, of  volatile products, solid and
 liquid.  The solid product (paraffin) amounted to from 10 to 11 per cent., and
 was found  resolvable by these chemists, by fractional crystallization from hot
 alcohol, into at least  two polymeric carbohydrogens, having the probable for-
 mula CnH„.   The liquid product,  usually called naphtha, is separable by
 sulphuric and nitric acids into two sets  of carbohydrogens ; one set removable
 by these acids, the other resisting their action.  The  former set contain fewer
 eqs. of hydrogen than of carbon, and embrace, among  other carbohydrogens,
 benzole and toluole.   The latter, which form  by far the larger portion of the
 liquid product, are perfectly colourless,  almost inodorous, very mobile liquids,
not congealable  by intense  cold.  Their probable formula, according  to  Drs.
De la Rue and Midler, isCnHn4-r (See Chem.  Gaz., Oct. 1, 1856, p. 375.)
  Oil of turpentine may be  detected in petroleum, according to M. Saladin, by 
580
Petroleum.—Petroselinum.
part i.
 triturating the suspected sample with iodide of potassium and water, when, if
 the  oil be present, the petroleum will instantly acquire a yellow colour, which
 is of a deeper tint, in proportion to the quantity of the adulterating oil.
   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 Biitish oil. (See
 note, p. 546.)  The dose  of  Barbadoes petroleum  is from  thirty drops to a
 small teaspoonful,  given  in any convenient vehicle.  Rangoon petroleum is
 probably  more active, and  should be given in a smaller dose.
   The New York 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.

               PETROSELINUM.  U. S. Secondary.

                             Parsley Boot.

   The root of Petroselinum sativum.  U. S.
   Persil, Fr.; Petersilie, Germ.; Prezzemolo, Ital.; Perexil, Span.
   Petroselinum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. — Nat Ord.  Apiaceas or
 Umbelliferas.
   Gen. Ch, Umbels compound. Involucres, partial of many, general of few
 bractes.  Calyx obsolete.   Fruit ovate, contracted  at the sides.  Ridges five,
 narrow, equal, the lateral  on  the edge. Vittas one to each furrow.  Albumen
 plano-convex. Lindley.
   Petroselinum  sativum.  Hoffmann, Unib.  i. t. 1, f. 2;  Lindley, Flor. Med.
 p. 35.—Apium Petroselinum.  Wrilld. Sp. Plant i. 1475; Woodv. Med. Bot,
 p. 118,  t. 45.   Parsley has a biennial root, with an annual, round,  furrowed,
jointed, erect, branching stem, 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, dark-green, 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 a volatile  oil, to
which it owes its odour and mainly its taste,  as well as  its use in seasoning.
M. H. Braconnot obtained from the herb a peculiar gelatinous substance, re-
sembling  pectic acid in appearance, which he named apiin. It differs from
pectin in being more soluble  in  alcohol than cold water, in not being precipi-
tated by alcohol from its watery solution, and in being separated by acids from
its alkaline  solutions unaltered, whereas  pectin is under  these circumstances
converted into pectic acid.  (Journ.  de Pharm,, 3e ser., xix. 448.)   It is pro-
cured 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 
 PART I.              Petroselinum.—Phosphorus.                   581

 cold water. (Philos. Mag., xxiv.  155.)   Though the root is the part directed
 by the Pharmacopoeia,  the fruit  is at  least equally  efficient.  Examined by
 MM. Joret and Homolle, the seeds were found to contain a volatile oil, a crys-
 tallizable fatty matter, pectin which fhey believe to be the apiin of Braconnot,
 chlorophylle,  tannin, a colouring  matter, extractive, lignin, various salts, and,
 in addition to these, a peculiar substance to which they gave the name, of apiol.
 This is a yellowish oily liquid, not volatile, heavier than water, of a peculiar
 and  tenacious odour distinct  from that of the plant, and  an acrid pungent
 taste.  It is inflammable, insoluble in water hot or cold, very soluble in alcohol,
 and dissolved in all proportions by ether and chloroform.  It is analogous to
 the fixed oils, but  is not chemically modified by the alkalies.   It  contains no
 nitrogen.   To  obtain it MM. Joret and Homolle exhausted  the seeds with
 alcohol, treated  the tincture with purified animal charcoal, distilled off three-
 fourths of the alcohol, treated the residue with ether or chloroform, evaporated
 the solution  thus  formed, mixed the residuary  liquid with  an eighth of its
 weight of litharge, allowed  the mixture to rest twenty-four hours, and then
 filtered through a  light layer of charcoal.  Apiol is supposed  by its discoverers
 to be the antiperiodic principle of parsley. (Journ.  de Pharm. et de Chim.,
 Sept. 1855, p. 210.)
   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 time.  It
 should be employed in the recent state.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Parsley root is said to be  aperient and diu-
 retic, and is occasionally used in nephritic and dropsical affections, in connexion
 with more active medicines.    It was highly recommended by Professor  Chap-
 man.   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 intermittents ;  i
 and the seeds, as well as their supposed active principle, have been employed
 with great asserted success in the same  complaint.  According to  MM. Joret
 and Homolle, apiol acts on the system very much like quinia, producing, in the
 dose of about 15 grains,  a slight cerebral excitation without unpleasant  effects
 of any kind, and, in double or quadruple the quantity, giving rise to a species
 of intoxication, with giddiness, morbid  sights and  sounds, frontal headache,
 and all the characteristic effects of a large dose of sulphate of quinia.   They
 found it to cure intermittents,  in  temperate latitudes,  in the proportion  of 86
 per cent,  of the cases; and, though it proved less effectual in  tropical regions,
 they seem to have shown that,  in the absence of Peruvian bark or its prepara-
 tions, it might be usefully resorted to as a substitute.                   W.

                      PHOSPHORUS. Lond.

                              Phosphorus.
   Phosphore, Fr.; Phosphor, Germ.; Fosforo, Ital., Span.
   This non-metallic element was  discovered in 1669 by Brandt, an alchemist
of Hamburg, who obtained it from putrid urine by a process  which remained
a secret until 1737.   As thus  obtained it was exceedingly scarce  and costly.
In 1769, the Swedish chemist Gahn discovered it in bones, and shortly after-
wards published  a process by which it might be extracted from them.
  Preparation.   Powdered calcined bones  (bone-phosphate  of lime) are di-
gested for twenty-four hours with two-thirds of their weight of 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 precipi- 
582
Phosphorus.
part i.
 tates as sulphate of lime;  while a superphosphate of lime remains in solution
 The liquid is then  strained through a linen cloth to separate the sulphate of
 lime, and afterwards submitted to evaporation, which causes a fresh precipita-
 tion of sulphate, to be separated by  a new straining.   The strained solution is
 evaporated to a syrupy consistence,  and then thoroughly mixed with half its
 weight of powdered charcoal, so as to  form a  mass, which  is dried by bein<r
 heated to dull redness.  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, fur-
 nished with a dome, in the most gradual  manner, so as to occupy about four
 hours in bringing it to a red heat.   Afterwards 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  phosphorus distilling over.  The calcined
 bones of the  sheep are preferred; as they contain most phosphate of lime and
 are more readily acted on by the acid.
   A  process  was recommended by Mr. Donovan, in which the calcining of the
 bones was avoided.   An account of it is contained in former editions of this
 work ; and an abstract of his paper may be  seen in the American Journal of
 Pharmacy (xxiv. 167).
   M.  Cari-Montrand proposes to obtain phosphorus by passing dry muriatic
 acid  gas over a mixture of equal parts  of bone-phosphate of lime and finely
 powdered charcoal, contained in a  porcelain tube, to which a glass  tube is
 attached, dipping under water.  Phosphorus and water distil over, carbonic
 oxide  is evolved, and  chloride of calcium is left in the  tube.  The following
 equation explains the reaction :—3CaO,P05 and 5C and 3HC1=P and 3H0
 and 5CO  and 3CaCl.
   The following improved process for obtaining phosphorus on a large scale
 is given by Hugo Fleck,  of Germany.  Clean,  broken bones, deprived of fat,
 are digested  in  dilute muriatic acid, which gives rise  to the formation  of
 chloride of calcium, and acid phosphate of lime (CaO,2HO 4- POs). The bone-
 cartilage, remaining undissolved by the acid, is used for preparing'gelatin. The
 solution is evaporated in pans, until its sp. gr. is  about 1-4, and then run off to
 cool,  when the acid phosphate crystallizes.   This  salt, having been separated
 from  the mother-liquor by being pressed between cloths and dried, appears as a
 white  gritty  powder with a pearly lustre.    The dry  salt, warmed, and mixed
 with a fourth of its weight of charcoal, is distilled from clay cylinders, like gas
 retorts.  Every five cylinders open into  one  receiver,  shaped  like a muffle, and
 contained in a channel through which water flows.  The residual bone-phosphate
 of lime, in the cylinders, is incinerated upon iron plates to burn away the char-
 coal, and is thus saved to prepare fresh acid phosphate.   By this process 100
 lbs of fresh bones yield from 6 to 7 lbs. of phosphorus, and from 10 to 20 of
 gelatin; while the process usually pursued, gives only 4 or 5  lbs. of phospho-
 rus.  (Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., Sept., 1856, p. 175.)
  Properties.  Phosphorus is a semitransparent solid, without taste, but pos-
sessing an alliaceous smell.  When perfectly pure it is colourless; but as usually
prepared it is yellowish or reddish-yellow.  It is  flexible, and when cut exhibits
a waxy lustre.   It is insoluble  in water, but dissolves sparingly in ether; an-
hydrous alcohol, and the oils, and abundantly in bisulphuret of carbon and chlo-
 roform.  Its  sp. gr. is 1-84, and its  equivalent number 32 (31-02 Schroetter), 
PART I.
Phosphorus.
583
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 dry
phosphoric acid. On account of its great inflammability, it must be kept under
water.   When  exposed to  the  air it undergoes a slow combustion, emitting
white vapours, which are luminous in the dark.  It sometimes contains arsenic
as an impurity; 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.
   Prof. Schroetter, of  Vienna,  has discovered an allotropic form of phospho-
rus, which he calls red or amorphous phosp>horus.  It is formed when ordinary
phosphorus is kept long at a  temperature between 419° and 482° F.,- in atmo-
spheres which have no action on it, or in closed glass tubes.   Red phosphorus
is much more indifferent than the ordinary substance, and is denser, its sp. gr.
being 2*11.  It is not  acted on by the air, and is insoluble  in bisulphuret of
carbon, alcohol, and ether, in  which ordinary phosphorus is soluble.  Solidified
from the fused state, it is brittle, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture.   Its
hardness is considerable.  Obtained by distillation in  a non-acting gas, it is
mixed with ordinary phosphorus, from which it may be freed by bisulphuret of
carbon, which  dissolves the  ordinary variety, and leaves  the allotropic as  a
deep-red amorphous powder.   It may also be purified by  shaking it up with a
solution of chloride of calcium, of a density intermediate between that of  red
and ordinary phosphorus, and  with a little bisulphuret of carbon.  The  red
variety will sink to the bottom, and the ordinary float on  top of the solution,
dissolved in the bisulphuret. (E. Nickles.)  Red phosphorus is not poisonous.
This has been proved beyond a doubt by the experiments of  MM. Reynal and
Lassaigne, and of MM. L. Orfila and Rigaut.  It is applicable to the manu-
facture of lucifer matches, and forms a much safer material than ordinary phos-
phorus.  It does not take fire by friction at common temperatures, and, there-
fore, may be  transported with the greatest safety.
   Phosphorus  forms with oxygen the hypophosphorous, phosphorous, and
phosphoric acids.   Of the last  mentioned acid there are three varieties, distin-
guished by containing, severally, one, two, and three equivalents of water.  The
only officinal compounds containing phosphorus are the  " diluted  phosphoric
acid" of the London College, and the phosphates of iron, lime, and soda.
   3Iedical Properties.  Phosphorus, exhibited  in small doses, acts as a power-
ful general stimulant;  in large  doses,  as a violent irritant poison.   Its action
seems directed particularly to the kidneys and genital Organs, producing  diuresis,
and excitation of the venereal appetite.  From its peculiar physiological action,
it is considered applicable to diseases attended with  prostration of the vital
powers.  It has been recommended in impotency, typhoid and typhus fevers,
dropsy, phthisis, marasmus, chlorosis, paralysis, amaurosis, mania, &c.   Those
who work in phosphorus, as  the manufacturers of lucifer matches, are liable to
necrosis  of the jaw-bones, the consequence  of periostitis.   The affection is
probably produced by  the inhalation of air contaminated  with  phosphorus
vapour, which has a local  action on the teeth,  gums, and jaws, and a general
deteriorating effect on  the blood.  Dr. James  R. Wood has recorded in  the
N. Y. Journ. of  3Ied. for May, 1-856, an interesting case of  a girl of sixteen,
in which the  entire lower jaw was removed for necrosis, caused by phosphorus.
   The usual  form for  exhibiting phosphorus is in oily solution.   The Oleum
Phosphoratum 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 dissolved.   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 mucila-
ginous liquid.   An aromatic flavour may be given by the addition of a few 
584
Phosphorus.
part i.
  drops of oil of bergamot.   Dr. R, M. Glover has  proposed to give phos
  phorus, dissolved in chloroform or cod-liver oil.  He makes the chloroform
  solution, which is  non-inflammable, by dissolving one part of phosphorus in
  four of chloroform.  Of this solution he gives four or five minims, twice a day
  with  a drachm of ether, in a wineglassful of port wine, in typhoid fever.  The
  solution in the cod-liver oil is effected by adding  the  phosphorus, in chips  to
  the oil contained in a bottle, in the proportion of half a grain to  the ounce
  The bottle is then immersed in hot water, and the solution effected by shaking
  This  mode of giving.phosphorus was used by Dr. Glover in  strumous cases
  (See  Braithwaite's Retrospect, Am. ed., xxvii. 246.)   Phosphorus has been
  given with success  in intermittents, dissolved in oil of turpentine. (Trans, of
  the 3Ied.  Soc. of Pennsylvania, iv. 119.)   Great caution is necessary in'its
  exhibition, and its  effects should be closely watched.  It ought never to be
  given in  substance.
    Toxical Properties and Tests.  Phosphorus, taken in a poisonous dose, pro-
  duces violent inflammation of the stomach and bowels,  attended  with intense
  pain,  obstinate vomitings, tremblings, and, finally, convulsions on the approach
  of death.  If swallowed in sticks on a full stomach, the poisonous  symptoms
 are some hours in manifesting themselves.   When taken  in  substance,  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 administered,  in order to prevent the combustion of the
 phosphorus, and to neutralize any acid  which may have been formed.  A case
 is related  by Dr. Landerer,  in which a  child who had  swallowed nearly a tea-
 spoonful of phosphorus paste,* prepared for killing rats, was  saved by the free
 administration of magnesia, rubbed  up  with sugared water.   Duflos has pro-
 posed, as an antidote, a mixture of one part of magnesia and eight of chlorine
 water.  From experiments made on rabbits, A. Bechert inferred that this mix-
 ture would prove useful; but similar experiments, made  by Schrader, L. Hof-
 mann, and Schuchardt, were without effect in  saving the animals.  From ex-
 periments on dogs, poisoned by phosphorus, MM. L.  Orfila and Rigaut have
 shown that putrefaction is remarkably retarded.  In a case of chronic poison-
 ing from the copious inhalation of  phosphorus vapour, the principal  results
 were a gradual decay of the sexual function and paralysis, terminating in death
 at the end of three years.  (Arch. Gen., Feb. 1853.)
   E. Mitscheriich gives the following as a  delicate test of phosphorus.  The
 suspected substance is distilled with  sulphuric acid and water from a flask, by
 means of a tube bent twice at right  angles, into a vertical cooling tube, pass-
 ing through  the bottom of a wide  glass cylinder filled with Water, which is
 constantly kept cold by passing cold water in at the  bottom, while  the warm
 water  escapes at the top.  Under the cooling  tube is placed a vessel  to receive
 the distillate.   If phosphorus is present, its vapour, mixed with steam, distils
 over/ and gives rise to a distinct luminous  appearance, visible in  the dark, at
 the point where it enters the cold part of the cooling tube.   The presence of
 alcohol and ether prevents  the occurrence of the luminous appearance, until
 they have distilled over.  Oil of turpentine has the same effect permanently,
 but is not likely to be present in medico-legal cases. (Am. Journ. of 3Ied. Sci,
 July, 1856, p. 280,  from the Lancet)   This test acts equally well in the pre-
 sence of fatty matters,  as has been shown by M. Vrij.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum Phosphoricum Dilutum.                         B.

 ■• * This paste is made as follows. Triturate six parts of phosphorus and one part of
 sulphur with six parts of water, until they liquefy.  Then mix in two parts of flour of
 mustard, eight parts of sugar, and twelve parts of  rye flour, with the aid of ten addi-
 tional parts of water, and  stir the whole, so as to form a soft paste, which must be kept
in pots  closely stopped. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., Sept. 1855, p. 473.) 
part I.  „     Phytolaccie Baccse.—Phytolacese Radix.            585
           PHYTOLACCA BACCA.  US. 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. Phytolaccaceas.
    Gen. Ch.  Calyx none.  Petals five, calycine.  Berry  superior, ten-ceiled,
  ten-seeded.  Willd.
    Phytolacca decandra. Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 822; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i.
  39; Barton, Med, Bot. ii. 213.  This is an indigenous plant, with a large per-
  ennial root, often five or six inches in diameter, divided into two or three prin-
  cipal branches, soft, fleshy, fibrous, whitish within, and covered 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.  They are round, very
  smooth, green when young, but purple after the berries have ripened.  The
  leaves are scattered, ovate-oblong, entire, pointed, smooth, ribbed beneath, and
  on short footstalks.  The  flowers are  numerous, small, and in long racemes,
  which are sometimes erect, sometimes drooping.   The corolla consists of five
  ovate, concave, whitish petals, folding  inwards.   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 containing 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 uncultivated
  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 magni-
  tude of the poke-weed, its large rich leaves, and its beautiful clusters 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 stems and leaves contain a very
  large proportion of potassa, yielding, according to Braconnot, not  less than
  42 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  re-
  spects.   The  leaves, berries,  and root are used, but  the  two latter only are
  mentioned in the Pharmacopoeia.  The root is most active. 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 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 con-
  tains saccharine matter, and, after fermenting, yields alcohol by distillation.

i 
586
Phytolaeese Badix.—Pimenta.
, PART I.
   The dried root is of a light yellowish-brown colour externally, very much
 wrinkled, and, when in transverse slices, exhibits on the cut surface numerous
 concentric rings, formed by the projecting ends of fibres, between which the in-
 tervening matter has shrunk in drying.   The structure internally 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 alcohol.   From the analysis of Mr. Edward Donelly, the
 root appears to contain tannic acid, starch, gum, sugar, resin, fixed oil, and lig-
 nin, besides various inorganic substances. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 169 )
   Medical 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 drowsiness'
 vertigo, and  dimness  of vision.  In overdoses  it produces  excessive vomitin*
 and purging, attended with great prostration of strength, and sometimes with
 convulsions.   A case is' recorded in the Stethoscope, for March, 1852 (ii. 134)
 by Dr.  Geo. F. Terrill, of Hanover Co., Va., in  which death was produced in a
 woman  by eating a double  handful of the  berries.  Free purgation followed
 upon the first day, after which coma set in, with great prostration, though death
 did not occur until  after the  sixth day.   Poke root  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.  Dr. C. S. Pen-
 ner, of Memphis, Tennessee, has found it highly useful, as an internal remedy,
 in granular conjunctivitis, especially in preventing  the relapses to which the
 affection is so liable.  (N Am.  Med. & Surg. Rev.,  Jan. 1857.)   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 di-
 luted alcohol, may be given in rheumatic cases, in  the  dose of a fluidrachm,
 three times a day.  Dr. Fenner uses a saturated decoction, of which he gives a
 wineglassful  every two or three hours.  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 ad-
 vantage in psora, tinea capitis, and  some other forms of  cutaneous disease.
 Dr. H.  G. Carey, of Dayton, Ohio, has cured three cases of sycosis, and one of
 favus by the local use of a decoction of the root. (Va. 3Ied. Journ., Aug. 1856,
 p. 144, from Western Lancet.) It occasions at first a sense of heat and smart-
 ing in  the part to which it is applied.  An  extract made by evaporating the
 expressed 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.  Eugenia Pimenta. The unripe
 fruit, Lond.   The,unripe berries, Ed., Dub.
  Allspice, Jamaica pepper; Piment, Poivre de la Jamaioue,  Fr.; Nelkenpfeffer, Gem.;
Pimenti, Ital; Pimienta de la Jamaica, Span.
  Myrtus.   Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Myrtaceas. 
PART I.
         »
Pimenta.—Piper.
587
  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.
194.1— Eugenia Pimenta.  De Cand. Prodrom. iii. 285; Lindley, Flor. Med.
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 in flower.
   It is a native of the West Indies, Mexico, and South America,  and is abun-
dant 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 suf-
ficiently 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
their virtues to alcohol.  The infusion is of a brown colour, and reddens litmus
paper.   They yield a volatile oil by distillation.  (See Oleum Pimentse.)   Bo-
nastre obtained from them  a volatile oil, a green fixed oil, a fatty  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 prin-
ciple.  Upon this, therefore, together with  the volatile oil, the  medical pro-
perties 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 Bo-
nastre, 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.
   Medical  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 wdth much
flatulence.   It is,  however, much more largely employed as a condiment than
as a medicine.  The dose is from ten to forty grains.   A tincture of pimento
has  been recommended as a local application in chilblains.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Pimentes;  Oleum Pimentae ;  Spiritus Pimentes;  Syrupus
Rhamni.                                                            W.

                             PIPER.  U.S.

                             Black  Pepper.
   The berries of piper nigrum. U. S.
   Off. Syn.  PIPER  NIGRUM.  Piper nigrum.   The unripe  fruit.  Lond.
Dried unripe berries.  Ed.,  Dub. 
588
Piper.
, part r.
  Poivre, Fr.; Schwarzer Pfeffer, Germ.; Gemeine peper, Dutch; Pepe nero, Ital.; Pi.
mienta negra, Span.; Fifil uswud, Arab.; Lada, Malay; Maricha, Javan.; Sahan, Pa-
lembang.
  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
entire, 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 red when ripe.
  The plant grows wild in Cochin-china and various parts of India.  It is cul-
tivated on the coast of Malabar, in the peninsula of Malacca, in Siam, Sumatra,
Java, Borneo, the Philippines,  and many other places in the East.   Crawford
states 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 berries 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
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, pun-
gent, almost fiery taste.   They yield their  virtues partially to water, entirely
to alcohol  and ether.  Pelletier found them to contain  a peculiar crystalline
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,
starch, a portion of bassorin, tartaric and malic acids, lignin, and various salts.
Piperin was discovered by Professor Oersted, of Copenhagen, who considered
it an organic  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 con-
crete oil with which it is mixed when not very carefully prepared.   When per-
fectly pure, piperin is in  colourless transparent crystals,  according to Pelletier
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 becoming
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  emitted an
irritating vapour when thrown on heated iron.  As ordinarily procured the
crystals  are yellow.  Piperin consists of  nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and ox-
ygen;  and its formula, according to  Wertheim,  is  NaC7OH37O10.*   It is ob-

  *  An interesting chemical investigation into the  nature of piperin has been made by
Wertheim, the result of which is that it probably consists of a volatile alkaline prin-
ciple (NC12H7), combined with an electro-negative compound (NC58H30O,0), which,
however, is thus far hypothetical. The former is obtained by distilling piperin mixed
with soda and hydrate of lime, at a temperature between 300° and 320°.  It is con-
sidered by Wertheim as identical with picolin, previously obtained by Dr. Anderson 
part I.                 Piper.—Piper Longum.                    589

tained by treating pepper with alcohol, evaporating the tincture to the con-
sistence 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 ob-
tained 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
mainly on the concrete oil or resin, 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 10 eqs. of carbon and 8 of
hydrogen, and forms a liquid, but not a concrete compound with muriatic acid.
   3Iedical 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 Hip-
pocrates it has been employed as a condiment and medicine.  Its chief medicinal
application  is  to excite the languid stomach, and correct flatulence.   It was
long since occasionally administered for the cure of intermittents ; but--its em-
ployment for this purpose had passed from the profession  to  the vulgar, till a
few years since revived by  an Italian physician, to be again consigned to for-
getfulness.   Piperin has also been employed in the  same  complaint, and has
even been thought  superior to sulphate of quinia; but experience has not con-
firmed this favourable opinion.   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 pro-
bably less active than the alcoholic extract of pepper.  In intermittent fever,
when the stomach is not duly susceptible to the action of quinia, as sometimes
in  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
whole  or in powder; but is more energetic in the  latter  state.   Piperin has
been given in doses varying from one to six or eight grains.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Piperis; Confectio Rutas;  Emplastrum Cantharidis
Compositum ; Extractum Piperis Fluidum.                            W.


                  PIPER LONGUM.  Lond., Ed.

                             Long Pepper.

   Piper longum. The unripe fruit.  Lond. The dried spikes. Ed,
   Poivre longue, Fr.; Langer Pfeflfer, Germ.; Pepe lungo, Ital.; Pimienta larga, Span.
   Piper. See CUBEBA.
   Piper longum.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i.  161;  Woodv. Med.  Bot p. 724, t. 247.
This species of Piper differs from its congeners in having its lower leaves cor-
date, petiolate, seven-nerved, its upper oblong-cordate, sessile, and five-nerved;

from the reaction of nitric acid on piperin, and described by him in a paper presented
at the meeting of the British Association, at Edinburgh in 1850. (Chem.  Gaz., Aug.
1849, p. 309,  from Liebig's  Annalen.)  M. Cahours has since  repeated the experi-
ments of Wertheim, and obtained the same alkaline principle, which he names piperi-
din, and for which he gives the formula NC10Hn, corresponding precisely with that
given by Dr. Anderson for picolin.  According to M. Cahours, it  is a colourless liquid,
having a mixed odour of ammonia and pepper, a very caustic taste, and a strong alka-
line reaction.  It is soluble  in water  in all proportions, and forms crystallizable salts
with several acids. (Ibid., May 1, 1852, p  167.) 
590           Piper Longum.—Pix.—Pix Burgundiea.       part i.

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 mat-
ter.  It is a native of South-eastern Asia, and is produced abundant Iv in Ben-
gal and  other 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.
M. Dulong found its chemical composition to be closely analogous to that  of
black pepper.  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 black
pepper;  but it is  considered inferior to that spice, and is seldom used.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio  Opii; Pulvis Cinnamomi Compositus; Pulvis Creta1
Compositus ;  Tinctura Cinnamomi Composita.                       W.

                             PIX. Lond.

                                 Pitch.

   Dry bitumen prepared from tar. 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.   It  was formerly called pix nigra or black pitch.   It has a shining frac-
ture, 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 oipyretin. (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.
   Off. Prep. Unguentum Picis.                                     W.

         PIX BURGUNDICA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                           Burgundy Pitch.

   The prepared concrete juice of Abies excelsa. U. S.  Impure resin prepared
from the turpentine. Lond.  Concrete resinous exudation, probably in a great
measure from Abies excelsa. Ed.  Abies excelsa.  Burgundy pitch. Dub.
   Poix de Bourgogne, Poix jaune, Poix blanche, Fr.; Burgundisches Pech, Germ.
   The genus Pinus of Linnasus has been divided into three genera, viz., Pinus,
Abies, and Larix; the first including the pines, the second the firs and spruces,
and  the third the larches;  and the division is recognised in this work.
   Abies. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia. —Nat. Ord, Pinaceas or Coniferae.
   Gen. Ch, Male flowers.  Catkins solitary, not racemose; Scales staraini-
ferous at the apex. Stamens two, with one-celled anthers.  Females.  Catkins
simple.   Ovaries 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 Candolle.— A. communis.  Loudon's Encyc. of Plants.—
Pinus Abies.  Willd. Sp.  Plant iv. 506 ;  Woodv.  Med. Bot. p.  4, t. 2.   The
Norway spruce is a very lofty tree, rising sometimes one hundred and fifty feet 
PART I.
Pix Burgundica.
591
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 cylindrical 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 picea, or  European silver fir tree.   Accord-
ing 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 various 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  incisions,
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 made by
melting together common pitch, rosin, and turpentine, and agitating the mix-
ture 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 impuri-
ties, 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 volatile oil.
   Thus.  Frankincense.   Under the name of  Thus, the London and Dublin
Colleges direct the concrete juice of the spruce fir, as taken immediately from
the bark of the tree without any preparation.  The London College recognises
also Pinus palustris as one of its sources. As sold in London it is in all proba-
bility derived chiefly if not exclusively from the latter tree, being in fact noth-
ing more  than our common  turpentine, perfectly dry and brittle. (See Tere-
binthina.)  It is in solid, brittle tears, of a yellowish or brownish-yellow colour
on the outside, and paler within, and emits an  agreeable odour when burned.
It softens and becomes adhesive at the temperature of the body.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Applied to the skin in the shape of  a plaster,
Burgundy pitch acts as a  gentle rubefacient, producing a slight 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 severe pain,  swelling, and redness, followed
by vesication and even ulceration.  It is used chiefly in chronic rheumatic pains,
and in chronic affections of the  chest or abdomen, which call  for a gentle but
long-continued revulsion to the skin.   The resinous exudation  of the  spruce fir
(thus or frankincense) is used only as an ingredient of plasters.
   Off. Prep, of Burgundy Pitch,   Emplastrum Cantharidis  Compositum ;
Emplast. Ferri;  Emplast. Galbani Comp.; Emplast. Opii; Emplast.  Picis;
Emplast. Picis Burgundicas; Emplast. Picis cum Cantharide; Pix Burgundica
Prasparata.
   Off. Prep, of Frankincense.   Thus Prasparatum.                   W. 
592
Pix Canadensis.—Pix Liquida.
PART I.
                      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 hi"-h 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 ex-
  tremities.  The leaves are very numerous, six or eight lines long, flat, denticu-
  late, and irregularly arranged  in  two rows.   The  strobiles are ovate little
  longer than the leaves, terminal, and pendulous.
   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 Pinaceas; 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
 volatile oil.   The bark thus incrusted is stripped from the tree, broken into
 pieces 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, inter-
 spersed 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, becoming still darker by exposure to the air, of a weak peculiar odour,
 and scarcely any taste.  It  softens and becomes adhesive with a moderate heat,
 and melts at 198° F.  Its constituents are resin  and a minute  proportion of
 volatile oil.   It is commonly known by the incorrect name of hemlock gum.
   3fedical 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 sometimes
 almost too soft for convenient application at the temperature of the body.  A
 volatile oil  obtained from Abies Canadensis, and  called oil of hemlock, has
 been employed to  produce  abortion, with the effect of endangering  the life of
 the female. (J. S.  Paige, N Y.  Journ. of Med., viii. 184.)             W.


            PIX  LIQUIDA. U. S., Lond. Ed., Dub.

                                  Tar.

  The impure turpentine procured by burning from the wood of Pinus palus-
tris and other species of Pinus. U. S.  Pinus sylvestris and other species. Li-
quid bitumen prepared from the wood by fire. Lond.  Tar from various species
of Pinus and Abies. Ed.  Tar from Pinus sylvestris.  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 Pinus palustris of the Southern States.  (See Terebinthina.) 
PART I.
Pix Liquida.
593
 The dead wood is usually selected, because, wfteii vegetation  ceases, the resin-
 ous 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 char-
 coal.   The stack is built upon a small circular mound of earth previously pre-
 pared, the summit of which gradually declines from the circumference to the
 centre, where a cavity is formed, communicating by a  conduit with a shallow
 ditch surrounding 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 trans-
 ferred into barrels.  Immense quantities  of tar are thus prepared in North
 Carolina and the south-eastern parts of Yirginia, sufficient, after supplying our
 own consumption, to afford a large surplus for exportation.
    Considerable quantities of tar have also been 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  per-
 haps 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 Aceticum), 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,  which he has named paraffin, eupion,
 creasote, picamar,  capnomor,  and pittacal.   Of these, only picamar  and
 creasote 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 propor-
 tion of its constituents to water, which is  thus rendered medicinal, and is  em-
 ployed under the. name of  tar water.   It is  dissolved by alcohol, ether, and
 the volatile and fixed oils.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.   The medical properties of tar are  similar
 to  those of the turpentines.   It is  occasionally used with advantage in chronic
 catarrhal affections, and  complaints of the urinary passages.  Little  benefit
 can be expected from it in genuine phthisis, in  the treatment of which it  was
 formerly recommended.   Dr. Bateman employed it  advantageously as an inter-
 nal remedy in ichthyosis.  Its vapour,  inhaled into  the lungs, has been found
 serviceable in  numerous cases of bronchial disease.   Its effects in this way are
 most conveniently obtained by placing a cup containing tar or oil of tar  in  a
 small water-bath, over a common nurse-lamp, and  thus  impregnating the air
 of  the chamber.  Externally applied, in  the state of ointment, tar 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, or in  substance  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 repeated so as to amount to
three or four drachms daily.
  Tar water  (Aqua Picis Liquidse) may be prepared by stirring a pint  of
tar  with half a gallon of  water for fifteen  minutes, then  allowing the  tar to
subside, and straining the liquid.   Water  takes from tar a small portion of
       38 
594
Pix Liquida.—Plumbum.
part I.
acetic acid, empyreumatic oil, and resinous  matter, acquiring a  sharp empv-
reumatic taste, and the colour of Madeira wine.  Thus impregnated it is stim-
ulant and diuretic, and may be taken in the quantity of from one to two pints
daily.   It is also Used as a wash in chronic cutaneous  affections, and is said
to have proved beneficial, by injection into the bladder, in some cases of chronic
cystitis. *
   Off. Prep. Unguentum Picis  Liquidas. .                             vy

                              PLUMBUM.

                                   Lead.

   Plomb, Fr.; Blei, Germ.; Lood, Dutch; Plombo, Ital.; Plomo, Span.; Chumho, Port.
   Lead is not officinal in its metallic state,  but enters into a number of im-
portant medicinal preparations.   It  occurs  in  nature  as an oxide, as  a sul-
phuret called galena, and in saline combination, forming the native sulphate
phosphate, carbonate, chromate, molybdate, tungstate,  and arseniate  of lead!
The oxide is rare, but  galena is  exceedingly abundant, and is  the  ore from
which nearly all  the lead of commerce is extracted.   The process of extrac-
tion consists in  melting the ore in contact  with  charcoal.   The richest and
most extensive mines of galena are found in this 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 miles.
   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 page 116.) Its
sp. gr. is 11-4, melting point about 612°, and equivalent number  103-6.  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 dioxide, 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 en-
crusted with a gray pellicle,  which, being scraped off, is  quickly succeeded by

  T 7la-r ?len °I Wine °f Tar'  A Prf3Paration under this name has been used to some
extent in Philadelphia in pulmonary affections.   The following is the formula recom-
mended by Prof. Procter.  Take of ground malt, honey, and tar, each a pound ; yeast
half a pint.  Mix the malt and honey with six pints of water in an earthen vessel;
keep the mixture for three hours, with occasional  stirring, at the temperature of 150°
F. ; then allow it  to cool to 80°, and add the yeast.   Sustain the fermentation for
thirty-six hours by a heat between 70° and 80°, then decant the supernatant liquid,
add the tar gradually to the dregs, stirring constantly,  so as to make a  uniform mix-
ture and return the decanted fluid to the vessel.  Stir the whole occasionally for  a
week, adding water so as to preserve the original measure ; then strain with strong
expression allow the expressed liquor to stand until it becomes nearly clear by sub-
sidence, and finally filter through paper.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxii. 111.) 
PART I.
Plumbum.
595
 another;  and the whole of the metal, being in this way successively presented
 to the air, becomes converted into a greenish-gray powder, consisftng of pro-
 toxide and metallic lead.  This, by exposure to a moderate heat, absorbs more
 oxygen,  and is  converted wholly into  protoxide.   This  oxide has a yellow
 colour, and is the only oxide of  lead capable of forming salts with the acids.
 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  ses-
 quioxide, discovered by Winckelblech, is unimportant.  The deutoxide, called
 also puce oxide from its /fea-brown colour, may be obtained by treating red
 lead with nitric  acid.  The acid takes up the protoxide and leaves the deut-
 oxide, which may be purified  by washing with boiling water.   A more pro-
 ductive process is  to precipitate four  parts  of acetate of  lead  by three of
 carbonate of soda,  and then to pass into the thin  pasty mass of carbonate of
 lead a stream of chlorine, which converts the protoxide of the  carbonate into
 the brown deutoxide. (F. Wohler.)  Solution of chlorinated  soda  maybe con-
 veniently employed to furnish  the necessary chlorine. (F. F. Mayer. Am. J.
 of Pharm.,  Sept., 1856, 410.)   Deutoxide of lead 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 de-
 scribed under another head.  (See Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum.) Lead combines
 with iodine, forming the officinal iodide  of lead.   The acetate, carbonate,  and
 nitrate are also officinal.
   The best tests of lead 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 reducing
 the action of the heart and arteries, and  for restraining inordinate discharges;
 and externally as an abater of  inflammation.   When  introduced into the sys-
 tem in a gradual manner with the food or drinks, or by working in the metal,
 or when taken in small and frequently repeated doses, it acts injuriously on the
 nervous system, producing a peculiar colic, called  lead colic, sometimes apo-
 plectic symptoms, and occasionally palsy, which is  almost always partial, and
 affects for the most part the upper extremities.   In. some instances salivation
 occurs, and, according 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.  According to Mialhe
 lead gains access to the circulation by means of the chlorides of the  alkalifiable
 metals in  the  alimentary canal, which form with  the  lead a soluble double
 chloride of lead and potassium, or of  lead and sodium.  The treatment neces-
 sary in lead colic is given under carbonate of lead.   Lead palsy is  usually at-
 tended with  dyspepsia, constipation, tendency to colic, lassitude, and gloomi-
 ness of mind, and is best treated, after the elimination of the lead, by tonics,
 aperients, exercise, and avoidance of the cause of the disease.   The acute poi-
 sonous effects of  the lead preparations are to be combated by emetics, if free
 vomiting  has not previously occurred, by purges of sulphate of magnesia or
 sulphate of soda, and by opium.   These sulphates are supposed to act as anti-
 dotes by forming sulphate of lead.  It is  probable that they lessen the poison-
 ous effects  of the soluble salts of lead; but the sulphate, though insoluble in
 water, is probably, to some extent, soluble in the gastric juice; and, so far as
its external use in the form  of ointment is concerned, it has been found by
Flandin to prove poisonous to the inferior animals. 
596
Plumbum.
part i.
   For the purpose  of eliminating lead from the system, warm sulphuretted
baths are useful, formed by dissolving four ounces, of sulphuret of potassium in
thirty gallons of water, in a wooden tub.  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 w*ell washed with soap and water by the aid of a flesh-brush, 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!
Dr. Melsens praises iodide of potassium as a means of separating lead from
the tissues, acting by rendering the metal soluble,  and separating it principally
by the urine.  (See Potassii Iodidum.)
  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 membrane, 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 surface, they are  instantly
blackened.  (Archives Gen., 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.   It may be supposed to  act by forming the com-
paratively inert sulphate  of lead with the poison.   Mr. Benson, a  manager of
white lead works at Birmingham, has tried this acid, and finds it a 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 neu-
tralize the whole of the acid.   On the other hand, the powers of sulphuric acid
in preventing the poisonous effects of lead are positively denied by Dr. A. Gri-
solle, Dr. Melsens, and other authorities. Dr. Grisolle  recommends that work-
men employed in lead manufactories should use frequent  baths, avoid intem-
perance,  and  always  eat before they enter upon  their  work  in the morning.
He supposes that, in  a great majority of cases, the metal is introduced into the
system through the stomach by means of the  saliva or food.
  According to MM. Sandras and Bouchardat, the hydrated sesquisulphuret
of iron  acts  as  an  antidote to the salts of lead; and  its  efficacy has been
confirmed by its  effects in a case reported by M.  Lepage. (Ann. de Tlierap.,
1851, p.  224.)   After  acute  poisoning by lead, the metal has been found in
the liver  and brain.  Indeed,  it may be  detected in most of the organs, a long
time after the ingestion of the poison.
   The following table embraces all the officinal preparations  of lead.
   Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum, Ed,
   Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum, U. S.; Plumbi Oxidum, Lond.; Lithargynmi,
                Ed., Dub. Litharge.
       Emplastrum Plumbi, U S., Lond,; Emplastrum Lithargyri, Ed., Bub.
                Lead plaster. Litharge plaster.
           Unguentum Plumbi Compositum, Lond.
       Liquor Plumbi  Subacetatis, U.S.; Liquor Plumbi Diacetatis, Lond.;
                Plumbi Diacetatis Solutio, Ed.; Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor,
                Dub.    Goulard's extract
           Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis  Dilutus, U. S.; Liquor Plumbi Diace-
                tatis Dilutes, Lond.; Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor Compositus,
                Dub.   Lead-water.
\ 
parti.               Plumbum.—Plumbi Acetas.                   597

           Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, U.S.; Ceratum Plumbi Compositum,
                Lond,   Goulard's cerate.
           Ceratum Saponis, U. S.; Ceratum Saponis Compositum, Lond.
  Plumbi Iodidum, U. S., Lond,, Ed,, Dub.
       Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond,, Dub.
  Plumbi Acetas,  U. S., Lond,,  Ed,, Dub.
       Ceratum Plumbi Acetatis, Lond.; Unguentum Plumbi Acetatis, Ed., Dub.
       Pilulas Plumbi Opiatas, Ed,
  Plumbi Carbonas, U. S., Ed., Dub.
       Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis, U.S., Ed., Dub.
  Plumbi Nitras, U S., Ed.,  Dub.                                    B.


          PLUMBI ACETAS.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dab.

                           Acetate  of Lead.

  Sugar of Lead ; Saecharum Saturni,  Cerussa acetata, Lat.; Acetate de plomb, Sucre
de plomb, Sel de Saturne, Fr.; Essigsaures Bleioxyd, Bleizucker,  Germ.; Zucchero di
Saturno, Ital.; Azucar de plomo, Span.
  Of the Pharmacopoeias commented on in this work, the Edinburgh alone
gives a formula for preparing this salt.  In the other Pharmacopoeias it is more
properly placed in the catalogue of the Materia Medica.
  Preparation. Acetate 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 me-
tallic surface in contact with the air. The metal, after having become protoxi-
dized, 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 acid has become saturated,  the
solution is transferred to other vessels  to  cool and  crystallize.   The  crystals
having formed, the mother waters are decanted, and, by evaporation, made to
yield a new crop.   These are generally yellow, but may be rendered white by <-'
repeated solutions  and crystallizations.
  Acetate 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,
which have the shape of prisms, terminated  by dihedral  summits.  Its taste
is at first sweet and afterwards  astringent.   Exposed to the air it  effloresces
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 com-
mon water is turbid, in consequence of the formation of carbonate of lead with
the carbonic acid which such water  always contains.  This turbidness 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 en-
tirely, and form a clear solution.   The commercial acetate is sometimes impure
from the presence  of sulphate and  carbonate of lead.  In purchasing it the
apothecary should  select large crystalline masses.  Mr. John  Mackay analyzed
a specimen of this salt,  derived from  the London market, which contained 
 598                         Plumbi Acetas.                      part i.

 nearly thirty per cent, of sulphate of lead.   (Pharm, Journ. and Trans., Jan.
 Is5i;, 316.)   Sulphuric acid, when added to a solution of acetate of lead, pro-
 duces  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 decom-
 posed, yielding acetic acid and pyroacetic 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 wdiich produce with protoxide  of lead insoluble or
 sparingly soluble compounds.   Acids of this character are the sulphuric, muri-
 atic, citric, and tartaric.  It is also  decomposed by lime-water,  and by ammo-
 nia, 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 potas-
 sium, a yellow one of iodide of lead; and with a  carbonated alkali,  a white one
 of carbonate of lead.
   3Iedical Properties and  Uses. Acetate of lead, in medicinal doses, is a power-
 ful astringent and sedative; in over-doses, an irritant poison.  It has sometimes
 been given in pretty large doses in regular practice without any bad effects; and
 cases are on record where a quarter of an  ounce has been swallowed  without
 proving fatal.  On the other hand, it sometimes produces colica  pictonum, even
 when given in medicinal doses.  It is proper to remark, however, 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
 class of diseases in which acetate of lead  has been  most frequently used, are
 hemorrhages,  particularly from  the lungs, stomach, intestines, and uterus. Its
 effect in restraining the discharge of blood is admitted to be very powerful.  It
 has been employed by Dr. Burkart with supposed benefit in pneumonia, especially
 in cases occurring in the aged, in which bleeding  or antimony cannot be borne.
 It has also  been used with  advantage in certain forms of dysentery and diar-
 rhoea,  and has been  recommended in particular stages of cholera infantum.
 Combined with opium, it is  well suited to the treatment of the diarrhoea occur-
 ring in phthisis.  It sometimes  proves a valuable remedy in checking vomiting
 Dr. Irvine, of Charleston, recommended it  to compose  the  irritability of the
 stomach in yellow fever.  Dr. Wood has employed it in several  cases of yellow
 fever, at the beginning  of the second stage,  with apparently  good effect.  The
 dose recommended is two  grains every two hours, given steadily  until thirty-six
 grains have been taken.  Dr. Wood conceives that the remedy is well suited to
 obviate the peculiar inflammation of the gastric mucous membrane, and to pre-
 vent hemorrhage, either of pure blood, or of altered blood in  the form of black
 vomit.   (Trans, of the College of Phys. of Philad., ii. 449.)  Dr. Davis, of
 Columbia, S. O, has  used acetate of lead with benefit in the irritable stomach
 attendant on bilious fever.   It has been much  extolled by the German practi-
 tioners in the class of fevers, attended with ulcerations of the intestines.  In
 some of these cases it was advantageously combined with carbonate of ammonia.
 The same practitioners have strongly recommended it in aneurism of the aorta,
 and Diipuytren, on their report of its efficacy, tried it in several cases, and with
marked effect in diminishing the size of the aneurismal tumour.   Dr. Wood has
imitated the practice in aneurism of the aorta, and employed  it in several cases 
part I.           Plumbi Acetas.—Plumbi Carbonas.               599

of enlarged heart, with encouraging results.   In the treatment of the  latter
disease, the testimony of  M. Brachet, of Lyons, is strongly in favour of the
remedy.  Acetate of lead has been employed by Drs. Neuhold and Hasserbronc,
with remarkable success, in strangulated hernia, used in enemata, containing
ten grains of the  salt dissolved in six fluidounces of tepid water, and repeated
every two hours,   In mercurial salivation,  M. Brachet found it very efficacious,
administered  in grain pills, night and morning.  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 inflammation.   It is sometimes
advantageous to associate opium with the solution, 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.
   When employing this medicine, the practitioner should  bear in mind that,
when long continued in small doses, it is apt to produce dangerous constitutional
effects.   These are chiefly of two kinds; 1. an affection of the alimentary canal?
attended with severe pain  and obstinate constipation, called colica pictonum,
or lead colic; 2. a chronic affection of the muscles, especially of the extensors
of the  upper  extremities, characterized by an excessive wasting 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 constitu-
tional  symptoms  is indicated by a  narrow lead-blue line at  the edge of the
gums.  (Seepage  595.)
   The dose of acetate of lead is from one to three grains, in the Torm 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 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.   When  the  skin is denuded of  the
cuticle, the solution should be weaker.   The usual strength of the solution as a
collyrium is from  one to two grains  to the fluidounce of distilled water.
   Ojf. Prep.  Acidum Aceticum; Acidum Aceticum Glaciale; Liquor  Plumbi
Subacetatis;  Pilulas Plumbi Opiatas;  Plumbi  Iodidum;  Unguentum  Plumbi
Acetatis; Zinci Acetas.                                              B.


           PLUMBI CARBONAS. U. S.,  Ed,, Dub.

                          Carbonate of Lead,

   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  acid combines with the ex-
cess 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 decomposed by car-
bonic acid.   The  carbonate obtained is washed, dried with a gentle heat, and
thrown into commerce.  This  process, which produces white  lead of the first
quality, was invented by Thenard, about the  year  1802, and is that which is
usually pursued in France  and Sweden. 
600
Plumbi Carbonas.
part i.
   A modification of the process of Thenard is now pursued by some manufac-
 turers 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 vinegar
 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 slant-
 ing 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 equi-
 distant 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 roughlv
 constructed of boards, with interstices between  them.   The first layer is covered
 with boards, on which a stratum of tan  or of refuse straw from  the stables is
 strewed; and fresh  layers of  pots,  boards, and tan or straw are successively
 placed until the 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 genera]
 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  carbonic 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 carbonate 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  the latter to  unite with the carbonic acid.   In the
 Dutch process, Pelouze has  rendered it almost certain, that none of the oxygen
 or carbonic acid of the carbonate is  derived from the vinegar.   In this process
 he supposes that the heat, generated by the fermentation of the tan or  straw,
 volatilizes the vinegar, the acetic acid of which, with the assistance of the oxy-
 gen 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  tan  or
 straw, or derived from the atmosphere, forms carbonate of lead, and is reduced
 to the state ofrneutral 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 carbonate.
  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 this
process is 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 
part I.                    Plumbi Carbonas.                        601

been substituted for it wdth 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.
  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 effervescence
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.   These sulphates, if present, are left undissolved
by nitric acid.  Chalk or whiting 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 protoxide 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 111-6 = 133-6.  Commercial white lead is a compound
of the carbonate and hydrate of lead.  Mulder and  Hochstetter make its  for-
mula to be 2(PbO,COJ-f 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, in
the form of  ointment, as an application to ulcers, and to  inflamed and exco-
riated surfaces. (See Unguentum Plumbi  Carbonatis.)  It is recommended
in scalds and burns by Prof. Gross;  and Dr. Henry, of Iowa, bears testimony
to its efficacy.  The white lead is first brought  to the  consistence of  cream by
linseed oil, as in making common white paint, and then brushed over the in-
flamed surface.   Its external use,  however, is viewed by many practitioners as
dangerous, on  account of the  risk of absorption; but the occurrence  of  bad
effects is rare.  A case,  however, of colica pictonum from the white lead treat-
ment of  a severe scald is reported by Dr. G.  A.  Kunkler, of Madison,  Ia.  (See
N. A. 3Iedico-chir. Rev., July, 1857, 605.)
   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  castor oil
and sulphate of magnesia  are to be preferred.  Indeed, the latter appears
peculiarly adapted  to the  case; for,  while it acts as  an  aperient, it operates
to some extent as a counterpoison, by forming sulphate of  lead  with  any
soluble compound of the metal which it may meet with in the bowels.   Calo-
mel is often  useful; and, if it happen to induce ptyalism, the  complaint im-
mediately yields.   By some practitioners alum  is  deemed  almost  a specific  in
colica pictonum.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis.                         B. 
602
Plumbi Nitras.
part i.
              PLUMBI  NITRAS.   U. S., Ed., Dub.

                           Nitrate of Lead.

  This salt has been introduced into the Materia Medica of the U. S. Pharma-
copoeia, chiefly as one of the substances employed in the preparation of iodide
of lead.   The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges give processes for its preparation.
  "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,
  "Take of Litharge, in fine powder, five ounces [avoirdupois]; Pure Nitric
Acid two fluidounces; Distilled Water three pints [Imp. meas.] ; Dilute Nitric
Acid, a sufficient quantity.   To the litharge, placed in  a  porcelain  dish, add
the acid with a pint and a half of the water, and, applying  a sand heat, and
occasionally stirring the mixture, evaporate the whole to dryness.   Upon the
residue boil the- remainder of the water, clear  the solution  by filtration, and,
having acidulated it by the  addition of a few drops of the dilute nitric acid,
evaporate  until a  pellicle begins to form.  The  heat being now withdrawn,
crystals will form .on  the  cooling of the solution, which should be dried on
blotting  paper in a warm atmosphere, and preserved in  a close bottle." Bub.
  In  these processes the nitric acid unites directly with the protoxide of lead
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 seven and a half parts of water, and in alcohol, and composed of one
eq.  of acid 54, and one of protoxide 111*6 = 1656, without water of crys-
tallization.
  The following characteristics  are given  in  the U. S. Pharmacopia.  "Its
solution is  precipitated black by sulphohydrate of ammonia, white by ferrocy-
anuret of potassium, and yellow by iodide of potassium.  When nitrate of lead
is triturated with sulphuric acid, the mixture colours morphia red, and if heated
evolves nitrous fumes."
  3Iedical Properties,  &c.   The effects of  this salt upon  the system are the
same as those  of the other soluble salts of lead; but, though formerly employed,
it is now quite out of use as an internal remedy.   Externally it is occasionally
applied to  excoriated surfaces; and a solution made in the proportion of ten
grains to an ounce of water, and  coloured probably with alkanet, has been
used on the continent of Europe, as a secret remedy, in  sore nipples, chopped
hands, cracked lips, &c.   It has recently been  found useful  in the  correction
of fetid odours dependent on the presence  of sulphuretted hydrogen or hydro-
sulphate 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  substances;  and there
is no reason to suppose that it is  capable of rendering contagious  or marsh
miasms  innoxious.   Ledoyerfs disinfecting fluid is a  solution of nitrate of
lead in the proportion of  a  drachm to an ounce.  Should the salt be used in-
ternally, the dose would be from the fourth to  the half of a grain.
  Dr. Ogier Ward has found a solution extremely useful as an  injection and
lotion in cases of fetid discharges from the uterus  and vagina, in  gleety dis-
charges from  the urethra, in sloughing  and indolent ulcers, and  in chronic
impetiginous affections of the skin.   He prepares the  solution  extemporane-
ously by dissolving a scruple of carbonate of lead in sufficient  diluted nitric 
part I.       Plumbi Nitras.—Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum.           603

acid for solution, and adding a pint of distilled water.   The application is to
be made twice or three times daily.  (Prov.  Med. and Surg. Journ., Oct. 15,
1851.)
   Off. Prep. Plumbi Iodidum.                                       W.


             PLUMBI  OXIDUM  RUBRUM.  Ed.

                         Bed  Oxide of Lead.

   Red lead, Minium ;  Deutoxide de plomb, Oxide rouge de plomb, Minium, Fr.; Mennig,
 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, ana 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 converted into them. ^
 The product is subject to further calcination, with occasional 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 pavement, 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 gradually to fall during a  period of from  twenty-four
 to thirty hours.   At the end of this time the protoxide of lead will have com-
 bined 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 Eng-
 land  and the United States, the calcination of  the protoxide is not performed
 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 impurities of that sub-
 stance, consisting of iron, copper, and a little silver and silica.   Copper is hurt-
 ful in red lead when used for making glass,  to which it  communicates 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.
   Properties, dec. 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 ex-
 posed to heat it gives off oxygen, and is reduced to the state of protoxide.  It
 is sometimes adulterated with red oxide of iron, or red bole,  substances 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 wholly reduced on charcoal by means of  the blowpipe,  giving a globule of
 metallic lead.   It  is completely soluble in  highly fuming nitrous acid.  (Ed. 
604                 Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum.              part i.

Pharm.)   When treated with 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 rendered probable by the action of cold dilute  acetic acid, not used
in excess, which takes up a variable quantity of protoxide, leaving a portion un-
changed in colour, which may be deemed the pure red oxide.  This latter, when
analyzed by nitric acid, has been proved, by the coincident results of  Dalton,
Dumas, and Phillips, to consist of three eqs. of lead, and four of oxygen,  equal to
2PbO,Pb02 (Dumas), or PbO,Ph,03 (Winckelblech). According to Mulder, red
lead has usually the following composition: Pb405= 3PbO,PbO.,, or 2PbO,PbaO .
  Red lead enters into no officinal preparation.   It is employed by the Edin-
burgh College in preparing Acidum Aceticum and Chlorinei Aqua; but its
use  might very well be dispensed with in a Pharmacopoeia.  In the arts  it is
used chiefly as a paint, and  in the manufacture of  flint glass.           B.

        PLUMBI  OXIDUM  SEMIVITREUM.  U.S.

                    Semivitrifed  Oxide of  Lead.

  Off. Syn.  PLUMBI  OXIDUM.  Plumbi Oxidum semivitreum. Lord
LITHARGYRUM. Ed., Dub.
  Litharge;  Oxide de plomb fondu, Litharge, Fr.; Bleiglatte, Germ.; Litargirio, Ital.;
Almartaga, Span.
  When protoxide of lead is rendered semi-crystalline by incomplete fusion, it
becomes the semivitrified oxide, or litharge.  Almost all the litharge  of com-
merce 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 oxidized,
and by fusion passes into the state of litharge,  while  the  silver remains un-
changed.    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  at short
distances 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 exactly 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 test.  The furnace is now lighted, and shortly afterwards the bellows
is put in motion.  The lead fuses and combines with oxygen, and the re.'ulting
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 re-
peated on a fresh portion of argentiferous lead.
  Properties.  Litharge is in the form of small, brilliant, vitrified scales, some 
PART I.     Plumbi Oxidum  Semivitreum.—Podophyllum.         605

presenting a red, and others a yellow colour.   In mass it has a foliaceous struc-
ture.  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 Em-
plastrum 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.  , It  may  be purified from iron and  copper by digestion in dilute
sulphuric acid.   The  English litharge is most esteemed; that from Germany
being generally contaminated with iron and copper.   In  choosing litharge,
samples should be selected which are free from copper, and from fragments of
vegetable matter.  Copper is detected, if, upon  adding ferrocyanuret of potas-
sium 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  process employed.
Sometimes it has a pale yellow colour and silvery appearance, and  is then de-
nominated silver litharge  or yellow litharge;  at other  times it is of  a  red
colour, and is  known under the name of gold litharge or red litharge.  The
latter has been said to owe its colour to the presence of a portion 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,
litha'rge 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 employed
 in several pharmaceutical operations, and forms an ingredient in various external
 applications, used for abating inflammation, and for other purposes.  By reac-
 tion with olive  oil  it forms the Emplastrum Plumbi, which is the basis of many
 of the  Plasters.  (See Emplastra.)  In the arts it is employed in  the glazing
 of pottery, in painting to render oils drying, and as an ingredient in flint glass.
   Off.  Prep.   Ceratum Saponis Compositum ;  Emplastrum Plumbi; Liquor
 Plumbi Subacetatis ;  Plumbi Acetas ; Plumbi Nitras.  -                 B.

                      PODOPHYLLUM.  U.S.

                               May-apple.

   The rhizoma of Podophyllum peltatum.  U.  S.
   Podophyllum. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Monogynia,—Nat. Ord. Ranunculi,
 Juss.; Podophylleas, 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, sometimes  also
 called mandrake, is an indigenous herbaceous plant, and the only species of the
 genus.  The root (rhizoma) is perennial, creeping, usually several  feet in length,
 about one-quarter of an inch thick, brown externally,  smooth, jointed,  and fur-
 nished with radicles at the joints.   The stem is  about  a foot high, erect, round,
 smooth, divided at top into two petioles, and supporting  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 of three oval, obtuse, concave, deciduous 
606
Podophyllum.
PART i.
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 irre-
gular on its surface by numerous folds or convolutions.  The fruit is a large
oval berry, crowned with the persistent stigma, and containing a sweetish flesh v
pulp, in which  about twelve ovate seeds are embedded.   It is, when ripe, of a
lemon-yellow colour, diversified by round brownish spots.
  The plant is extensively diffused through the United States,  growing luxu-
riantly in moist shady woods, and in low marshy grounds.  It is propagated
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 sub-
acid, sweetish, peculiar taste, agreeable to some palates, and may be eaten freely
with impunity.  From its colour and-shape, it is sometimes called ivild lemon.
The root is the officinal portion, and is said to be most efficient when collected
after the falling of the leaves.   It shrinks considerably 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 length-
wise, is yellowish  or  reddish-brown  externally, and furnished with fibres of n
similar, but somewhat paler colour.  The fracture is short and irregular, and
the internal colour whitish.  The powder  is light yellowish-gray, resembling
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, af-
terwards 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, by boiling it  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 evaporating the alcoholic solution, and treating the residue with boiling
distilled water, which deposited the substance referred to on cooling.  (Journ.
of the Phil. Col.  of Pharm., iii.  273.)  Though the alcoholic solution of this
substance is very bitter, it has  upon trial been found not to  be the purgative
principle of the root.  Analyzed  by Mr.  John R.  Lewis, podophyllum yielded
albumen, gum,  starch, extractive,  lignin, gallic acid, fixed oil, traces of volatile
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. (Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xix. 165.)  Dr.
Manlius Smith recommends that  the resin  should  be prepared by forming an
alcoholic tincture of the root, evaporating the tincture till  most of the alcohol
is driven off, and throwing  the residue into water, by which the resin is preci-
pitated.   The  concentration should not be carried too far;  as otherwise the
resin  separates in clots, which cannot be  easily washed.  According to Dr.
Smith, the resin, when pure, is white, and purges  actively  in the dose of two
or three grains.  It is called podophyllin.  (Ibid., xxiv. 306.)
  Medical Properties and Uses. Podophyllum is an active and certain cathartic,
producing copious liquid discharges without much griping, or other unpleasant
effect.   In some cases it has given rise to  nausea and even vomiting, but the
same result is occasionally experienced from every active cathartic.   Its opera-
tion 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 
\
part I.    Podophyllum.—Polygala Rubella.—Potassium.        607

combined with calomel, in  bilious fevers and hepatic congestions.   It is also
frequently used, in connexion with bitartrate of potassa, in dropsical, rheumatic,
and scrofulous complaints.  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  given in hasmoptysis, catarrh, and other pulmonary
affections.
  The dose of the powdered root, as a  purgative, is about twenty grains.  An
extract is prepared from  it possessing  all its virtues in a smaller bulk.  (See
Extractum Podophylli.)  Podophyllin is considerably used either alone, or in  N
combination.   Its dose as a cathartic is from one to three grains.
   Off. Prep. Extractum Podophylli.                                  Wr.

          POLYGALA  RUBELLA. U. S. Secondary.

                           Bitter Polygala.

   The root and herb of Polygala rubella.  U. S.
   Polygala.  See SENEGA.
   Polygala rubella.  Wtilld.  Sp. Plant, iii.  875; Bigelow, Am. 3Ied. 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 simple, 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.
   3Iedical  Properties and Uses.  In small  doses bitter polygala 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 ap-
pears to be closely analogous in medical virtues to Polygala amara of Europe,
which is  used for a similar purpose.                                   W

                            POTASSIUM.

                              Potassium.

   Potassium",  Fr.; Kalium, Kalimetall, Germ.; Potassio, Ital.; Potasio, Span.
 .  Potassium is a peculiar metal, forming the radical of potassa, and of a num-
ber of other  medicinal  preparations.   It was  discovered in  1807  by Sir H.
Davy, who obtained it by  decomposing  hydrate of  potassa by  galvanic electri-
city.  It was afterwards procured in larger quantity by Gay-Lussac and Thenard,
by bringing 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 modi-
fied by Wohler, which consists in decomposing potassa in the  state of carbon-
ate, mixed with charcoal.   The mixture of carbonate and charcoal is obtained
by heating cream of tartar to redness in  a covered crucible.   For an  account of
some improvements  in  Brunneris  process by MM. Mareska  and Donny, see
Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxv. 70.
  Potassium  is solid, softer and more ductile than wax, easily cut with a knife, 
608               Potassium.—Potassse Bichromas.            part i.

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 otbfer substance.  On account of
this property it must be kept in liquids, such as naphtha, which are devoid of
oxygen.   Its  sp. gr. is 0'865, melting  point 136°, equivalent  number 39*2,
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 numerous combinations, uniting with
most  of the non-metallic elements, and with  several  of  the  metals.   It com-
bines  in two proportions with oxygen, forming a protoxide (dry potassa) of a
gray, apd a teroxide of a  yellowish-brown colour.  It also  unites with chlo-
rine, 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 strong sali-
fiable base, existing in nature always in combination,  and forming with acids
a numerous and important class  of salts.  Of these, the acetate, bichromate,
carbonate, bicarbonate, chlorate, citrate, hydrate (caustic potassa), nitrate, sul-
phate, sulphuretted  sulphate, bisulphate, tartrate, and bitartrate are  officinal,
and will be described under their  respective titles.                     B.


                 POTASSAE  BICHROMAS.  Dub.

                        Bichromate of Potassa.

   Red chromate of potassa; Kali chromicum  rubrum, Lat.;  Bichromate de potasse;
Fr.; Zweifach Chromsaures Kali, Germ.
   This salt is most conveniently prepared from the neutral or yellow chromate
of potassa,  by acidulating  its solution with sulphuric acid, and setting it aside
for a day or two.   The acid withdraws one eq. of potassa from  two of the neutral
chromate, thus generating one eq. of the bichromate, which separates in orange-
red crystals.   The yellow chromate is obtained by igniting four parts of pow-
dered chrome-iron ore (FeO,Cr303) with one part of  nitre, and lixiviating the
resulting mass with water.   The solution, by evaporation, yields the yellow salt
in  crystals.   In  this process, the nitric acid of the  nitre furnishes oxygen to
convert the sesquioxide of chromium into chromic acid, which then unites with
the potassa of the same salt.   The iron, in  the mean time, is sesquioxidized and
rendered insoluble.  Sometimes impure carbonate of potassa (pearlash) is sub-
stituted for part of  the nitre in the calcination.   Omitting  the  nitre entirely,
Stromeyer, of Norway, in performing the ignition, has used lime along with the
pearlash, with economical results.   When lime is employed, chromate of lime
is formed, which is extracted by lixiviation, and decomposed by a soluble salt of
potassa.  When  desired, the bichromate  may be obtained  directly  from the
solution  of chromate of potassa, derived  from  the treatment  of the ore, by
acidulating it with  sulphuric acid, without  first crystallizing  it. For an ac-
count of the patent process of Prof. J. C. Booth, of this city, for  obtaining
bichromate of potassa, see Pharm. Journ, and  Trans., xv.  34.
    Bichromate of potassa is in  the form  of orange-red, anhydrous,  prismatic
 crystals, soluble in ten parts of cold and much less boiling water, but insoluble
 in alcohol.   Its taste is cooling and bitter.  Exposed to  a  red heat, it fuses,
 without decomposition, into a red liquid, which congeals on  cooling into a
 crystalline mass, and then falls to powder.  It consists  of two eqs. of chromic
 acid and one of potassa.   When one eq. of this salt is heated with four of sul- 
part i.        Potassse Biehromas.—Potassae Bitartras.            609
 phuric acid, chromium-alum is formed and oxygen evolved (KO,2CrO(, and
 4SO:,=CraO,,3S08+KO,S03 and 30).
    Medical Properties, die.   Bichromate of potassa, in small doses, is altera-
 tive, in larger emetic.   Externally it acts as an irritant and caustic.  It was
 first used internally, in 1850, by M.  Robin, who gave it in secondary syphilis;
 and Prof. Heyfelder, of Erlangen, and M. Vicente afterwards employed it in
 the same disease with encouraging results.  It  acts like the mercurials on the
 syphilitic poison, and occasionally produces salivation.  It was recommended,
 in 1827,  by Dr. Cumin, in saturated solution, as a caustic application to tuber-
 cular elevations, excrescences, and warts, and in 1850 by M. Puche in syphilitic
 vegetations.   It causes the morbid parts  to shrivel and fall off.   The dose as
 an alterative is one-fifth of a grain daily, in the form of pill made with extract
 of gentian, to  be increased gradually to five or  six pills a day.  As an emetic
 the dose is- three-quarters  of a grain.   It may be used as .a caustic in the form
 of powder.
    Bichromate of potassa is a corrosive poison.  When the stomach does not
 relieve itself by vomiting, magnesia,  bicarbonate of soda, or a solution of soap
 should be immediately given as an antidote.  A fatal case of  poisoning by this
 salt was  related by the late Dr. Ducatel, in the  fifth volume of the Journal
 of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
   Bichromate of potassa is manufactured largely for the use of calico-printers
 The workmen  engaged in making it are liable  to  painful ulcerations of the
 hands.   It was introduced into the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of 1850, not as  a
 therapeutic agent, but to be used in forming artificial valerianic acid by reacting
 with fusel oil (Alcohol Amylicum), as a  step in the process for preparing
 valerianate of soda. (See Sodas Valerianas.)
   For a  full account of the manufacture of the chromium salts,  used as dyes
 and pigments, the  reader is referred to  the Pharmaceutical Journal and
 Transactions, vol. xv. p.  32.                                         t>


       POTASSiE  BITARTRAS.  U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub.

                        Bitartrate of Potassa.

   Supertartrate of potassa, Crystals of tartar, Cream of tartar;  Cremor tartari Lat ■
 Tartrate acide de potasse, Creme de 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 in the casks, forming a crystalline crust,  called  crude tartar
 or argot   That deposited from red wines is of a reddish,colour, and called 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 ex-
 cess of tartaric acid, forming bitartrate of potassa, rendered impure by tartrate
 of lime, more or less colouring matter, and other matters which are deposited
 during the clarification  of the wine.   The deposition  of the tartar is thus ex-
 plained.  1he bitartrate exists naturally in the juice of the grape,  held in solu-
 tion by saccharine 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 precipi-
 tate asa crystalline crust.  It is from this substance that bitartrate of potassa
is  obtained by a process of purification.
   The wines made in the United States of course deposit tartar; but as yet the
product has not been collected for the purposes of  commerce.  According to Mr.
E. S. Wayne, of Cincinnati, the American catawba wine  deposits about three 
610
Potassae Bitartras.
PART I.
 pounds of crude tartar from a hundred gallons.   We are informed by him that
 American tartar contains at least  fifteen  per cent, of tartrate of lime, which
 will unfit it for  being decolorized, so as to form cream of tartar sufficiently
 pure for medicinal purposes.  It will, however, answer for making tartaric acid,
    The process for purifying crude tartar is founded upon the greater solubility
 of bitartrate of potassa in hot than in cold water.   The  tartar, previously pu].
 verized, is boiled with water in copper boilers.   The solution, when saturated
 is transferred to  earthen 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 precipitates with the colouring matter;  and the clear solu-
 tion, 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, to which the  name of cream of tartar properly belongs.
    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, having an acid not ungrateful taste and acid reaction,  soluble in
" 184 parts of cold, and  18  of boiling water, but insoluble  in alcohol. When
 exposed to heat it is decomposed, exhales a peculiar odour, gives rise to several
 pyrogenous acids, and the usual products of the destructive distillation of vege-
 table matter; carbonate of potassa, mixed  with charcoal, being left.   Its solu-
 tion is  precipitated by solutions of baryta, strontia, and lime, which form in-
 soluble  tartrates, and by acetate  of lead, forming tartrate of  lead.  With
 salifiable bases which form soluble tartrates, it gives rise to double salts, con-
 sisting  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.  (See Sodse Boras.)
    The  cream  of tartar of commerce is not pure  bitartrate of  potassa.   It
 usually contains  from two  to  five  per  cent,  of tartrate of lime, an amount
 admissible in samples for medicinal use.   But it sometimes contains from six
 to thirteen per cent, of tartrate of lime, according  to  the analyses of Mr. J.
 M. Maisch, of this  city.  It is said to be purposely mixed with  various sub-
 stances, among which are sand, clay, gypsum,  flour, chalk, alum,  and sulphate
 of  potassa.  Sand, clay, and gypsum may be  detected by their insolubility in
 a hot solution of potassa; flour, by striking a blue colour with iodine; chalk,
 by its effervescing with  dilute" acids; alum, an unlikely sophistication, probably
 by  its  astringent  taste; and any soluble sulphate,  by a  precipitate being
 produced by chloride of barium, not entirely soluble in nitric acid.   The action
 of  the last mentioned test is explained by  the fact, that  the tartrate of baryta
 is soluble in  nitric acid, but not the sulphate.   Another sophistication of cream
 of tartar is, according to M. G. Blengini, with  sugar of milk. The best security
 against fraud is to purchase the crystals, which are not subject  to the  same
 adulterations as the powder.
    Composition.  Cream of tartar consists  of two eqs. of tartaric acid 132, one
 of  potassa 47*2, and  one of water 9 = 188'2.  The water cannot be expelled
 without decomposing  the salt, and is supposed to act the part of a base.
    3Iedical Properties and  Uses.   Bitartrate of potassa is cathartic, diuretic,
 and refrigerant.  In small doses it acts as a cooling aperient, in  large ones as
.£. 
 part i.     Potassas Bitartras.—Potassae Carbonas Impurus.      611

 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 much
 used in dropsical affections.   It is frequently prescribed in combination with
 senna, sulphur, or jalap. (See Confectio Sulphuris and Pulvis Jalapse Com-
 positus.)  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.
   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
 (tartarized iron).  Deflagrated with nitre, or incinerated alone, it is converted
 into a pure form of carbonate of potassa, called  salt  of tartar. (See Potassae
 Carbonas Purus.)   In the laboratory it is used to  procure potassa in  a  pure
 state, and for making black and White flux.   Black flux is prepared by defla-
 grating 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.  Aciclum Tartaricum ;  Antimonii et Potassas Tartras ; Confectio
 Sulphuris ; Decoctum Scoparii; Ferri et Potassas Tartras ; Potassas Carbonas
 Purus;  Potassas Tartras;  Pulvis  Jalapas  Compositus;  Pulvis  Scammonii
 Compositus ; Sodas et Potassas Tartras.                                B.


          POTASSiE CARBONAS  IMPURUS.  US.

                   Impure Carbonate of Potassa.

  The impure carbonate of potassa known in commerce by the name of pearl-
 ash.  U.S.
  Off. Sign..LIXIYVS CINIS.  Impure Potash;  Pearlash. 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 commerce.
 This, subjected to calcination, is rendered  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 pro-
 cured from the ashes of wood by lixiviation, and the subsequent evaporation  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.   The soluble
part is made up  of carbonate  of  potassa,  together with sulphate, phosphate,
and silicate of potassa and the chlorides of potassium and sodium ; the insolu- 
612                  Potassae Carbonas Impurus.               part i.
ble portion, of carbonate and subphosphate of lime, alumina, silica, oxidized
iron and manganese, and a  little carbonaceous matter that has escaped com-
bustion.  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 con-
stantly 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 im-
purities  are for the most part  burnt  out, and a gaseous 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.  (Br.
G. A. Rogers, in  Silliman''s Journal.)
   If  it is intended to make pearlash, the process is varied.  In this case the
black matter of the consistence of brown  sugar, called black salts by our manu-
facturers, instead of being fused, is transferred from the kettles to a large oven-
shaped furnace, so constructed that the flame may 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  combustible 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 yield 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	. 0-45	Wheat straw .	4-18
Poplar	. 0-75	Flax	5-0
Birch	. 1-29	Rush	5-08
Beech	. 1-45	Common thistle	5-37
Oak	. 2-03	Vine branches .	5-5
Oak bark	. 2-08	Barley straw .	5-8
Box	. 2-26	Beech bark	6-0
Willow .	. 2-85	Fern	6-2
Linden	. 3-27	Indian corn stalks	17-5
Elm	. 3-9	Sun-flower stalks	19-4
Maple	. 3-9		
Dry oak leaves
Common nettle
Black elder
Vetch
Poke
Wheat stalks  .
Stems of potatoes
Wormwood
Fumitory
Angelica .
24-0
25-0
25-5
27-5
45-6
47-0
55-0
73-0
79-0
96-2
   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 supposed
to furnish three-fourths of our exports of this alkali.   It  is also produced in
considerable quantities in the northern countries of Europe, especially in Russia,
and on the shores of the Baltic.  It is of different qualities as it occurs in com-
merce, and is distinguished by the country or place of manufacture,  as Ameri-
can, Russian, Dantzic potash, dec.
  Potash has been extracted from felspar by Prof.  Fuchs,  by igniting it with
lime,  which renders the alkali  slowly soluble in water.   Dr. Mayer, of Berlin,
has found that the extraction is facilitated by  digesting the ignited mass with
water under a pressure of seven  or  eight atmospheres.   (Pharm. Journ. and
Trans., June, 1857, p. 607.)
4
W    m 
parti.               Potassas Carbonas hnpurus.                   613,

  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 absorbs
moisture and  deliquesces ; and, if sufficiently long exposed, finally becomes liquid.
Pearlash is of a white colour, with usually a tinge of blue.  As it occurs in com-
merce, 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.   The soluble matter in 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 impurities, 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 Yauquelin,  whose prin-
cipal results  are contained in the following table.   The quantity examined of
each kind was 1152 parts.
Kinds of Potash.	Caustic Hydrate of Potassa.	Sulphate of Potassa.	Chloride of Potassium.	Insoluble Carbonic Acid Eesidue. and water.
American potash .- . Russian potash . . . Dantzic potash . . .	857 772 754 603 \	154 65 80 152	20 5 4 14	2 i 119 56 ! 254 6 308 79 | 304
   These results, calculated for 100 parts, show that the American potash con-
tains 74 per cent,  of pure hydrated alkali, and the Russian 67 per cent.  Pearl-
ash, 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,  phosphate and silicate of potassa
and chloride of sodium are present.  According to Mr. Stevenson  Macadam,
the potashes of commerce contain iodine and a trace of bromine, which shows
that the forest trees from which the alkali is obtained must contain a very minute
proportion of these non-metallic elements.  (Chem. Gaz., Aug. 2, 1852, p. 284.)
   As the potash of commerce is valuable in the arts in proportion  to the  quan-
tity of real alkali  which it contains, it is important to possess  an  easy method
of ascertaining its quality in  that  respect.   The  process by which  this is ac-
complished is called alkalimetry, and the instrument used an alkalimeter.  The
best mode of proceeding, 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  waiter
stands.   Divide the space occupied by the water into one hundred equal  parts,
graduating from above downwards  ; and, opposite to the numbers 23-44, 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 
614
Potassas Carbonas Impurus.
part i.
 tube so as to reach to any one of the  heights denoted by the  above numbers
 win be just sufficient to neutralize one hundred grains of  the alkali written op-
 posite 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 quantity
 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 ques-
 tion.  All that is now necessary, in order to ascertain the quality of any com-
 mercial  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 de-
 grees  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 attain-
 ing 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,  a cheaper alkali, 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 hyperclilorate (oxychlo-
 rate) of  soda, the reacting salts being in alcoholic solution.   The  precipitated
 hyperchlorate of potassa indicates the proportion of carbonate of potassa.  The
 amount  of the latter determines how much  of the sulphuric acid was expended
 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 to 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,  1848, 239.)  Fremy has proposed the  metantimoniate  of potassa as a
 test  for soda in potash.   In applying this  test, the potash is converted into a
 neutral chloride of potassium, and treated with a recent solution of the metan-
 timoniate.   If the alkali examined contain two or three  per  cent, of soda, a
 precipitate is almost instantly formed.   If a less proportion of soda be present,
 time and agitation will be necessary to  effect the precipitation.  Fremy states
 that, by  this test,  he can detect the half of one per cent, of soda in commercial
 potash.  (Phil. Mag., Oct. 1848, 325.)  Good potash should not-contain a
 proportion of chlorides, indicating more than two per cent, of  chlorine by the
 test  of nitrate of  silver.  If a  larger proportion is shown, adulteration with
 common salt may  be suspected.   A standard solution  of the silver  salt maybe
 made, a known measure of  which shall be just sufficient to precipitate all the
 chlorine  in a given weight of good potash, after  having  been  supersaturated
 witi/i nitric  acid.  If a further  addition of the test causes a precipitate, the pre-
 sence of too much chlorine is shown.
   Pharmaceutical Uses.   Pearlash is never  used as a medicine,  being con-
sidered too impure.  Purified to a certain extent, it takes the name of carbonate
of potassa.
   Off. Prep.   Potassas Carbonas.                                    B. 
PART I.
Potassae Chloras.
615
          POTASS^ CHLORAS.  U.S.,  Lond., Dub.

                        Chlorate of Potassa.

  Hyperoxymuriate of potassa ; Chlorate de potasse, Fr.;  Chlorsaures Kali, Germ.
  Chlorate of potassa may be conveniently obtained by the process of Graham.
This consists in mixing carbonate of potassa with  an equivalent quantity of
hydrate 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,C10,.)   The products  are, therefore, carbonate 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.
  In the above process, a large proportion of the potassa is lost by being con-
verted into chloride  of potassium.  Prof. F. C.  Calvert,  of Manchester, has
almost entirely avoided this loss by his new process,  in which he reacts  upon
one eq. of caustic potassa, mixed with five and a half eqs. of lime, with a stream
of chlorine.  The potassa  is  dissolved in sufficient water to form a solution,
containing 1(3 J per cent, of the alkali (sp. gr. 1-110), and mixed with the  lime;
and the mixture, after having been gradually heated to 122°, is subjected to a
rapid current of chlorine to saturation, the reaction caused by which raises the
temperature to about 194°.  The product is then evaporated nearly to dryness,
the residue dissolved in boiling water, and the solution filtered and set aside to
crystallize.  The strength of the solution of potassa and the temperature, em-
ployed in Prof. Calvert's process, determine the combination  of part of the
chlorine with calcium, instead  of potassium;  and the oxygen from the lime
converts the remaining chlorine into chloric acid.   A higher or lower density
of the potassa solution was found not to  give as favourable results.  This
process has been tried on a large scale, and is  said to have been perfectly suc-
cessful.   While the original process gives but 43  parts of chlorate to 100 of
anhydrous potassa, this process yields 260 parts.
   The chlorate of potassa of commerce is at present prepared by the reaction
of solutions of chloride  of potassium and hypochlorite of lime, with the assist-
ance of heat.  The chlorate of potassa crystallizes  during the refrigeration of
the liquor, and chloride of calcium remains in  solution.  (KC1 and 3(CaO,C10)
= 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 phosphorus.  Its
$?    V 
 616              Potassae Chloras.—Potassae Nitras.           part i.

 usual impurity is chloride of potassium, which maybe detected by a precipitate
 of chloride of silver being produced on the addition of nitrate of silver.  This
 test does not precipitate  the chlorine of the chloric acid.  Chlorate of potassa
 consists of one eq. of chloric acid 755,  and one of potassa 47'2 = 1227.
   3Iedical Properties.   According to M.  Socquet, the physiological action of
 this salt is to depress the circulation, without the least effect on the digestive
 q£gans.  From experiments  made  by Dr. O'Shaughnessy and others, it gives
 a bright scarlet colour to the venous blood, and passes undecomposed into  the
 urine.   The first trials made with it as a medicine were founded upon the sup-
 position that it would prove an oxidizing remedy ;  and hence it was employed
 in scurvy, and in syphilis and liver complaints as a substitute for mercury,  Li
 scurvy its use has  been  recently revived.   It has also been employed in  acute
 articular rheumatism, pseudo-membranous  angina aud croup,  ulcerative and
 gangrenous stomatitis of infants, and mercurial stomatitis.  Dr. Sayle, in  1844,
 and Dr. Henry Hunt, in 1847, were among the first to use the remedy  in in-
 fantile stomatitis,  and with good results ;  and  the  same treatment has been
 praised by M. Herpin, of Geneva, M. Blache, and by several other European
 practitioners.  But it is  in mercurial stomatitis particularly that the efficacy of
 chlorate of potassa has  been insisted  on.  Dr. T. J. Gallaher, of Pitisburg,
 has reported his success with the remedy in several cases. (Am. Journ. of Med.
 Sci.,  July,  1857,  64.)   M. Fournier, of Paris, from  numerous observations
 made in the wards of M. Ricord, declares the chlorate of potassa to be not
 only eminently curative  in  mercurial stomatitis, but  also a prophylactic, and
 without interfering with  the specific action of the metal, when given as an anti-
 syphilitic remedy.  (Ann. de  Therap., 1857, p. 118.)
   Externally, chlorate of potassa in solution has been used in several diseases.
 Mr. Moore, of London, has found it very useful as' an application to indolent
 ulcers and phagedsena, and to ulcerations of the nose, mouth, and tongue, and
 for cleansing cancerous sores.  Dr. Bedford Brown, of N. C, has employed it
 with success, in the form of injection, in gonorrhoea in women, leucorrhcea, and
 ulceration of the os uteri.  (Am. Journ. of 3Ied.  Sci., July, 1857, 66.)   The
 dose is  from fifteen to thirty grains every three or four hours, given in sufficient
 gum water, sweetened water, or lemonade to dissolve it.  When administered
 as a prophylactic in salivation, a smaller dose will answer.   No nicety need be
 observed in the dose.  Taken to the extent of five drachms in twenty-four hours,
 it was found to produce diuresis, abundant salivation, and a strong saltish taste.
 When used as a wash or injection, from a drachm to three drachms of the salt
 may be dissolved in a pint of water.                                   B.


          POTASS^  NITRAS.    U. S., Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.

                           Nitrate of Potassa.

   Nitre, Saltpetre ; Nitrate de potasse, Azotate de potasse, Salpetre, Fr.; Salpetersaures
• Kali, Salpeter, Germ., Dutch, Dan., Swed.; Nitro, Ital., Span., Port.
    Nitre or saltpetre is both a  natural and artificial product.  It occurs in
 many countries, existing in the soil on which it forms a saline  efflorescence, in
 the Assures of calcareous rocks, and in caves.  It has been found in different
 parts of Europe, in Egypt, and in Peru; but the country in which  it is most
 abundantly produced is  India, whence the principal  part is furnished for the
 demands of commerce.   In the United States it is fouud, for the most part, in
 caverns situated in limestone rock, called saltpetre caves,  where it is associated
 with nitrate of lime.   The earths contained in  them  are lixiviated, and yield,
 according to their richness, from one to ten pounds of crude nitre to the bushel.
*     * 
part I.                     Potassae Nitras.                         617

These caves are particularly numerous in Kentucky, and furnished a large pro-
portion of  the nitre consumed in  the United States  during the last war with
England.   According to Mr. E.  S. Wayne, of Cincinnati, nitre  earth exists
near Nashville, Tenn., which yields fifteen per cent, of nitre, and  is said to be
sufficiently abundant  to  supply the demand of the United  States.   In Brad-
ford County, Penn., a solid uncrystalline deposit of  very pure nitre exists in a
sandstone rock." (Prof. W. ET. Ellet)   Nitre exists also in the vegetable king-
dom, having been found in tobacco, borage, bugloss, parietaria, hemlock, and
the sun-flower.   The artificial sources of  nitre are certain mixtures of animal
and vegetable substances with wood-ashes and calcareous matter,  called nitre-
beds ;  and certain materials, impregnated with saltpetre, consisting principally
of plaster rubbish, derived from the demolition of old buildings.  The ashes of
tobacco stems, consisting almost exclusively of carbonate of potassa and chloride
of potassium in  nearly  equal parts, have been proposed by M. Commaille as
an artificial source of nitre, by adding them to the ordinary nitre beds.  (Journ.
de Pharm., Fev. 1856, 106.)
   Preparation from its Natural Sources.   In India the saline  earth, which
contains about seven  parts of nitre in a thousand,  is lixiviated in large mud
filters, lined with stiff clay, and furnished with false bottoms of bamboo, covered
with grass mats, on which wood-ashes are laid.   The filters being then filled
with the saline earth, water is added, and the solution filters through the wood-
ashes, with the effect of  converting any nitrate of lime present, which amounts
to nearly  one per cent., into nitrate of potassa.   The solution  obtained is eva-
porated in earthen pots,  filtered, and set aside to  crystallize.  The impure nitre
thus obtained contains from 45 to 70 per cent,  of the pure salt.    It is redis-
solved and crystallized  by the native merchants, and thrown into commerce
under the name of crude saltpetre.
   Artificial Preparation.  The  plan  of forming saltpetre in artificial nitre-
beds is principally practised in Germany; while the method of obtaining it from
old plaster rubbish is followed in France.  Artificial nitre-bed^ are formed of
animal and vegetable remains, together with  ashes and calcareous  earth, which
are mixed up with a portion of loose soil and placed under sheds, to shelter
the mixture from the rain; while the sides are left open to permit the free access
of air.  The mixture is disposed in little ranges or heaps, which are frequently
turned over with a spade, and sprinkled with urine, as a  substance  containing
a large quantity of nitrogen.  At the end of two or three years the nitrogen is
converted into nitric acid, and this, by uniting with the potassa existing in the
vegetable  remains, forms nitre.  When the contents of the bed contain about
four ounces of the salt for every cubic foot of the materials, they are deemed fit
to be lixiviated.  The lixiviation is performed with boiling water, which  is re-
peatedly thrown upon fresh portions of the mass, until the solution obtained is
sufficiently strong.  The  lixivium is of a brown colour, and contains chiefly the
nitrate of potassa, but at the same time more or less of the  nitrates of lime
and magnesia, and of common salt.  The earthy nitrates are then decomposed
by a solution of wood-ashes, the potassa of which converts them into nitre, and
precipitates the earths.   The  solution  being further  evaporated, the common
salt rises to the surface as a scum, and is removed.   The solution is  then allowed
to cool, and the nitrate crystallizes in dirty white crystals, called crude nitre.
  Nitrate of lime may be converted into nitre by adding it to a solution of sul-
phate of potassa.   Sulphate of  lime is precipitated,  and  nitrate of potassa re-
mains in solution.
  When obtained from old plaster rubbish, the material  is reduced to powder
and lixiviated, in order to exhaust it  of  everything  soluble.   The  solution is
found to contain  the nitrates of  potassa  and lime,  and common salt, and  is

           ■«*-       i 
618
Potassas Nitras.
part i.
treated with wood-ashes, which convert the nitrate of lime into nitrate of potassa,
with precipitation of the earth as a carbonate.  The liquor is separated from
the precipitate and concentrated by heat; and the common salt, as it rises to
the surface, is skimmed off.   When the solution is  so strong as to mark 45° of
Baume's areometer, it is allowed to cool and crystallize; and the crystals form
the crude nitre of this process.  The salt  obtained in this way generally con-
tains from 85 to 8,8 per  cent, of pure nitre; the remainder being made up of
chloride of sodium, and  certain deliquescent salts.   The details of this process,
as formerly practised in  Paris, are  given by Thenard.
   Theory of Nitrification.  It is generally  supposed that the continuous for-
mation of nitre in nitre  earths, and  in  artificial nitre-beds, depends upon the
oxidation of the nitrogen of ammonia,  thus  generating nitric acid, the forma-
tion of which is facilitated  by the presence of alkaline  and earthy bases, with
which  the acid unites.   The ammonia is derived, for the most  part, from the
organic remains in the nitre earths, and from the animal matter which is an
essential ingredient in the artificial mixtures.  These positions  are denied by
M. Desmarest.  (Chem.  Gaz., Sept.  1, 1856.)
   Purification.  Nitrate of potassa, as first obtained, either from natural or
artificial sources, is called in commerce crude saltpetre, and requires to bo puri-
fied before it can be used in medicine, or in most of the arts.  The process,
which is founded principally on the fact that nitre is more  soluble  than  com-
mon salt in hot water, is conducted in the following manner in France.  Thirty
parts of  saltpetre are boiled with six  parts of water, and the  portion which
remains undissolved, or is deposited, consisting of common salt, is carefully re-
moved.   As the ebullition  proceeds, a little water  is added from time to time,
to hold the nitre in solution.   When common salt ceases to be separated, the
solution is clarified with glue, and more water is added  at intervals, until the
whole amounts, including that previously added, to ten parts.   The clear solu-
tion is now transferred  to  large, shallow copper coolers, where it is agitated
with wooden instruments to hasten the cooling, and to cause the nitre to crys-
tallize  in small grains.   The purification is completed by washing the salt with
water,  or a saturated solution of nitre, in a kind of wooden hopper, with holes
in the bottom stopped with pegs.   The liquid employed is allowed to remain
in contact with the nitre for several  hours, at  the end^of which time it is per-
 mitted to drain off by taking out the pegs.  The salt being now dried, its puri-
 fication is completed.
   In Sweden, the process of purification is conducted in a different manner. The
 solution of the crude nitre is boiled until  a saline crust (common salt) forms
 on its  surface, and until it  is so far concentrated that a small portion of it crys-
 tallizes upon cooling.   The crust being removed, the solution is filtered, and di-
 luted  with l-48th of water, with a view to retain  in solution the common salt,
 which, being somewhat less soluble in cold than in boiling water, would other-
 wise be in part precipitated on refrigeration.  The solution is now allowed to
 cool, and, at the moment crystals begin to form, is stirred constantly to cause
 the salt to crystallize in small grains.   The granular salt is then washed after
 the French method, as  above described, dried, and, being fused, is cast in sheet
 iron moulds  so as to form masses,  each weighing fravn ten to twenty pounds,
 The preparation of nitre in, this  manner by fusion  is, according to Berzelius,
 attended with  several advantages;  such as  its occupying less  space, its losing
 nothing by waste in transportation,  and its presenting, in this state, an obvious
 index  of  its  quality.  This index is the character of its fracture.   When the
 salt is perfectly pure, the fracture is radiated, the radii being generally large.
 The presence of l-80th of common salt renders the radii smaller; and of l-40th,
 or a larger quantity, produces a zone in the substance of the mass, devoid of |he
^
f 
PART I.
Potassae Nitras.
619
radiated structure, or causes this structure to disappear entirely.  On the other
hand, the melting of the salt has the disadvantage of converting it in part into
hyponitrite, if the heat be too high, and of rendering it difficult to pulverize.
   Commercial History.  Nitre  is received in this country from Calcutta,
packed in grass cloth bags,  containing from one hundred and fifty to one hun-
dred and seventy-five pounds.  The greater portion of it arrives at Boston.  Its
quality varies considerably.  That which comes in dirty yellow crystals is called
crude  saltpetre;  while the finer  lots, in small, comparatively clear crystals,
approaching to white, are  called  East India refined.   Very little crude salt-
petre is at present obtained from native sources in the United States, on account
of the low price of that from India.  The refined saltpetre is almost exclusively
prepared by our own chemists ;  and a considerable portion of  it is exported.
  As connected with the subject of saltpetre, it may be proper in this place to
notice what is incorrectly called South American saltpetre, considerable quan-
tities of which have been received  within a few years from Peru and Chili.   It
is nitrate of soda, and comes in bags containing about two hundred and seventy
pounds of the salt  in the crude state.   This nitrate  is coming into  use with
our manufacturing chemists, and is better suited than nitre for preparing nitric
and sulphuric acids, on account of the greater proportional quantity of acid
which  it contains.   It is, however, not applicable to the purpose of making
gunpowder, from its tendency to absorb moisture.
  Nitrate of soda may be decomposed, so as to yield nitre, by means of caustic
American potash (red potash of commerce), by Mr. Rotch's patented process.
This process gives a nitre equal in purity to the East India refined.  For the
details see the Pharm. Journ, and Trans.,  xi.  36.   The same salt will furnish
nitre by double decomposition with  carbonate of  potassa (pearlash). (Ibid.,'
xi. 236, from Pharm.  Cent. Blatt)  Mr. Hill decomposes nitrate of soda by
means of chloride of potassium, forming, by double decomposition, nitrate of
potassa and chloride of sodium.   The latter is  got rid of, in the usual manner,
by evaporating the solution of the mixed salts.
   Properties.  Nitre is a white salt, possessing a sharp,  cooling, and slightly
bitterish taste, and generally crystallized  in long, striated, semi-transparent,
six-sided prisms, with dihedral summits.  It dissolves in  four or five times its
weight of cold, and in about two-fifths of its weight  of boiling water.   It  is
sparingly soluble in rectified spirit, but insoluble in absolute alcohol.  It under-
goes no alteration in the air, unless this be very moist.   It fields  a yellow pre-
cipitate with bichloride of platinum,  showing that potassa forms its base.   It
is devoid of water of crystallization ;  but is apt to contain a portion of  liquid,
mechanically lodged within  the substance of the crystals.   This is particularly
the case with the large crystals, and, according to Berzelius, is a  source of im-
purity ; as the liquid in question is a portion of the mother-water in which they
were formed.  It  is on this account that Berzelius recommends that the solution
of the purified salt should be stirred during crystallization, so as to cause it to
shoot into small  crystals.   When exposed  to  heat, nitre fuses without losing
weight at about 662°.   The fused mass, when cast in moulds, or formed into
little circular cakes, constitutes that form of nitre,  kept in the shops under the
name of crystal mineral or sal prunelle.*  If the heat be increased, the  salt
is decomposed, evolves pure oxygen, and is  reduced to the state of hyponitrite,

  * Sal prunelle, as directed to be made in the French Codex, is a mixture of nitrate
and sulphate of potassa.   It is prepared by fusing nitre in a Hessian crucible, adding
1-128th part  of sulphur, and pouring out the product on a smooth marble slab, where
it is allowed  to congeal.   The  sulphur immediately takes fire, and, by combining with
oxygen from a part of the nitric acid  of the nitre, becomes sulphuric acid, which then
unites with a small portion of potassa, to form sulphate of potassa. 
620
Potasses Nitras.
part r.
which, when rubbed to powder, emits orange-coloured fumes of nitrous acid and
nitric oxide, on the addition of sulphuric acid.   Upon  a further continuance of
the heat, the hyponitrous acid  itself  is decomposed,  and a  large additional
quantity of oxygen is evolved, contaminated, however,  with more or less nitro-
gen.   On account of the large proportion of oxygen  which  it contains, nitre
increases the combustion of many substances in a remarkable degree.  When
thrown on burning coals, it deflagrates with bright scintillations.   In  the reac-
tion of nitre with charcoal, carbonic acid is produced, and never carbonic oxide;
aud the nitric acid is variously decomposed into hyponitrous acid, nitric oxide,
or nitrogen, according to the proportion of the charcoal,  and to the heatemployed.
(A.  Vogel, jun.)  Nitre may be readily recognised by its effect in increasing the
combustion of live coals, when thrown upon them; and  by  evolving white or
reddish vapours on the addition of sulphuric acid.   Its most usual impurity is
common salt, which is  seldom  entirely  absent, and which injures it for  the
manufacture of gunpowder.  The presence of this salt, or of chloride  of potas-
sium, will cause a precipitate with nitrate of silver.   If a sulphate be present,
a precipitate will be formed with chloride of  barium.   One hundred  grains of
the pure salt, treated with sixty grains of sulphuric acid, and the whole ignited"
until it ceases  to lose weight, yield eighty-six grains of sulphate of  potassa.
If the residue weighs less, part of it is probably sulphate of soda, and the nitre
tested may be assumed to have contained nitrate of soda.   The refined or puri-
fied saltpetre of commerce is sufficiently pure  for medicinal use.   Nevertheless,
the Dublin College, with needless refinement,  has given a formula for its puri-
fication. (See Potassae Nitras Purum.)  Nitrate of  potassa is composed of
one eq. of  nitric  acid 54, and one of  potassa 47 2 = 101*2.
   Medical Properties.   Nitre is considered refrigerant,  diuretic, and diapho-
retic, and is much used in inflammatory diseases.  It is known to be a powerful
antiseptic.   It generally promotes the secretion of urine and  sweat, lessens the
heat of the body  and the frequency of the pulse, and has a tendency to keep the
bowels in a soluble condition.   When taken in health, in quantities increasing
gradually from one to five drachms daily, for the space of from eight  to twelve
days, it was found by F. Loftier to produce general weakness, lowness of spirits,
constant disposition to sleep, and slow and weak pulse.   Towards the end of
the experiment, the pulse several times fell to twenty  beats in the  minute.
During the use of the medicine,  the appetite and digestion continued good, and
the bowels were  regular; though, occasionally some  pain was experienced in
the abdomen, followed by purging.  The blood, drawn at  the end of the period,
resembled cherry  juice in colour,  exhibited paler blood corpuscles than in health,
coagulated very quickly, forming a clot of diminished firmness, was more watery
than natural, and contained a smaller proportion of fat.  (Am. Journ, of Med.
 Sci., xviii.  204,  from Schmidt's Jahrb.)
   Nitre is very frequently prescribed with tartar emetic and calomel, forming a
combination usually called the  nitrous powder, which promotes most of the
secretions, particularly those of the liver and skin, and which in many cases  is
advantageously employed in lessening and modifying febrile excitement.   The
formula usually preferred is eight or ten grains of nitre, the eighth of a  grain
 of tartar emetic,  and from the fourth to the half of a grain of calomel, exhibited
 every two or three hours.  Nitre  is  frequently given in active  hemorrhages,
particularly haemoptysis, and is  a useful ingredient  of  gargles, in certain stages
 of inflammatory  sorethroat.   Dr. Frisi, an Italian physician, found it very effi-
 cacious, in a case of obstinate spasmodic asthma, in affording speedy relief, and
 cutting short the attack as often as it was repeated.   In the same disease, nitrous
 fumigation has been found useful, performed by inhaling  the fumes from a piece
 of burning touch paper about the size of a playing card, prepared by dipping 
part r.                     Potassas Nitras.                         621

blotting paper in a saturated solution of nitre, and afterwards drying it.  In the
form of sal prunelle, it has been strongly recommended by M. Debout in poly-
dipsia, given in the dose of a drachm daily.  Dr. Henry Tiedemann, of this
city, praises  nitre as a remedy in dysentery. (See his pamphlet, " On Dysentery
and its  Treatment."   Philadelphia, 1857.)  The usual dose is from  ten to
fifteen grains, dissolved in water or some  mucilaginous liquid, and repeated
every two qr three hours.   If given too freely, or for too long a period, it is
apt to excite pain in the stomach.   In an overdose (half an ounce to an  ounce
or more), taken in concentrated solution, it causes heat and pain in the stomach,
vomiting and purging of blood, great prostration, convulsions, and sometimes
death.  On  dissection, the stomach and intestines are found inflamed.  A fatal
case of poisoning by nitre,  in which, although three  ounces  and a half were
taken at one dose, no painful symptoms were manifested, is related by Dr. Jphn
Snowden, in the New Jersey Med. Reporter, vol. viii. p. 117.  The treatment
consists  in the speedy removal of the poison from the stomach, and-in the ad-
ministration of mucilaginous drinks, laudanum to allay pain and irritation, and
cordials  to sustain the system.  No  antidote is kn&wn.
   Notwithstanding the toxical properties of nitre when taken in a large dose
in concentrated  solution, it may be given, in  divided doses, to the extent of one
or two ounces in twenty-four hours, provided it  be largely diluted with water.
Administered in this way, the principal action of the salt is that of a sedative
on the circulation, decreasing the force and frequency of the pulse.  It is chiefly
in acute rheumatism that large  doses of this salt have been employed;  and
both M. Gendrin and M. Martin-Solon bear testimony to its remarkable effi-
cacy in that disease, when thus given, after  ample experience with its use in
two of the  hospitals of Paris.  Dr. Henry Bennett,  of London, also  speaks
highly of its efficacy in the same disease ; and his favourable report of it is con-
firmed by some well-conducted clinical experiments, made by Dr. R. Rowland
of the same city.  The remedy was given by the latter in a quantity never ex-
ceeding half an ounce in twenty-four hours, dissolved in a pint of water.  Thus
administered, it produced no inconvenience, and did not increase the  tendency to
heart disease. Large doses of this salt have  also been employed with success in
general dropsy,  following remittent fever.   The  salt is best given, dissolved in
sweetened barley water, in the proportion of half an ounce to a pint and a half
 or two pints of  the liquid.
   Dr. Mangenot recommends, for the removal of cutaneous naevi,  the topical
 application of nitre, applied by friction with the moistened finger,  dipped into
 the  powdered salt.  (Half-yearly Abstract,  Jan. to July, 1857, p.  120.)
   Pharmaceutical Uses, &c.  In pharmacy nitre is employed to form crocus of
 antimony, and to procure nitric  acid.   It is  also used in the formula of the
 U. S. Pharmacopoeia for obtaining sweet spirit of nitre.  It enters into the
 composition of  moxa, and is employed in  preparing the sulphate of potassa
with sulphur of the Edinburgh College.  In the laboratory it is used to make
black and white flux, and to yield oxygen at a red heat.   In  the arts it is em-
ployed in the production of  aqua fortis (common nitric acid), the manufacture
of sulphuric acid, and the fabrication of gunpowder.
   Off. Prep. Acidum Nitrieum Purum; Collodium ;  Potassa? Nitras Purum;
Potassas Sulphas cum Sulphure; Spiritus JEtheris  Nitrici; Unguentum  Sul-
phuris Compositum.                                               ,   B. 
622
Potassas Sulphas.
PART I.
        POTASSA SULPHAS. US., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                         Sulphate of Potassa.

  Vitriolated  tartar; Tartarum vitriolatum, Arcanum duplicatum, Sal de duobus,
Lat.;  Sulfate  de potasse, Potasse  vitriolee, Fr.; Schwefelsaures  Kali, Vitriolisirtir
Weinstein, Germ.; Solfato di potassa, Ital.
  Several chemical processes give  rise to sulphate of potassa as a secondary
product.  Thus, it is  produced in the distillation of nitric acid from a mixture
of nitre aud sulphuric acid ;  in the decomposition of sulphate of magnesia by
carbonate of  potassa,  in one  of the processes  for preparing carbonate of mag-
nesia ; in the  manufacture of sulphuric acid; and  in  the decomposition of
tartrate  of potassa by sulphate of  lime. (See  Acidum Nitrieum, Acidum
Sulphuricum, and Acidum  Tartaricum.)   When nitric acid is obtained by
calcining a mixture of nitre and sulphate of iron, the residue consists of sesqui-
oxide of iron and sulphate of potassa, the latter of which, being alone soluble, is
separated by means of water, and crystallized from its solution.  The impure sul-
phate of potassa with sulphur, forming the residue of the combustion of sulphur
and nitre in making sulphuric acid, is employed in the manufacture of alum.
  The U. S.  and London Pharmacopoeias place sulphate of potassa in the list
of the Materia Medica ; the  Edinburgh and Dublin,  among the preparations,
obtaining it  from the salt which remains after  the distillation of nitric acid.
This salt is a supersulphate of potassa, and must be so treated as to bring it to
the neutral state.  The Edinburgh College brings it to that state by removing
the excess of  acid by  the addition of white marble, which converts it into an
insoluble sulphate of  lime.  The Dublin College saturates the supersalt in boil-
ing solution with slaked lime ;  strains the solution to separate the sulphate of
lime; adds carbonate of  potassa at the boiling temperature, to remove lime
and sulphate  of lime; strains  again ; exactly neutralizes the strained liquor
with diluted  sulphuric acid ; and, finally, having evaporated it  to a pellicle,
sets it aside'for twenty-four hours to crystallize.
  The manufacturer  of tartaric  acid who avails  himself of sulphate of lime
to decompose  tartrate of  potassa, forms sulphate of potassa as a collateral
product.  For the manner in which the latter salt may be economically crys-
tallized for use in the arts, see Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiii. 343.
  Properties.   Sulphate of  potassa is a white, anhydrous salt, in the form of
small, aggregated, transparent,  very hard crystals, permanent in the air, having
the shape usually of short  six-sided prisms, terminated by six-sided pyramids,
and possessing a nauseous, somewhat bitter  taste.  Insoluble in  alcohol, it is
slowly soluble in about nine and a half times its weight of cold, and in less than
four times its weight  of boiling water. (Gay-Bussac.)  Its solution is precipi-
tated yellow by bichloride of platinum, and white by chloride of barium.  Added
to a solution of sulphate of alumina, it generates alum, recognised by the octo-
hedral shape of its crystals.   It  is decomposed  by tartaric acid, which forms
bitartrate of potassa, and by the soluble salts of baryta, strontia, lime, silver, and
lead, forming insoluble or  sparingly soluble sulphates.  This salt is not liable
to adulteration.  It consists  of one eq. of sulphuric acid 40, and one of potassa
47-2=87-2.
  The plate-sulphate of potassa, so well described by Prof. Penny, of Glasgow,
is, when pure,  the double  sulphate of potassa and soda, having the formula,
3(KO,S03) + NaO,S03.  It  is  so called from the circumstance of being crys-
tallized in hard thick  cakes, or slabs, consisting of successive crops of crystals.
It is a technical product from kelp, and may be formed by allowing successive
quantities of  concentrated kelp-ley to run into coolers, there to  crystallize  in 
part I.     Potassas Sulphas.—Potassii Ferrocyanuretum.         623

successive layers ;  the  mother liquor being drawn off by a siphon, after the
deposit of' each layer.  (Philos. 3Iag., Dec. 1855.)
   3tedical Properties and Uses.  Sulphate of potassa is a mild purgative,
operating usually without heat, pain,  or other symptom of irritation.  In small
doses of from a scruple to half a drachm, it operates  as an aperient,  and is
useful in removing obstructions ; in larger doses, of four or five drachms, it acts
slowly as a purge.  Combined  with rhubarb, in the proportion of about a
drachm of the salt  to ten grains of the root, Dr. Fordyce recommended it as an
excellent alterative cathartic in the visceral  obstructions of children, character-
ized by a tumid abdomen,  and defective digestion and nutrition;  and we  can
bear testimony to  its efficacy in such  cases.  The  late Dr.  A. T. Thompson
found it in combination with rhubarb or aloes, " more useful than  any of the
other saline purgatives, in jaundice and dyspeptic affections."  On the continent
of Europe it is frequently given as an aperient after delivery, and for the pur-
pose of drying up the milk.  It enters into the composition of Dover's powder.
   Notwithstanding the general sentiment of practitioners  as to the safety of
sulphate of potassa as a  purgative, several cases are on record of supposed
poisoning from its  use.  A case has recently been  reported (1856), in which
death was attributed to this salt, the amount taken having been estimated at
an ounce and a half.  M. Moritz attributed the poisonous effects of the salt,
in a case which came under his notice, to the presence of a notable quantity of
sulphate of zinc;  but his explanation cannot be admitted  as adequate.  In
other cases, the salt, though found to be pure, seemed to act as a poison.  In
these cases its effects may be attributed, sometimes to the largeness of the dose,
and perhaps  also  to the insufficiency of water used to dissolve it; at other
times, where the dose used was moderate, to the existence of a  predisposition
to gastric inflammation.  For further information in relation to this  subject,
the reader is referred to a paper by the late Dr. T.  Romeyn Beck, in the  Amer.
Journ. of the 3Ied. Sci., N. S.,  vii. 88.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Colocynthidis Composita?;  Pilula? Opii sive Thebaica?;
Potassa? Bisulphas ;  Pulvis Ipecacuanha? et Opii; Pulvis Salinus Compositus.
                                                                    B.

          POTASSII FERROCYANURETUM. U. S.

                    Ferrocyanuret of  Potassium.
   Off.  Syn.  POTASSII FERROCYANIDUM. Lond, Ed., Dub.
  Ferrocyanide of potassium, Ferrocyanate of potassa,  Ferroprussiate of potassa, Prus-
siate of potassa; Proto-cyanure jaune de fer et de potassium, Fr.; Cyaneisenkalium,
 Germ.
   This is the yellow double cyanuret of potassium and iron, the salt from which
the cyanuret of potassium is obtained by calcination at a low red heat.  (See
Potassii Cyanuretum.)
   Ferrocyanuret of potassium is prepared on a large scale by heating animal
matters, such  as dried blood, hoofs,  chips  of horn, woollen rags, old leather,
the  refuse of tallow-chandlers,  called greaves, and other substances rich in
nitrogen, with the pearlash of commerce and scrap iron, in an egg-shaped iron
pot, called a shell, ladling out the pasty mass called the melt, and after it has
cooled sufficiently,  dissolving it in water, and evaporating the solution so that
crystals may form.   The melt, while  still hot, contains cyanuret of potassium
only, the ferrocyanuret being produced solely by the action of the water.  The
best temperature for making the solution is between 158° and 176°;  and the
conversion of the cyanuret into the ferrocyanuret  is facilitated by the presence
of finely divided amorphous sulphuret of iron,  and of caustic potassa.  (A.
Reimann. Chem, Gaz., Jan. 1,  1855.) 
621                   Potassii Ferrocyanuretum.               part r.

   Some  years  ago this salt was manufactured by a process which dispensed
with the use of ..animal matter; the  necessary nitrogen  being obtained  hj a
current of atmospheric air.   Fragments of charcoal, impregnated with thirty
per cent, of carbonate of potassa, were heated to white redness in a cylinder,
through  which a current of air was drawn by a suction pump.  This process
is understood to have succeeded in a chemical sense, but failed on the score  of
economy, chiefly from the circumstance that the necessary fire-clay tubes could
not be made to resist the combined action of the alkali and heat.   The process
of Richard Brunnquell consists in passing ammonia through tubes, filled with
charcoal and heated to redness, so as to form cyanuret of ammonium, and con-
verting this into ferrocyanuret of potassium by contact with solution of potash
and suitable iron compounds.  (Chem.  Gaz., Nov. 1, 1856.)
   Properties.   Ferrocyanuret of potassium is in large, beautiful,  transparent,
permanent, four-sided, tabular crystals, of a lemon-yellow colour, devoid of odour,
but possessing  a sweetish, yet somewhat bitter, saline  taste.  It dissolves  in
between three and four times its weight of cold water, and in about its own weight
of boiling water, but is insoluble in alcohol.   It acts but slightly, if at all, on
turmeric paper.  The alkaline  reaction, when it  exists, is  probably  owing  to
the presence of a little free potassa.   When heated to 140° it loses  its water
of crystallization, amounting  to 12-6 per cent., and becomes white.  When
ignited, the insoluble residue amounts  to 18*7 per cent, of sesquioxide of iron,
resulting from  the  oxidation  of the iron  of the  salt.   It is characterized by
striking  a deep blue colour with the salts of sesquioxide of iron, a deep brown
one with the salts  of copper, and a white one with those of zinc, the several
precipitates formed being ferrocyanurets of the respective metals.  Heated with
eight or  ten times its weight of concentrated sulphuric acid, it evolves carbonic
oxide. (Fownes.)  Half an ounce of the salt yields about 250 cubic inches  of
the gas. (C.  Grimm and G. Ramdohr.)  When boiled with dilute sulphu-
ric acid, it emits the smell of  hydrocyanic  acid.   Ferrocyanuret of potassium
consists of two eqs. of  cyanuret of potassium 130-4, one of cyanuret of  iron
54, and  three of water 27 = 211-4 (2KCy,FeCy+3HO).   The water present
is  just sufficient to convert the iron  and  potassium into protoxides, and the
cyanogen into  hydrocyanic acid.   Apart  from the water, it is generally con-
sidered to consist of a compound radical, called ferrocyanogen, formed of three
eqs. of cyanogen and one of iron (tercyanuret of iron), united with  two eqs.
of potassium.  Hence its officinal name.   This salt is remarkably pure  as it
occurs in commerce.
   Medical Properties,  dec.   Judging from  the  experiments of  the German
physicians, this salt possesses  but little activity.  Callies, as quoted by Pereira,
found the commercial salt slightly poisonous, but the pure salt unproductive of
harm in  the dose of several ounces.  It should be borne  in mind that it is the
commercial salt which is used  medicinally.  Westrumb and Hering proved that
it  passed with rapidity into the blood  and urine.
   Notwithstanding these statements, the late Dr. Burleigh Smart, of Kennebec,
Maine, found this salt to possess active medical properties.  (Am. Journ, of Med.
Sci., xv. 362.)   Its primary effect was that of a sedative, diminishing the fulness
and frequency of the  pulse, and allaying pain and irritation.  It acted also,
under favourable circumstances, as a diaphoretic  and astringent.  Dr. Smart
used it with success in a case of chronic bronchitis in a  child, with the effect, in
a  few days, of diminishing the frequency of the pulse,  and of lessening the
sweating, cough, and dyspnoea.   It sometimes acted as a diaphoretic, but only
in cases attended with excessive vascular action and increased heat of skin.   As
an astringent,  its power was  most conspicuous  in  the colliquative  sweats of
chronic bronchitis and phthisis.   The  same power was evinced in several cases 
 part I.          Potassii Ferrocyanuretum.—Prinos.               625

 of leucorrhoea cured by its use.   It sometimes produced ptyalism, unattended,
 however, by swelling of the salivary glands or fetor of the breath.  Its proper-
 ties as an anodyne and sedative rendered it applicable to cases of neuralgic pains
 and hooping cough, in which diseases, especially the latter, Dr. Smart found
 it useful. When given in an overdose, it occasioned vertigo, coldness, and numb-
 ness, with a sense of gastric sinking.
   The form of administration which Dr.  Smart preferred was that of solution,
 in the proportion of two drachms to the fluidounce of water.   Of this  the dose
 for an adult  is from 30 to 45 drops, equivalent to from 10 to 15 grains of
 the salt, repeated  every four or six hours.
   This salt is manufactured on a large scale, chiefly for the use of dyers  and
 calico-printers.   In pharmacy it is employed  to prepare  diluted hydrocyanic
 acid, Prussian blue, and the cyanurets of potassium and silver.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum  Hydrocyanicum Dilutum; Argenti Cyanuretum; Ferri
 Ferrocyanuretum; Potassii Cyanuretum.                               B.

                     PRINOS.  U.S. Secondary.

                              Black  Alder.

   The bark of Prinos verticillatus.  U. S.
   Prinos.  Sex. Syst  Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord. Aquifoliacea?.
   Gen, Ch. Calyx small, six-cleft. Corolla monopetalous, subrotate, six-parted.
 Berry six-seeded; seeds nuciform.  Nuttall.
   Prinos verticillatus. Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 225; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot iii.
 141; Barton,  Med. Bot i. 203.  The black alder is an indigenous shrub, with
 a stem six or eight feet high, furnished with alternate, spreading branches, and
 covered with a bluish-gray bark.  The leaves, which stand alternately or irregu-
 larly on  short petioles,  are oval, pointed,  tapering at the base, acutely serrate,
 of a dark-green colour, smooth above, but downy on the veins beneath.   The
 flowers are small, white, nearly sessile, and grow three or four together at  the
 axils of  the leaves.   They are often dioecious.   The calyx is persistent;  the
 segments of the corolla obtuse;  the stamens usually six,  and furnished with
 oblong anthers;  the germ large, green, and roundish, with a short style, ter-
 minating in an obtuse stigma.  The fruit when ripe consists  of glossy, scarlet,
 roundish berries, about  the size of a pea, containing  six cells and six seeds.
 Several of these berries are clustered together,  so as  to form  little bunches at
 irregular intervals  on the stem.  In the latter part of autumn, after the leaves
 have fallen, they still remain  attached  to the  stem, and render the shrub a
 striking object in the midst of the  general nakedness of vegetation.  Hence
 the plant is  often called winter-berry.
  It grows in all parts of the United States, from Canada to Florida, frequent-
 ing  low  wet places,  such as swamps, and the borders of  ponds,  ditches, and
 streams.   Its flowers appear in June.  The berries, which have a bitter, sweet-
 ish, somewhat acrid taste, are sometimes used medicinally for the same purposes
 with the bark, which is the officinal portion.
  The dried bark is in slender  pieces, more or less rolled, brittle, greenish-white
 internally, and covered with a smooth epidermis, easily separable, and of a
 whitish-ash  colour, alternating or mingled with brown.  It has no smell, but a
bitter and slightly astringent taste.   Boiling water extracts its virtues.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Black alder is usually considered tonic and
astringent;  and is among the remedies  proposed as  substitutes for Peruvian
bark, with which, however,  it has very little analogy.  It has been recommended
in intermittent fever, diarrhoea, and other diseases connected with debility, espe-
       40 
626
Prinos.—Prunum.
part i.
cially gangrene and mortification.   It is a popular remedy in gangrenous or
flabby and ill-conditioned ulcers, and  in chronic cutaneous eruptions, in which
it is given internally, and applied locally in the form of a wash or poultice.  It
may be used in substance or decoction.  The dose of the powder is from thirty
grains to  a drachm, to be repeated several times a day.   The decoction, which
is  usually preferred both for internal and  external use, may. be prepared by
boiling two ounces of the bark with three pints of water to a quart, and given
in the dose of two or three fluidounces.   A saturated  tincture, as well of the
berries as of the bark, is sometimes employed.                         \\

                      PRUNUM.  U.S., Lond.

                                Prunes.

   The dried fruit of Prunus domestica. U. S.  The prepared fruit. Bond.
   Off. Syn. PRUNA. Dried fruit of Prunus domestica. Ed., Dub.
   Pruneaux, Fr.; Pflaumen,  Germ.; Pruni, Ital.; Ciruelas secas, Span.
   Prunus.  Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Amygdalea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx inferior, bell-shaped,  deciduous, with five obtuse, concave
segments.  Petals five, roundish, concave, spreading, larger than the segments
of the calyx, into the rim of which they are inserted.  Filaments awl-shaped,
nearly as long as the corolla, from the rim of the calyx within the petals.  An-
thers short, of two round lobes.  Ovary superior, roundish. Style of the length
of the stamens.  Stigma  orbicular, peltate.  Drupe roundish or elliptical.  Nut
hard, somewhat compressed, of one cell, and two more  or less distinct sutures
with an intermediate furrow.  Leaves rolled up when young. (Lindley.)
   Prunus domestica.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 995; Woodv. 3Ied.  Bot. p. 520, t.
187.  The cultivated prune or plum tree is so well known as to render a minute
description unnecessary.  We merely give the specific character.   "Peduncles
subsolitary;  leaves lanceolate-ovate,  convolute;  branches not  spiny."  The
varieties of the tree  produced by cultivation are very  numerous.  Nearly one
hundred are to be  found  in the British gardens.  Though at present growing
wild in various parts of Europe, it is  thought to have  been brought originally
from Asia Minor and Syria.  It is the dried fruit only that is officinal.
   The prunes brought to our market come chiefly  from the  south of France,
the best from Bordeaux.   They are derived from the variety of the tree named
Juliana by Linnaeus.  The fresh fruit, called Prune  de Saint  Julien by the
French, is of an oval shape, nearly an inch in length,  and  of  a deep violet
colour.   It is prepared by  drying in the sun, after having been exposed to the
heat of an oven.   The finest prunes, used on the tables in France, are prepared
from the larger kinds of  plums, such as the Saint Catharine and Peine-Clauik
or green-gage.  An inferior sort is brought from Germany.
   Prunes have a feeble odour, and a sweet mucilaginous taste,  which is gene-
rally also somewhat acid.  They contain uncrystallizable sugar, malic acid, and
mucilaginous matter.  In  Germany a kind of brandy is obtained from them,
which in some districts  is  largely consumed.  Bonneberg, a German chemist,
has extracted from prunes  crystallizable sugar, equal to  that of  the cane.
   3Iedical  Properties and Uses.  Prunes  are  laxative and nutritious, and
stewed with water form  an excellent diet in costiveness, especially during con-
valescence from febrile and inflammatory diseases.   Imparting  their laxative
property to boiling water,  they serve as a pleasant and useful addition to pur-
gative decoctions.   Their pulp is used in the preparation of laxative confec-
tions.   Too largely taken, in a debilitated state of the digestive organs, they
are apt to occasion flatulence, and griping pain in the  stomach and bowels.
   Off Prep. Pruni Pulpa.                                          W. 
PART I.
Prunus Virginiana.
627
                PRUNUS  VIRGINIANA.  U S.

                         Wild-cherry Bark.

  The bark of Cerasus serotina (De Cand.), Cerasus Yirginiana (3Iichaux).
U.S.
  Cerasus. See  LAURO-CERASUS.
  This genus, which is now generally admitted, includes a large number of
species formerly embraced in the genus Prunus  of Linnams.
  Cerasus serotina. De Candolle, Prodrom. ii. 540; Torrey and Gray, Flora
of N. America, i. 410.— Cerasus Virginiana.  Michaux, N Am. Sylv. ii. 205.
According to Torrey and Gray, the name Prunus Virginiana, which has been
wrongly applied  to this species, was given by Linnasus to the choke-cherry, a
small tree or shrub, growing in the  Northern States, and  bearing a dark-red,
globular, astringent fruit, about as large as that of the wild-cherry.   This is
described in the Flora of N.  America of these authors, under the name of Ce-
rasus Virginiana.   The officinal species,  or wild-cherry tree, is, according to
Michaux, one of the largest productions of the American forest.  Individuals
were seen by that botanist on the banks of the Ohio, from eighty to one hundred
feet high, with trunks from twelve to fifteen feet in circumference, and undivided
to the height of twenty-five or thirty feet.  But, as  usually met with in the
Atlantic States,  the tree is much smaller.  In the open fields it is less elevated
than in forests, but  sends out more numerous branches, which expand  into an
elegant oval summit.  The trunk is regularly shaped, and covered with a rough
blackish bark, which detaches itself semicircularly in thick narrow plates.   The
leaves are  oval-oblong,  or  lanceolate-oblong,  acuminate,  unequally  serrate,
smooth on  both sides, of a beautiful brilliant green, and supported alternately
upon  petioles, which are furnished with from two to four reddish glands.   The
flowers are  small, white, and collected in long erect or spreading racemes. They
appear in May, and are followed by globular drupes about the size of a pea, and
when ripe of a shining blackish-purple colour.
  This tree grows throughout the Union, flourishing most in those parts where
the soil is fertile and the climate temperate, and abounding in the Middle Atlantic
States, and in those which border on  the Ohio.  In the neighbourhood of Phil-
adelphia, it affects open  situations, growing solitarily in the fields and along
fences, and seldom aggregated in woods or groves.  It is highly valued by the
cabinet-makers for its wood, which is compact, fine-grained, susceptible of polish,
and of a light-red tint, which deepens with age.  The fruit has a sweetish, as-
tringent, bitter taste; and is much used in some parts of the country to impart
flavour to spirituous liquors.  The inner bark is the part employed in medicine,
and is obtained indiscriminately from all parts of the tree, though that of the
roots is thought to  be most active.   Mr. J. S. Perot has ascertained that it is
stronger when collected in autumn than in the  spring.  Thus, from a  portion
gathered in April he obtained -0478 per cent,  of hydrocyanic acid,  and from
another in  October -1436 per cent., or about three times as much.  The parcels
tried were taken  from the same tree, and the same part of the tree.  (Am. Journ.
of Pharm., xxiv. 111.)  The bark should be preferred recently dried, as it de-
teriorates by keeping.
  Properties.   Wild-cherry bark, as kept in the shops, is in pieces of  various
sizes,  more or  less curved  laterally, usually destitute of epidermis, of a lively
reddish-cinnamon colour, brittle, and pulverizable,  presenting a reddish-gray
fracture, and affording a fawn-coloured powder.  In  the fresh  state, or when
treated with water, it emits an odour resembling that of peach leaves.  Its taste is
agreeably bitter and aromatic, with the peculiar flavour of the bitter almond.  It 
628                       Prunus Virginiana.                   part i.

imparts its sensible properties to water, either cold or hot, producing a clear red-
dish infusion, closelyresembling Madeira wine in appearance. Its peculiar flavour
as well as medical virtues are injured by boiling, in consequence partly of the
volatilization of the principles upon which they depend, partly upon a chemical
change effected by the heat.  From an analysis by Dr. Stephen Procter, it appears
to contain starch, resin, tannin, gallic acid,  fatty matter, lignin, red colouring
matter, salts of lime and potassa, and iron.   He obtained also a volatile oil
associated with hydrocyanic acid, by distilling the same portion of water succes-
sively from several different portions of the bark.  This oil was of a light-straw
colour, and very analogous in its properties to the volatile oil of bitter almonds.
In the quantity of two drops it proved fatal to a cat in less than five minutes.
(Journ.  of the Phil.  Col.  of Pharm., vi. 8.)   Prof. William Procter proved
that, as in the case of bitter almonds, the volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid do
not exist ready formed in the bark, but are the result of the reaction of water
with amygdalin,  which he ascertained to be  one of  its constituents.  In order
however, that this change may take place, the agency of another principle, pro-
bably analogous to if not identical with emulsin, or the synaptase of Robiquet,
is also essential;  and, as this principle becomes inoperative at the boiling tem-
perature, we can understand how decoction may interfere with the virtues of
the bark. (Am.  Journ. of Pharm,, x.  197.)   The conjecture was  advanced,
in former editions of this work, that wild-cherry bark might contain  also phlo-
ridzin, a bitter principle proved to exist in the bark of the apple, pear, cherry,
and plum trees; but Mr. Perot sought for this principle, without success, in spe-
cimens of the bark of different ages, and taken from different parts of the tree;
so that the tonic property, which is undoubtedly possessed by the bark, must
reside either in the portion of amygdalin which may remain undecomposed, in
the pure volatile  oil resulting from its  reaction with water, or in some yet un-
discovered principle.   (Ibid., xxiv. 111.)   That the last of these inferences is
the correct one, would seem to be  proved by an  experiment of Prof. Procter,
who found the bitterness of an extract of the bark  to remain  after it had been
wholly deprived of amygdalin.   (See the author's  Treatise on Therapeutics,
&c, i.  291.)   The sedative properties of the bark depend upon the hydrocyanic
acid which it yields.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.  This bark is among the most valuable of our
indigenous remedies.   Uniting with a tonic power the property of calming irri-
tation and diminishing nervous excitability, it is admirably adapted to the treat-
ment of diseases  in which debility of the stomach,  or of the  system, is united
with general or local irritation.  When largely taken it diminishes  the action
of the  heart, an  effect  ascribable to  the  hydrocyanic acid.  Dr. Eberle found
copious draughts of the cold infusion, taken  several times a day, and continued
for nearly two weeks, to reduce his pulse from seventy-five to fifty strokes in the
minute. _ The remedy is highly useful, and  has been  much employed in this
country, in the hectic fever of scrofula and consumption. In the general debility
which  often succeeds inflammatory diseases, it is also  advantageous; and it is
well adapted to many cases of  dyspepsia.   It has been given successfully in
intermittent fever, but is much inferior to cinchona.
  It may be used in powder or infusion.   The dose of the powder is from thirty
grains  to a drachm.   The infusion is properly directed bv our national Pharma-
copoeia to be prepared with cold water.  (See Infusum Pruni Virginianse.) A
syrup of wild-cherry bark was introduced into the last edition of the Pharmaco-
poeia, and is considerably used.  (See Syrupus Pruni Virginianae.)*
   Off.  Prep.  Infusum Pruni Virginiana?; Syrupus Pruni Virginianse.   W.

  * Fluid extract of wild-cherry barh  The following process is proposed by Prof. Proc-
ter.  Macerate 24 troy ounces of the powdered hark in 2 pints of alcohol of 88 per cent. 
PART I.
Pulegium.—Pyrethrum.
629
                 PULEGIUM.  Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                        European Pennyroyal.

   Mentha Pulegium.  The herb in flower, recent and  dried.  Lond.  The herb.
Ed., Dub.
   Menthe-pouliot, Pouliot, Fr.; Poleymiinze, 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.) Pulegium
possesses similar properties, and is  employed for the  same purpose with the
other mints.
   Off. Prep.  Aqua Pulegii; Oleum Pulegii.                          W.

          PYRETHRUM.   U.S.  Secondary, Lond.,  Ed,

                                Pellitory.

   The root of Anacyclus Pyrethrum.  U. S., Lond., Ed,
   Pyrethre, Fr.;  Bertram Wurzel,  Germ.; Piretro, Ital.; Pelitre,  Span.
   Anacyclus.  Differing from Anthemis by its winged and obcordate Achaenia.
Lindley.  See ANTHEMIS.
   Anacyclus Pyrethrum. De Cand. Prodrom. vi. 15.—Anthemis Pyrethrum.
Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2184; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 50, t. 20.   The root of this
plant is perennial, and sends up  numerous stems, usually trailing at the base,
erect in their upper portion, eight or ten inches high, and terminated by one
large flower.  The leaves are doubly pinnate, with narrow nearly linear segments
of a pale-green colour.   The florets of the disk are yellow;  the rays white on
their upper surface, and reddish or purple beneath and at their  edges.
   The plant is a native of the Levant, Barbary, and the Mediterranean coast
of Europe.  The root is the part used under the name of pellitory, or pellitory
of Spain.  According to Hayne, the pellitory of the shops is derived from the
Anacyclus officinarum, a plant cultivated in Thuryngia for medical purposes.
This remark, however,  can apply only to Germany.
   Properties.   The dried root of A. Pyrethrum is about the size of the little
finger, cylindrical, straight  or but slightly curved, wrinkled  longitudinally,' of
an ash-brown colour externally, whitish within, hard and brittle, and sometimes
furnished with a few radicles.  It is destitute of odour, though, when fresh, of
a disagreeable smell.  Its taste is peculiar, slight at first, but afterwards acidu-

for eight hours; put the mixture into a percolator, and add alcohol until 5 pints have
passed;  evaporate the tincture thus made to a syrupy consistence ;  then add half a
pint of water,  and again evaporate till all the alcohol is driven off.  Beat 3 ounces of
unblanched sweet-almonds into a paste with a little water, and add  enough water to
make half a pint  of emulsion.   Mix this, in a quart bottle,  with the liquor previously
obtained ;  and, having corked the bottle securely, shake it occasionally for 24 hours.
Express the mixture, and filter into a bottle containing 36  ounces of  pure granulated
sugar.  Finally, add water to the dregs, and again express and filter, until the whole
of the fluid extract obtained shall measure 3 pints.  The almonds, employed in the pro-
cess, serve to supply the emulsin necessary to produce the  requisite reaction between
the water and the amygdalin  extracted by the  alcohol.   The  dose  is a fluidrachm,
equivalent to two fluidounces of the officinal infusion.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii.
108.) 
630
Pyrethrum.— Quassia.
part i.
lous, saline, and acrid, attended with a burning and tingling sensation over the
whole mouth and throat, which continues for some time, and excites a copious
flow of saliva.  Its analysis by Koene gives, in 100 parts, 0-59 of a brown, very
acrid substance, of a resinous appearance, and insoluble in caustic potassa; 1-fiO
of a dark-brown,  very acrid fixed oil, soluble in potassa; 0-35 of a yellow acrid
oil, also soluble in potassa; traces of tannin; 9'40 parts of gum; inulin; 7 GO
parts of sulphate and carbonate of  potassa, chloride of potassium, phosphate
and carbonate of  lime, alumina, silica, &c.; and 19-80 of lignin, besides loss.
(See Am.  Journ. of Pharm, viii. 175.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Pellitory is a powerful irritant, used almost
exclusively as a sialagogue in certain forms of headache, rheumatic and neuralgic
affections of the face, toothache, &c, or as a local stimulant in palsy of the tongue
or throat, and in relaxation of the uvula.  For these purposes it may be chewed,
or employed as a  gargle in decoction or vinous tincture.   The dose as a masti-
catory is from thirty grains to a drachm.   An alcoholic extract is sometimes
employed by dentists as a local application  to carious teeth, with a view to its
benumbing effect before plugging.                                     W.


               QUASSIA.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Quassia.

  The wood  of Simaruba excelsa.  U. S.  Picra?na excelsa. The wood. Bond.,
Dub.  Wood  chiefly of Picrsena excelsa, seldom of Quassia amara. Ed.
  Bois de quassie, Fr.; Quassienholz, Germ.; Legno della quassia,Ital.; Lenode quassia,
Span.
  Quassia.  Sex. Syst  Decandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Simarubacea?.
   Gen.  Ch.  Calyx five-leaved.  Petals five.   Nectary five-leaved.   Drupes
five, distant, bivalve, one-seeded, inserted into a fleshy receptacle.  Willd.
  Of the  species included by Linnasus in this genus,  some, as Quassia amara,
are hermaphrodite ;  others, as Q. excelsa  and  Q. Simaruba,  are monoecious
or polygamous.  The latter have been associated by De Candolle in a distinct
genus, named Simaruba, which has been again divided by Lindley into Simaruba
with monoecious,  and Picrsena with polygamous flowers.  To the last men-
tioned genus the proper quassia plant, Q. excelsa of Linnaeus, belongs.
  The medicine was formerly obtained from Quassia amara;  but more than
twenty years since, Lamarck stated  that, in consequence of the scarcity of this
tree, Quassia excelsa had been resorted to as a substitute, and the Pharmaco-
poeias at present agree in acknowledging the latter as the officinal plant.  The
genuine quassia plant, however, of  Surinam is the Q. amara;  and we shall,
therefore, give a brief description of both species.
   Quassia excelsa.  Willd.  Sp. Plant,  ii. 569. — Simaruba excelsa, De Cand.
Prodrom. i. 733; Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. &c. ix. 16.—Picrsena excelsa.
Lindley, Flor. 3Ied. 208.  As its name  imports, this is a lofty tree, attaining
sometimes not less than one hundred feet in height, with a straight,  smooth,
tapering trunk, which is often three feet in diameter near its base, and covered
with a smooth gray bark.   The leaves  are pinnate, with a naked petiole, and
oblong pointed leaflets standing upon short footstalks, in opposite pairs, with
a single leaflet at the end.  The flowers are small, of a yellowish-green colour,
and disposed in panicles.   They are polygamous and pentandrous.  The fruit
is a small black drupe.  This species  inhabits Jamaica and the  Caribbean
islands, where it is called bitter ash.  The wood  is the officinal portion.
   Quassia amara.  Willd. Sp. Plant  ii.  567;  Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 574, t.
204.   The bitter quassia is a small branching tree or  shrub, with  alternate 
part I.                           Quassia.                             631

leaves, consisting of two pairs of opposite pinna?, with an odd one at the end.
The leaflets are elliptical, pointed, sessile, smooth, of  a  deep-green colour  on
their upper surface, and paler on the under.  The common footstalk is articu-
lated, and edged on each side with a leafy membrane.  The flowers, which are
hermaphrodite and  decandrous, have a bright-red colour, and terminate the
branches in long racemes.  The fruit is a two-celled capsule, containing globular
seeds.   Quassia amara is a native of Surinam, and  is  said also  to grow in
some of  the West India islands.  Its root, bark, and wood were formerly offi-
cinal.   They are excessively bitter,  as in fact are all parts of the plant.   It is
uncertain whether any of the produce of this tree now reaches our markets.
   Quassia comes in cylindrical billets of various sizes, from an inch to near a
foot in diameter, and several feet in length.   These are frequently invested with
a light-coloured smoothish bark, brittle, and but slightly adherent, and possess-
ing in at  least an equal degree  the virtues of the wood.  Their shape  and
structure clearly evince tiiat they are derived from the branches or trunk, and
not, as some have supposed, from the root of the tree.   In the shops they are
usually kept split into small pieces, or rasped.*
   Properties.   .The wood is at first whitish, but becomes yellow by exposure.
It is inodorous, and has a purely bitter taste,  surpassed by that of few other
substances in intensity and permanence.   It imparts its  active properties, with
its bitterness and yellow colour, to water and alcohol.  Its virtues depend upon
a peculiar bitter crystallizable principle, denominated quassin, which was first
discovered by Winckler.  It maybe obtained pure by the following process  of
Wiggers.  A filtered decoction of quassia  is evaporated to three-quarters of the
weight of the wood employed, slaked  lime is added,  and the mixture, having
been allowed to stand for a day, with occasional agitation, is again filtered.   A
considerable quantity of pectin, besides other substances, is thus separated. The
clear liquor is evaporated nearly to dryness, and the resulting mass exhausted
by alcohol of the sp. gr. 0*835, which leaves behind gum, common salt, nitre,
 &c, in large amount, and dissolves quassin with some common salt and nitre,
 and a brown organic substance.   In order to separate the quassin from these
 latter principles, which are soluble in water, the solution is evaporated to dry-
 ness, the resulting mass is dissolved in the least possible quantity of absolute
 alcohol, a large proportion of ether is added, and the liquor, previously sepa-
 rated by filtration from the brown mass which  the ether has thrown down, is
 evaporated to dryness;  and this process is repeated till the quassin remains
 behind  quite colourless,  and affords no evidence of the presence of the above-
 mentioned salts.  Lastly, in order to obtain it in a crystalline form, to which it
 is not strongly disposed, pour the alcoholic solution mixed with ether upon a
 little water, and allow it to evaporate spontaneously.   Quassin is white, opaque,
unalterable in the air, inodorous,  and of an intense  bitterness, which in the
 solutions of this principle is almost insupportable.  The bitterness is pure, and
 resembles that of the wood.  When heated,  quassin  melts like a resin.   It is
 but slightly soluble in water, 100  parts of which at 54°  dissolve only 0-45, and
 that slowly.   By the  addition of  salts,  especially of those with  which it is
 associated in quassia, its solubility is strikingly increased.  It is also but slightly

   * Mr. Edward Parrish has called attention to a bark, known at present in the market
 under the name of quassia bark.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 104.)  A specimen in
 our possession is in pieces, very broad, slightly curved laterally, thin in  proportion to
their other dimensions, covered with a thin greenish-brown rough epidermis, yellowish-
white and striated on their inner surface, of a feeble ^odour, and a quassia-like bitter-
 ness. The inner layers of the proper bark are very fibrous and tough, and, on the broken
 surface, of a light yellow colour.  It is  uncertain whether the hark is from the Quassia
 excelsa; but there can be little doubt that it is either from that or some analogous tree.
 —Note to the eleventh edition. 
632
Quassia.— Quercus Alba.-—Quercus Tinctoria.
PART I.
 soluble in ether, but is very soluble in alcohol, more so in that liquid hot than
 cold, and the more so the purer it is.   Quassin is perfectly neuter, though both
 alkalies and acids increase its solubility in water.  It is precipitated by tannic
 acid from its aqueous solution, which is not disturbed by iodine, chlorine cor-
 rosive  sublimate,  solutions  of  iron, sugar  of lead,  or even  the  subacetate of
 lead.   Its ultimate constituents are carbon,  hydrogen, and  oxygen.   Anions
 the salts  contained in quassia, Mr. Geo. Whipple has detected a considerable
 proportion  of sulphate of soda. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans, xiii. 643.)
   Medical  Properties and  Uses.   Quassia has in  the  highest degree all the
 properties of the simple bitters.  It is purely tonic, invigorating the digestive
 organs, with little excitement of the circulation, or increase of animal heat!  It
 has not been very long known as a medicine.   About the middle of the last
 century, a negro of  Surinam, named Quassi, acquired considerable reputation
 in the treatment of the malignant fevers of that country, by a secret remedy
 which he was induced to disclose to Mr. Rolander, a Swede, for a valuable
 consideration.  Specimens were taken to Stockholm by this gentleman in the
 year 1756 ;  and the medicine soon became popular in Europe.  The name of
 the  negro has been perpetuated in the generic title of the plant.   But the
 quassia of Surinam  is not now in use, having been superseded by the product
 of Quassia excelsa, from the West Indies.   This medicine is useful whenever a
 simple tonic impression is desirable.  It is particularly adapted  to dyspepsia,
 and to that debilitated state of the digestive organs which sometimes succeeds
 acute disease.   It may also be given with advantage in the remission of certain
 fevers in which tonics are demanded.  No one at present would expect from it
 any peculiar controlling influence over malignant fevers.   It is said to be largely
 employed in England by the brewers, to impart bitterness to their liquors.
  It  is most conveniently administered in infusion or extract.  (See Infusum
 Quassiae  and Extractum Quassiae.)   The difficulty of reducing the wood to
 powder is an objection to its use in substance.  It may, however, be employed
 in a  dose varying from a scruple to a drachm, repeated three or four times a
 day.  Some dyspeptic patients, who have become habituated to its bitterness,
 chew the  wood occasionally with benefit.
  _ Off. Prep.   Extractum Quassia?; Infusum  Quassia?; Tinctura Quassiae;
 Tinctura Quassia? Composita.                                       ^\*


                     QUERCUS  ALBA.  U. S.

                           White-oak Bark.
  The bark of Quercus  alba. U. S.


                 QUERCUS  TINCTORIA.  U. S.

                           Black-oak Bark.
  The bark of Quercus  tinctoria.  U. S.
  Off. Syn.   QUERCUS.  Quercus pedunculate.  The bark. Bond., Dub.;
QUERCUS CORTEX.  Bark of Quercus pedunculate.  Ed.
ToU^an.^™' Fr'! Eichenrinde- Germ->- Corteccia della querela, Ital.; Corteza de

  Quercus. Sex  Syst Monoecia Polyandria—Nat. Ord. Amentacea?, Juss.;
Cupulifera?,  Richard; Corylacea?,  Lindley.
  Gen.  Ch.  Male.  Calyx commonly five-cleft.  Corolla none. Stamens five
to ten.  Female.  Calyx one-leafed, entire,  rough.   Corolla none. Styles two
to five.  Nut coriaceous, surrounded at the base by the persistent calyx.  Willd. 
parti.           Quercus Alba.—Quercus Tinctoria.              633

  This genus comprises not less than eighty species, of which between thirty
and forty are within the limits of the United States.  Many of these are applied
to important practical purposes.   In the northern hemisphere, the oak  is the
most valuable, as it  is the most widely diffused of all forest trees.   Notwith-
standing the great number of species, few, comparatively,  have found a place
in the officinal catalogues.   Q.  robur, or common European oak, was formerly
recognised by the British Colleges; but at present they admit only Q. pedun-
culata, or European white oak.  As these do not grow in the United States, and
their products are not imported, it is unnecessary to treat  of them particularly
in this work.  According to Michaux, they grow in the same countries, fre-
quently together, constituting the  greater part of the forests of Europe, and
spreading over almost the whole  northern section of Asia, and the northern
coast of Africa.  Q.  pedunculata is the  common British  oak, celebrated as
well for its  majestic growth and the  venerable age which  it attains,  as for the
strength and durability of its timber.   Our own Pharmacopoeia recognises only
Q.  alba or white oak, and Q. tinctoria or black oak; but several other species
afford barks equally useful, and perhaps as much employed. Such are Q.falcata
or Spanish  oak, Q. prinus or  white chestnut  oak, and  Q. montana or rock
chestnut oak.   The remarks which follow in relation to  the  white-oak bark,
will apply also  to that  of the three last-mentioned species.   The bark of  Q.
tinctoria is somewhat peculiar.
   1.  Quercus alba. Willd. Sp. Plant iv. 448; Michaux, N Am. Sylv. i. 17.
Of all the American species, the white oak approaches nearest, in the character
of  its foliage,  and the properties of its wood and bark, to Q. pedunculata of
Great Britain.   When allowed to  expand freely in the open field, it  divides at
a short distance from the ground into numerous widely spreading branches, and
attains under favourable circumstances a magnificent size.  Its trunk and large
branches are covered  with a  whitish bark, which serves to distinguish it from
most of the other species.  The leaves are regularly and obliquely divided into
oblong, obtuse, entire  lobes, which  are often narrowed at their base.  When full
grown, they are smooth and light  green on their upper surface, and glaucous
beneath.  Some of the dried leaves remain on the tree during the whole winter.
The acorns are large, ovate, contained in rough, shallow, grayish cups, and sup-
ported singly or in pairs upon peduncles nearly an inch in length.
   The white oak abounds in the Middle States,  and extends also through the
whole Union, though comparatively rare in the northern, southern, and western
sections.  It is the most highly valued for its timber of all the  American oaks,
except the live oak (Q. virens), which is preferred in ship-building.   The bark
is sometimes used for tanning, but that of the red and Spanish  oaks is pre-
ferred.   All parts of the tree, with the exception of the  epidermis,  are more
or  less astringent, but this property predominates in the fruit and bark.
    White-oak bark, deprived of its epidermis, is of a light-brown colour, of a
coarse,  fibrous texture, and not easily pulverized.  It has a feeble odour, and a
rough,  astringent, and bitterish taste.  Water and alcohol  extract  its  active
properties.  The chief soluble ingredients are tannin, gallic acid, and extractive
matter.  It is upon the tannin that its medical virtues, as well  as its  use in the
preparation of leather, chiefly depend.  The proportion of this ingredient varies
with the size and age of the tree, the part from which the bark is derived, and
even the season  when it is gathered.   It is most abundant in the young bark ;
and the English oak is said to yield four times as much in spring as  in winter.
Sir H. Davy found the inner bark most abundant in tannin, the middle portion
or cellular integument much less so, and the epidermis almost  wholly destitute
as well of this principle as of extractive.
  Gerber discovered, in European  oak bark, a peculiar bitter principle upon 
634                Quercus Alba.— Quercus Tinctoria.           parti.

which he conferred  the name of quercin.   It is obtained by boiling the bark
with water acidulated with one hundredth of sulphuric acid, adding first milk of
lime until the sulphuric acid is removed, and then a solution of carbonate of
potassa so long as a white precipitate is produced, filtering the liquor, evapo-
rating to the consistence of a thin extract, adding alcohol, and finally evapo-
rating the spirituous solution down to a small volume, and allowing it to rest
for some days.  Yellow crystals  form,  which may be obtained colourless by
repeated crystallizations.   Quercin thus  obtained is in small white crystals  in-
odorous,  very  bitter, readily soluble  in  water,  less so in  alcohol  containing
water, insoluble in absolute alcohol,  ether, and oil of turpentine, and without
acid or alkaline reaction.  (Arch, der Pharm., xxxiv. 167.)
   2.  Quercus tinctoria. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 444 ; Michaux, N. Am. Sylv. i.
91.   The black oak is one of our largest trees, frequently attaining the height
of eighty or  ninety feet.   Its trunk is covered with a deeply furrowed bark, of
a black or dark-brown colour.  The leaves  are ovate-oblong, pubescent, slightly
sinuated,  with  oblong, obtuse, mucronate lobes.  The fructification is biennial.
The acorn is globose,  flattened at  top, and placed in a saucer-shaped cup.
   Black-oak bark has a more bitter  taste than that of the other  species, and
may be distinguished also by staining the saliva yellow when it is chewed. Its
cellular integument contains a colouring principle, capable of being extracted by
boiling water, to which it imparts  a brownish-yellow colour, which is deepened
by alkalies and rendered brighter by acids.  Under the name of quercitron, large
quantities of this bark, deprived of its epidermis and reduced to coarse powder,
are sent from the United States to Europe, where it is used for dyeing wool and
silk of a yellow colour.   The colouring principle is called quercitrin, or, from
its  property  of combining with salifiable bases, quercitric acid.  When quite
pure it is colourless, but becomes yellow  by absorbing oxygen.  It is sweetish,
with a bitter after-taste, and is very soluble in water, alcohol, and  ether.  M.
Preisser  obtained  it by precipitating  the tannin of a decoction of  the bark by
means of gelatin, filtering the liquor, adding a very little hydrated oxide of lead,
which produced a brown precipitate, decanting the golden-yellow liquid left, pre-
cipitating with an additional quantity of the hydrated oxide, and decomposing
the resulting quercitrate of lead by hydrosulphuric acid.   A colourless liquid re-
mained, which, evaporated in vacuo, yielded white needle-shaped crystals of pure
quercitrin. (Journ. de Pharm. et de  Chim., v. 251.)* Besides this principle,
the bark contains much tannin ; but it is less  used in tanning than the  other
barks, in  consequence of the 'colour which it imparts to the leather.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Oak bark is astringent and somewhat tenia
It has been given  with advantage  in  intermittent fever, obstinate chronic diar-
rhoea, and certain forms of passive hemorrhage ; but it is not much employed
as an internal remedy.   Externally applied  it is often productive of benefit.  The
decoction may be advantageously used as a bath, particularly for children, when
a combined tonic and astringent effect is desirable, and the stomach is not dis-
posed to receive medicines kindly.  It has  been employed in this way in maras-
mus, scrofula, intermittent fevers, chronic diarrhoea, and cholera infantum.  As

  * A somewhat different account is given of this principle  by Bolley and Rigaud.
The quercitrin of these  chemists is obtained  by forming a tincture of the bark with
alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-849, freeing this from tannin and a brown substance by gelatin,
distilling off the alcohol, and replacing it as it  is evaporated by water. The quercitrin
is deposited, and may be purified by  repeated solution in  alcohol, and separation by
water as before.  Thus procured, it is yellow, slightly bitter, inodorous, in microsco-
pic crystals of the right-rhombic system, soluble in 425 parts of boiling water (Rigaud),
almost insoluble in cold water, sparingly  soluble in ether, and freely soluble in alcohol
and alkaline solutions. Its formula is given as C36H19O20. (Chem. Gaz. No. 290, p. 428.) 
parti.   Quercus Alba.— Quercus Tinctoria.—Ranunculus.       635

an injection in leucorrhoea, a wash in prolapsus ani and hemorrhoidal affections,
and as a gargle in slight  inflammation of the fauces,  attended with prolapsed
uvula, the decoction is  often useful.  It has also been recommended as  an in-
jection into dropsical cysts.   Reduced to powder and made into a poultice, the
bark was recommended by the late Dr. Barton as an excellent application in
external gangrene and mortification ; and the infusion obtained from  tanners'
vats has been used beneficially as a wash for flabby, ill-conditioned ulcers.  The
bark may be given in the form of powder, extract, or decoction.  The dose of
the powder  is from  thirty grains to a drachm, of the extract about half as
much, of the decoction two fluidounces.  (See Decoctum Quercus.)
   Black-oak bark is  considered inferior  to the white-oak  bark as an internal
remedy, in consequence of being more disposed to irritate the bowels.
   Acorns, besides the bitter and astringent principles of the bark, contain also
a peculiar saccharine matter, which is insusceptible of the vinous fermentation.
(Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xx. 335.)  They are sometimes used as a tonic or
astringent; and a decoction made from roasted acorns has been long employed
in Germany as a remedy  in scrofula.   Before roasting they should be deprived
of their shells;  and the cotyledons, according to Dausse, should lose, during
the process, 140 parts of their weight out of 500. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, Oct.
9, 1850, p. 687.)  From half an  ounce to an ounce may be prepared as coffee,
and the  whole taken at breakfast with cream and sugar. (Richter.)
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Quercus Alba?.                               W.

                RANUNCULUS.  U.S. Secondary.

                                Crowfoot.

   The cormus and herb of Ranunculus bulbosus. U.  S.
   Ranunculus.  Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia, — Nat. Ord, Ranunculacea?.
   Gen. Ch.   Calyx five-leaved. Petals five, having the inner side of each claw
furnished with a melliferous pore.  Seeds naked, numerous. Nuttall.
   Most of the plants belonging to this genus have the same acrid properties.
Several of them  grow together in our fields  and pastures, and, from their close
resemblance, are confounded under the common name of butter-cup, applied to
them from the colour and shape of their flowers.   Those which are most abund-
ant are believed to have been introduced from Europe.  Such are R. bulbosus,
R. acris, and R. repens, which, with R. sceleratus, may be indiscriminately used.
In Europe, R. sceleratus appears to have  attracted  most attention ; in  this
country, R.  bulbosus.  The latter is  the only one designated by  our Pharma-
copoeia.  R. acris  and R. Flammula were formerly directed by the Dublin
College, but have been discarded.
   Ranunculus bulbosus. Willd. Sp.  Plant, ii. 1324; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
iii. 60.   This species of crowfoot is perennial, with a solid, fleshy root (cormus),
and several annual erect, round, and branching stems, from nine to eighteen
inches high.   The radical leaves,  which stand on long footstalks, are ternate
or quinate, with lobed and dentate leaflets.  The leaves of the stem are sessile
and ternate, the upper more simple.   Each stem  supports several  solitary,
bright-yellow, glossy flowers, upon furrowed, angular peduncles.  The leaves
of the calyx  are reflexed, or bent downwards against  the flowerstalk.  The
petals are obcordate, and arranged so as to resemble a small cup.   At the in-
side of the claw  of each petal is a small cavity, covered with a minute wedge-
shaped emarginate scale.   The fruit  consists  of  numerous  naked seeds, in  a
spherical head.   The stem, leaves, peduncles, and calyx are hairy.
  In May and June our pastures are everywhere adorned with the rich yellow 
636
Ranunculus.—Resina.
part i.
 flowers of this species of Ranunculus.   Somewhat later R. acris and R. repens
 begin to bloom, and a succession of similar flowers is maintained till September
 The two latter species prefer a moister ground, and are found most abundantly
 in meadows.  R. sceleratus is found in ponds and ditches.   In all these spe-
 cies,  the whole plant is pervaded  by a volatile acrid principle, which is dissi-
 pated by drying or by heat, and may be separated by distillation.   Dr. Bigelow
 found that water distilled from the fresh plant had an acrid taste, and produced
-when swallowed a burning sensation in the stomach; and that it retained these
 properties for a long time, if kept in closely stopped bottles.   The plant itself
 when chewed, excites violent irritation in the mouth and throat; inflaming and
 even  excoriating the tongue and inside of the cheeks and lips, if not quickly
 discharged.   Both the root and herb of R. bulbosus are officinal.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Crowfoot, when swallowed in the fresh state
 produces heat and pain  in  the stomach, and, if  the quantity be considerable
 may excite fatal inflammation.  It is,  however, never used internally; though
 the juice and distilled water of some species of Ranunculus are said to act as a
 prompt and powerful emetic.   The property for which it has attracted the at-
 tention of physicians is that of inflaming and vesicating the skin; and, before
 the introduction of the  Spanish fly into use, it was much employed for  this
 purpose.  But the uncertainty and occasional violence of its action have nearly
 banished it from regular practice.   While on  some individuals it appears to
 produce  scarcely any effect,  on others it acts  very speedily, exciting extensive
 and troublesome inflammation, which  sometimes  terminates in deep and obsti-
 nate ulcers.   It probably varies in strength with the season;  and, in  the dried
 state, or boiled with water, is wholly inert.  The decoction, moreover, is inert
in consequence of the escape of the  acrid principle.   Nevertheless, the plant
has been very properly retained in  the Pharmacopoeia, in the catalogue of med-
icines of secondary importance; as occasions  may occur when the practitioner
in the country may find advantage in having recourse to  its powerful rubefa-
cient  and epispastic operation.                                       W.


                 RESINA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                 Eesin.

  The residuum after the distillation of the volatile oil from the turpentine of
Pinus palustris and other species of Pinus.  U S.   The residue of turpentine
after the oil has been distilled. Lond.   Residue of the distillation of the  tur-
pentines  of various species of Pinus and Abies. Ed.  Resin from the turpentine
of Pinus sylvestris. Dub.
  Resine blanche; Resine  jaune, Fr.; Fichtenharz, Germ.; Ragea  di pino, Ital; Re-
sina de pino,  Span.
  After the distillation of  the volatile oil from the  turpentines (see  Terebin-
thina), a resinous matter remains, which on the continent of Europe is called
colophony, but in our language is commonly known by the name of rosin.  It
is the Resina of the U. S. and British Pharmacopoeias.  It is sometimes called
resina flava or yellow resin.  When this, in a state of fusion, is strongly agita-
ted with water, it acquires a distinct appearance, and is denominated resina  alba
or white resin.  Before describing this officinal substance, it may be proper to
enumerate the characteristic  properties of the proximate principles denomi-
nated resins.
  Resins are solid, brittle, of a smooth and shining fracture, and generally of a
yellowish colour and semitransparent.   When perfectly pure, they are probably
inodorous and often insipid; but, as usually found, they have a  slight odour, 
PART I.
Resina.
637
and a somewhat acrid or bitterish teste.  Their sp. gr. varies from 0-92 to 1-2.
They are fusible by a moderate heat, decomposed at a higher temperature, and
in the open air take fire, burning with a yellow flame and much smoke.  Insol-
uble in water, they are  dissolved by ether and the volatile oils, and generally
by alcohol; and their alcoholic and ethereal solutions afford precipitates upon
the addition of water.  With pure potassa and soda they unite to form soaps,
which are soluble in water; and the same result takes place when they are heated
with solutions of the alkaline carbonates.  Concentrated sulphuric acid dis-
solves them with mutual decomposition;  and nitric  acid converts them into
artificial tannin.   They readily unite by fusion with wax and the fixed oils.*
   Common or yellow resin, in its purest state, is beautifully clear and pellucid,
but  much less so as  commonly found in the shops.  Its odour and taste  are
usually in a slight degree terebinthinate; its colour yellowish-brown with a
tinge of olive, and more or less dark according to its purity, and the degree of
heat to which it has been exposed in its preparation.   Sometimes it is almost
black.  It  is rather heavier than water.  At 276°  F.  it fuses,  is completely
liquid at 306°, begins to emit bubbles of gas at 316°, and is entirely decomposed
at a red heat.   Its ultimate constituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, in
variable proportions.  It  appears, from the researches of Unverdorben, to con-
tain three distinct resinous bodies, two of which, denominated pinic and sylvic
acids, pre-existed in the turpentine, and the  third,  called colophonic acid, is
formed by the agency of heat in the distillation.   The pinic  acid is dissolved
by cold spirit of the sp. gr. 0*865, and is thus separated from the  sylvic acid.
It is obtained pure by adding to the solution a spirituous solution of acetate of
copper, dissolving  the precipitated pinate of copper in strong boiling alcohol,
decomposing this salt with a little muriatic acid, and adding water, which throws
down the pinic acid  as  a  resinous  powder.   The sylvic acid is obtained^by
treating the residue of  the common resin with boiling spirit of 0-865, which
dissolves it, and lets it fall upon cooling.  Both of these resinous  acids are col-
ourless.   Pinic  acid is soluble in weak cold alcohol; sylvic acid is insoluble in
the  same  menstruum when cold, but is dissolved by it when boiling hot, and by
strong alcohol at all temperatures.   The salts which they form with the alka-
lies  are soluble,  those with the earths and metallic oxides, insoluble in water.
 Colophonic acid differs from the others in having stronger acid properties, and
in being less soluble in alcohol.   It is of a brown colour; and common resin is
 more or less coloured in proportion to the quantity of this  acid which it con-
tains. (Kane's Chemistry.)   The experiments of Unverdorben were made with
European colophony.  It  is somewhat uncertain whether exactly the  same re-
sults would be afforded by the common resin of this country, which is obtained
from a different species of pine. By the destructive distillation of resin an oleagin-
 ous product is obtained, called resin oil, which in various degrees of purity is em-
 ployed in currying leather, lubricating machinery,  preparing printers'  ink,  &c.
   White resin differs from the preceding only in being opaque and of a whitish
 colour.   These properties it owes to the water with which  it is incorporated, and
 which gradually escapes upon exposure, leaving it more or less transparent.
   3Iedical Uses.  Resin is important as an ingredient of ointments and plasters,
but is never used internally.   According  to Professor Olmsted, it has the pro-

   *  M. Losch recommends the following process for rendering the resins as white as
possible.  Boil together 5 parts of the resin, 1 of carbonate of potassa or of soda, and
20 of water, until a perfectly homogeneous mass is obtained ;  allow this to  cool, and
pass into it sulphurous acid, which saturates the  alkali and precipitates the resin in
white flakes.  Finally, wash the precipitate well with water, and dry it. (Journ. de
Pharm. et de Chim., Juin, 1856, p. 465.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
638         Resina.—Rhamni Baccee.—Rhamni Succus.      part i.

perty of preventing the oxidation of fatty substances, and thus contributes to
the preservation of ointments.  (Am. Journ, of Pharm., xxii. 325.)
   Off. Prep.  Ceratum Cantharidis; Ceratum Resina?; Ceratum Resina? Com-
positum ; Emplastrum Cantharidis; Emplastrum Cantharidis Comp.; Emplast.
Ferri; Emplast. Hydrargyri; Emplast. Picis;  Emplast. Resina?; Emplast.
Saponis ; Emplast. Simplex; Unguentum Infusi Cantharidis; Unguent. Picis
                                                                    W."

                     RHAMNI BACCEE.  Ed.

                         Buckthorn Berries.

   Fruit of Rhamnus catharticus. Ed,

                   RHAMNI  SUCCUS. Lond.

                          Buckthorn Juice.
   Rhamnus catharticus.  The juice  of the fruit.  Lond.
   Baies du nerprun, Fr.; Kreutzbeeren, Germ.;  Bacche del spino cervino, Ital.; Bayaa
de ramno catartico, Span.
   Rhamnus. . Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Rhamnacea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx tubular.  Corolla scales defending the stamens, inserted into
the calyx.  Berry.   Willd.
   Rhamnus catharticus. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1092;  Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 594,
t. 210. The purging buckthorn is a shrub seven or eight feet high, with branches
terminating in a sharp spine.   The  leaves are in fascicles, on short footstalks,
ovate,  serrate, veined.   The  flowers are usually dioecious,  in  clusters,  small,
greenish, peduncled, with a four-cleft calyx, and four very small scale-like petals,
placed in the male  flower, behind  the stamens, which equal  them in number.
The fruit is a four-seeded berry.
   The shrub is a native of Europe, and has been found growing wild in this
country.  It was first discovered in the Highlands of New York by Dr. Barratt.
(Eaton's Manual.) It flowers in May and June, and ripens its fruit in the latter
part of September.   The berries and their juice are officinal.   When ripe they
are about the size of a pea, round, somewhat flattened on the summit, black,
smooth, shining, with  four seeds, surrounded by a green, juicy parenchyma.
Their odour is unpleasant, their taste bitterish, acrid, and nauseous.  The ex-
pressed juice has the colour, odour,  and taste of the parenchyma.  It is red-
dened by the acids, and from deep-green is rendered light-green by the alkalies.
Upon standing it soon begins to ferment, and becomes red in consequence of
the formation of acetic acid.   Evaporated to dryness, with the addition of lime
or an alkali, it forms the colour called by painters sap green.  The dried fruit
of another species, R. infectorius, yields a  rich yellow colour, for which it is
employed in the arts under the name of  French berries.
   Vogel obtained from the juice of the berries a peculiar colouring matter, acetic
acid, mucilage, sugar, and a nitrogenous substance.  Hubert found green colour-
ing matter, acetic and  malic acids, brown gummy matter, and  a bitter substance
which  he considered as the purgative principle.   M. Fleury obtained a peculiar
crystallizable principle, which is contained both in the expressed juice and the
residue remaining  after expression, and for which he proposed  the name of
rhamnin; but he did  not ascertain  whether it possessed  cathartic  properties.
(See Journ. de Pharm., xxvii. 666.)  Winckler obtained from the ripe fruit a
principle which he called cathartin, and believes that the rhamnin of Fleury,
which was obtained from the unripe berries,  is converted into  that principle and 
part i.      Rhamni Baccae.—Rhamni Succus.—Rheum.         639

grape sugar as the fruit matures.  (Chem,. Gaz., viii.  232.)  The cathartin of
Winckler, which must not be confounded with the substance of the same name
at one time supposed to be the purgative principle of senna, may be procured
by evaporating the expressed juice of the berries to the consistence of syrup,
treating this repeatedly with boiling absolute alcohol  till it ceases to yield bit-
terness to the menstruum, mixing the tinctures, allowing the liquor to become
cold, filtering, adding a large  excess of ether,  allowing  the mixed liquids to
stand, then  filtering, evaporating in a water-bath, and  repeating the process
with the residue.  The cathartin thus  obtained is a  pale-yellow powder, very
bitter, soluble in water and alcohol but not in ether, and actively cathartic in a
dose of from one to three grains.  (See N Y. Journ,  of Pharm., April, 1853,
and Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xxv. 526.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Both the berries and the expressed juice are
actively purgative ; but, as they are apt to occasion nausea and severe griping,
with much thirst and dryness of  the mouth and throat, they are now little em-
ployed.  They formerly enjoyed considerable reputation as a hydragogue cathar-
tic in dropsy; and were given also in rheumatism and gout.   The only shape
in which  they are used in this country is that of syrup, which is sometimes,
though rarely,  added to hydragogue  or diuretic mixtures.   (See Syrupus
Rhamni.)  The dose of the recent berries is  about a scruple, of the dried a
drachm, and of  the expressed juice a fluidounce.
   Under the name of cortex frangulee, the bark of Rhamnus Frangula is used
in  Germany as  a cathartic.  Buchner found in this bark  a  peculiar yellow
volatile colouring principle,  which he called rhamnoxanthin,  and which may
be obtained  by  subjecting the alcoholic  and ethereal extract to distillation.
 (Journ. de Pharm.,  Se ser., xxiv. 293.)
   Off. Prep.  Syrupus Rhamni.                                      W.


                 RHEUM. U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                               Rhubarb.

   The root of Rheum palmatum,  and other species of Rheum.  U. S.  Root of
 an undetermined species of Rheum. Ed,, Lond,, Dub.
   Rhabarbarum; Rhubarbe, Fr.; Rhabarber, Germ.; Rabarbaro, Ital.; Ruibarbo, Span.;
 Hai-houng, Chinese; Schara-modo, Thibet.
   Rheum.  Sex. Syst Enneandria Trigynia. — Nat.  Ord. Polygonacea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx petaloid, six-parted, withering.   Stamens about nine, in-
 serted into the base of the calyx. Styles three, reflexed. Stigmas peltate, entire.
 Achenium three-cornered, winged, with the withered calyx at the base. Embryo
 in the centre of  the albumen. (Lindley.)
   Notwithstanding the length of time that rhubarb has been in use, it has not
 yet been determined from what precise plant the Asiatic  drug is derived.   The
 remoteness of the region where it is collected, and the jealous  care with which
 the monopoly of the  trade is guarded, have prevented any accurate information
 on the subject.   All  that we certainly know is that  it  is the root of one or
 more species of  Rheum.   The U.  S. Pharmacopoeia refers it to R. palmatum,
 with other species not designated.  The British Colleges recognise at present
 no particular species.
   The terms rha and rheon, from the former of which were derived the names
rhabarbarum and rhubarb, and from the latter the botanical title Rheum, were
applied by the ancients to a  root which came from beyond the Bosphorus, and
which is supposed, though upon somewhat uncertain grounds,  to have been the
product of the Rheum Rhaponticum, growing on the banks of  the Caspian Sea 
 640                             Rheum.                        part i.

 and the Wolga.  This species was also at one time believed to be the source of
 the medicine now in use; but the true rhubarb has long been known to be wholly
 distinct from the Rhapontic, and derived from a different  source.   It was not
 till the year 1732 that any probable information was obtained as to its real origin.
 At that time plants were received from Russia by Jussieu in France, and Rand
 in England, which were said to be of the species affording the  genuine rhubarb
 and were named by Linnasus, under this impression, Rheum  Rhabarbarum, a
 title which has since given  way to Rheum undulatum.  Subsequently, Kauw
 Boerhaave obtained from a merchant, who dealt in the rhubarb of Tartary,
 some seeds which he said were those of the plant producing the root sold by
 him.  These, having been planted, yielded two species of Rheum, R. undulatum,
 and another which Linnaeus named R. palmatum.  Seeds transmitted by Dr.
 Mounsey from St. Petersburg to Dr. Hope, and planted in the botanic garden at
 Edinburgh, produced the latter species ; and the same was  also raised at Upsal
 from a root received by Linnaeus from De Gorter, and was described A. D. 1767
 by the younger Linnaeus, two years after the appearance of Dr. Hope's paper
 in the Philosophical Transactions.  Thus far the evidence  appears  equally in
 favour of R: palmatum and R. undulatum.  The claims of another species
 were afterwards presented.  Pallas, upon  exhibiting the leaves of R. palmatum
 to some Bucharian merchants was told that the  leaves of the rhubarb were
 entirely different in shape; and the description he received of them corresponded
 more closely with those of  R. compactum, than of any other known species.
 Seeds of this plant were, moreover, sent to Miller from St. Petersburg, as those
 of the true Tartarian rhubarb.   A few years since the attention of naturalists
 was called to a fourth species, for which  the same honour has  been claimed
 Dr. Wallich, superintendent of the botanical garden at Calcutta, received seeds
 that were said  to be those of the  plant which yielded the Chinese rhubarb,
 growing on the Himalaya mountains and the highlands  of  Tartary.  These
 produced a species not previously described, which Dr. Wallich named R. Emodi,
 from the native title of the plant.  It is the R. australe of Mr. Don and of
 Colebrooke, and has been ascertained to afford a root which, though purgative,
 is very unlike the officinal rhubarb.   Other species have been  found to grow in
 the Himalaya mountains, from which  a kind of rhubarb used by the natives is
 said to  be procured;  but none of it  reaches the markets of this country or
 Europe.  From what has been said, it is obvious that no species yet mentioned
 can be considered as the undoubted source of commercial  rhubarb;  the plant
 having, in no instance, been seen and examined by naturalists in its native place.
 Sievers, an apothecary, sent to  Siberia in the reign of Catharine II., with the
 view of improving the cultivation of the native rhubarb, asserts from informa-
 tion given him by the Bucharians, that all the seeds procured under the name
 of true rhubarb are false, and pronounces " all the descriptions in the Materia
 Medicas to be incorrect."  This assertion, however, has no relation to R. aus-
 trale which has been subsequently described ; but it is said  that the roots of
 that plant, dried by the medical officers of the British  army, differ from true
rhubarb in  appearance and power.
  All the plants of this  genus are perennial and herbaceous, with large branch-
ing roots, which send forth  vigorous stems from four to eight feet or more in
height, surrounded at their  base with numerous very large petiolate leaves, and
terminating in  lengthened  branching  panicles, composed of small and  very
numerous  flowers, resembling  those of the Rumex or dock.  There is some
 difficulty in arranging the species, in consequence of the tendency of the culti-
 vated plants to form hybrids;  and it is frequently impossible  to ascertain to
which of the wild types the several garden varieties are to be referred.   The
following descriptions are from the Flora Medica of Dr. Lindley. 
PART I.
Rheum.
641
   Rheum palmatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 489; Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 358
 Carson, Illust of Med. Bot. ii. 22, pi. 69. "Leaves roundish-cordate, half palm-
 ate; the lobes pinnatifid, acuminate, deep dull-green, not wavy, but uneven and
 very much wrinkled on the upper side,  hardly scabrous at the  edge, minutely
 downy on the under side; sinus completely closed; the lobes of the leaf stand-
 ing forwards beyond it.   Petiole pale green, marked with short purple lines,
 terete, obscurely channeled quite at the upper end.  Flowering stems taller than
 those of any other species."  This species is said to  inhabit China in the vi-
 cinity of the great wall.   It has been cultivated in England and France for the
 sake of its root, which is generally admitted to approach more nearly in odour,
 taste, and the arrangement of its colours, than that of any other known species,
 to the Asiatic rhubarb.
   R. undulatum.  Willd.  Sp. Plant ii.  489;  Lindley, Flor. Med.  p.  357 ;
 Woodv. Med. Bot. 3d ed. v. 81.  "Leaves oval, obtuse, extremely wavy, deep-
 green, with veins purple  at the base, often shorter than the petiole, distinctly
 and copiously downy on each side, looking as if frosted when young, scabrous
 at the edge; sinus open, wedge-shaped, with the lower lobes of the leaves turned
 upwards.  Petiole downy, blood-red, semi-cylindrical, with  elevated edges to the
 upper side,  which is narrower at the upper than the  lower end."  This  is a
 native of Siberia, and probably Tartary and China.   It was cultivated by the
 Russian government as the true rhubarb plant; but the culture has been aban-
 doned.   It contributes to the rhubarb produced in France.
   R. compact-urn.  Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 489;  Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 358 ;
 Carson, Illust of Med. Bot ii. 24, pi. 71.  "Leaves heart-shaped, obtuse, very
 wavy, deep-green, of a thick texture, scabrous at the margin, quite smooth on
 both sides, glossy and even on the upper side; sinus nearly closed by the paren-
 chyma.   Petiole  green, hardly tinged with red except  at  the base, semi-cylin-
 drical, a little compressed  at the sides, with the upper side  broad, flat, bordered
 by elevated edges, and of equal breadth at each end."   This plant is said to be
 a native of Tartary and China. It is one of the garden rhubarbs, and has been
 cultivated in France for its root.
   R. australe. Don. Prod. Flor. Nepal, p. 75.— R. Emodi. Wallich; Lindley,
 Flor. Med.  p. 354; Carson, Illust of Med. Bot ii. 24, pi. 70.   "Leaves cor-
 date, acute, dull-green, but little wavy, flatfish, very  much wrinkled, distinctly
 rough, with coarse short hairs on each side;  sinus of the base distinctly open,
 not wedge-shaped but diverging at an  obtuse  angle, with the lobes nearly
 turned  upwards.   Petioles very rough,  rounded-angular,  furrowed; with  the
 upper side depressed, bordered by an elevated edge, and very much narrower
 at the upper than the lower end."   The root of this species was at one time
 conjectured  to be  the source of officinal Asiatic rhubarb; but has been found to
 have scarcely any resemblance to it.   The plant has been cultivated both in
 Europe and this country, and its petioles answer well for tarts, &c.
   R. Rhaponticum. Willd. Sp. Plant  ii. 488;  Lindley,  Flor. Med, p. 357 ;
 Loudon's Encyc.  of Plants, p. 335.   "Leaves roundish-ovate, cordate, obtuse,
 pale-green, but little wavy, very concave, even, very slightly downy on the un-
 der side, especially near the edge, and on the  edge itself; scabrous at the mar-
 gin ; sinus quite open, large, and cuneate.  Petiole depressed, channeled on the
 upper side, with the edges regularly rounded off,  pale green, striated, scarcely
 scabrous.  Panicles very compact and short,  always rounded at the ends, and
 never lax as in  the other  garden species. ' Flowering stem about three feet
high."   The Rhapontic rhubarb grows upon the banks of  the Caspian Sea, in
the deserts between the Wolga and the Oural, and in Siberia.   It is said also
to grow upon the borders  of the Euxine.  It is cultivated as a garden plant in 
 642                             Rheum.                          part i.

 Europe and this country; and large quantities of the root are produced for sale
 in France.  It is said by Royle to be the source of the English rhubarb.
   Besides the species above described, R. leucorrhizum, growing in the Kirghese
 desert in Tartary, R.  Caspicum  from the Altai  mountains, R. Webbianinn
 R. speciforme,  and R. 3Ioorcraftianum, natives of the Himalaya mountains'
 and R. crassinervium  and R. hybridum,  cultivated in  Europe, but of un-
 known origin, yield roots which have either been  employed as purgatives or
 possess properties more or less analogous to those of officinal rhubarb, thou-di
 they have not entered into general commerce.
   The leafstalks of the different species of Rheum have a pleasant acid taste
 and are used for making tarts and  pies.  It is for this purpose only that the
 plants are cultivated in the United States.   Lindley states that R.  Rhaponti-
 cum,  R. hybridum, and  R. compactum, and hybrid varieties of them, are the
 common garden rhubarbs.
   In relation to  the  culture  and preparation of rhubarb, our information is
 almost as uncertain as on the subject of its  natural history.  The accounts
 received from the Bucharian merchants are very discordant, and few intelligent
 travellers have  penetrated into the  country where the medicine is collected.
 We shall present, however, a brief abstract of what  we have been able to col-
 lect upon the subject from the authorities we have consulted.
   Rhubarb is produced abundantly in the elevated lands of Tartary, about the
 lake Koko Norr, and is said to be cultivated in the neighbouring Chinese pro-
 vince of Shen-see, and in that of Setchuen.   From these sources it is generally
 supposed that our  supplies of Russian  and Chinese rhubarb are exclusively
 derived; but the root is  also collected in Boutan and Thibet, on the north of
 the Himalaya mountains; and it is probable that the plant pervades the whole
 of  Chinese  Tartary.   It flourishes  best in a light  sandy soil.   It is stated by
 Mr. Bell, who, on a journey from St. Petersburg to Pekin, had an opportunity
 of observing it in a growing state,  that it is not cultivated by the Tartars, but
 springs up spontaneously, in tufts, wherever the seeds have fallen upon the heaps
 of  loose earth thrown up by the marmots.   In other places the  thickness of
 the grass prevents their  access to the soil.   The root is not considered suffi-
 ciently mature for collection till it has attained the age of six years.  It is dug
 up twice a year  in  Tartary,  in the  spring  and autumn ; in China not till the
 winter.  After removal from the ground, it is cleaned, deprived of its cortical
 portion and the smaller branches, and then divided into pieces of a convenient
-size.   These are bored with  holes, and strung upon cords to dry; according to
 Mr. Bell, about the tents and  on the horns of sheep;  according to  Sievers,
 under sheds, by  which the rays of the sun are excluded, while the air has free
 access.   The Chinese are said first to place the pieces on  a  stone slab heated
 by fire beneath,  and afterwards to complete the  drying process by exposing
 them to the  sun  and air.   In  Boutan the roots are hung up in a kind of drying
 room, in which  a moderate  and regular heat is maintained.   Much time and
 attention are devoted to the preparation of the root; and  Sievers states that a
 year sometimes  elapses from  the period of its collection, before it is ready for
 exportation.  A large proportion of its weight is  lost in drying, according to
 some accounts four-fifths, to others  not less than seven-eighths.  It is probably
 in order to favour the drying that the bark is removed.  The trade in  rhubarb
 is said to centre in  the Chinese town of Si-nin, where a Bucharian company or
 family is established, which possesses a monopoly of this trade, in consideration
 of a  certain tribute paid to the government.  To this  city the rhubarb is
 brought  from the  various places  of its collection,  and, having been  duly
 assorted, and undergone further preparation, is transmitted partly to Russia,
 partly to the coast  of China; so that the drug which reaches us through St. 
PART I.
Rheum.
643
  Petersburg is procured from the same neighbourhood with that imported from
  Canton.  But it will soon be seen that there are differences between the Rus-
  sian and Chinese rhubarb, which would seem to indicate a different origin, and
  might authorize doubts as to the entire accuracy of the above accounts.  It is
  at least probable that the drug produced in the province  of Setchuen, whence
  the best China rhubarb is said to be brought, takes a more direct  route to  the
  coast than that through the town of Si-nin.   Besides  the two commercial
  varieties just mentioned, a third occasionally comes to us from Europe, where
  the  cultivation of rhubarb has been  carried on for some time, especially in
  France, Belgium, and Great Britain.   Of these three varieties we shall treat
  under different heads.

                          1.  Chinese Rhubarb.

    India Rhubarb. Rheum Sinense vcl Indicum.  Much the largest propor-
  tion of rhubarb consumed in this country is brought  from  Canton.  Though
  somewhat inferior to the Russian, its  comparative cheapness gives it a decided
  preference in our markets; and, when  of good quality,  it does not disappoint
  the expectations of the physician.
    It is in cylindrical or roundish pieces, sometimes flattened on  one or both
  sides, of a dirty brownish-yellow colour externally, appearing as if the cortical
  portion of the root had  been removed by scraping, and the  surface  rendered
  smooth and somewhat powdery by attrition.  The best pieces are heavier than
  the Russian  rhubarb, have a texture  rather close and  compact, and  when
  broken present a ragged uneven surface, variegated with  intermingled shades
  of dull-red, yellowish, and white, which are sometimes diversified or interrupted
  by darker colours.   The pieces are generally perforated with small holes,  in-
  tended for convenience of suspension during the drying  process ; and portions
  of the suspending  cord are  not unfrequently found remaining in the holes.
  Chinese rhubarb has a peculiar somewhat aromatic smell,  and a bitter astrin-
  gent taste, is  gritty when chewed, imparts a yellow colour to the saliva, and
 affords a yellowish  powder with a reddish-brown tinge.   With the  pieces  of
 good quality others often come mingled, defective from decay or improper pre-
 paration.  These are usually lighter, and of a dark or russet colour.   Like
 all the other varieties of rhubarb, this is liable to be attacked by worms; and
 in almost every large parcel pieces may be found which have suffered from this
 cause.  The want of proper care in  its  selection by the Chinese merchants,
 and the exposure incident to a long sea-voyage, are causes which contribute  to
 its  inferiority  to the Russian  rhubarb.   As the whole contents of the chest
 imported are usually powdered together, including the worst as well as the best
 pieces, it follows  that the powder  is inferior in efficacy to the selected and
 sound pieces.
  In former  editions  of this work,  we  have  noticed a variety of rhubarb im-
 ported from Canton, which was evidently prepared, before leaving China, so as
 to resemble the Russian, having an angular surface as if pared with a knife.
 The pieces were obviously selected with great care, as they were  remarkably
 free from defects.  But in most of those which came under our notice, the small
 penetrating  hole was observable, which characterizes  the Chinese rhubarb,
 though it had in some instances  been filled with  the powdered root, so as in
 some measure to conceal it.  Besides, the colours were not quite so bright as
 those of Russia rhubarb.  This is undoubtedly the variety described by Pereira,
 under a distinct head, as the Dutch-trimmed or  Batavian rhubarb, and con- ,
 sidered by him as probably Bucharian or Russian rhubarb of inferior quality,
sent by the way of Canton.  A sufficient proof, we think, that this is  not the 
644
Rheum.
part I.
case, is the presence in most pieces of the small penetrating hole, occasionally
filled with remains of the cord, and in some pieces almost shaved away in the
paring process.  We have never seen such  a hole in any piece of tme Russian
rhubarb, which does not appear to be strung up like the Chinese when dried.
  Under the title of Canton stick rhubarb,  Pereira describes a variety of which
small quantities have been imported from Canton into London.   It closely re-
sembles the English stick rhubarb,  and is supposed to be derived from the
branches of the root of the plant which yields the true Chinese rhubarb.

                         2.  Russian  Rhubarb.

   Turkey Rhubarb. Bucharian Rhubarb. Rheum Russicum vel  Turcicum.
The rhubarb taken to Russia from Tartary undergoes a peculiar preparation,
in conformity with the  stipulations of a contract with the Bucharian merchants
who furnish the supply.   The best is  selected, and each piece perforated in or-
der to ascertain whether it is sound in the centre.  From Si-nin it  is conveyed
by the Bucharian merchants to the frontier town of  Kiachta, where it under-
goes a rigid inspection by an apothecary stationed at that place by the Rus-
sian government.   All the pieces which do  not pass examination are com-
mitted to the flames; and the remainder is sent to St. Petersburg.  This va-
riety is sometimes called  Turkey rhubarb, from the  circumstance  that it was
formerly derived from the Turkish ports, whither it is said to have been  brought
from  Tartary by caravans through Persia and Natolia.  The circumstance of
the identity of the Russian and Turkey rhubarb, and its decided difference from
the Chinese, would appear to indicate a distinct origin for the  two varieties.
Inferior parcels of the root, which will not pass the inspection of the  Russian
authorities, are said to enter  Russia by Taschkent,  and  to  be  known to the
druggists of that country by the name of Taschkent  rhubarb.
   The pieces of Russian rhubarb are irregular and somewhat angular, appear-
ing as if the bark  had been  shaved off longitudinally by successive  strokes of a
knife, and a portion of the interior substance removed with each shaving.  They
have a cleaner and fresher appearance than the Chinese, and their colour both
internally and  externally, though of the same  general character, is somewhat
more lively.  They are less compact  and heavy; and are cut with less facility,
owing  to  their giving way before the knife.   Another distinction is the char-
acter of the perforations, which in the  Russian rhubarb are large, frequently
reaching only to the centre, and evidently  made for the purpose of inspection;
 while in the Chinese they are small, penetrate  completely through the pieces,
 and were intended for the passage of a suspending cord.   The taste and smell
 of the former closely resemble those of the latter, except that the Russian  is
 rather more aromatic.   There is the same crackling under the teeth, and the
 same yellow stain imparted to the saliva;  but the colour of the powder in this
 variety is a bright yellow, without the brownish tinge exhibited by the Chinese.
 When thin slices, previously boiled in water, are examined by the microscope,
 they exhibit numerous clusters of minute crystals of oxalate of lime.   Mr. Que-
 kett found between 35 and 40 grains of them in 100 grains of the root. They
 are observed both in the Russian and Chinese  rhubarb.
    The care which renders the Russian rhubarb so free from defects, tends greatly
 to enhance its price, and consequently to limit  its consumption.  Its great com-
 parative value in the market  has led to frequent attempts at adulteration; and
 the pieces of Chinese rhubarb are sometimes cut down and prepared so as to
 resemble the Russian.   The  fraud,  however, may be detected by  adverting  to
 the peculiarities in texture, colour, and weight, by which the varieties are dis-
 tinguished, and to the occasional presence of the small penetrating hole or ves- 
PART I.
Rheum.
645
tiges of it.  We have seen a specimen in which the hole was enlarged at its two
extremities, and closed by powder in the middle, with the view of imitating the
larger perforations of the Russian pieces.  Sometimes worm-eaten pieces  are
made to resemble the sound, by filling up the holes with a mixture of pulver-
ized rhubarb and mucilage, and covering over the  surface with the powder.  By
removing this, the fraud is at once revealed.


                       3.  European Rhubarb.
   In various parts of Europe, particularly in" England, France, Belgium, and
Germany, the rhubarb plants have been cultivated for many years; and con-
siderable quantities of the root are annually  brought into the market.  It is
imported into this country from England and France.
   English Rhubarb. This formerly came in two forms.  In one the root was
cut and perforated in imitation of the Russian.   The pieces were of various
shape  and size,  sometimes cylindrical, but  more commonly flat, or somewhat
lenticular, and of considerable dimensions.   We have for a long time seen none
of this variety in our markets.   In the other, the pieces are somewhat cylin-
drical, five or six inches long by an inch or less in thickness, and more or less
irregular upon the surface, as if they had shrunk unequally in drying.  This is
called stick rhubarb  in England, and is still occasionally met with in our shops.
English rhubarb is lighter than the Asiatic, more  spongy, and often somewhat
pasty under the  pestle.   It is of a redder colour, and when  broken exhibits a
more compact and regular marbling; the pinkish lines being  arranged in a
radiated manner from the centre towards the circumference.   The powder also
has a deeper reddish  tint.  The odour is feeble and  less aromatic than that of
the Asiatic varieties; the taste is astringent and mucilaginous with little bitter-
ness; and the root, when chewed, scarcely feels gritty between  the teeth, and
but slightly colours the saliva.  Few crystals of oxalate of lime are discoverable
by means of the  microscope.   Most of the commercial English rhubarb is now
cultivated near Banbury, and is said to be the product of R.  Rhaponticum.
   French Rhubarb.  Rhapontic Rhubarb.  Krimea Rhubarb.  The rhubarb
produced in France  is, according to Guibourt, chiefly from R. Rhaponticum,
R. undulatum, and R. compactum; that of R. palmatum, which most closely
resembles the Asiatic, having been found to  degenerate so much, as not to be a
profitable object  of culture.   Most of the  French rhubarb is produced in the
neighbourhood of L'Orient, in the department of Morbihan; and the spot where
it grows has, from this circumstance,  received  the  name of Rheumpole.   Two
kinds are described by Guibourt, both under the  name Rhapontic root.  One
proceeds from the R. Rhaponticum, growing in the gardens in the environs of
Paris;  the other, from this and the two other species above  mentioned, culti-
vated at Rheumpole.   The former is  in pieces of the size of the fist or smaller,
ligneous in  appearance,  of a reddish-gray  colour on the outside, internally
marbled with red and white arranged in the form of  crowded rays proceeding
from the centre to the circumference,  of an odour like that of Asiatic rhubarb,
but more disagreeable, of a mucilaginous and very astringent taste, not crack-
ling under the teeth, but  tinging the saliva yellow, and affording a reddish-yel-
low powder.  The pieces of the latter are irregularly cylindrical) three or four
inches long, and from one to two or even three inches thick, less  ligneous in
appearance than the  preceding, and externally of a pale  or brownish-yellow
colour less inclining to redness.  In exterior aspect, this variety bears consider-
able resemblance to Chinese  rhubarb; but may be distinguished by its more
disagreeable odour, its astringent and mucilaginous taste, its want of crackling
under the teeth,  and  its radiating fracture, in which  properties it is similar to 
646
Rheum.
part i.
the preceding variety.  Considerable quantities of this drug have been imported
into the United States from France, under the name  of Krimea rhubarb; and
it is sometimes employed, we fear, to adulterate the powder of the better kinds.
It appears to have displaced in  France the Rhapontic root formerly imported
from the Euxine.   Whether from difference in species, or from the influence of
soil and climate, none of the European rhubarbs equals the Asiatic in purga-
tive power.*
   Choice of Rhubarb.   In selecting good rhubarb,  without reference to the
commercial variety, those pieces should be preferred which are moderately heavy
and compact, of a lively colour, brittle, presenting when broken a fresh appear-
ance, with reddish and yellowish veins intermingled with white,  of an  odour
decidedly  aromatic, of  a bitter and  astringent  not  mucilaginous  taste, feeling
gritty and staining the saliva yellow when chewed, and affording a powder either
bright yellow, or yellow with but a slight reddish-brown tinge.  When very light,
rhubarb is usually rotten or worm-eaten; when very  heavy and compact, it is
of inferior species, culture, or preparation.   Rotten, worm-eaten, or otherwise
inferior rhubarb, is often powdered and coloured yellow with  turmeric; and the
shavings left when Chinese rhubarb is trimmed for powdering, or  to imitate
the Russian, are applied to the  same purpose.
   Chemical Properties.   Rhubarb yields  all its activity to water and alcohol.
The infusion is of a dark reddish-yellow colour, with the taste and odour of
rhubarb;  and the residue,  after sufficient  maceration,  is whitish,  inodorous,
and insipid.   By long  boiling  the virtues of the medicine are impaired.  Many
attempts have been made to analyze  the  root, with  various results.  Among
them, are those of the two Henrys and Caventou of  Paris, Brande of London,
Peretti  of Rome,  and Hornemann, Brandes, and Schlossberger and Popping
of Germany.   Brandes found in 100  parts of  Chinese rhubarb, 2 of pure rha-
barbaric  acid, 7'5 of the same acid impure, 25 of gallic acid, 9'0 of tannin,
3-5 of colouring extractive, 110 of uncrystallizable sugar with tannin,  4-0 of
starch,  14-4  of  gummy extractive, 4-0 of pectic acid,  11 of malate and gallate
of lime, 11-0 of oxalate  of lime, 1-5 of sulphate  of potassa and chloride of
potassium, 1*0 of silica, 0-5 of phosphate  of lime  and  oxide of iron, 250 of
lignin, and 2-0  of water.   The most recent elaborate analysis which has come
to our notice is that of Schlossberger and Dopping.  Besides extractive, tannic
and gallic acids, sugar, starch, pectin, lignin,  oxalate of lime, and various in-
organic salts, they discovered three colouring principles, holding an  interme-
diate place between resin and extractive matter, being freely soluble in alcohol,

  *  Besides the varieties of rhubarb above described, others are noticed by writers.
Pallas speaks of a white rhubarb, brought to Kiachta by the Bucharian merchants, who
conveyed to that place the drug  for Russian commerce.  It was white as milk, of a
sweet taste, and equal  to the best rhubarb  in quality.   It was supposed to be the pro-
duct of R. leucorrhizum.  At present, however, it is unknown in St. Petersburg.  The
Himalaya  rhubarb is produced by R. australe, and other species mentioned in the text
as growing in the Himalaya mountains.  According to Dr. Royle, it makes its way to
the lower countries in  Hindostan, where it sells for one-tenth of the  price of the best
rhubarb.  Mr. Twining tried it in the Hospital at Calcutta, and found it superior as
a tonic and astringent  to Russian rhubarb, and nearly equal to it in purgative power.
A variety known in Russia as Bucharian rhubarb, differing from the variety which we
call Russian, and which is known in Russia as Chinese rhubarb, is imported into that
country from Tartary, and reaches St. Petersburg by Nishny.  Parcels  of it are said aho
to reach Vienna, by the way of Brody in Gallicia. Still another variety is that called
Siberian rhubarb, which is known in Russia by the name  Siberian rhapontic root.  As
these are inferior kinds,  and probably never reach our markets, we have  not thought
it necessary to swell our pages with descriptions of them.   The reader who wishes fur-
ther information is referred to papers by Pereira, in the london Pharmaceutical Jour-
nal, republished in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 63, and 123. 
PART I.
Rheum.
647
and  slightly so  in  water.   Two of. these were uncrystallizable, and denomi-
nated brown resin and red resin, or phasoretin  and erythroretin; the oth-
er crystallizable  in granular crystals, and identical with the  chrysophanic
acid, previously discovered  by Rochleder and Heldt in the yellow lichen, or
Parmelia parietina of Sprengel.  Another resinous substance was also obtained,
which was named aporetin; but, as it was insoluble in the alcohol from which
it had  been precipitated by ether, and was isomeric with  pha?oretin, there is
reason to  think that it was a product of the operation.   The three principles
above referred to were obtained by exhausting rhubarb with alcohol, evaporat-
ing the tincture, exhausting the extract with water, dissolving  the  residue in
the least possible quantity of alcohol, and treating this solution with ether.
A precipitate was  produced, a  portion of which  (aporetin) was insoluble in
alcohol, and the remainder was obtained separate by solution in that fluid and
evaporation.  This was phasoretin.   It  is a  yellowish-brown powder,  very
slightly soluble in water and ether, freely soluble in alcohol  and in alkaline
solutions,  with which it produces .an intense  reddish-brown colour, and  from
which it is thrown down yellow by the mineral acids.    The ethereal solution
of the alcoholic extract, after all the aporetin and phseoretin had been  separated,
was  allowed to  evaporate spontaneously, and  a large  quantity of crystalline
granules was obtained, of a beautiful yellow colour.   These being washed with
ether constituted the chrysophanic acid.   When the ethereal solution showed
no longer a disposition  to deposit crystals, it was evaporated,  and yielded a
product having all the properties of the resins, and forming beautiful  purple
combinations with potassa and ammonia.   This was the erythroretin,  or red
resin of rhubarb.  The matter dissolved by water from  the alcoholic extract
was  found to have the odour and taste of rhubarb in a high degree.  In this
no doubt was contained the peculiar active principle or principles of rhubarb;
but  Schlossberger and Dopping were not more successful than  their predeces-
sors in isolating them.  They obtained a slightly bitter extractive matter; but it
wanted the flavour of rhubarb. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iv.  136, 232, 318,
and viii. 190.)
   Many distinguished chemists have sought for the purgative ingredient of rhu-
barb, and some not without supposed success; but scarcely has the new principle
been described and named, before the fallacy of its claim has been determined.
The caphopicrite of Henry, the rhabarbarin of Pfaff and others, the rheumin
of Hornemann, the rhabarbaric acid of Brandes, and, lastly, the rhein of Pro-
fessor Dulk, have all been shown to be bodies  more or less complex; and cer-
tainly no  one of them can be admitted to be  the peculiar purgative principle.
The astringency of rhubarb undoubtedly resides in  its tannic acid.  Some  have
supposed  that the tonic and cathartic properties reside in different  principles;
but  we are disposed to think, from the correspondence of  the bitterness with the
purgative property, that they reside in the same substance; and, from the fact
that exposure to heat diminishes the cathartic power, there is reason to believe
that this substance, when isolated, will prove to be more or less volatile.
   Chrysophanic acid is one of the most interesting constituents. Most of the
hitherto supposed active principles have been  mixtures of this with  other sub-
stances.   The rhabarbaric acid of Brandes probably approaches nearest to it
in character.  When pure it is beautifully yellow, without smell or taste, dis-
posed to an  imperfect granular crystallization,  almost insoluble in cold water,
more soluble in hot water and in ether, but most freely so  in alcohol.   When
heated it emits yellow vapours.  Alkaline solutions dissolve it with the produc-
tion of a beautiful red colour; and the solution with potassa, when evaporated,
changes first to violet, and then to blue.  It is probably the chief ingredient in
the fine yellow colouring matter produced by the reaction of nitric acid on rhu- 
648
Rheum.
part i.
barb, which, in consequence of the magnificent purples produced by it with the
alkalies, M. Garot has proposed, under the name of erythrose, to introduce
into the arts as a dyestuff.  (See Journ. de Pharm. et de  Chim., xvii. 5.)
   There are other interesting principles in rhubarb.   Some have been disposed
to ascribe its odour to a volatile oil; but this has not been isolated.  Tannic acid
is an important constituent.  It is of that variety which  precipitates the salts
of sesquioxide of iron Of a  greenish colour.   The oxalate  of lime is interestino-
from its quantity, and from the circumstance that, existing in distinct crystals,
it occasions the grittiness of the rhubarb  between the teeth.   The  proportion
seems to vary exceedingly in different specimens.  According to Scheele and
Henry,  it constitutes nearly one-third, and Quekett found,  as already stated, be-
tween 35 and 40 per cent.; while Brandes obtained only 11, and Schrader only
4-5 parts in the hundred.   Little or no difference of composition has been found
between the Russian and Chinese rhubarb.   The European contains but a small
proportion of oxalate of lime, and is therefore less  gritty when chewed.  It
has, however, more tannin  and starch than the Asiatic.
   When powdered rhubarb-is heated, odorous yellow fumes rise, which are pro-
bably in part the vapour of chrysophanic acid.   Its infusion is reddened by the
alkalies, in consequence of their union with this acid,  and  their reaction on  the
other colouring principles.  It yields precipitates with gelatin, most of the acids,
the salts of sesquioxide of iron, acetate of lead, nitrate of protoxide of mercury,
nitrate  of silver,  protochloride  of  tin,  lime-water,  and  solutions  of quinia.
Nitric acid occasions at first a  turbidness, and afterwards the deposition of a
yellow precipitate.   The substances producing precipitates may be considered as
incompatible with the infusion.
   3Iedical Properties and  Uses. The medical properties of rhubarb are peculiar
and valuable.   Its most remarkable  singularity is the  union of a cathartic with
an astringent power ; the latter of which, however, does not interfere with  the
former,  as the  purgative effect precedes the astringent.  It is also tonic and
stomachic;  invigorating, in small doses, the process of digestion.   It  is not
probable that these properties reside in  a single proximate principle; and, as
rhubarb owes its chief value to their combination, it is not to  be expected that
chemical analysis will be productive of the same practical advantages in this, as
in some other medicines, the virtues of which are concentrated in one ingredient.
In its purgative  operation rhubarb is  moderate, producing fecal rather than
watery discharges, and  appearing to  affect, the muscular fibre more than  the
secretory function.   It sometimes occasions griping.   Its colouring principle is
absorbed, and may be detected in the urine.   By its long  continued use,  the
perspiration, especially that of the  axilla, is said to become yellow, and the
milk  of nurses cathartic.   It gives a yellow colour to the alvine discharges.
   The conditions  of disease to which it is applicable  may be  inferred from its
peculiar properties.   When the stomach is enfeebled,  or the bowels relaxed, at
the same time that a gentle cathartic is  required, rhubarb, as  a general rule, is
preferable to all others.   Hence its use in dyspepsia attended with constipation,
in diarrhoea when purging is indicated, in the secondary  stages of cholera in-
fantum, in  chronic dysentery, and in almost all  typhous diseases when fecal
matter  has  accumulated  in the intestines, or the use of cathartic medicine is
necessary to prevent such accumulation.    When employed in cases of habitual
constipation, its  astringent tendency should  be counteracted by combining it
with soap.   Magnesia is  also an excellent associate in disorders of the stomach
and bowels.   By combination with other cathartics, rhubarb frequently acquires
additional activity, while it gives increased efficiency to the  associated substance.
A mixture of calomel and rhubarb is a brisk and powerful cathartic, often used
at the commencement of  bilious fevers.   As  a general rule,  rhubarb is not ap- 
part I.                    Rheum.—Rhozas.                        649

plicable to cases  attended with much inflammatory action.   Its griping effect
may be counteracted by combining it with aromatics.
   The dose of rhubarb as a purgative is from twenty to thirty grains, as a laxa-
tive and stomachic from five to  ten  grains.   European rhubarb must be given
in double  or treble the dose to produce an equal effect.   Few medicines are used
in a greater variety of forms.  It is most effectual in substance.   It is frequently
given in the shape of pill, combined  with an equal proportion of soap, when its
laxative effect is desired.  The infusion is much used in cases of delicate stomach,
and is peculiarly adapted to children.  The syrup, tincture, and  fluid extract
are also useful preparations.  They  are all officinal.
   By the  roasting of  rhubarb its cathartic property is diminished, probably by
the volatilization of the purgative principle, while its astringency remains un-
affected.   This mode of treatment has, therefore,  been sometimes resorted to in
cases of diarrhoea.  By long boiling the same  effect is said to be produced.
   Powdered rhubarb has been usefully applied to  indolent and sloughing ulcers.
It is said to have proved purgative when sprinkled over a large ulcerated surface;
and the same  effect is asserted to  have been produced by rubbing it, mingled
with  saliva, over  the abdomen.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Rhei;  Extractum Rhei Fluidum; Infusum  Rhei;
Pilula? Rhei;  Pil. Rhei Comp.  ; Pulvis Rhei Comp. ;  Syrupus Rhei; Syrupus
Rhei Aromaticus ;  Tinctura Rhei;  Tinct. Rhei Comp.;  Tinct. Rhei et Aloes ;
Tinctura Rhei et Gentiana?;  Tinctura Rhei et Senna?;  Vinum Rhei.     W.

                        RHCEAS.  Lond., Ed.

                              Red Poppy.

   Papaver Rhoeas. The recent petals. Lond.  The petals. Ed.
   Off. Syn. PAPAVER RHCEAS. The petals.  Dub.
   Coquelicot, Fr.; Wilder Mohn, Klapperrose, Germ.; Rosolaccio, Ital.; Amapola, Span.
   Papaver. See OPIUM.
   Papaver Rhozas.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 1146;  Woodv. Med. Bot p. 387, t.
139.   The  red or corn poppy is distinguished by its hairy  stem,  which is
branched and rises about a foot  in height, by its incised pinnatifid leaves,  by its
urn-shaped capsule, and by the full, bright, scarlet colour of its petals.  It is a
native of Europe, where it grows  wild in great abundance, adorning especially
the fields of grain with its brilliant flower.   It has been introduced and natural-
ized in this country.
   Its capsules contain the  same kind of milky juice as that  found in P. som-
niferum, and an extract has been prepared from them having the properties of
opium ; but the quantity is too  small to  repay  the  trouble of its preparation.
M. Tilhoi has shown that the extract contains morphia, but in a proportion ex-
ceedingly minute,  compared with that in which it exists in opium.  (Journ.  de
Pharm. et de  Chim., ii. 513.)   The petals are  the officinal portion.   They
have  a narcotic smell, and  a mucilaginous, slightly bitter taste.   By drying,
they lose their odour, and assume a violet-red colour.  Chevalier detected a very
minute proportion of morphia  in an extract  obtained from them; but their
operation on the system is exceedingly feeble, and they are valued more for their
beautiful scarlet colour, which they communicate to water, than for their medical
virtues. According to Leo Meier,  the colouring principles of the flowers are
two acids,  which  he denominates rhceadic and  papaveric acids. (See  Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 211.)   A syrup is prepared from  them, which was
formerly prescribed as an anodyne  in catarrhal  affections; but is now little
esteemed, except for its colour.
   Off. Prep.  Syrupus Rhceados.                                      W. 
650
Rhus Glabrum.
PART I.
               RHUS GLABRUM.  U. S.  Secondary.

                                 Sumach.

   The fruit of Rhus glabrum. U. S.
   Rhus.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Anacardiacea\
   Gen. Ch. Calyx  five-parted.  Petals five.  Berry small, with one nuciform
seed.  Nuttall.
   Of this genus there are several species possessing poisonous properties, which
should be carefully distinguished from that here described.   For an account of
them the reader is referred to the article  Toxicodendron,
   Rhus glabrum. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  1478.  This species of Rhus, called
variously  smooth sumach, Pennsylvania sumach, and upland sumach, is an
indigenous shrub from four to twelve feet or more in height,  with a stem usually
more or less bent, and divided into straggling branches, covered with a smooth
light-gray or  somewhat reddish bark.  The leaves are upon smooth petioles,
and consist of many pairs  of opposite leaflets, with an odd one at the extremity,
all of which are lanceolate, acuminate, acutely serrate, glabrous, green on their
upper surface, and whitish beneath.  In  the autumn  their  colour changes to a
beautiful red.   The flowers are greenish-red, and disposed  in large, erect, ter-
minal, compound thyrses, which  are succeeded by clusters  of small crimson
berries covered with a silky down.
   The shrub is found in almost all parts of the United States, growing in old
neglected fields, along fences, and on the borders of woods.  The flowers appear
in July, and the fruit ripens  in the early part of autumn.  The bark and leaves
are astringent, and are used in tanning leather and in dyeing.  Mr. W. J.  Wat-
son found in the  bark of the root, albumen, gum, starch, tannic and gallic acids,
caoutchouc, resin, colouring matter, and evidences of volatile oil.  (Am. Journ.
of Pharm., xxv. 194.)  Excrescences are  produced under the leaves resembling
galls in character, and containing large quantities of tannic and  gallic acids.
These have been  used as a substitute for the imported galls by Dr. Walters, of
New York, who thought them, in every respect, preferable.   They may be col-
lected at little expense, as  they are produced very abundantly, especially in the
Western States.   The only officinal part of the plant is the berry.
   These have a  sour, astringent, not unpleasant taste, and are often eaten by
the country people with impunity.  According to Mr. Cozzens, of New York,
the acid to which they  owe their sourness is the malic, and is contained in the
pubescence which covers their surface;  as,  when it is washed away by warm
water, the berries are wholly free from acidity.  Professor W. B. Rogers found
the acid to be combined with lime, in the state of bimalate.*  Mr. W. J. Wat-
son ascertained that free malic acid and bimalate of lime coexist in the berries,
which contain also, upon the same authority, tannic  and gallic acids, fixed oil,
extractive, red colouring matter, and a little volatile  oil.

  * Prof. Rogers suggested that malic acid might  be advantageously procured from
this source.  Prof. Procter informs us that he has obtained it by the following process.
Pour boiling water  on the ripe berries ; macerate for twelve hours ;  strain, evaporate
to one-fourth, and again strain ; resume the evaporation and continue it till the liquid
assumes the consistence of thin syrup ; then set it aside to crystallize.  Wash the
crystals of bimalate of lime  with a little water, and recrystallize from a boiling solu-
tion.  Dissolve the salt  in hot water, and decompose it with a  solution of acetate of
lead.  Wash the precipitated malate of lead, suspend it in water, and pass sulphuret-
ted hydrogen through the liquid until the whole of the  lead is  separated.  Lastly,
filter and evaporate to dryness, in a porcelain vessel.  Malic acid, thus obtained, may
be used in preparing the malates of iron and manganese, both of  which have been em-
ployed medicinally in Europe. 
part I.   Rhus Glabrum.—Rosa Canina.—Rosa Centifolia.       651

  Medical Properties and Uses.  Sumach berries are astringent and refrige-
rant ; and their infusion has been recommended as a cooling drink  in febrile
complaints, and a pleasant gargle in inflammation and ulceration of the throat.
By Dr. Fahnestock an infusion of  the  inner bark of the root, employed  as a
gargle, is considered almost as a specific in the sore mouth attending inordinate
mercurial salivation. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sciences,  v. 61.)         W.


                     ROSA  CANINA.  Lond.

                               Dog Rose.

   Rosa canina.  The recent fruit. Bond,
   Off. Syn. ROSJ3  FRUCTUS.   Hip of Rosa canina and of several allied
species deprived of the carpels. Hips. Ed.
   Rose sauvage, Fr.; Hundsrose, Germ.
   Rosa.  See ROSA  CENTIFOLIA.
   Rosa canina. Willd.  Sp. Plant, ii. 1077 ; Woodv. Med, Bot. p. 493, tin.
The dog rose,  wild briar, or  heptree, is a native  of Europe,  and distinguished
as  a species by its glabrous  ovate germs, smooth peduncles, prickly stem and
petioles, and ovate, smooth,  rigid  leaves.   It  is eight or ten feet high, and
bears white or pale-red flowers, having usually five  obcordate fragrant petals.
The plant has been introduced into this country,  but is not much cultivated.
   The fruit is fleshy, smooth, oval, red, and  of a  pleasant, sweet, acidulous
taste ; and contains sugar, and uncombined citric and malic acids.
   The pulp, separated from the seeds and the silky bristles  in which they are
embedded, is employed in Europe for the preparation of a confection, intended
chiefly as an agreeable vehicle for other medicines.
   Off. Prep. Confectio  Rosa? Canina?.                                W.


        ROSA CENTIFOLIA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                       Hundred-leaved Roses.

   The petals of Rosa centifolia. U.  S., Ed., Dub.  The recent petals. Bond.
   Roses a cent feuilles, Fr.; Hundertbliitterige Rose,  Germ.; Rosa pallida, Ital.; Rosa
 de Alexandria, Span.
   Rosa.  Sex.  Syst. Icosandria Polygynia. — Nat. Ord, Rosacea?.
    Gen. Ch. Petals five.  Calyx urceolate, five-cleft, fleshy, contracted at the
 neck.   Seeds numerous, hispid, attached to the inner side of the calyx. Willd.
   Rosa centifolia. Willd.  Sp. Plant ii. 1071;  Woodv.  Med. Bot. p. 495, t,
 178.  This species of rose has prickly stems, usually from  three to six feet
 high.   The leaves consist of two or three pairs of leaflets, with an  odd one at
 the end, closely attached to the common footstalk, which is rough, but without
 spines.   The leaflets are ovate, broad, serrate,  pointed, and hairy on the under
 surface.   The flowers are large, with  many petals, generally  of  a pale-red
 colour,  and supported upon  peduncles beset  with  short  bristly hairs.   The
 germ is  ovate, and the segments of the calyx semi-pinnate.   The varieties of
 R. centifolia are very numerous, but may be indiscriminately employed.   The
 plant is now cultivated in gardens  all over the world ; but its original country
 is not certainly known.   It has sometimes been mistaken for the damask rose,
 which is a distinct species.
   The petals are the  officinal portion.  They are extremely fragrant, and have
a sweetish, slightly acidulous, somewhat bitterish taste.  Their odour is said to
be increased by iodine.  It depends on a volatile oil, which may be separated 
652        Rosa Centifolia.—Rosa G-allica.—Rosmarinus.     part i.

by distillation with water. (See Oleum Rosse.)  They should be collected when
the flower is fully expanded, but has not begun to fall.   Their fragrance is im-
paired but not lost by drying.   They may be preserved fresh, for a considerable
time, by compressing them with alternate layers of common salt in a well-closed
vessel, or beating them with twice their weight of that substance.
  The petals are slightly laxative, and are sometimes administered in the form
of syrup combined with cathartic medicines ; but their chief use is in the pre-
paration of rose water.  (See Aqua Rosas.)
   Off. Prep. Aqua  Rosa?;  Svrupus Rosa?;  Syrupus Sarsaparilla? Composi-
tus.                                                               W.

           ROSA  GALLIC A.   U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                              Red Roses.

   The petals of Rosa Gallica.  U. S., Ed., Dub.  The unexpanded petals, recent
and dried.  Lond.
   Roses rouges, Fr.; Franzosiche Rose, Essig rosen, Germ.; Rosa domestica, Ital.; Rosa
rubra o Castillara, Span.
   Rosa. See ROSA CENTIFOLIA.
   Rosa Gallica. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii.  1071; Woodv. Med. Boty. 498,1.179.
This  species is smaller than  R.  centifolia, but resembles it in the character of
its foliage.   The stem is beset with short  bristly prickles.   The flowers are very
large, with obcordate widely spreading petals, which are of a rich crimson colour,
and less numerous than in the preceding species.  In the  centre is a crowd of
yellow anthers on thread-like  filaments, and  as many  villose  styles  bearing
papillary stigmas.   The fruit is oval, shining, and of a firm consistence.  The
red rose is a native of the south of Europe, and is cultivated in gardens through-
out the United States.
   The petals, which are the part employed, should be gathered before the flower
has blown, separated from their claws, dried in  a warm sun or by the fire, and
kept in a dry place.  Their odour, which is less  fragrant than that of R. centi-
folia, is improved by drying.  They have a velvety appearance, a purplish-red
colour, and a pleasantly  astringent  and bitterish taste.   Their constituents,
according to M. Cartier, are tannin, gallic acid, colouring matter, a volatile oil,
a fixed oil, albumen, soluble salts of potassa, insoluble salts of lime, silica, and
oxide of iron. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 531.)  Their sensible properties and med-
ical virtues are extracted by boiling water.  Their infusion is  of a pale reddish
colour, which becomes bright red on the  addition of  sulphuric acid.  As their
colour is impaired by exposure  to light and air,  they should be kept in opaque
well-closed bottles or canisters.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Red roses are slightly astringent and tonic, and
were  formerly thought to  possess peculiar virtues.  They are  at present chiefly
employed in  infusion, as an  elegant vehicle for  tonic and astringent medicines.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Rosa?; Infusum Rosa? Compositum;  Mel Rosa?; Syru-
pus Rosa? Gallica?.                                                  AY.


                 ROSMARINUS.  U.S.,  Ed., Dub.

                                Rosemary.

   The tops of Rosmarinus officinalis.  U. S., Ed., Dub.
   Romarin, Fr.; Rosmarin, Germ.;  Rosmarino, Ital.; Romero,  Span.
   Rosmarinus.   Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Lamiacea? or
 Labiata?. 
PART I.
Rosmarinus.—Rubia.
653
  Gen. Ch. Corolla unequal, with the upper lip two-parted.  Filaments long,
curved, simple, with a tooth. Willd.
  Rosmarinus officinalis.  Willd. Sp. Plant i. 126; Woodv. Med. Bot p. 329,
t. 117.  Rosemary is an evergreen shrub, three or four feet high, with an erect
stem, divided into many long, slender, ash-coloured branches.  The leaves are
numerous, sessile, opposite, more than an inch long, about one-sixth of an inch
broad, linear, entire, obtuse at the summit, turned backward at the edges, of a
firm consistence,  smooth and green on the upper surface, whitish and somewhat
downy beneath.  The flowers are pale-blue or white, and disposed in opposite
groups, at the axils of the leaves, towards the ends of the branches.   The seeds
are four in number, oblong, and naked in the bottom of the calyx.
  The plant grows spontaneously in the countries which border on the Mediter-
ranean,  and is cultivated in the gardens of Europe and  this country.  The
flowering summits are the officinal portion.  They have a strong balsamic odour,
which is possessed, though in a less degree, by all parts of the  plant.  Their
taste is  bitter and camphorous.  These properties  are  imparted  partially to
water, completely to alcohol, and depend on a volatile oil which may be ob-
tained by distillation. (See Oleum Rosmarini.)  The tops lose a portion of
their sensible properties by drying, and become inodorous by age.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Rosemary is gently stimulant, and has been
considered emmenagogue.   In  the practice of this country it  is scarcely used;
but in Europe, especially on the continent, it enters into the composition of
several syrups, tinctures,  &c, to which it imparts its agreeable odour and exci-
tant property.  It is sometimes added to sternutatory powders, and is used ex-
ternally in connexion with other aromatics in the form  of fomentation.   In
some countries it is employed as a condiment;  and its flowers,  which are much
sought after by the bees,  impart their peculiar flavour to the honey of the dis-
tricts in which the plant  abounds.
   Off. Prep. Oleum Rosmarini; Spiritus Rosmarini.                  W.

                     RUBIA.  U.S. Secondary.

                               Madder.

   The root of Rubia tinctorum. U S.
   Garance, Fr.; Krappwurzel, Germ.; Robbia, Ital.; Rubia de tintoreros, Granza, Span.
   Rubia.  Sex.  Syst Tetrandria Monogynia. — Nat.  Ord. Rubiacea?.  Juss.
   Gen. Ch. Corolla one-petalled, bell-shaped.  Berries two, one-seeded.  Willd.
   Rubia tinctorum. Willd.  Sp. Plant i. 603; Woodv. Med. Bot p. 173, t. 67.
 The root of the dyer's madder is perennial, and consists of numerous long, suc-
 culent fibres, varying in thickness from the size of a quill to that of the little
 fingjer, and uniting at top in a common head, from which also proceed side-roots
 that run near the surface of the ground, and send up many annual  stems.  These
 are slender, quadrangular, jointed, procumbent, and furnished with short prickles,
 by which they adhere to the neighbouring plants upon which they climb. The
 leaves are elliptical, pointed, rough,  firm, about three inches  long and nearly
 one inch broad, having rough points on their edges and midrib, and standing at
the joints of the stem in whorls of four, five, or six together.  The branches
rise in pairs from the same joints, and bear small yellow flowers  at the summit
of each of their subdivisions.  The fruit is a round,  shining, black berry.
   The plant is a native of  the  south of Europe, and the Levant, and is culti-
vated in France and Holland.   It is from the latter country that commerce
derives its chief supply.   The root, which is the part used, is dug up in the third
summer, and, having been deprived of its cuticle, is dried by artificial heat, and 
 654          Rubia.—Rubus  Trivialis.—Rubus Villosus.       part i.

 then reduced to a coarse powder.   In this condition it is packed in barrels, and
 sent into the  market.  Madder from the Levant is in the state of the whole
 root, from the south of France, either whole or in powder.   The plant is also
 cultivated in this country, in the  States of Delaware and Ohio.
   The root consists of a reddish-brown bark, and a ligneous portion within. The
 latter is yellow in the recent state, but becomes  red when dried.  The powder
 as kept in the shops,  is reddish-brown.
   Madder has a weak peculiar odour, and a bitterish astringent taste; and im-
 parts these properties, as well as a red colour, to water and alcohol.   It contains
 according to M. Runge, five distinct colouring substances;  a red, a purple, an
 orange, a yellow, and a brown. According to M. Decaisne, only yellow colouring
 matter is found in the recent root; and it is under the influence of atmospheric
 air that this changes to red.  The most interesting of the colouring substances
 is the alizarin of Robiquet and Collin.  This is  orange-red, inodorous, insipid,
 crystallizable,  capable of being sublimed without change, scarcely soluble in cold
 water,  soluble in boiling water, and very readily so in alcohol, ether, the fixed
 oils, and liquid alkalies.  The alcoholic and watery solutions are rose-coloured;
 the ethereal, golden-yellow;  the alkaline, violet and blue when concentrated, but
 violet-red when sufficiently diluted.  A beautiful  rose-coloured lake is produced
 by precipitating a mixture of the solutions of alizarin and alum. Rochleder finds
 a close  analogy between alizarin  and the chrysophanic acid  of rhubarb.  (See
 Chem.  Gaz., A. D. 1852, p. 243.)  Madder also contains sugar; and  Dobe-
 reiner succeeded in  obtaining alcohol from it by fermentation and  distillation,
 without affecting its colouring properties.   It is much used by the dyers.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Madder was formerly thought to be emmena-
 gogue  and diuretic; and was used in amenorrhcea, dropsy, jaundice, and vis-
 ceral obstructions.  It is still occasionally prescribed in suppressed menstruation;
 but physicians generally have no  confidence in its efficacy in this or any other
 complaint.  When taken into the stomach it imparts a red colour  to the milk
 and urine, and to the  bones  of animals,  without sensibly affecting any  other
 tissue.   The effect is observable most  quickly in the  bones of young animals,
 and in those nearest the heart.  Under the impression that it might effect some
 change  in the  osseous system, it has been  prescribed in  rachitis,  but  without
 any favourable result.   The dose is about half a  drachm, repeated three or four
 times a day.                                                        W.


             RUBUS TRIVIALIS.  U S. Secondary.

                            Dewberry-root.

   The root of Rubus trivialis.  U. S.

              RUBUS VILLOSUS. U. S. Secondary.

                            Blackberry-root.

  The root of Rubus villosus.  U S.
  Rubus.  Sex. Syst.  Icosandria  Polygynia. — Nat. Ord. Rosacea?.
   Gen. Ch, Calyx  five-cleft. Petals  five.  Berry compound, with one-seeded
 acini.  Willd.
  Of this extensive genus not less than twenty species are indigenous in the
 United States, where they are called by the various names of raspberry, black-
berry,  dewberry, cloudberry, &c.   Most of them are  shrubby or  suffruticose
briers, with astringent roots and edible berries;  some have annual stems with- 
part i.           Rubus Trivialis.—Rubus  Villosus.               655

out  prickles.   The only officinal  species are R. trivialis  and R.  villosus,
which, so far as relates to their medical properties, are so closely alike  as  not
to require a separate description.
   1.  Rubus trivialis.  Michaux, Flor. Americ.  i. 296.   The dewberry, some-
times also called low blackberry, or creeping blackberry, has a slender, prickly
stem, which runs along the ground, and  occasionally puts forth roots.  The
leaves are petiolate, and composed of three or five leaflets, which are oblong-
oval, acute, unequally  serrate, and somewhat pubescent.   The stipules are awl-
shaped.   The flowers  are large, white, and nearly solitary,  with elongated
pedicels, and peduncles which, like the leafstalks,  are armed with recurved,
hispid prickles.  The petals are generally obovate, and three times longer than
the calyx.   In one variety they are orbicular.  The plant grows abundantly
in old fields and neglected  grounds  in  the Middle and Southern States.   Its
fruit is large, black, of a very pleasant flavour,  and ripens  somewhat  earlier
than that of R. villosus.   According to Torrey and Gray, the dewberry of the
Northern States is the Rubus Canadensis of Linn., or R. trivialis of  Pursh.
(Flor. of N. Am.  i. 455.)
   2. R. villosus.  Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 1085; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 160;
Barton, Med. Bot ii.  151.  The stem  of the blackberry is somewhat  shrubby,
from three to seven feet high, branching,  more or less furrowed and angular,
and armed with strong prickles.   The smaller branches and young shoots are
herbaceous.  The  leaves are ternate or quinate;  the leaflets  ovate, acuminate,
unequally and sharply serrate, and pubescent on  both sides;  the footstalk and
midrib  usually armed with short recurved prickles.  The flowers are large,
white, and in erect racemes, with a hairy, prickly stalk.   The calyx  is  short,
with acuminate segments.  The fruit is first green, then red,  and, when  per-
fectly ripe, of a shining black colour and very pleasant  taste.  It is a com-
pound berry, consisting of numerous pulpy one-seeded globules or acini attached
to the receptacle.   This species of  Rubus is, perhaps, the most abundant of
those indigenous  in the  United States,  growing  in neglected fields,  along
fences, on the borders  of woods, in forest glades,  and wherever tillage or too
much shade and moisture does not interfere with  it.   Its  flowers appear from
May to July, and its fruit is ripe in August.
   The berries pf both  these species of  Rubus are much  used as food;  and a
jelly made from them is in great esteem as  an article of diet, and even as a
remedy in dysenteric affections.  The roots only are officinal.
   The blackberry  root is  branching, cylindrical, of various  dimensions, from
nearly an inch in thickness down to the size of a  straw, ligneous, and covered
with a thin bark, which is externally of a light-brownish or reddish-brown colour,
and in the dried root is wrinkled longitudinally.   The dewberry root is usually
smaller, without the longitudinal wrinkles, but with transverse fissures through
the epidermis, and  of a dark-ash colour, without any reddish tinge.   Both  are
inodorous.   The bark in both has a bitterish strongly astringent taste, and the
ligneous portion is nearly insipid, and comparatively inert.  The smaller roots,
therefore, should be selected for use;  or, if the thicker pieces are employed, the
cortical part should be separated, and the wood rejected.  Their virtues  are
extracted by boiling water, and by diluted alcohol, and depend chiefly,  if not
exclusively, upon tannin, which is an abundant constituent.
  Medical Properties  and Uses.  Dewberry and blackberry roots are tonic and
strongly astringent.  They have  long  been  a favourite  domestic remedy in
bowel affections, and from  popular  favour have  passed into regular medical
use.   Given in decoction, they are usually acceptable to the stomach, without
being offensive to the taste; and may be  employed  with  great advantage in
cages  of diarrhoea  from relaxation  of the  bowels,  whether in children  or 
GHQ           Rumex Britannica.—Rumex Obtusifolius.        part i.

adults.   We can add our  own decided testimony to that of others who  have
spoken favourably of their use in this complaint; and there is no doubt that
they are applicable to all  other  cases in which the vegetable astringents are
found serviceable.   The decoction may be prepared by boiling an ounce of the
smaller roots,  or of the bark of the larger, in a pint and a half of water down
to a pint;  of  which from one to two fluidounces may  be given to  an adult
three or  four times,  or more  frequently, during the twenty-four hours.  The
dose of the powdered root is twenty  or thirty grains.                 "\y.


           RUMEX  BRITANNICA. U.S. Secondary.

                             Water Dock.
   The root of  Rumex Britannica.  U. S.

         RUMEX OBTUSIFOLIUS. U.S. Secondary.

                         Blunt-leaved Dock.

   The root of  Rumex obtusifolius. U. S.
   Rumex.  Sex. Syst.  Hexandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Polygonacea?.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx three-leaved.  Petals three, converging.  Seed one, three-
sided. Willd.  Calyx six-parted, persistent, the three interior divisions petaloid,
connivent.   Seed one, three-sided, superior, naked.   Stigmata multifid. Nuttall.
   Several species of Rumex have sour leaves, and are distinguished by the com-
mon name  of sorrel from  the others,  which are called dock.  Of the former,
Rumex Acetosa or common English sorrel, has but recently  been dismissed
from the London and Dublin Pharmacopoeias.   R. Acetosella is the common
sorrel of  our fields, though supposed to have been originally introduced from
Europe.  The leaves of both these plants are agreeably sour to the taste, and
owe their acidity to  binoxalate of potassa with  a little tartaric acid.  They
quite lose this taste in drying.   They are refrigerant and diuretic, and may be
used advantageously as an article of diet in scurvy.   For this purpose they are
prepared in the form of  salad.   The  juice of the leaves forms with water an
agreeable acidulous  drink, sometimes used in fevers.  Taken very largely, the
leaves are said to have produced poisonous effects. (See  Woodrs Quarterly Re-
trospect,  i.  109.)   R. scutatus also ranks among the sorrels.
   Of the proper docks, though two only are recognised  by the Pharmacopoeia,
several others have been used.  The roots of R. Patientia and R. Alpinus, Eu-
ropean plants, and of R. aquaticus, R. crispus* R. acutus, and R. sanguineus,
belonging both to Europe and the United States, may be employed indiscrimi-
nately with those of the officinal species.  R. Hydrolapathum (Hudson), which
is the R.  aquaticus of the late  Dublin  Pharmacopoeia, is thought to be the
Herba Britannica of the  ancients, celebrated for  the cure of scurvy and dis-
eases  of  the skin.    The docks  are herbaceous plants  with perennial roots.
Their flowers are in  terminal or axillary panicles.  Some of the species are
dioecious; but  those here described have perfect flowers.
   1. R. Britannica. Willd. Sp. Plant ii. 250.  This species is distinguished
in  the vernacular language by the name  of yellow-rooted water dock.  The
root is large, dark on the outside, and yellow within. The stem is two or three
feet high, and  bears  broad-lanceolate, smooth, flat  leaves, with  the sheathing

  * A particular description of this species, with the results  of its analysis, by Dr. J.
H. Salisbury, of  New York, may be found in the N. Y. Journ. of Med. for March, 1855,
p. 211. 
part I.               Rumex Obtusifolius.—Ruta.                  657

stipules slightly torn.   The spikes of the panicle are leafless; the valves entire
and all graniferous.   The plant is indigenous, inhabiting low, wet places, and
flowering in June and July.
   2. R. obtusifolius.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 254; Loudon's Encyc. of Plants,
p. 293.   The root  of the  blunt-leaved dock  is externally brown, internally
yellow; the stem two or three  feet high and somewhat rough; the  radical
leaves ovate-cordate, obtuse, and very large;  the  valves dentate, and  one of
them conspicuously graniferous.   It is a common weed in our rich grounds and
pastures,  but is supposed to have been  introduced from Europe.  Its flowers
appear in June and July.
   Dock root, from  whatever species  derived, has  an astringent, bitter taste,
with little or no smell.   It readily yields its virtues to water by decoction.  Ac-
cording to Riegel, the root of R. obtusifolius contains a peculiar principle
called rumicin, resin, extractive matter resembling tannin, starch, mucilage,
albumen, lignin, sulphur, and various salts,  among which are  phosphate of
lime, and different acetates and malates.  (Journ. de Pharm,, 3e ser., i. 410.)
Rumicin  is probably, like rhabarbaric acid,  an impure  form of chrysophanic
acid. (See Rheum.)   The leaves of most of the species are edible, and are occa-
sionally used as spinage.   They are somewhat laxative,  and form an excellent
diet in scorbutic cases.   The roots are used to dye  a yellow colour.
   3Ieclical Properties and Uses.  Dock root is astringent, and gently tonic,
and is also supposed to possess an alterative property, which renders it useful
in scorbutic disorders, and cutaneous eruptions, particularly the itch, in the cure
of which  it enjoyed at one  time  considerable reputation.  It  is  said to have
proved useful in scrofula and syphilis.  Dr. Thomson found a decoction of the
root of R. Patientia very efficacious in obstinate ichthyosis.  R. aquaticus and
R. Britannica are  the most astringent.   The roots of some  species unite a
laxative with the tonic and astringent property, resembling rhubarb somewhat
in their operation.   Such are those of R. crispus  and  R.  obtusifolius; and
R. Alpinus has in  some parts of Europe the name of mountain rhubarb..
This resemblance is  not singular, as the two genera belong to the same natural
family.   Dock root is given in powder or decoction.   Two ounces of the fresh
root bruised, or one ounce of the dried, may be boiled in a pint  of water, of
which two fluidounces may be given at a dose, and  repeated as the stomach
will bear it.   The root has often been applied externally in  the shape of oint-
ment, cataplasm, and decoction, to the cutaneous eruptions and ulcerations for
which it has been used internally.  The powdered  root  is recommended as  a
dentifrice, especially when the gums are spongy.                       W.

               RUTA. U.S.  Secondary, Lond.,  Ed.

                                 Rue.

  The leaves of  Ruta graveolens. U. S., Lond.   Leaves and unripe fruit. Ed.
  Rue odorante, Fr.;  Garten-Raute, Germ ;  Ruta, Ital.; Ruda, Span.
  Ruta.  Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord. Rutacea?.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx  five-parted.   Petals concave.  Receptacle  surrounded by
ten  melliferous points.  Capsule lobed. Willd.
  Ruta graveolens.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 542;  Woodv. Med.  Bot. p. 487,
t. 174.  Common rue is a perennial plant, usually two or three feet high, with
several shrubby branching stems, which, near the base, are woody and covered
with a rough bark, but in their ultimate ramifications are smooth, green, and
herbaceous.  The leaves  are doubly pinnate, glaucous,  with  obovate, sessile,
obscurely crenate, somewhat thick and fleshy leaflets.  The flowers are yellow, 
658
Ruta.—Sabadilla.
part i.
 and disposed in a terminal branched corymb upon subdividing peduncles.  The
 calyx is persistent, with four or  five acute segments; the corolla consists  of
 four  or five concave petals, somewhat sinuate at the margin.  There are usually
 ten stamens, but sometimes only eight.  The plant is a native of the south of
 Europe, but cultivated in our gardens.  It flowers from June to September.
 The whole herb is active;  but the leaves are usually  employed.
   These have a strong disagreeable odour,  especially when rubbed.  Their taste
 is bitter, hot, and acrid.   When recent, and in full vigour,  they have so much
 acrimony as to inflame and  even blister the skin, if much  handled; but the
 acrimony is diminished by drying.   Their  virtues depend  chiefly on a volatile
 oil, which is very abundant,  and is  contained in glandular vesicles, apparent
 over  the whole surface of the plant. (See  Oleum Rutse.)  They contain, also
 according to Mahl, chlorophylle, albumen,  an azotized substance, extractive'
 gum, starch or inulin, malic acid, and lignin;  and, according to Borntrager, a
 peculiar acid which he calls rutinic acid. (Chem. Gazette, Sept. 1845, p. 385.)
 Both alcohol and water extract their active properties.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Rue is stimulant and antispasmodic, and, like
 most other  substances which excite the circulation, occasionally increases the
 secretions, especially when deficient from debility.  It appears to have a tend-
 ency  to act  upon the  uterus;  in moderate doses proving emmenagogue, and in
 larger, producing a degree of irritation in the  organ which sometimes deter-
 mines abortion.  Taken very largely it acts as an acrid narcotic poison.  Three
 cases are recorded by Dr. Helie in which it was taken by pregnant women, with
 the effect of producing dangerous gastro-intestinal  inflammation and cerebral
 derangement, which continued for several  days, but  ended  at length in reco-
 very.  In each  instance miscarriage resulted.   Great depression and slowness of
 the pulse attended the narcotic action of the poison.   In one of these cases, three
 fresh roots of the size of the finger were used in the form of decoction.  (Ann.
 d'Hyg. Pub. et de Med. Leg., xx.  180.)  A  case is recorded by Dr. G. P. Cooper
 in the Nashville Journ.  of 3Ied.  and Surg., in which a man, convalescent from
 dysentery, having added some brandy to a handful of the bruised herb, expressed
 it, and took the whole of the liquor, with fatal effects.   The prominent symp-
 toms were vomiting, violent  tormina, tenesmus with  bloody stools, abdominal
 distension with tenderness, and  severe  strangury.   (3Ied. Exam., N.  S., ix.
 720.)   Rue is sometimes used in hysterical affections, worms, flatulent colic,
 and  amenorrhcea, particularly in the last complaint.   The ancients employed
 it as a condiment, and believed it to  possess, besides other valuable properties,
 that of resisting the action of poisons.  Its excitant and irritating properties
 require thaUt  should be used with caution.   The dose of the pOwder is from
 fifteen to thirty grains two or three  times a day.  The medicine is also given
 in infusion and extract.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Ruta?; Oleum Ruta?.                          W.


                     SABADILLA.  U S., Ed.

                                Cevadilla.

 # The seeds of Veratrum Sabadilla.  U. S. Fruit of Veratrum Sabadilla, Helo-
 nias officinalis,  and probably of other Melanthacea?. Ed,
  Cevadille,  Fr.;  Sabadillsame, Germ.; Cebadilla, Span.
 _ There has been much uncertainty in relation to the botanical origin of ceva-
dilla.   At one time,  it was generally believed to be derived from Veratrum
 Sabadilla, which is recognised in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   But Schiede, dur-
ing his  travels in Mexico, ascertained  that it was, in part at least,  collected 
PART I.
Sabadilla.
659
 from a different plant, of the same natural order of Melanthacea?, growing upon
 the eastern declivity of the Mexican Andes.  This was considered by Schlech-
 tendahl as another species of Veratrum, by Don as a Helonias, and by Lindley
 as belonging to a  new genus which he named Asagra?a.   Hence it  has been
 variously denominated Veratrum officinale, Helonias officinalis, and Asagrsea
 officinalis.  The Edinburgh College  recognizes this plant, under Don's title
 of Helonias  officinalis, as one of the sources of cevadilla, but refers the drug
 also to Veratrum Sabadilla, and admits other plants of the same order as pro-
 bable sources of it.  More exact information, however, is wanted before we can
 determine its precise origin.   It has been adopted in the Pharmacopoeias solely
 on account of  its employment in the preparation of veratria.   It  is brought
 from Vera Cruz.*
   Cevadilla seeds usually occur in  commerce mixed with the fruit.    This con-
 sists of three coalescing capsules or follicles, which open above, and appear like
 a single capsule with three cells.  It is three or four lines long and a line and
 a half in thickness, obtuse at the base, light-brown or yellowish, smooth, and in
 each capsule contains one or  two seeds.  A resemblance, existing or supposed,
 between this fruit and that of barley is said to have given rise to the Spanish
 name cevadilla, which  is a diminutive of barley.   The seeds are elongated,
 pointed at each end, flat on  one side and convex on the other, somewhat curved,
 two or three lines long, wrinkled, slightly winged, black or dark-brown on the
 outside, whitish within, hard, inodorous, and of an exceedingly acrid, burning,
 and durable taste.   Cevadilla was found by Pelletier and Caventou to contain
 a peculiar organic alkali which they named veratria, combined with gallic acid;
 fatty matter,  consisting of olein, stearin, and a peculiar volatile fatty acid de-
 nominated  cevadic or sabadillic acid; wax; yellow colouring  matter;  gum;
 lignin; and salts of potassa and of lime, with a little silica.   From 100 parts
 of the seeds, separated from their capsules, Meissner obtained 0-58 of veratria.
 M. Couerbe discovered another alkaloid in the seeds which he denominated sa-
 badillin.   Besides the principles above mentioned, a peculiar acid was disco-
 vered by Merck, called veratric acid, which is in colourless crystals, fusible and
 volatilizable without decomposition, but slightly soluble in cold water, more

   *  Until more definite information is  obtained on the subject, we give in a note a
 brief description of the two plants above referred to.
   Veratrum  Sabadilla.  Retzius, Obs. i. 31; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. ii. 50, pi. 94.
 See  Veratrum Album.  The leaves of this plant are numerous, ovate-oblong, obtuse,
 with from eight to fourteen ribs, glaucous beneath, and all radical.   The flower-stem
 is erect, simple,  and round, rises three or four feet in height, and bears a spreading,
 simple, or but  slightly branched panicle of somewhat nodding flowers, supported upon
 very short pedicels.   The flowers, which are of a blackish-purple colour, approximate
 in twos and  threes, the fertile turning at length to one side, and the sterile falling off.
 The segments of the corolla are ovate-lanceolate, and without veins.  The capsules oc-
 cupy only one side of the stem.  This plant grows in Mexico and the West Indies, and
 was cultivated by Descourtilz at  San Domingo, from seeds obtained in Mexico.
  Asagrsea officinalis. Lindley, Botan. Reg., June, 1839.— Veratrum officinale. Schlech-
 tendahl, Linnsea, vi.  45.—Helonias officinalis. Don. Ed. New Phil, Journ., October,
 1832, p. 234.  The  following is the generic character given  by Lindley.   "Flowers
 polygamous, racemose, naked.  Perianth six-partite;  segments linear, veinless, almost
 equal, with a nectariferous excavation  at the base, equal to  the stamens.  Stamens
 alternately shorter; anthers cordate  as if unilocular, after  dehiscence shield-shaped.
 Ovaries three, quite simple, attenuated into an obscure stigma.   Follicles  three, acu-
 minate, papery; seeds scimitar-shaped, corrugated, winged.  Bulbous herbs, with grass-
 like leaves, and small, pale, and densely racemed flowers."  The A. officinalis, which
 is the only known species, has  linear, acuminate, subcarinate leaves, roughish at the
 margin, and four  feet in length by three lines in breadth, and  a round flower-stem,
about six feet high, terminating in a very dense, straight, spike-like raceme, eighteen
inches long.  The flowers are white,  with yellow anthers. 
660
Sabadilla.—Sabbatia.
PART I.
soluble in hot water, soluble in alcohol, insoluble in ether, having the  proper-
ties of reddening litmus paper, and forming soluble salts with the alkalies.  For
an account of the mode of preparing veratria, its properties, and remedial ap-
plications, and for a more  particular notice of sabadillin (sabadillia), see the
article Veratria in the second part of this work.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Cevadilla is an acrid, drastic emeto-cathartic,
operating occasionally with great violence, and in over-doses capable of produ-
cing fatal effects.   It was known as a medicine in Europe so early as the year
1572; but has never been much employed.  It has been chiefly used as an anthel-
mintic, especially in cases of ta?nia, in which it has been given in doses varying
from five to thirty grains.   It  has also been given in different nervous affec-
tions.  It is the principal ingredient of the pulvis Capucinorum, sometimes used
in Europe for the destruction of vermin in the hair.  It is considered by the
Mexicans useful in hydrophobia, and was employed by M. Fouilhoux, of Lyons,
in a supposed case of that disease, in the dose of about nine grains, with asserted
success.   Externally applied, it is highly  irritating, and is even said to be cor-
rosive.  Its chief employment at present is for the preparation of veratria.
  Off. Prep. Veratria.                                              W.

                          SABBATIA.  U.S.

                          American Centaury.

  The herb  of Sabbatia angularis. U. S.
  Sabbatia.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Gentianacea?.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx five to twelve-parted.   Corolla rotate, five to twelve-parted.
Stigmas  two, spiral.  Anthers at length  revolute.   Capsule one-celled, two-
valved, many-seeded.  Nuttall.
  Sabbatia  angularis.  Pursh,  Flor. Am. Sept. 137; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
iii. 147 ; Barton, Med, Bot.  i. 255.— Chironia angularis. Linn. The American
centaury is an annual or biennial herbaceous  plant,  with  a fibrous root, and an
erect, smooth, four-sided stem, winged at the angles, simple below, sending off
opposite  axillary branches  above, and one or two feet in height.   The leaves,
which vary considerably in length and width, are  ovate, entire, acute,  nerved,
smooth, opposite, and sessile, embracing half the circumference of the stem at
their base.  The flowers are numerous, growing on the ends of the branches,
and  forming together a large terminal corymb.  The calyx is divided into five
lanceolate segments, considerably shorter than the corolla.  This is deeply five-
parted, with obovate segments of  a delicate rose-colour, which is paler and
almost white in the middle of their under surface.   The anthers are  yellow,
and, after shedding their pollen, become  revolute.   The style, which  is bent
downward, and is longer than the stamens, terminates in two linear stigmas,
which become spirally twisted together.
  The plant is widely diffused through the Middle and Southern States, grow-
ing in low meadow grounds, and, in wet seasons, upon uplands, in woods, and
neglected  fields.   It flowers in July and August.  In its general aspect as well
as medical properties, it bears a close resemblance to Erythrsea Centaurium,
or European centaury, for  which  it was mistaken by the earlier settlers.   The
whole herb is employed,  and should be collected when in flower.
  All parts of it have a strongly bitter taste, without any admixture of astrin-
gency, or other peculiar flavour.   Both alcohol and water extract its bitter-
ness, together with its medical  virtues.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   American centaury has the tonic properties
of the simple bitters, and is very analogous in its action to the other plants of 
PART I.
Sabbatia.—Sabina.
661
the same natural family.   It has  long been popularly employed as a prophy-
lactic and remedy in our autumnal intermittent and remittent fevers;  and was
formerly much esteemed by some physicians in the latter of these complaints.
The condition to which it was considered applicable, was that existing between
the paroxysms, when the remission was such as to call for tonics, but was not
deemed sufficient to justify a resort to the preparations of  Peruvian bark.   It
is occasionally useful, during the progress of a slow convalescence, by promot-
ing appetite and invigorating  digestion; and  may be employed for the same
purpose in dyspepsia and diseases of debility.
   The most convenient form for administration is that of infusion.  A pint of
boiling water, poured on an ounce of the herb and allowed to cool, may be given
in the dose of two fluidounces, repeated every hour or two during the remission
of fevers, and less frequently in  chronic affections.  The dose of the powder is
from thirty grains to a drachm.   The decoction, extract, and tincture are also
efficient preparations.                                               W.

                SABINA.   U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Savine.

   The tops of Juniperus Sabina.  U. S., Ed., Dub.  The recent and dried tops.
Lond.
   Sabine, Fr.; Sevenbaum, Germ.; Sabina, Ital., Span.
   Juniperus.  See JUNIPERUS.
   Juniperus Sabina. Willd. Sp. Plant iv. 852; Woodv. Med,  Bot p. 10, t,-
5.   This is an evergreen shrub, from three to fifteen feet high, with  numerous
erect, pliant branches, much subdivided.  The bark of the young branches is
light-green, that of the trunk  rough and reddish-brown.   The  leaves, which
completely invest the younger branches, are numerous, small, erect, firm, smooth,
pointed, dark-green, glandular in the middle, opposite, and imbricated in four
rows.  The flowers are male and female on different trees. The fruit is a blackish-
purple berry, of an ovoid shape, marked with tubercles and the remains of the
calyx and petals, and containing three seeds.
   The  savine is a native  of the  south of Europe and the Levant, and is said to
grow wild in the neighbourhood of our north-western lakes.   The ends of the
branches, and the leaves by which they are invested, are collected for medical
use in the spring.  When dried they fade very much in colour.
   There is reason  to believe that the tops of Juniperus  Virginiana,  or com-
mon red cedar, are sometimes substituted in the shops for savine, to which they
bear so close a resemblance as to be with difficulty distinguished.  The two
species, however, differ in their taste and smell.   In J. Virginiana, moreover,
the leaves are sometimes  ternate.
   The tops and leaves of the savine plant have a strong, heavy, disagreeable
odour,  and a  bitter, acrid  taste.  These properties,  which are less striking in the
dried than the recent leaves, are owing to a volatile oil, which is obtained  by
distillation with water.  (See Oleum Sabinas.)   The leaves impart their virtues
to alcohol  and water.  From an imperfect analysis by Mr. C. H.  Needles,  they
appear to contain volatile oil,  gum, tannic or  gallic acid, resin,  chlorophylle,
fixed oil, bitter extractive, lime, and  salts of potassa.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
xiii. 15.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Savine is highly stimulant, increasing most
of the secretions, especially those of the skin and uterus,  to the latter of which
it is supposed to have a  peculiar direction.  It has  been much used  in
amenorrhcea, and occasionally as a remedy for worms.  Dr. Chapman strongly 
662
Sabina.—Saccharum.
PART I.
 recommended it in chronic rheumatism;  and it is employed in Germany, both
 internally and externally, in chronic  gout.  In overdoses it is capable of pro-
 ducing dangerous gastro-intestinal inflammation, and should therefore be used
 with caution.   In no case should  it be employed when much general or local
 excitement exists.   In pregnancy it should always be given with great caution;
 though it has recently been recommended as an effective remedy in certain forms
 of  menorrhagia, and is asserted to  prove occasionally useful in preventing
 threatened abortion.  (See Am. Journ,  of Med.  Sci., N. S., viii. 475.)   It is
 most conveniently administered in the  form  of powder, of which the dose is
 from five to fifteen grains, three or four times a day.
   As an external irritant it  is useful, in the form of cerate, for maintaining a
 discharge from blistered surfaces; but, as the  preparation sold in this country
 under the name of savine  ointment is often feeble, either from the age of the
 drug, or the substitution of  red cedar, it has  in  some measure fallen into dis-
 repute. (See Ceratum Sabinse.)  In powder or infusion, savine is used in Europe
 as an application to warts, indolent, carious, and gangrenous ulcers, psora, and
 tinea capitis; and-the expressed juice of the fresh leaves, diluted with water, is
 sometimes applied to similar purposes.
   Off. Prep.  Ceratum Sabina?; Oleum Sabina?; Unguentum Sabina?.    W.

                    SACCHARUM.  U. S., Lond.

                                 Sugar.

■  The sugar of Saccharum officinarum, refined. U. S.  The prepared, purified,
 crystalline juice of the stem.  Bond.
   Off. Syn. SACCHARUM PURUM. Ed.   SACCHARUM PURIFICA-
 TUM.  Dub.
   White sugar; Sucre pur, Sucre en pains, Fr.; Weisser Zucker, Germ.; Zucchero en
 pane, Ital.; Azucar de pilon, Azucar refinado, Spun.

                SACCHARUM COMMUNE. Ed.

                            Brown Sugar.

   Impure sugar, from Saccharum officinarum.  3Iuscovado. Ed.
   Off. Syn. BROWN SUGAR. Dub.
   Raw or muscovado sugar; Sucre brut, Cassonade rouge, Moscouade, Fr.; Gemeiner
 Zucker, Germ.;  Zucchero brutto, Ital.; Azucar negro, Span.

                 SACCHARI  FvEX.  Lond., Ed.

                               Molasses.

   Saccharum officinarum.  The impure prepared juice. Lond.  The concentrated
 uncrystallizable juice. Ed.
   Off. Syn.  THERIACA.  Treacle. Dub.
   Melasse, Fr.; Zuckersatz,  Zuckersyrup, Germ. ; Melazzo, Ital.; Melaca, Span.
   The saccharine principles distinguished by the chemist are  cane sugar, or sugar
 properly so called, derived  from the sugar cane, the beet, and the sugar maple;
 glucose or grape sugar, with which starch sugar, diabetic sugar, and the crys-
 tallizable sugar of  honey are identical; uncrystallizable sugar ; sorbin, or the
 sugar of the berries of the  mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) ; lactin, or sugar
 of milk; sugar of ergot; inosite  or sugar of muscular flesh; mannite, with
 which mushroom sugar is identical; and glycerin.  Glucose or grape sugar is 
part I.                        Saccharum.                            663

conveniently obtained by spreading crystalline honey on porous tiles, dissolving
what remains on  their surface in alcohol, and crystallizing.  The product is
about one-fourth of the weight of the honey.  Glucose, as obtained from a
concentrated syrup, is in the form of crystalline grains ; but, when crystallized
from its alcoholic solution, it  has the  shape of square tables or cubes.  It is
less  sweet than cane sugar.   It is also less soluble in water, and much more
soluble in alcohol.  It has the sp. gr.  of  1-386.  Strong mineral acids hardly
act  on grape sugar, but destroy cane sugar with facility.   On the other hand,
grape sugar is destroyed by alkalies, with  which cane sugar forms definite com-
pounds.  Dissolved in water and subjected to prolonged ebullition, grape sugar
undergoes very little alteration.  Its solution  rotates the plane of polarization
of polarized light to the right, and is capable of undergoing the vinous fermen-
tation directly, without passing through any intermediate state.   Uncrystalli-
zable sugar (fruit sugar or chulariose), an isomeric form of glucose, exists
in honey and the juice of fruits, and is generated from cane sugar by solution
in water or weak acids, and long boiling.  Hence it is  present in  molasses.
An  aqueous solution of this sugar  turns  the plane of polarization to the left,
and, like grape sugar, is susceptible of the vinous fermentation without an in-
termediate  change.  Uncrystallizable  sugar is transformed into grape sugar,
when it is made to assume a crystalline structure,  but not by mere solidification.
(Soubeiran.)  A solution of cane sugar, like that of grape sugar, has a rotating
power to the right.  When it ferments, it is not, as is generally supposed, first
converted into  grape sugar.   It is found both  by Mitscheriich and Soubeiran to
be first changed into uncrystallizable sugar; and, as the change proceeds, the
rotating power to the right of the cane sugar gradually lessens and disappears,
and is replaced by the rotating power  to  the left of the  uncrystallizable sugar
formed.  Sorbin, discovered by M. Pelouze, is in  perfectly transparent crystals,
having the same taste as cane sugar,  but is not  susceptible of  fermentation.
Lactin or  sugar of milk  is  now  officinal.  (See Saccharum Lactis, Dub.)
Inosite is a sugar found in the juice of flesh.  For a description of mannite
and glycerin, see the articles Manna and  Glycerina.
   Besides the sugars above enumerated, chemical writers  mention dulcose (dul-
cin), a substance like mannite from an  unknown plant of  Madagascar; phycite,
obtained from Protococcus vulgaris ; quercite, obtained from acorns ; melitose,
the  peculiar sugar  of Australian manna,  at first thought to be grape sugar;
pinite, obtained from a sugar of California, said to be derived from Pinus Lam-
bertiana; andphaseomannite, obtained from kidney beans before they are ripe. *
   Cane sugar is manufactured extensively on the continent of Europe from the
 beet, and in considerable quantities, in Canada and the north-western parts of
 the United States, from the sap of the sugar maple (Acer saccharinum).   In
 relation to  maple sugar, see & paper by Dr. George D. Gibb, in the Brit. Am.
 Journ. of 3Ied. Sci. for  July, 1851.   Cane sugar may also be obtained from
 cornstalks,  and from the Chinese sugar cane, or Sorghus saccharatus.  The
juice of the latter contains from  10 to 16 per cent, of sugar, crystallizable and
 uncrystallizable, the latter greatly predominating.  Hence it is not well suited
to produce crystallized sugar, but yields molasses abundantly.  It also affords
good grain for bread, and excellent fodder  for domestic animals.  In India sugar
is made from the sap of different species  of palm.   In 1844, more than 6000
tons of crude palm sugar, called jaggary, were manufactured.  It is more easily
refined, and at  less  cost than the sugar from the cane. (Stevens.)  But the sup-

  *  In relation to the fermentation of  several of the sugars, in presence of chalk and
certain animal substances, such as cheese, &c.,the reader is referred to some interest-
ing observations of M. Berthelot, contained in the Journ. de Pharm., Oct., 1856. 
604
Saccharum.
PART I.
  ply of sugar from these sources is insignificant, when compared with that ob-
  tained from the sugar cane itself, which is  extensively cultivated in  the  East
  and West Indies, Brazil, and some of our  Southern States, particularly  Loii.
  isiana.   This plant is the Saccharum officinarum of botanists, and is the
  source of the officinal sugars of the Pharmacopoeias.
    Saccharum.  Sex. Syst Triandria Digynia.—Nat.  Ord. Graminacea?
    Gen. Ch,  Calyx two-valved,  involucred, with long  down.   Corolla  two-
  valved.  Willd.
    Saccharum officinarum. Willd. Sp>. Plant, i. 321; Phil. Trans. Ixix.  207
  The sugar cane is an herbaceous  plant, possessing  a jointed, succulent root
  from which arise several shining, jointed, solid stems, from an inch to two inches
  in diameter, and from six to twelve feet high, and containing a white and juicy
  pith._  The  colour of  the  stem is  yellow, greenish-yellow, purple, or striped
  The joints are about  three inches  apart, and give origin to the  leaves  which
  embrace the stem at their base, are three  or four feet long and about an  inch
  wide, flat, acuminate,  longitudinally striated, furnished  with  a white midrib
  glabrous, finely dentate, and of a green colour inclining to yellow.  The flowers
  are pinkish, surrounded by a long silky down, and disposed in a large, terminal
  nearly pyramidal panicle, composed of subdivided spikes, and two or three feet
  in length.   The plant has a general  resemblance to the Indian corn.  Four
  varieties are  mentioned; 1. the common, with  a  yellow stem;  2. the purple
  with a purple stem and richer juice; 3. the gigantic, with  a very large light-
  coloured  stem ; and  4. the Otaheitan, which was  introduced  into the West
  Indies from  the island of Tahiti (Otaheite)  by Bougainville and Bligh, and is
 distinguished by its greater height, the longer intervals between its joints,  and
 by the greater length of the hairs which surround the flowers.
   The sugar cane is cultivated by cuttings, which are  planted in rows,  and
 which, by giving rise to successive shoots, furnish five or six crops before the
 plants require to  be renewed.  At the end of a year the  plant generally
 flowers, and  in four or five  months afterwards the canes are completely ripe, at
 which time they have a yellowish colour, and contain a sweet viscid juice.  The
 quantity of sugar which they yield is variable.   According to Avequin, of New
 Orleans, the  proportion of cane sugar in the recent stalk is about 10 per cent.,
 of uncrystallizable sugar from 3| to 4  per cent.  Cane-juice is usually stated
 to contain from seventeen to twenty-three per cent, of crystallizable su^ar,
 though scarcely seven per cent, is extracted in practice.
   Preparation and Purification.  The canes, when ripe, are cut down close to
 the earth, topped, and stripped of their leaves, and then crushed between vertical
 iron  rollers  in a mill.   The juice, constituting ninety per cent, of the cane,
 though fifty per cent,  is  scarcely obtained  in practice,  is of a pale-greenish
 colour, sweet taste, and balsamic odour, and has'a sp. gr. varying from P033
 to 1-106.   As it runs out it is received in  suitable vessels, and, being quickly
 removed, is immediately mixed  with lime, in the form of milk of lime, in  the
 proportion of about one part of the earth to eight  hundred of the juice,  and
 heated in a  boiler to 140°.  The exact proportion of  the lime cannot be de-
 termined, as the juice varies in quality in different seasons; but the manufac-
 turer should aim at making the liquor neutral, or very slightly alkaline.   The
 gluten and albumen  rise to the top, and form a thick scum, from  underneath
 which  the  liquid is drawn off by a cock into a copper boiler,  where it is con-
 centrated by heat, the scum  being carefully skimmed off as it forms.  Filtering
 the juice through cloth filters before heating it is advantageous.  When suffi-
ciently concentrated, the juice is transferred to shallow vessels called coolers,
from which, when  it  assumes a granular aspect, it is drawn off into wooden
vessels, with  perforated bottoms, the holes in which are temporarily plugged. 
PART I.
Saccharum.
665
At  the  end of twenty-four hours, the liquid is strongly agitated with wooden
stirrers, in order to accelerate the granulation of the sugar, which is completed
in six hours.   The stoppers are now removed, and the syrup is allowed to drain
off from the sugar, which in this state is granular, of a yellowish  colour, and
moist.  It is next dried in the sun, and, being introduced into hogsheads, forms
the brown sugar of commerce.   The syrup, by a new evaporation, furnishes
an additional portion of sugar ; and the liquid which finally remains, incapable
of yielding more sugar with advantage, is called molasses.   Eight pounds of
the juice yield, on an average, one pound of brown sugar.  In  the process of
extraction, it is important that the juice  should be concentrated by  a moderate
heat; as a high temperature causes more  of the cane sugar to  be converted into
uncrystallizable sugar, and, therefore, increases the  amount  of the molasses.
This  conversion takes place slowly, even in the cold, if the juice is allowed to
stand; and hence the importance of manufacturing it at once into sugar.   Ac-
cording to M.  Maumene, the cane sugar  in  crude beet juice may be preserved
without change by converting it into saccharate of lime; and he supposes that
this is true of  all vegetable juices, containing cane sugar.  In the  case of beet
juice, he recommends the addition of an amount  of  slaked lime, equal to half
the weight  of the  sugar,  supposed to  be  present;  an amount which will be
about five per cent, of the weight of the juice.  When the juice is  to be manu-
factured, the sugar is set free by saturating nine-tenths of the lime with carbonic,
phosphoric, or sulphuric acid.  (Journ. de Pharm., Nov. 1856.)  It maybe set
free also by animal  charcoal, which is now generally employed for the purpose.
  Brown sugar is  sometimes partially purified by boiling it with lime-water,
and, after sufficient concentration, allowing the syrup to crystallize in large in-
verted conical  vessels, pierced at the apex  and plugged.  The surface of the
crystalline mass being covered with a thin mixture of clay and water, the plug
is removed, and the water from the clay, percolating the mass, removes the
coloured syrup, which flows out at the hole.  Sugar, thus prepared, approaches
to the white state, and constitutes the clayed sugar of commerce, usually called,
in this country, Havana sugar.
   There is no doubt that a large proportion of the sugar  is lost in the ordinary
process of manufacture;  and several plans have been proposed  to prevent this
loss.   In December 1847, Dr.  John Scoffern, of England, took out  a patent for
the use of subacetate of  lead as a  purifying agent, added to  the cane-juice in
the proportion of one-sixth of one percent.   When applied to cane-juice, it
separates the impurities completely, thus avoiding the labour of skimming, and
furnishes the whole  of the sugar, instead  of about one-third, as by the ordinary
process.  When used in refining operations, it enables the refiner  to work  up
residues, which would not furnish sufficient sugar to  repay the cost of  the old
process.   The lead is finally removed from  the sugar solutions  in  the form of
sulphite of  lead, by the action of sulphurous acid gas, forced  through them
by mechanical means.  In this way Dr. Scoffern alleges that the whole of the
lead may be separated; but even if it is not, he believes that a minute propor-
tion of sulphite of lead in the sugar would not prove injurious.    In this opinion
he is supported by several eminent chemists and physicians ; but the position is
controverted by others equally eminent, and, we think, on just grounds ; as we
should feel doubt of the  Avholesomeness of an aliment, so extensively used as
sugar, containing a proportion of lead, however minute.  Such is the view taken
in France, where the process of Dr. Scoffern is prohibited.  Another patented
process for the  defecation of  cane-juice, and of the syrups of sugar refineries,
is that of R. & J. Oxland, in which acetate of alumina is used.   The.details
of the process  are given in the Chem. Gazette for Nov. 16, 1849, to which the
reader is referred.  M.  Melsens, of Brussels, has proposed  a third  process, 
666
Saccharum.
PART i.
 which consists in the use of bisulphite of  lime.  This salt is alleged to act  as
 an antiseptic,  preventing the operation of any ferment;  as an absorber  of
 oxygen, opposing the action of that gas on the juice;  as a clarifier, rendering
 insoluble at 212° all coagulable matters ; as a bleacher of pre-existing colouring
 matters, and a preventive of the formation of  new ones;  and,  lastly, as a sub-
 stance furnishing a base to neutralize hurtful acids, which unite with the lime
 displacing the weaker sulphurous acid.  M. Melsens admits that he has made
 his experiments with cane juice on a small scale only, and, therefore, leaves the
 application of  the principles of his method to  the intelligence of the manufac-
 turers themselves.   M. Emil Pfeiffer has  proposed another refining process
 which consists in the use of superphosphate of lime, an agent previously recom-
 mended by Brande.   (See Chem.  Gaz.,  April  15, 1856.)
   The  refining of brown  sugar forms a distinct branch of business, and the
 methods pursued have undergone many improvements.  By the original process
 the sugar was boiled with lime-water,  and  clarified by heating it with bullocks'
 blood.   The clarified syrup was then strained through cloth filters, whereby  it
 was rendered limpid.  It was next transferred to a boiler, where it was subjected
 to ebullition, until it was brought to a proper concentration; when it was allowed
 to cool in conical moulds, and to drain for the separation of the molasses.  This
 last boiling required to be continued so long, that the action of the fire and air
 frequently decomposed the sugar to such an extent as to cause a loss of twenty-
 five per cent, in molasses.   This  disadvantage  led to the abandonment of pro-
 longed  boiling;  and  now the  sugar refiners boil the syrup in shallow boilers,
 which are suspended in such a way as to admit of their being emptied with the
 greatest quickness, without putting out the fire.
   The process  of refining was still further improved by Messrs. Philip Taylor
 and Howard.   The former  introduced the improvement of heating the syrup
 with great rapidity by means of steam, made to pass through a series of tubes
 traversing the boiler; and the latter devised the plan of causing  the syrup to
 boil under a diminished pressure, created by a suction pump, set in motion by
 a steam engine, while it was heated by steam circulating round the boiler.  In
 this way, the syrup was made to boil at a lower temperature, and with a dimin-
 ished contact of the air; and the loss of the cane sugar by its conversion into
 uncrystallizable sugar was in a great measure avoided.
   After the syrup is sufficiently concentrated by any one of these methods, it is
 transferred to coolers, where it is agitated  to cause  it to granulate.  In this
 state it is poured into unglazed earthenware moulds of a conical shape, with  a
 hole in the apex, which is stopped with a paper plug.  The moulds are placed,
 with the apex downwards, above stone-ware pots, intended  to receive the un-
 crystallizable syrup.  When the mass has completely concreted, the moulds
 are unstopped,  to allow the coloured syrup to drain off.   To separate the re-
 mains of this syrup, the operation called claying is performed.   This consists
 in removing from the base of the loaf a layer of the sugar, about an inch thick,
 and replacing it with pure sugar in  powder,  which is covered with a mixture
 of pipe clay and water, of about the consistence  of cream.  The water gradually
 leaves the clay, dissolves the pure sugar, and  percolates the mass  as a pure
syrup, removing in its progress the coloured syrup.  Sometimes the purifica-
tion is performed without the use of clay, by allowing a saturated solution of
pure sugar to percolate the  loaf.   When all the coloured syrup is  removed,
the loaf is taken out of the mould and placed in  stoves to dry.   It now con-
stitutes  white or purified sugar.  The  syrup  which drains from the  loaves
contains a considerable quantity of cane sugar, and is used in subsequent ope-
rations.   The syrups  of lowest quality are employed in forming inferior white
 sugar, from which a syrup finally drains, containing so little cane sugar as not 
PART I.
Saccharum.
667
to repay the expense of extracting it.  This constitutes sugar-house molasses.
Good brown sugar, in the process of refining, yields about  70 per cent,  of
white sugar.
   Of the several forms of sugar above mentioned, three only, white and brown
sugar, and molasses, are officinal in the British and United States Pharmaco-
poeias; and these are designated by the Latin names placed at the head of this
article.   The United States Pharmacopoeia recognises white sugar only, giving
it the name of Saccharum; the use of brown sugar and molasses being replaced
by the employment of an officinal syrup of  known  strength.  (See  Syrupus.)
The London Pharmacopoeia recognises white sugar and molasses; and the
Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges admit not only these,  but also brown sugar.
   Commercial History.  Cane sugar was  known  to the ancients.   It was
originally obtained from India, where it was extracted from  the sugar  cane.
About the period  of the  Crusades, the  Venetians brought it to Europe; but
at that time it  was so scarce and costly as  to be used exclusively as a  medi-
cine.   Upon the discovery of the Cape of Good-Hope and the maritime  route
to the East Indies, the commerce in sugar passed into the hands of the Portu-
guese.   Subsequently, the cultivation  of the cane  was extended to Arabia,
Egypt,  Sicily, Spain,  and the Canaries,  and finally, upon  the  discovery of the
new world, to America, where  it was pursued with  the greatest success, and
continues to be so to the present day.   In America it is produced most abun-
dantly in  the West Indies, which supply the greater part  of the consumption
of Europe, little comparatively being taken  thither  from Brazil or the  East
Indies.   The consumption of the United States is more than  half supplied by
Louisiana and some of the neighbouring States.   The crop of sugar of Louis-
iana, in 1847, was estimated at 240,000 hogsheads; in 1853, at 322,000.   The
crop of Cuba for the latter year is  supposed to have reached 600,000 hogs-
heads.   Latterly, our planters have introduced into  Louisiana the variety  of
cane called the Otaheitan cane, which  is hardier and more  productive  than
the common cane,  and better suited to the climate of our Southern States.
   Properties.  Sugar, in a pure state, is a solid of a peculiar grateful taste,
permanent in the air,  phosphorescent  by friction,  and of  the  sp. gr.  1-6.   It
dissolves readily in half its weight of cold water, and to almost  an unlimited
extent in boiling water.  The solution, when thick and ropy,  is called syrup.
An aqueous solution of sugar, kept  in a warm place, has the property of cor-
roding iron, partially immersed in it, just above the line where the surface of the
liquid touches the  metal;  and  the solution  itself becomes  impregnated  with
protoxide of iron,  and of  a deep red-brown colour.   A similar effect is pro-
duced on  lead;  but zinc and copper  are but slightly acted on. (Dr. J. H.
Gladstone. Annals of Pharmacy, iii. 208.)   A solution  of  sugar possesses
the property also of dissolving a large quantity of hydrate of  lime,  forming  a
compound, called syrup of lime.  When  a concentrated syrup is gently heated,
and spirit added to it, the liquid, on cooling, forms  white semi-transparent
crystals of hydrated sugar, having the shape  of  oblique four-sided prisms, and
called sugar-candy.  Sugar  is  nearly insoluble in absolute alcohol, but dis-
solves in four times its weight of boiling alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-83.  When
heated  to  365°, it  melts into a viscid, colourless liquid, which, on being  sud-
denly cooled, forms a transparent  amorphous mass, called barley sugar.   At
a higher temperature (between 400° and 420°) it loses two eqs. of water, and
is converted into a black porous mass, having a high  lustre, called caramel.
At a still higher heat it yields combustible gases, carbonic  acid,  empyreumatic
oil,  and  acetic acid; and there remains one-fourth  of its weight of charcoal,
which burns without residue.   Sugar renders the  fixed and volatile oils  to  a 
668
Saccharum.
PART I.
certain extent miscible with water, and forms with the latter an imperfect com-
bination, called in pharmacy oleosaccharum.  When  in  solution, it  is not
precipitated by subacetate of  lead, a negative property  which distinguishes it
from most other organic principles.
   Tests.  Cane sugar may be distinguished from grape sugar by Trommer's
test, which consists in the use of sulphate of copper and caustic potassa.  If
a solution of cane sugar be mixed with a solution of sulphate of  copper, and
potassa  be  added  in excess, a deep-blue liquid is obtained, which, on being
heated, lets fall, after a time, a little red powder.   A solution of grape su"-ar
similarly treated, yields,  when  heated, a copious greenish  precipitate, which
rapidly changes to scarlet, and eventually to  dark red.  Prof.  Bottger finds
that, when a liquid containing grape sugar is boiled with carbonate of soda,
and some basic nitrate of bismuth, a gray coloration or  blackening of reduced
bismuth is produced.   Cane sugar, similarly treated, has no effect  on the test.
Dr.  Donaldson's test for sugar in the animal fluids is  formed of five parts of
carbonate of soda,  five of caustic potassa, six of bitartrate of potassa, four of
sulphate of copper, and  thirty-two of distilled water.   A few drops  of this
solution, being added to an animal fluid, and the  mixture heated over a spirit-
lamp, a  yellowish-green  colour is developed, if sugar  be present.   J.  Hors-
ley's test for  sugar in diabetic urine is an  alkaline solution of chromate of
potassa, a few drops of which, boiled with  the urine, will make  it assume a
deep sap-green colour.
   Action of Acids and Alkalies, dec.   The mineral acids  act differently on
cane sugar, according  as  they are concentrated or dilute.  Strong  nitric acid,
with the assistance of heat, converts it into  oxalic acid.  (See Oxalic Acid in
Part III.)  'The same  acid,  when  weak,  converts it  into  saccharic acid,
confounded by Scheele with malic acid.   Concentrated  muriatic or sulphuric
acid chars it.   Diluted muriatic acid, when  boded with cane sugar, converts
it into a solid, brown,  gelatinous mass.  Weak sulphuric acid, by a prolonged
action at a high temperature, converts cane sugar, first into uncrystallizable
sugar, afterwards into grape sugar, and finally into two substances, analogous
to ulmin and ulmic acid, called sacchulmin and sacchulmic acid.   Vegetable
acids are supposed  to act in a  similar way.   Maumene  has  found that cane
sugar undergoes the change into uncrystallizable  sugar  when kept for a long
time in aqueous solution, as well as when heated with acids.  When the boil-
ing with acids is prolonged for several days in open vessels, oxygen is absorbed,
and, besides sacchulmin and sacchulmic acid, formic acid is generated.   Sou-
beiran admits the  change of the uncrystallizable into grape sugar, but attri-
butes it to a molecular transformation of the sugar, independently of the action
of the acid; as,  according to his observation, the conversion takes place only
after rest.  In confirmation of his views, this chemist states that he found the
same changes to be produced by boiling sugar with water alone.
   Cane sugar unites with the alkalies and some of the alkaline earths, forming
definite combinations which render the sugar  less liable to change.  It also
unites with protoxide of  lead.   Boiled for a long time with aqueous solutions
of potassa, lime, or baryta, the liquid becomes brown, formic acid is produced,
and  two new acids  are generated;  one brown or black  and insoluble in water,
called melassic acid, the  other colourless and very soluble, named glucic acid.
   The account above given  of the action of acids and  alkalies on cane sugar
explains the way in which lime acts in the manufacture  and  refining of  sugar.
The acids, naturally existing in the saccharine juice, have the effect of convert-
ing the cane sugar  into uncrystallizable sugar, by  which a loss of the former
is sustained.   The  lime,  by neutralizing these acids, prevents this result.  An
excess of lime, however, must be carefully  avoided;   as it injures the pro- 
PART I.
Saccharum.
669
duct of cane sugar both in quantity and quality.   The change in sugar which
precedes fermentation, namely, the conversion of cane sugar into the  uncrys-
tallizable kind, points to the necessity of operating  on the juice before that pro-
cess sets in; and hence the advantage of grinding canes immediately after they
are cut, and boiling the juice with the least possible delay.
   The following is a description of the several forms of officinal sugar.
   Purified or white sugar, as obtained  on a large scale, is in concrete, some-
what porous masses, called loaves, consisting of an aggregate of small crystalline
grains.  When carefully refined, it is brittle and pulverulent, perfectly white,
inodorous, and possessed of the pure saccharine taste.  Cane sugar is sometimes
adulterated with  starch sugar, which may be detected  by adding to  a  concen-
trated solution of the suspected sugar, first a  small portion of fused potassa,
and afterwards, at the boiling  temperature, a few  drops  of nitrate of cobalt.
Vhis test, if the  cane sugar be pure, will  produce a violet-blue precipitate, a
reaction prevented by the presence of a small proportion  of starch sugar. (Dr.
G. Reich.)
    Unpurified or brown sugar is in the form of a  coarse powder, more or less
moist  and  sticky, consisting of shining  crystalline grains,  intermixed with
lumps, having an orange-yellow colour, more or less deep,  a sweet, cloying taste,
and heavy peculiar smell.  It varies very much in quality.  The best sort is
nearly dry, in large sparkling  grains of a clear yellow  colour, and  possesses
much less smell than the inferior kinds.   It consists of cane  sugar, associated
with variable quantities of gummy and colouring matter, and  a small  propor-
tion of lime and tannic acid.   =By ■keeping, it becomes soft and gummy, and
less sweet; a change attributed to the lime.
   3lolasses is of two kinds, the West India and sugar-house.   West India mo-
lasses is a black ropy liquid, of a peculiar odour,  and sweet empyreumatic taste.
When mixed with water and the skimmings of  the vessels  used in the manu-
facture of sugar,  it forms a liquor, which, when  fermented  and distilled, yields
rum.   Sugar-house molasses has the same general appearance as the West  In-
dia, but is thicker, and has a different flavour.   Its sp. gr.  is  about 1 *4, and it
contains about 75 per cent, of solid matter.  Both kinds  of molasses  consist of
uncrystallizable sugar, more or less cane sugar which has  escaped separation in
the process of manufacture or refining, and a gummy and colouring  matter.
When the molasses from cane sugar is treated with a boiling, concentrated so-
lution of bichromate of potassa, and boiled, a violent reaction  takes place, and
the liquid becomes green; but if it be adulterated with only an eighth of starch
sugar molasses, the reaction is prevented, and the colour  is  not changed. (Dr.
G. Reich.)
    Composition.  The following formulas express the composition of  the differ-
ent varieties of sugar, so far as known.   Cane sugar, C^II^O^.  Cane sugar,
as  it exists in combination with two eqs. of protoxide of  lead (caramel ? anhy-
drous sugar?), C12Hy09.  Grape sugar,  C^H^O^.   Grape sugar and  uncrys-
tallizable  sugar, dried at 212°,  C12Hla012.   Sorbin,  C12H12012.  (Pelouze.)  The
theory of the conversion of sugar, during the vinous fermentation, into alcohol
and carbonic acid, will be explained under absolute alcohol.  (See Alcohol, in
the second part of this work.)
   3Ied. and Pharm. Uses, dec.  The uses of sugar as an aliment and condiment
are numerous.   It is nutritious, but not capable  of supporting life when taken
exclusively as aliment, on account of the absence of nitrogen in its composition.
It is a powerful antiseptic, and is used for preserving meat  and fish;  for which
purpose it possesses the advantage of acting in a much  less quantity than is
requisite of common salt, and of not altering the taste, nor impairing the  nu.-
tritious qualities  of the aliment.  Prof. Marchand  has  ascertained that a solu- 
670                Saccharum.—Saccharum Lactis.             part r.

tion of sugar has no action on the teeth out of the body.  It may hence be in-
ferred that the popular notion that sugar is injurious to the teeth is unfounded.
  The medical properties of sugar are those of a demulcent; and as such it is
much used in catarrhal affections, in the form of candy, syrup, &c.  According
to M. Provencal, it acts as a powerful antaphrodisiac, when taken in the quan-
tity of a pound or more daily, dissolved in  a  quart of cold water.   For an ac-
count of the supposed therapeutic power of the vapour of boiling  cane juice,
in bronchitis and incipient consumption, applied by living in a sugar-house, the
reader is referred to the papers of Dr. S.  A. Cartwright, of New Orleans, con-
tained in the 47th and 51st volumes of the Boston Med.  and Surg. Journal.
In pharmacy sugar is employed to render oils miscible with water, to cover the
taste of medicines, to give them consistency, to preserve them from change, and
to protect certain ferruginous preparations  from oxidation.   Accordingly it
enters into the composition of several infusions, mixtures, and pills, of nearly
all the syrups  and confections, and  of all  the troches.   It is directed by the
Edinburgh College for purifying the commercial sulphuric  acid from  nitrous
acid.   Molasses is used to give the  proper  consistence to  pills, in ten London
formula?, six Dublin, and one Edinburgh.   It is well fitted for forming pills;
preserving them soft and free from mouldiness, on account of its  retentiveness
of moisture, and antiseptic qualities.
  Off. Prep, of Saccharum. Syrupus.
  Off. Prep, of Saccharum  Commune.  Confectio  Senna?; Infusum Senna?
Compositum.
  Off Prep, of Sacchari Fsex. Syrupus Senna?.                      B.

                  SACCHARUM  LACTIS.  Dub.

                            Sugar  of Milk.

  Lactose ; Sucre de lait, Fr.; Milchzucker, Germ.
  Sugar of milk, or lactin, is found only in milk, of which it forms about five
per cent.  (Boussingault)   It  is manufactured  largely in Switzerland as an
article of  food.   In preparing it, milk is first coagulated  by the addition of a
little dilute sulphuric acid, and the  resulting whey is  evaporated  to a syrupy
consistence, and set aside for several weeks,  in a cool place, to crystallize.  The
crystals, which constitute the  sugar of milk, are then decolorized by animal
charcoal,  and  repeated crystallizations.
  Sugar  of milk  is a hard, somewhat gritty, white substance, crystallized in
four-sided prisms, and possessing a  slightly sweet taste.  In commerce it some-
times occurs in cylindrical masses, in the axis of which is  a cord, around which
the crystals have been deposited.  It dissolves slowly  in six parts of cold and
three of boiling water, without forming a syrup.   It  is insoluble  in ether, and
but slightly soluble in alcohol.   Its sp. g*\  is 1'54.  It is  not susceptible of the
vinous fermentation  by the direct influence of yeast; but, after the action of
dilute acids, which first convert it into grape sugar, it is capable of furnishing
a spirituous liquor.   It is well known that both mares' and cows' milk, after
becoming sour, is capable of forming an intoxicating drink by fermentation.
By the action of nitric acid, sugar of milk is converted into mucic (saclactic)
acid.   When  anhydrous  it consists  of C^II^O^; when crystallized, of CJin
O^-fllO. (Slaedeler and Krause.)  These formula? make anhydrous sugar
of milk isomeric with cane sugar, and the crystallized with anhydrous grape
sugar.
   Sugar of milk has been proposed by Dr.  Turnbull, of England, as a non-
nitrogenous article of diet, in consumption and other pulmonary diseases.  Dr 
part I.                   Sagapenum.—Sago.                      671
 Ruschenberger used it with good effect as nourishment in a case of extreme irri-
 tability of stomach, following profuse loss of blood from menorrhagia. ( Trans.
 of the Phil. Col. ofPbys., ii. 48.)                                    B.


                       SAGAPENUM. Lond.

                              Sagapenum.

   An uncertain plant. The gum resin. Lond,
   Sagapenum, Fr.; Sagapen, Germ.;  Sagapeno, Ital., Span.; Sugbeenuj, Arab.
   All that is  known in relation to the source  of this gum-resin is, that it is
 the concrete juice of a plant, probably umbelliferous, growing in Persia.  The
 plant is conjectured to be a species of Ferula, and Willdenow supposed it to be
 F. Persica, but without sufficient evidence.  The drug is brought from Alex-
 andria, Smyrna, and other ports of the Levant.
   It is in irregular masses, composed of agglutinated fragments, slightly trans-
 lucent, of a brownish-yellow, olive, or reddish-yellow colour externally, paler
 internally, brittle, of a consistence somewhat resembling that of wax, and often
 mixed with impurities, especially with seeds more or less entire.  An inferior
 variety is soft, tough, and of uniform consistence.  It has an alliaceous odour,
 less disagreeable than that of assafetida, and a hot, nauseous, bitterish taste.  It
 softens and becomes tenacious by the heat of the hand.  The effect of time and
 exposure is to harden and render it darker.  It is inflammable, burning with  a
 white flame and much smoke, and leaving a light spongy charcoal.  Pure alcohol
 and water dissolve it partially, diluted alcohol almost entirely.  Distilled with
 water it affords a small quantity of volatile oil;  and the  water is strongly  im-
 pregnated with its flavour.   According to Pelletier,  it contains 54-26 per cent.
 of resin, 31-94 of gum, 1*0 of bassorin,  0-60 of a peculiar substance, 0-40 of
 acidulous malate of lime, and  11-80 of volatile oil  including loss.   Brandes
 found 3 73 per cent,  of volatile oil.  This is pale yellow, very fluid, lighter than
 water, and of a disagreeable alliaceous odour.
   Medical Properties and  Uses.  Sagapenum is a moderate stimulant, resem-
 bling assafetida, but much  inferior, and usually considered as intermediate  be-
 tween that gum-resin and galbanum.   It has been given  as an emmenagogue
 and  antispasmodic in amenorrhcea, hysteria, chlorosis,  &c, but is now seldom
 used.  It was  known to the ancients;  and Dioscorides speaks of it as being de-
 rived from Media.  The dose is from ten to thirty grains,  and may be given in
 pill or emulsion. Sagapenum is also considered discutieut, and has been occa-
 sionally applied externally, in the form of plaster, to indolent tumours.
   Off. Prep.  Sagapenum Pra?paratum.                              "W

                 SAGO.  U. S., Lond., Ed,,  Dub.

                                 Sago.

   The prepared fecula of the pith of Sagus Rumphii.  U. S..  Sagus la?vis, S.
Rumphii,  and other species of palms.  The  fecula of the stem. Lond.  Farina
from the interior of the trunk of various Palmacea? and species of Cycas. Ed.
Cycas circinalis and other species of Cycas, and various Palmacea?.  The farina
from the interior of the trunk.  Dub.
   Sagou, Fr.; Sago, Germ., Ital.; Sagu, Span.
   Numerous trees, inhabiting the islands and coasts of the Indian Ocean, con-
tain a farinaceous pith, which is applied to the purposes of  nutriment by the na-
tives.  Such are Sagus Rumphii, Sagus laevis, Sagus Ruffta, Saguerus Rum- 
672
Sago.
PART I.
phii, and Phcenix farinifera, belonging to  the family of palms; and Curat
circinalis,  Cycas  revoluta, and Zamia  lanuginosa, belonging to the Cyca-
dacese.   Of these Sagus Rumphii, Sagus Isevis, and Saguerus Rumphii pro-
bably contribute  to furnish the sago of commerce.   Crawford, in his History
of the Indian Archipelago, states that it is derived exclusively from Metroxylon
Sagu, identical with Sagus Rumphii; but Roxburgh ascribes the granulated
sago to S. Isevis, and one of the finest  kinds is said by Dr.  Hamilton to  be
produced by the Saguerus Rumphii of Roxburgh.   The farinaceous product
of the different species of Cycas, sometimes called Japan sago, does not enter
into general commerce.
   Sagus.   Sex.  Syst Monoecia Hexandria.—Nat. Ord.  Palmacea?.
   Gen. Ch,  Common spathe  one-valved.  Spadix branched.  Male.  Calyx
three-leaved. Corolla none. Filaments dilated.  Female.  Calyx three-leaved
with two of the leaflets bifid.  Corolla none.  Style very short. Stigma  simple!
Nut tessellated-imbricated, one-seeded.  Willd.
   Sagus Rumphii. Willd. Sp. Plant,  iv. 404; Carson, Illust. of Med, Bot. ii.
44, pi. 88.  The sago palm is one of the smallest trees of the family to which
it belongs.  Its extreme height seldom exceeds thirty feet.  The trunk is pro-
portionably very  thick, quite erect, cylindrical, covered with the remains of the
old  leafstalks, and  surrounded by a beautiful crown of foliage, consisting  of
numerous very large, pinnate leaves,  extending in  every direction  from the
summit, and curving gracefully downwards.   From the basis of the leaves pro-
ceed long, divided and subdivided flower and fruit-bearing spadices, the branches
of which are smooth.   The fruit is a roundish  nut, covered with a checkered
imbricated coat, and containing a  single seed.
   The tree is a native of the  East India islands, growing in the  Peninsula  of
Malacca,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  Celebes, the Moluccas, and a part of New Guinea.
It flourishes best  in low and moist situations.  Before attaining maturity, the
stem consists of a shell usually about two inches thick, filled with an enormous
volume of spongy medullary matter like that of elder.   This is gradually ab-
sorbed after the appearance of fruit, and the stem ultimately becomes hollow.
The greatest age  of the tree is not more than thirty years.   Large quantities
of a kind of sugar called jaggary are procured from its juice.  At the proper
period of its growth, when the medullary matter is fully developed, and has
not yet begun to diminish, the tree is felled, and the trunk cut into billets six
or seven feet long,  which are  split in order to facilitate the extraction of the
pith.  This is obtained in the state of a coarse  powder, which is mixed with
water in a trough, having a sieve at the end.  The water, loaded with farina,
passes through the sieve, and is received in convenient vessels, where it is al-
lowed to stand till the insoluble matter has  subsided.  It is then strained off;
and  the farina which is left may be dried into a kind of meal, or moulded into
whatever shape may be desired.  For the consumption of the natives it is usu-
ally  formed into cakes of various sizes, which are dried, and extensively sold in
the islands.   The commercial sago is prepared by  forming the meal into  a
paste with water, and rubbing it into  grains.  It is produced in the greatest
abundance in the Moluccas, but of the finest quality on the eastern coast of
Sumatra.   The Chinese  of  Malacca refine it so as to give the grains a fine
pearly lustre.  Malcolm states that it is also  refined in large quantities at Sin-
gapore.   In this state it is called pearl sago, and  is in  great repute.  It is
said that not less than five or  six hundred pounds of sago are procured from a
singletree. (Crawford.)
  Pearl sago is that which is  now generally used. It is in small grains, about
the size of a pin's head, hard, whitish, of a light-brown colour, in some instances
translucent, inodorous, and with little taste.  It may be rendered perfectly white 
part i.                       Sago.—Salix.                          673

by a solution of chloride of lime.  Common sago is in larger and browner grains,
of more unequal size, of a duller aspect, and frequently mixed with more or less
of a dirty-looking powder.
   Sago meal is imported into England from the East Indies; but we have met
with none in the markets of this country.   It is in the form of a fine amylaceous
powder, of a whitish colour, with a yellowish or reddish tint, and of a faint but
somewhat musty odour.
   Common sago is insoluble is  cold water, but by long boiling unites with that
licraid, becoming at first soft and transparent, and ultimately forming a gelati-
nous solution.  Pearl sago is partially dissolved by cold water, p'robably owing
to heat used in its preparation.   Chemically considered, it has the characters of
starch. Under the microscope the granules of sago meal appear oval or ovate,
and often truncated so as to be more or less mullar-shaped. Many of them are
broken, and in most the surface is irregular or tuberculated. They exhibit upon
their surface concentric rings, which are much less distinct than in potato starch.
The hilum is circular when  perfect, and cracks either with a single slit, or a
cross,  or in a stellate manner. The granules of pearl sago are of the same form,
but are all ruptured, and exhibit only indistinct traces of the annular lines, hav-
ing been altered in the process employed in preparing them.  Those of common
sago are very similar to the  particles of  sago meal, except that they are per-
haps rather less regular aud more broken.  (Pereira.)
   Potato starch is sometimes  prepared in  Europe so as to resemble bleached
pearl sago, for which it is sold. But, when examined under the microscope, it
exhibits larger granules, which  are also more regularly oval or ovate, smoother,
less broken, and more  distinctly marked  with the annular ruga? than those of
sago;  and the hilum often cracks with two slightly diverging slits.
   Sago is used exclusively as an article of diet.   Being nutritive, easily digesti-
ble, and wholly destitute of irritating properties, it is  frequently employed in fe-
brile cases, and in convalescence from acute disorders, in  the place of richer and
less innocent food.   It is given in the liquid state, and in  its preparation care
should be taken to boil it long in water, and stir it diligently, in order that the
grains may be thoroughly dissolved.   Should any portion  remain undissolved,
it should be separated by straining; as it might offend a delicate stomach.  A
tablespoonful to the pint of water is sufficient for ordinary purposes.  The so-
lution  may be seasoned with sugar and nutmeg or  other spice, and with wine,
when these are not contra-indicated.                                  "W".

                     SALIX.  U. S. Secondary.

                                Willow.
   The bark of Salix alba.  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  SALICIS CORTEX. Bark of Salix Caprea. Ed.
   Ecorce de saule, Fr.; Weidenrinde, Germ.; Corteccia  di salcio,  Ital; Corteza de
sauce, Span.
   Salix. Sex. Syst Dicecia Diandria.—Nat.  Ord.  Salicacea?.
   Gen.Ch.  Male.  Amentum cylindrical.  Calyx a scale.  Corolla none. Glands
of the base nectariferous. Female.  Amentum cylindrical.   Calyx a scale.  Co-
rolla none.  Style  two-cleft. Capsule one-celled,  two-valved.  Seeds downy.
Willd.
  This is an extensive genus, comprising, according  to Nuttall, not less than
one hundred and thirty species, which, with very few  exceptions, are natives of
Europe, and of the northern and temperate  parts of North America. Though
most of them are probably possessed  of  similar medical  properties, only two
are recognised as officinal in the  Pharmacopoeias of the U. States and Great
       43 
674
Salix.
part I.
 Britain; viz., S. alba and S. caprea; of which Salix alba has been introduced
 into this country.   S. Russelliana, which has also been  introduced from Eu-
 rope, is said by Sir James Smith to  be the  most valuable species.   ,S. pur.
 purea, a European  species, is said by Lindley to  be the most bitter and S
 pentandra is preferred by Nees von Esenbeck.  Many native species are in ali
 probability equally active with the foreign; but they have not been sufficiently
 tried in regular practice to admit of a positive decision.  The younger Michaux
 speaks of the root of S. nigra or black willow as a strong bitter, used in the
 country for the prevention and cure of intermittents.  In consequence of the
 pliability of the young  branches, the willow is well adapted for the manufac-
 ture of baskets and other kinds of wicker-work; and several species, native and
 introduced, are  employed for this purpose in the United States.  S. Babylonica
 or weeping willow is a favourite ornamental tree.   The degree of bitterness in
 the bark is probably the best criterion  of the value  of the several species.
   Salix alba. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 710; Smith, Flor. Brit 1071. The com-
 mon European or white willow is twenty-five or thirty feet in height, with nu-
 merous round spreading branches, the younger of which are silky.  The bark
 of the trunk is cracked and brown, that of the smaller branches smooth and
 greenish.  The leaves are  alternate, upon  short petioles, lanceolate, pointed,
 acutely serrate with the lower serratures glandular, pubescent on both sides'
 and silky beneath.   There are no stipules.   The flowers  appear at the same
 time with  the leaves.  The amenta are terminal,  cylindrical, and  elongated,
 with elliptical-lanceolate, brown, pubescent  scales.   The  stamens are  two  in
 number, yellow, and somewhat longer  than the scales; the style is short; the
 stigmas two-parted and thick.  The capsule is nearly sessile, ovate, and smooth.
 The white willow is  now very common in  this country.  It flowers in April
 and May; and the bark is easily separable throughout the summer.
   That  obtained from the branches rolls up when dried into the form of  a quill,
 has a brown epidermis, is flexible, fibrous, and of difficult pulverization.  Wil-
 low bark has a feebly aromatic odour, and a  peculiar bitter astringent taste.  It
 yields its active properties to water, with which it forms a  reddish-brown de-
 coction.   Pelletier and Caventou found among its ingredients tannin, resin, a
 bitter yellow colouring matter, a green fatty matter, gum, wax, lignin,  and an
 organic acid combined with magnesia.  The proportion of  tannin is so conside-
 rable that the bark  has been used for tanning leather.   A crystalline princi-
 ple has also been  obtained from it, which, having  the medical virtues of the
 willow, has received the name  of salicin.  When pure, it is in white, shining,
 slender crystals, inodorous, but very bitter, with the peculiar  flavour of the
 bark.  It is  soluble in cold water, much more so in  boiling water, soluble  in
 alcohol, and insoluble in ether  and the oil of turpentine. It neutralizes  neither
 acids nor salifiable bases; and is  not  precipitated  by any reagent.  Concen-
 trated sulphuric acid decomposes it, receiving from it an intense and permanent
 bright-red  colour, and producing a new compound called rutulin.   Muriatic
 and dilute sulphuric acids convert  it into grape-sugar, and  a white, tasteless,
 insoluble powder named saliretin.  Nitric acid produces with  it at first two
 principles called respectively helicin and helicoidin,  and afterwards  picric and
 oxalic acids.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim. xxx. 43.) Distilled with  bichro-
 mate of  potassa and sulphuric acid, it yields, among other products, a volatile
 oleaginous fluid, identical with one of  the  components of oil  of spira?a, and,
from  its acid properties,  denominated salicylous acid.  This is  considered by
 Dumas as consisting of a peculiar  compound radical called salicyl and hydro-
gen.  The formula of salicin is C42H20O22. ( Turner's Chemistry.)  The honour
of its discovery is claimed by Buchner,  of Germany, and  Fontana and Riga-
telh, of Italy; but  M. Leroux, of France, deserves the credit of having first 
PART I.
Salix.—Salvia.
675
 accurately investigated its properties.  Braconnot procured it by adding suba-
 cetate of lead to a decoction of the bark, precipitating the excess of lead by sul-
 phuric acid, evaporating the colourless liquid which remains, adding near the
 end of the process a little animal charcoal previously washed, and filtering the
 liquor while  hot.   Upon cooling it  deposits the salicin in a crystalline form.
 (Journ. de Chimie Medicate, Jan. 1831.)   The following is  the process of
 Merck.  A boiling'concentrated decoction of the bark is treated with litharge
 until it becomes nearly colourless.  Gum, tannin, and extractive matter, which
 would impede the crystallization of the salicin, are thus  removed from  the li-
 quid ; while a portion of the oxide is dissolved in union probably with the sali-
 cin.  To separate this portion of oxide, sulphuric acid is first added and then
 sulphuret of  barium,  and the liquor is filtered and  evaporated.   Salicin is
 deposited, and may be purified by repeated solution and crystallization.  ( Tur-
 ner's Chemistry.)   Erdmann has given another process.   Sixteen  ounces of
 the bark are macerated for twenty-four hours in four quarts of water  mixed
 with two ounces of lime,  and the whole is then  boiled for half  an  hour.  The
 process is repeated  with the residue.  The decoctions  having been mixed, and
 allowed to become clear by subsidence, the liquor is poured off, concentrated to
 a quart, then digested with eight ounces of ivory-black, filtered, and evaporated
 to dryness.  The extract is exhausted by spirit containing 28 per cent, of alco-
 hol, and the  tincture evaporated so  that the salicin may crystallize.   This is
 purified by  again  dissolving,  treating  with ivory-black,  and crystallizing.
 (Christison1 s Dispensatory.)   Merck obtained 251 grains from 16  ounces of
 the bark and young twigs of Salix helix, and Erdmann 300 grains from the
 same quantity of the bark of Salix pentandra.  It may probably be obtained
 from any of  the willow barks having a  bitter taste.  Braconnot  procured it
 from various species of Populus, particularly P. tremula or  European aspen.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  The bark of the willow is tonic and astrin-
 gent, and has been employed as a substitute  for Peruvian bark,  particularly in
 intermittent fever.  It has attracted  much attention from the asserted efficacy
 of salicin in the  cure of this complaint.  There seems to be no room to doubt,
 from the testimony  of numerous practitioners in  France,  Italy,  and Germany,
 that this principle has the property of arresting  intermittents;  though the as-
 cription to it of equal efficacy with the sulphate  of quinia was certainly incor-
 rect.  The bark  may be employed in substance or decoction, in  the same doses
 and with the  same mode of preparation as cinchona.  The  dose of salicin is
 from two to eight grains, to be so repeated, that from twenty  to forty grains
 may be taken  daily, or in the interval between the  paroxysms of an intermittent.
 Magendie has seen fevers cut short in one  day  by three doses of six  grains
 each.  The decoction of willow has been found beneficial as an external  appli-
 cation to foul and indolent ulcers.
  Salicylous acid and the salicylites have been used in medicine by M. Demartis,
 of France, and have  been found to  exert a direct  sedative influence on  the
economy without any previous excitement, which  renders them useful in inflam-
matory and febrile affections.  He gave the salicylite of potassa in  the dose of
about four grains. (Ann. de Therap. 1854, p. 77.)                     W.


                     SALVIA.  U.S. Secondary.

                                 Sage.
  The leaves of  Salvia officinalis. U. S.                        0
  Sauge, Fr.; Salbey, Germ.; Salvia, Ital., Span.
  Salvia. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord. Lamiaceae or Labiate?.
  Gen.Ch. Corolla unequal. Filaments affixed transversely to a pedicel.  Willd. 
676
Salvia.—Sambucus.
PART I.
   Salvia officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant i. 129; Woodv. Med,  Bot, p. 352 t
 127.   Common garden sage is a perennial plant,  about two feet high, with a
 quadrangular, pubescent, branching, shrubby stem, furnished  with  opposite
 petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, crenulate, wrinkled leaves, of a grayish-green colour'
 sometimes tinged with red  or purple.   The flowers  are blue, variegated with
 white and purple; and are disposed on long terminal spikes, in  distant whorls
 each composed of few flowers, and  accompanied with ovate, acute, deciduous
 bractes.  The calyx is tubular and striated, with two lips, of which the upper
 has three acute teeth, the under two.   The corolla is tubular, bilabiate, ringent
 with the upper  lip concave, and the lower divided into three  rounded lobes'
 of which the middle is the largest.  The filaments are supported upon short
 pedicels, to which they are affixed transversely at the middle.
   Sage grows spontaneously in the south of Europe, and is cultivated abund-
 antly in our gardens.  There are several varieties, differing in the size and colour
 of their flowers, but all possessing the same medical properties.  The flower-
 ing period is in June, at  which time  the plant should  be  cut, and dried in a
 shady place.   The leaves are the officinal portion.
   Both these and the flowering summits have a strong fragrant odour, and a
 warm, bitterish, aromatic, somewhat  astringent taste.   They abound in a vola-
 tile oil, which may be obtained separate by distillation with water, and contains
 a considerable proportion of camphor.  Sulphate of iron strikes a black colour
 with their infusion.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Sage unites a slight degree of tonic power
 and astringency with aromatic properties.  By the ancients it was highly  es-
 teemed; but it is at present little used internally, except as a condiment. In the
 state of infusion it may be given in debility of the stomach with flatulence, and
 is said to have been useful in checking the sweats of hectic fever. But its most
 useful application is as a gargle in inflammation of the throat,  and relaxation
 of the uvula.  For this purpose it is usually employed in infusion, with honey
 and alum, or vinegar.  The dose  of the  powdered  leaves is from  twenty to
 thirty grains.   The infusion is prepared by macerating an ounce of  the leaves
 in a pint of boiling water, of which  two fluidounces may be administered at
 once.   When intended merely as a pleasant drink  in febrile complaints, or to
 allay nausea, the maceration should continue but a very short time, so that all
the bitterness of the leaves may not be extracted.
  Two  other species of salvia—S.  pratensis  and  S. Sclarea—are ranked
among officinal plants in Europe.  The latter, which is commonly called clarry,
has been introduced into our gardens. Their medical properties are essentially
the same as those of the common sage; but they are less agreeable, and are not
 much used.   In Europe, the leaves  of S. Sclarea are said to be  introduced
into wine in order to impart to it a muscadel taste.                   W.

           SAMBUCUS.  U. S. Secondary, Lond., Ed.

                            Elder Flowers.

 »  The flowers of Sambucus Canadensis.  U. S.  Sambucus nigra.  The recent
flowers. Lond.   Flowers of Sambucus nigra. Ed.
   Sureau, Fr. ; Hollunder, Germ.; Sambuco, Ital.;  Sauco,  Span.
   Sambucus. Sex. Syst Pentandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Caprifoliacese.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-parted.  Corolla five-cleft.  Berry three-seeded. Willd.
   Sambucug Canadensis. Willd.  Sp. Plant, i. 1494.  Our indigenous common
 elder is a shrub from six  to ten feet high, with a branching stem, covered with
 a rough gray bark, and containing a large spongy pith.  The small branches 
PART I.
Sambucus.
677
and leafstalks are very smooth.   The leaves are opposite, pinnate, sometimes
bipinnate, and composed usually of three or four pairs of oblong-oval, acumi-
nate, smooth, shining, deep-green leaflets, the midribs of which are somewhat
pubescent.   The flowers are small, white, and disposed in loose cymes, having
about five divisions.  The berries are small, globular, and deep purple when ripe.
   The shrub grows in low moist grounds, along fences, and on the borders of
small streams, in all parts of the United States, from Canada to the Carolinas,
and westward as far as Texas.   It flowers from May to July, and ripens  its
berries early in autumn.  The flowers, which are the officinal portion, have an
aromatic, though rather heavy  odour.   The  berries as well  as other parts of
the plant are employed in domestic practice, and answer the same purposes as
the corresponding parts of the European elder, to which this species  bears a
close affinity.
   Sambucus nigra.  Willd. Sp. Plant  i. 1495; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 596, t.
211.   The common elder of Europe differs from the American most obviously
in its size, which approaches to that of a small tree. The stem is much branched
towards the top, and has a rough whitish bark.   The leaves are pinnate, con-
sisting  usually of five oval, pointed, serrate leaflets, four of which  are in op-
posite pairs, and the fifth terminal.  The flowers are  small, whitish, and in
five-parted cymes.   The berries are globular, and blackish-purple when ripe.
   The flowers have a peculiar sweetish odour,  which is strong in their recent
state, but becomes feeble by drying.  Their taste is bitterish.   They yield their
active properties to water by infusion, and when distilled give over a small pro-
portion  of volatile  oil, which on cooling assumes a butyraceous consistence.
Water distilled from them contains an appreciable portion of ammonia.  The
berries are nearly inodorous, but have a sweetish, acidulous taste, dependent on
the presence  of saccharine matter and malic acid.   Their expressed juice is sus-
ceptible of fermentation, and forms a vinous liquid used in the north of Europe.
It is coloured violet by alkalies, and bright  red by acids;  and the  colouring
matter is precipitated blue by acetate of lead.   The inner bark is without smell.
Its taste is at first sweetish, afterwards slightly bitter, acrid, and nauseous. Both
water and alcohol extract its virtues, which are said to reside especially in the
green layer between the liber and epidermis.  According to  Simon, the active
principle of the inner bark of the root is a soft resin, which may be obtained
by exhausting the powdered bark with alcohol, filtering the tincture, evaporat-
ing to  the consistence of syrup, then adding ether, which dissolves the active
matter, and finally evaporating to the consistence of a thick extract.   Of this,
twenty grains produce brisk vomiting and purging.  (Annal. der Pharm., xxxi.
262.)   The bark, analyzed by Kramer, yielded an acid called by him viburnic
acid, but which has proved to be the valerianic, traces of volatile oil, albumen,
resin, an acid sulphurous fat, wax, chlorophylle, tannic acid, grape-sugar, gum,
extractive, starch, pectin, and various alkaline and earthy salts. (Chem. Gaz.,
May, 1846, from Archiv. der Pharm.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  The flowers are gently excitant and sudorific,
but are seldom used, except externally as a discutient, in the form of poultice,
fomentation, or ointment.   The berries are diaphoretic and aperient; and their
inspissated juice has enjoyed some reputation as a remedy in rheumatic, gouty,
eruptive, and syphilitic affections.  Its dose as an alterative diaphoretic is one or
.two drachms, as a laxative half an ounce or more.  The inner bark is a hydra-
gogue cathartic, and in large doses, emetic.   It has been employed  in  dropsy,
epilepsy, and as an alterative in various chronic diseases.   An ounce may be
boiled with two pints of water to a pint, and four  fluidounces of the decoction
given for a dose.   It is also used in vinous infusion.  The leaves are not with- 
 678                   Sambucus.—Sanguinaria.                part i.

 out activity, and the young leaf-buds are said to be a violent and even unsafe
 purgative.  The juice of the root has been highly recommended in dropsy as
 a hydragogue cathartic, sometimes acting as an emetic, in the dose of a table-
 spoonful,  repeated every day, or less frequently if it act with violence.*
    Off. Prep. Aqua Sambuci; Unguentum Sambuci.                  vy.


                       SANGUINARIA. U.S.

                                Bloodroot.

   The rhizoma of Sanguinaria Canadensis.  U. S.
   Sanguinaria. Sex. Syst PolyandriaMonogynia.—Nat. Ord. Papaveracea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx  two-leaved.  Petals eight.  Stigma  sessile, two-grooved.'
 Capsule superior, oblong, one-celled, two-valved, apex attenuated. Receptacles
 two, filiform, marginal.  Nuttall.
   Sanguinaria Canadensis. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1140; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot.
 i. 75; Barton, Med. Bot i. 31.   The bloodroot, or, as it is sometimes called, puc-
 coon, is an herbaceous perennial plant.  The root (rhizoma) is horizontal, abrupt,
 often contorted, about as thick as the finger, two or three inches  long, fleshy, of
 a reddish-brown colour on the outside, and brighter red within.   It is furnished
 with numerous slender radicles, and makes offsets from the sides, which succeed
 the old plant.   From the end of  the root arise the scape and  leafstalks, sur-
 rounded by the large sheaths of the bud.  These spring up together, the folded
 leaf enveloping the flower-bud, and rolling  back as  the latter expands.  The
 leaf, which stands upon a long channeled petiole, is reniform, somewhat heart-
 shaped, deeply lobed, smooth, yellowish-green on the upper surface, paler or
 glaucous on the  under, and strongly marked by orange-coloured veins.  The
 scape is erect, round,  and smooth, rising from a few inches to a foot, and ter-
 minating in a single  flower.  The calyx is two-leaved and deciduous.  The
 petals,  varying from seven to fourteen, but usually about eight in number, are
 spreading,  ovate, obtuse, concave, mostly white, but  sometimes slightly tinged
 with rose or purple.   The stamens are numerous, with yellow filaments shorter
 than  the corolla, and orange oblong anthers.   The  germ is oblong and com-
 pressed, with a sessile, persistent stigma.  The capsule is oblong, acute at both
 ends, two-valved, and contains numerous oval, reddish-brown seeds.  The whole
 plant is pervaded by an orange-coloured sap, which flows from every part when
 broken, but is of the  deepest colour in the root.
   The bloodroot is one of the earliest and most beautiful spring flowers of North
 America.   It grows abundantly throughout the whole United  States, delighting
 in loose rich soils, and shady situations, and flowering in March and April. After
 the fall of the flower, the leaves continue to grow, and, by the middle of summer,
 have become so large as to give the plant an entirely different aspect.   Except
 the seeds, all parts of the plant are active;  but the root only is  officinal.
   This, when dried, is in pieces from one to three inches  long, from a  quarter
 to half an  inch or more in thickness, flattened, much wrinkled and twisted, often
 furnished with abrupt  offsets and many short fibres, of a reddish-brown colour

  * Dr.  B. H. Stratton, of Mount Holly, N. J., has found  a syrup  prepared from the
 berries useful as an alterative, employing it in all cases to which sarsaparilla is thought
 to be applicable.  To prepare the syrup, he mixes the juice of the berries  and sugar,
 in the proportion of a pint of the former to a pound of the latter, boils sufficiently, and
 adds to each pint of the syrup an ounce of the strongest brandy.   The syrup  must be
kept in well closed bottles in a cool place.  The  dose is from a dessertspoonful to a
tablespoonful three times a day. (N. J. Med.  Reporter vii. 446.) 
part I.                      Sanguinaria.                           679

externally, with a spongy uneven fracture, the surface of which is at first bright-
orange, but becomes of a dull-brown by long  exposure.   The colour of the
powder is a brownish orange-red.  Sanguinaria has a faint narcotic odour, and
a bitterish very acrid taste, the pungency of  which remains long in the mouth
and fauces.  It yields its virtues  to water and alcohol.  The late Dr. Dana, of
New York,  obtained from it a peculiar alkaline principle, denominated by him
sanguinarina, upon which the acrimony, and  perhaps the medical virtues of
the root depend.  It may be procured, according to Dana, by infusing the finely
powdered root in hot water or diluted muriatic  or acetic acid,  precipitating
with water of ammonia, collecting  the precipitated matter, boiling it in  water
with pure animal charcoal, filtering  off the water, treating the residue left upon
the filter with alcohol, and finally  evaporating the alcoholic  solution. (Ann.
Lye. of Nat. Hist, New York, ii. 250.)  It may also be conveniently procured
by a process similar to  that  employed by Probst for  obtaining  chelerythrin
from celandine.  This consists  in  forming a strong ethereal  tincture of the
root;  passing through this muriatic acid  gas,  drying the precipitated muriate
which is  insoluble  in ether, dissolving it  in  hot water, filtering, precipitating
by ammonia, drying  the precipitate,  dissolving it in  ether,  decolorizing  by
animal charcoal, precipitating by means of muriatic acid gas, and decomposing
the muriate as before.  (Chem. Gaz., i. 145.)   Dr.  James Schiel,  of St. Louis,
Missouri, who has  determined the  identity of  sanguinarina with chelerythrin,
gives the following as  the simplest process of preparing either alkaloid. Digest
the root with water strongly acidulated with  sulphuric acid, precipitate with
ammonia, dry the precipitate, dissolve it in  ether,  treat with animal charcoal,
filter,  and precipitate with sulphuric acid dissolved in ether.  A pure sulphate
is thus obtained, which may be  decomposed  in the ordinary method to obtain
the alkaloid. (Silliman's Journ., Sept. 1855.)  Sanguinarina is a white pearly
substance, of an acrid taste, very sparingly  soluble in water,  soluble in  ether,
and very soluble in alcohol.   With  the acids it forms salts soluble in water, all
of which have some shade of red, crimson,  or  scarlet, and form  beautiful red
solutions.   They are acrid and  pungent to the taste, particularly the  muriate
and acetate.  From these facts it would appear that the red colour and acrid
properties of the bloodroot may be owing to the presence of some native salt
of sanguinarina, which is decomposed by ammonia  in the separation of the
organic alkali.  The formula of sanguinarina is NC37H1608.   A  principle has
been extracted from bloodroot by Riegel, analogous to the porphyroxin  found
by Merck in opium. (Chem.  Gaz., iv. 198.)   Mr. E. S. Wayne, of Cincinnati,
has also  discovered a distinct principle, which  he  found in the ether after the
precipitation of the sulphate of sanguinarina in the process of Dr.  Schiel.  It
is  pale-red, tasteless,  insoluble  in  water, soluble  in alcohol  and ether, and
unites with muriatic and sulphuric acids to form crystallizable compounds, of
a deep-red colour.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxviii. 522.)   The virtues of
the root are said to be rapidly deteriorated by time.
   3Iedical Properties  and Uses. Sanguinaria is an  acrid emetic, with stimulant
and narcotic powers.  In small doses it excites  the stomach, and accelerates the
circulation; more largely given, produces nausea and consequent  depression of
the pulse ;  and in the  full dose occasions active vomiting.  The  effects  of  an
overdose  are violent emesis, a burning  sensation  in  the  stomach,  tormenting
thirst, faintness, vertigo, dimness of vision,  and alarming prostration.   Four
persons  lost their  lives  at Bellevue Hospital, New York, in  consequence of
drinking  largely of tincture of bloodroot, which they mistook for  ardent  spirit.
(Am.  Journ. of 3Ied.  Sci., N. S., ii. 506.)   Snuffed up the nostrils, bloodroot
excites much irritation, attended with sneezing.  Upon fungous surfaces it acts 
680
Sanguinaria.—Santalum.
part i.
  as an escharotic.  It has been given in typhoid pneumonia, catarrh, pertussis
  croup, phthisis pulmonalis, scarlatina,  rheumatism, jaundice,  dyspepsia hydro'
  thorax, and some other affections, either as an emetic, nauseant, or alterative"
  and its virtues are highly praised by many judicious practitioners.' Dr. Mothers'
  head, of Indianapolis, speaks in the strongest terms of its efficacy as an excitant
  to the liver, given in alterative doses.  (See Wood's Quart Retrosp., ii 80 )
   The dose with a view to its emetic operation is from ten to twenty grains -riven
  in powder or pill.  The latter form is  preferable, in consequence of the great irri
  tation of throat produced by the powder when swallowed.  For other purposes'
  the dose is from one  to five grains, repeated more or less frequently according to
  the effect desired.  The medicine is sometimes given in infusion  or decoction in
  the proportion of half an ounce to the pint.  The emetic dose of this prepara-
  tion is from half a fluidounce to a fluidounce.  The tincture is  officinal.* An in-
  fusion in vinegar has been employed advantageously, as a local application in
  obstinate cutaneous affections ; and Dr. R. G. Jennings has found  it more effi-
  cient as a gargle  in  the  sorethroat of scarlatina than any other  that he has
  employed.  (Stethoscope, ii. 182.)  Dr.  Stevens, of Ceres, New York, has found
 the  powder useful as an errhine, in coryza, combined with cloves and camphor
 (N Y. Journ. of Med, N. S., iv.  358.)  Mixed with chloride of zinc, and made
 into a paste with flour and water, it  has been used by Dr. J. W. Fell  as a
 local remedy in cancer, with asserted success.
   Off. Prep. Tinctura Sanguinaria?.                                  vy


                          SANTALUM. U.S.

                             Red Saunders.

   The wood of Pterocarpus santalinus. U S.
   Off Sign. PTEROCARPUS. Pterocarpus santalinus. The wood.  Lond  Ed.
   Santal rouge, Fr.; Santelholz, Germ.                                   '
   Pterocarpus.  Sex. Syst  Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabacea? or
 Leguminosa?.
  _ Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-toothed.  Legume falcated, leafy, varicose,  dried by a
 wing, not gaping.  Seeds  solitary.  Willd.
   Pterocarpus santalinus.  Willd. Sp. Plant iii. 906 ; Woodv. Med Bot p
 430, t. 156.  This is a large tree with alternate branches,  and  petiolate ternate
 leaves each simple leaf being ovate, blunt, somewhat notched at the apex entire,
 veined, smooth on the upper surface, and hoary beneath.   The flowers are yel-
 low, m axillary spikes,-and have a papilionaceous corolla, of  which the vexil-
 lum is obcordate, erect, somewhat reflexed at the sides, toothed and waved, the
 aix  spreading  with their  edges apparently toothed, and  the canna  oblong,
 short, and somewhat inflated.   The  tree is a native of India, attaining  the
 highest perfection  in mountainous districts, and inhabiting especially the morni-
 tains of  Coromandel  and  Ceylon.   Its wood is the true officinal red saunders,
 though there is reason to believe that the product of  other trees is  sold by the
 same name.                                                         J

 J^V;!l t ^iegand P,°P°I6S the fou°™g formula for a syrup of bloodroot.  Take
 of the root in coarse powder gviij, acetic acid f Jiy, water Ovf sugar ftij.  Add to the
FhrWeeedavs° ^TT °* ** T^ ™id mixed ™th  a pint o'f the water, macerate for
S/wUh in.     t0  1 WnolztoT, and displace with the remainder of the water
ZZZ^^LZTfeT °{lhe aflCetlC acid' '^aporate the  infusion obtained, by
means of  a water-bath,  to eighteen fluidounces, then add the sugar, and form a sy up,
straining if necessary.  From one  to two fluidrachms should  operate as an emetic
 (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvi., I08.)-Note  to the eleventh edition 
PART I.
Santalum.—Sapo.
681
  The wood comes in roundish  or  angular billets, internally of a blood-red
colour, externally brown  from  exposure, compact, heavy, and fibrous.  It is
kept in the shops in the state of small chips, raspings, or coarse powder.
  Red saunders has little smell or taste.   It imparts a red  colour to alcohol,
ether, and alkaline solutions, but not to water ; and a test is thus afforded by
which it  may be distinguished from some other colouring woods.  The alcoholic
tincture produces a deep-violet precipitate with sulphate of iron,  a scarlet with
bichloride of mercury, and a violet with the soluble salts of lead.  The colour-
ing principle, which was  separated by Pelletier, and called by him santalin, is
of a resinous character, scarcely soluble in cold water, more so in boiling water,
very soluble in  alcohol, ether, acetic acid, and alkaline solutions, but slightly in
the fixed and volatile oils,  with  the  exception of those of lavender and rose-
mary, which readily dissolve it.   It is precipitated when acids are added to the
infusion  of  the wood prepared with an  alkaline solution.  Weyermann  and
Hcefferly have found it to be possessed of acid properties.   The wood has no
medical virtues, and is employed solely for the purpose of imparting colour.
   Off. Prep. Spiritus Lavandula? Compositus; Tinctura Cinchona? Composita;
Tinctura Rhei  et Senna?.                                             W.


                          SAPO.  U.S., Lond.

                                   Soap.

   Soap made with soda  and olive oil.  U.S., Lond.
   Off. Syn. SAPO DURUS. Ed., Dub. Spanish or Castile soap, made with
olive oil  and soda. Ed.
  Savon blanc, Fr.; Oel-sodaseife,  Germ.; Sapone duro, Ital.; Xabon, Span.

                    SAPO VULGARIS.  U.S.

                            Common Soap.

   Soap made with soda and animal  oil. U S.
   Savon de suif, Savon de graisse, Fr.; Talgseife, Germ.


                   SAPO MOLLIS.   Lond., Ed.

                               Soft  Soap.

   Soap made with olive oil and potash. Lond, Ed.
   Savon mou, Savon vert, Savon a base  de potasse, Fr.; Schmierseife, Kaliseife, Germ.
   Soaps embrace all those compounds which result from the  reaction of salifia-
ble bases with fats and oils.  Fats and oils, as has been explained  under the
titles Adeps and Olea, consist generally of three principles, two solid, differing
in fusibility, called stearin and margarin, and one liquid, called olein, of which
there are two varieties.   Stearin  is found most abundantly in fats which are
firm and solid, as suet and tallow; margarin in human fat; and olein in the oils.
When the fats and oils undergo saponification by reaction with a salifiable base,
these three principles are decomposed into oily acids peculiar to each, discovered
by Chevreul, and called stearic, margaric, and oleic acids, which unite with the
base to form the soap, and into a sweet principle not  saponifiable, called  gly-
cerin, which  is set free.   Hence  it follows that stearin is a stearate, margarin a
margarate, and olein an oleate of glycerin, and that the fats and oils are mix-
tures of these three oily salts.  Hence,  also,  it is obvious that soaps are mixed 
682
Sapo.
PART I.
 stearates, margarates, and oleates of various bases.  Stearic acid is a firm white
 solid,  like wax, fusible at 167°, greasy to the  touch, pulverizable,  soluble in
 alcohol, very soluble in ether, but insoluble in water.   In the impure state it is
 used as a substitute for wax, for making candles.   3Iargaric acid has the ap-
 pearance of fat, and is fusible at 140°.  Oleic acid is an oily liquid, insoluble
 in water,  soluble  in  alcohol and  ether, lighter than water, crystallizable in
 needles a little below 32°, and having a slight smell and pungent taste.  Gly-
 cerin  will be described under a separate head.  (See Glycerina.)
   Soaps are divided into the soluble and insoluble.  The soluble soaps are com-
 binations of the oily acids with soda, potassa, and ammonia; the insoluble con-
 sist of the same acids united with earths and metallic oxides.  It is the soluble
 soaps  only that are detergent, and to which the name soap is usually  applied.
 Several of the insoluble soaps are  employed in pharmacy; as, for example, the
 soap of  the protoxide  of lead, or  lead  plaster, and the soap of lime, or lime
 liniment.  (See Emplastrum Plumbi and Linimentum  Calcis.)
   The consistency of the fixed alkaline soaps depends partly on the nature of
 the oil or  fat, and  partly on  the alkali present.   Soaps  are harder the more
 stearate and margarate they contain, and softer when the oleate predominates-
 and, as it respects  the alkali  present, they are harder when formed with soda'
 and softer when containing potassa.  Hence  it is that of pure soaps,  considered
 as salts,  stearate of soda is the hardest and least soluble,  and oleate  of potassa
 the softest and most soluble.
   The officinal soaps,  here described, are  all of the  soluble kind.  They em-
 brace two soda soaps, one made with olive oil (Castile  soap), the other with
 animal oil (common soap);  and one  potassa soap (soft soap).   The soap of
 ammonia is noticed under another head. (See Linimentum Ammonias.)
   Preparation.  The following is an outline of the process for making soap.
 The oil or fat is boiled with a solution of caustic alkali, until the whole forms
 a thick mass, which can be drawn out into long  clear threads.   After the soap
 is  completely formed,  the next step is to separate it from the excess of alkali,
 the glycerin, and redundant water.   This is effected by adding common salt, or
 a very strong alkaline lye, in either of which the soap is insoluble.   The same
 end may be attained  by boiling down the solution, until  the  excess of alkali
 forms  a  strong  alkaline solution, which acts the same part in separating the
 soap as the addition of a similar solution.   As soon  as the soap is completely
 separated, it rises to the surface, and, when it has ceased to froth in boiling, is
 ladled  out into wooden frames to congeal, after which it is cut into  bars by
 means of a wire.   The soap, as first separated, is called  grain soap.  It may
 be purified by dissolving it in an alkaline lye, and separating it by common salt.
 During this process the impurities subside, and the soap combines with more
 water; and hence it becomes weaker, although purer and whiter.   If the grain
 soap be not purified it forms marbled soap,  the coloured streaks arising prin-
cipally from an insoluble soap of oxidized iron.  Sometimes the marbled appear-
ance is produced by adding to the soap, as soon  as it is completely separated, a
fresh portion of lye, and immediately afterwards a solution of sulphate of iron.
 The black oxide of  iron is precipitated, and gives rise to dark-coloured  streaks,
which, by exposure to the air, become red, in consequence of the conversion of
the black into  the sesquioxide of iron.   For an account of the process of Mr.
R. A.  Tilghman, of this city, patented  in 1854, for manufacturing soap, by
subjecting a mixture of fatty matters, and a solution of carbonated alkali to
a high temperature under pressure, see the Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxvii. 121.
   The officinal soap (Sapo) of the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias is an olive
oil soda soap, made on the same general  plan as that just explained.   It is  the
Sapo Durus of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges. 
PART I.
Sapo.
683
   Common Soap (Sapo Vulgaris) is also a soda soap;  but instead of olive, it
contains concrete animal oil.   This soap corresponds with the white soap of
northern European countries and of the United States, and is formed usually
from barilla and tallow.  In Scotland it is manufactured from kelp and tallow.
It was introduced  into the list of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia as  the only proper
soap for making opodeldoc. (See Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum.)
   Soft  Soap (Sapo Mollis) is prepared on the same general principles as hard
soap; potash being employed as the alkali, and a fatty matter, rich in olein, as
the oil.   The French soft  soap is made with the  seed oils, such as rape seed,
hemp seed, &c.; the Scotch and Irish, with fish oil and some tallow; and our
own with refuse fat and grease.  A lye of wood-ashes is  the form of potash
usually employed.   In forming this soap it is necessary that it should continue
dissolved in the alkaline solution, instead of being separated from it.   Hence
soft soap is a soap of potassa, completely dissolved in the solution of its  alkali,
which is consequently present in excess.  A soap of potassa is  sometimes made
with a view to its conversion into a soda soap.   This conversion is effected by
the  addition of an equivalent quantity of common salt, which, by double de-
composition, generates  a soap of soda, and chloride of  potassium in solution.
After this change is effected, the addition of a further portion  of salt separates
the soda soap formed.
   Besides the officinal soaps of the United States and British Pharmacopoeias,
there are many other varieties, more or less used  for medicinal or economical
purposes.   The officinal soap of the  French Codex, called amygdaline soap
(almond oil soap), is formed of caustic soda and almond oil, and is directed to
be kept for  two months  exposed to the air, before being  used.   Starkey's soap,
also officinal in the Codex, is prepared by uniting,  by trituration, equal parts of
carbonate of potassa, oil of turpentine, and Venice turpentine.   Beef's marrow
soaph a fine animal oil soap, also included in the French standard of pharmacy.
 Windsor soap is a scented soda  soap, made of one part of olive oil and nine
parts of tallow.  Eau de luce (aqua lucise) is a  kind of liquid soap, formed
by mixing a tincture of oil of amber and balsam of Gilead with  water of ammo-
nia.   Transparent soap is prepared by saponifying kidney fat with soda free
from foreign salts, drying the resulting soap, dissolving  it  in alcohol, filtering
and evaporating the solution, and running it into moulds when sufficiently con-
centrated.   The soap is  yellow or yellowish-brown, and  preserves its transpa-
rency after desiccation.   Palm soap is prepared from  soda and palm  oil, to
which tallow is added to increase its firmness.  If it be wanted white, the palm
oil  must be bleached  by sulphuric  acid, chlorine,  or  exposure to the sun.
This soap has a yellowish colour, and the agreeable odour of violets, derived
from the oil.  Soap balls are prepared by dissolving  soap  in a small quantity
of water, and then forming it with starch into a mass of the proper consistence.
Common yellow soap (rosin soap) derives its peculiarities from an admixture
of rosin and a little palm oil with the tallow employed;  the oil being added to
improve its colour.  Large quantities of lard oil (nearly pure olein) are  manu-
factured into soap.
  All the varieties of soap, except a few of the fancy  sort, and the olive oil
soaps, are manufactured in the United States.   The  latter, which  are  chiefly
used for medicinal purposes, are imported from France.
  Properties.  Soap, whatever  may be its variety, has  the same general pro-
perties.  Its  aspect and consistence are familiar to every one. Its smell is pecu-
liar, and taste slightly alkaline.   It is somewhat heavier  than water, and there-
fore sinks in that liquid.  Exposed to heat it quickly fuses, swells up,  and is
decomposed.   It is soluble in water, and more readily in hot than in cold.
Potassa soaps and  those containing  oleic acid are far more soluble than the 
684
Sapo.
PART I,
 soda soaps, especially those in which the stearates and margarates predominate
 Acids, added to an aqueous solution of soap, combine with the alkali, and set
 free the oily acids, which, being diffused through  the  water, give it 'a  milky
 appearance.   Its decomposition is also produced by metallic salts, which inva-
 riably give rise to insoluble soaps.   Soap is soluble in cold, and abundantly in
 boiling alcohol.  This solution constitutes  the tincture of soap, and forms a
 very convenient test for  discovering lime in natural waters.   The efficacy of
 soap as a detergent depends upon its power of rendering grease and other soil-
 ing substances soluble in water, and  therefore capable of being removed by
 washing.   The chief adulterations in soap are lime,  gypsum, heavy spar, stea-
 tite, and  pipe-clay.   When adulterated with  these  substances, it will not be"
 entirely soluble in alcohol.  According to Dr. Riegel, glue is an  occasional
 adulteration in Spanish soap, discoverable also by its  insolubility in alcohol
 The same impurity is sometimes found  in other soaps.
   Olive oil  soda soap (Sapo), otherwise called Castile or Spanish soap, is a
 hard soap, and is presented under  two principal varieties, the white and  the
 marbled.   White Castile soap, when good,  is of a pale grayish-white colour
 incapable of giving an oily stain to paper, devoid of rancid odour or strong alka-
 line qualities, and entirely soluble both in water and alcohol.  It should not
 feel greasy, nor grow moist, but, on the contrary, should become dry by exposure
 to  the air, without  exhibiting any saline efflorescence.   This variety of soap
 contains about twenty-one per cent, of  water.  Sometimes it contains a larger
 proportion of water, with which the soap is  made to combine by the manufac-
 turer, with the fraudulent intention of increasing its weight.   Soap, thus adul-
 terated^ is known by its unusual whiteness, and by its suffering a great loss of
 weight in a dry air.   The proportion of  water may be ascertained by introducing
 the soap into a saturated solution of chloride of sodium and boiling; when the
 soap, nearly free from water, concretes into a solid mass.  3Iarbled Castile soap
 is harder, more alkaline, and more constant in its composition than the other
 variety.   It  contains about fourteen per cent, of  water.   Having less  water
 than the white Castile, it is a stronger  and  more economical soap;  but at the
 same time less pure.   The  impurity arises from the veins of marbling, which
 consist of ferruginous matter,  as already explained.
  Animal oil soda soap (Sapo Vulgaris) is a  hard soap, of  a white colour,
 inclining to yellow.   It is made from tallow and caustic soda.   This soap pos-
 sesses the same general properties as the olive oil soda  soap.
  Soft soap (Sapo  Mollis), as  made  in this  country, is  semi-fluid, slippery,
 capable of being  poured from one vessel to another,  and of a  dirty brownish-
 yellow colour.  This soap always contains an excess of alkali, which  causes
 it to act more powerfully as a detergent than hard soap.   It also contains the
 glycerin of the fatty matters, which is always separated from hard soap.   The
 London and  Edinburgh Colleges direct  it to be made from olive oil and potash;
 but Dr. Pereira states that he has not  been  able to  meet with it in England
 That which is made in France has a greenish colour and the consistence of soft
 ointment, and is composed of hemp seed oil and potash. It is called in the French
 Codex, savon vert.   Sometimes it  is manufactured from the dregs of olive  oil.
  Incompatibles.   Soap is decomposed by all the acids, earths, and earthy and
 metallic salts.  Acids combine with the alkali, and set free the oily acids of the
 soap; the earths  unite with the oily acids and  separate the alkali; while the
 earthy and metallic salts give rise, by double decomposition, to an insoluble soap
 of their base, and a saline combination  between their acid and the alkali of the
soap.  Hard waters, in consequence of their containing salts of lime, decompose
and curdle soap.  They may be rendered soft, and  fit for washing,  by adding
sufficient carbonate of soda or of potassa to precipitate all the lime. 
PART I.
Sapo.
685
   Composition.  It has been already explained that soap consists of certain oily
acids, united with an alkali.   As olive oil is a compound of margarin and olein,
so the officinal " soap" is a mixed margarate and oleate of soda.   The officinal
"common soap" is principally a stearate of soda, and "soft soap," as defined
by the London and Edinburgh Colleges, is a mixed  margarate and oleate of
potassa.   The  most important soaps have the following composition in the
hundred parts.   3Iarseilles white soap,—soda 10-24, margaric acid 9*20, oleic
acid 59-20, water 21-36. (Braconnot.)  Castile soap, very dry,—soda, 9-0, oily
acids 16-5, water 14'5. ( Ure.) Glasgow soft soap,—potassa 9-0, oily acids 43-7,
water 47 '3.  ( Ure.)  French soft soap,—potassa 9-5, oily acids 44, water 46'5.
(Thenard.)  Most soaps, it is perceived, contain a large pr<#portion of water.
   3Iedical Properties.   Soap possesses the properties of a laxative, antacid,
and antilithic.   It is  seldom  given alone,  but frequently in combination with
rhubarb, the astringency of which it has a tendency to correct.   Thus combined,
it is frequently administered in dyspepsia, attended with constipation and torpor
of the liver.  As it is readily decomposed by the weakest acids, which combine
with the alkali, it often proves  useful in acidity of the stomach, and has been
recommended as a remedy in  the uric acid  diathesis; but it possesses no power
to dissolve calculi, as was once  supposed.   Externally, soap  is  a stimulating
discutient, and  as such has been used, by friction, in sprains and bruises.   The
late Dr. A.  T.  Thomson found much benefit to result from rubbing the tumid
abdomen of children in mesenteric fever, morning and evening, with a strong
lather of soap.   For the cure of itch Dr.  Schubert recommends a mixture of
soft soap and salt, in the proportion of  eight ounces of the former to four of
the latter, dissolved in a quart of water. With this solution, previously warmed,
the patient  is to be rubbed night and morning, until the cure is effected, which
generally takes place  in  three days.   In constipation of the  bowels, particu-
larly when arising from hardened feces in the rectum, a strong solution of soap,
especially of soft soap, forms a useful enema.  When the latter is used,  two
tablespoonfuls maybe dissolved in a pint of warm water.   In pharmacy, soap
is frequently employed for the purpose of giving a proper  consistence to pills;
but care must be taken not to associate it with a  substance which may be de-
composed by it.  It is also an ingredient in some liniments and plasters.   In
toxicology it is used as  a  counter-poison for the mineral acids, and should
always be resorted to  in poisoning by these agents without a moment's delay,
and its use continued until magnesia, chalk, or the bicarbonate of soda or of
potassa can be obtained.   The mode of administration, in these cases, is to give
a teacupful of a solution of soap, made by dissolving it in four times its weight
of water, every three or four minutes,  until the patient has taken as much as
he can swallow.  The dose of soap is from five grains to half a drachm, given
in the form  of pill.
  ^ Off. Prep, of Soap.  Ceratum Saponis;  Emplastrum Resina?; Emp. Sapo-
nis;  Extractum Colocynthidis Compositum; Linimentum Opii; Pilula? Aloes;
Pil. Aloes et Assafcetida?; Pil.  Assafcetida?;  Pil. Cambogia?; Pil. Colocynthidis
Comp.; Pil.  Opii; Pil. Rhei; Pil. Rhei Comp.; Pil. Saponis Comp.; Pil. Scilla?
Comp.;  Tinctura Saponis Camphorata.
  Off. Prep, of Common Soap. Linimentum  Saponis Camphoratum.
  Off. Prep, of Soft Soap. Enema Colocynthidis; Linimentum Terebinthina?;
Pilula Aloes cum Myrrha; Pil. Aloes cum Sapone; Pil. Cambogia? Composita;
Pil. Colocynthidis Comp.; Pil. Galbani Comp.; Pil. Rhei Comp.; Pil.  Saponis
Comp.; Pil. Scilla? Comp.; Unguentum  Sulphuris Compositum.        B. 
686
Sarsaparilla.
PART I.
                   SARSAPARILLA. U.S., Dub.

                              Sarsaparilla.

   The root of Smilax officinalis and of other species of Smilax.  U. S.  Smilax
 officinalis. Jamaica Sarsaparilla.  The root. Dub.
   Off. Syn.  SARSA. Smilax officinalis. The root. Bond.; SARZA. Root of
 Smilax officinalis, and probably other species. Ed.
   Salsepareille, Fr. ; Sarsaparille, Germ.; Salsapariglia, Ital.; Zarzaparilla Span
   Smilax. Sex*Syst. Dicecia  Hexandria. — Nat. Ord. Smilacea?.   '
   Gen.Ch.  Male.  Calyx six-leaved.  Corolla  none.   Female.  Calyx six-
 leaved. Corolla none.  Styles  three.  Berry three-celled.  Seeds two.  Willd
   Formerly, Smilax Sarsaparilla was admitted  by most of the standard au-
 thorities as the source of this drug; but it is probable that none of the sarsa-
 parilla of the shops was ever obtained from it.  S. Sarsaparilla is a native of
 the United States; and  the medicine has  never, within our  knowledge, been
 collected in this country.   It is not among the  eleven species of Smilax de-
 scribed by Humboldt, Bonpland,  and Kunth, who indicate S. officinalis  S
 syphilitica, and S. Cumanensis, especially the first, as the probable sources of
 the drug  exported from Mexico and the Spanish  Main.   In the present state
 of our knowledge, it is impossible to decide with certainty from what species
 the several commercial varieties of the drug are respectively derived.  This much
 is certain, that they do not proceed from the same plant.  Of the many species
 belonging to this genus,  few possess any medicinal power; and Hancock states
 that of the six or eight which he found growing in the woods of Guiana only
 one presented in any degree the sensible properties of the genuine sarsaparilla
 the rest being insipid and inert.  The root (rhizoma) of Smilax China, a native
 of China and Japan, has been employed  under the name of China Root for
 similar purposes with the officinal sarsaparilla.  As it  occurs in commerce it is
 m pieces from three to eight inches long and an inch or two thick, usually some-
 what flattened, more or less knotty, often branched, of a brownish or grayish-
 brown colour externally, whitish or of a light flesh-colour internally, without
 odour, and of a taste  flat  at first, but afterwards very slightly bitterish and
 somewhat acrid, like that of sarsaparilla.   The root of Smilax aspera is said
 to be employed m  the south of  Europe as a substitute for sarsaparilla;  but it
 has little reputation.  The East India Sarsaparilla, which was at one time re-
 ferred to this species of Smilax, is  the product of Hemidesmus Indicus.  (See
 Hemidesmus.)  We shall briefly  describe S. Sarsaparilla, on  account of its
 former officinal rank, and afterwards such other species as are believed to yield
 any portion of the drug.   All  of  them are climbing  or trailing plants, with
 prickly stems; a character expressed in the name of the medicine, which is derived
 from two Spanish  words (zarza and parilla), signifying a small thorny vine.
  Smilax Sarsaparilla.  Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 776; Woodv. Med. Bot p. 161,
   n     mSvenJ °f thlS plant is lonS* slender> shrubby, angular, and beset with
 prickles,   lhe leaves are unarmed,  ovate-lanceolate  with about five nerves,
 somewhat glaucous beneath, and supported alternately upon footstalks, at the
bases of which are long tendrils.   The flowers usually stand, three or four
together, upon a common peduncle, which is longer than the leafstalk.   This
 species is indigenous, growing in swamps and hedges in the Middle and South-
ern States.
  S. officinalis^ Humb.  and Bonpl. Plant. jEqinoct i. 271.  In this species
the stem is twining, angular, smooth, and prickly; the young shoots are un-
armed; the leaves  ovate-oblong, acute, cordiform, five or seven-nerved, coria- 
PART I.
Sarsaparilla.
687
 ceous, smooth, twelve inches long and four or five broad, with footstalks an
 inch long, smooth, and furnished with tendrils.  The young leaves are lanceo-
 late-oblong, acuminate, and three-nerved.  According to Humboldt, the plant
 abounds on the river Magdalena, in New Granada, where it is called zarza-
 parilla by the natives.  Large quantities of  the root are sent down the river
 to Mompox and Carthagena.
    S. Syphilitica. Willd. Sjx Plant  iv.  780.  The stem is round and smooth;
 armed at the joints with from two to four thick, straight prickles; and furnished
 with  oblong-lanceolate,  acuminate, three-nerved,  coriaceous, shining  leaves,
 which are a foot in length, and terminate by a long point.   The plant was seen
 by Humboldt and Bonpland in New Granada, upon the banks of the river Cas-
 siquiare, and by Martius in Brazil, at  Yupura and near the Rio Negro.  It has
 been supposed to yield the Brazilian sarsaparilla.
    S. Papyracea. Poiret, Encyc. Meth. iv. 467.  This is  an under-shirub with
 a compressed stem, angular  below, and  furnished with  spines  at the  angles.
 Its leaves are elliptical, acuminate, and three-nerved.  It inhabits Cayenne and
 Brazil, chiefly upon the banks of the Amazon and its tributaries, and is thought
 to yield the variety of sarsaparilla denominated Brazilian.  (Am.  Journ. of
 Pharm., xv. 277.)  A particular description of a specimen of Smilax, supposed
 to belong to this species, is given by Professor Bentley in the London Pharm.
 Journ: and Trans, (x. 470).   It was obtained from  Guatemala, and was the
 source of a variety of commercial sarsaparilla, recently  introduced into the
 market, which Professor Bentley proposes to name  Guatemala sarsaparilla.
    S. medica. Schlechtendahl, in Linneea, vi. 47 ; Carson,  Illust. of Med. Bot
 ii. 51, pi.  95.   This species has an angular stem, armed with straight prickles
 at the joints, and a few hooked ones in the intervals.  The leaves are smooth,
 bright-green on both sides, shortly acuminate, five-nerved, with the veins promi-
 nent beneath.   They vary much in form, the lower being cordate, auriculate-
 hastate; the upper cordate-ovate. ... In the old leaves, the  petiole and midrib
 are armed with  straight subulate prickles.  The inflorescence is an umbel of
 from eight to twelve  flowers, with a smooth axillary peduncle, and pedicels
 about three lines long.   Schiede found this plant on  the  eastern declivity of
 the Mexican Andes, where the root is collected to be taken to Vera  Cruz.
   The medicinal species of Smilax grow in Mexico,  Guatemala, and the warm
 latitudes of South America.   The roots  are very long and slender,  and origi-
 nate in great numbers  from a common head or rhizoma, from which the stems
 of the plant rise.  The whole root with the rhizoma is usually dug up,  and as
 brought into market exhibits not unfrequently portions of  the stems attached,
 sometimes several inches in length.  The  sarsaparilla of commerce comes from
 different sources, and is divided into varieties according to  the place  of  collec-
 tion or shipment.
  Honduras Sarsaparilla is  the variety most  used in this country.   It is
 brought from the bay of Honduras, and comes in bundles two or three feet long,
 composed of several roots folded  lengthwise, and secured in a compact form by
 a few circular turns.  These are packed in bales imperfectly covered with skins,
 each bale containing one hundred pounds  or more.  The roots are usually con-
 nected at one extremity in large numbers in a common head, to which portions
 of the stems  are also attached.   In some bundles are many small fibres either
 lying loose, or still adhering to the roots.   The colour of the roots externally
 is a dirty grayish or reddish-brown; and  the cortical portion beneath the epi-
 dermis often appears amylaceous when broken.
  The Jamaica  or red sarsaparilla of foreign writers is little known by that
name in the United States.   The Island  of Jamaica is merely its channel of
exportation  to  Europe;  and it  is  probably derived originally from Central 
688
Sarsaparilla.
part i.
 America.  It does not materially differ  in  properties from Honduras sarsapa-
 rilla ; its chief peculiarity being the reddish colour of the epidermis, which is also
 sometimes found in that variety.  It is said also to yield a larger  proportion
 of extract, and to contain less starch.   As  found in commerce, it is in bundles
 twelve to eighteen inches long, by four or five in thickness, consisting of Ions
 slender roots folded up, with numerous radical fibres attached.
   Considerable quantities of the drug are imported from  the Mexican ports of
 Vera Cruz and Tampico.   The Vera Cruz  sarsaparilla  comes in large, rather
 loose bales, weighing about two hundred pounds, bound  with cords or leather
 thongs, and usually containing the roots folded upon themselves, and separately
 packed.   These,  as in the Honduras sarsaparilla, consist of a head or caudex
 with numerous  long radicles, which, however, are somewhat smaller than in
 that variety,  and  have a thinner bark.   They are often also much soiled with
 earth.  This variety was formerly little  esteemed; but,  from the  acrid taste
 which it possesses, it  is probably not inferior in real virtues to the other kinds.
 It is probably derived from Smilax medica.
   Another variety is the  Caracas sarsaparilla, brought in large quantities
 from La Guayra.  It  is in oblong  packages, of  about  one hundred pounds
 surrounded with broad strips of hide, which  are connected laterally with thongs
 of the same material, and leave much of the root  exposed.   The roots, as in
 the last variety, are separately packed, but more closely and with greater care.
 The radicles are often very amylaceous internally, in  this respect  resembling
 the following.
   The Brazilian, or, as it is sometimes called in Europe,  the Lisbon sarsapa-
 rilla, has been less used in the United States than in Europe, where  it has com-
 manded a higher price.  Within a few years, however, it has been imported in
 considerable quantities.  It comes from the ports of Para and  Maranham, in
 cylindrical bundles of from three to five feet in length, by about a foot in thick-
 ness, bound about by close circular turns of  a very flexible stem,  and consisting
 of unfolded roots, destitute of caudex (rhizoma) and stems, and  having few ra-
 dical fibres.  It is the variety of which Hancock  speaks as celebrated through-
 out South  America by the name of sarsa of the Rio  Negro, and is considered
 as the most valuable variety of the drug.   It is distinguished by the  amylaceous
 character of its interior structure,  and has considerable acrimony.   It was said
 by Martius to be derived from Smilax syphilitica;  but Dr. Hancock  considers
 that portion of it which conies from the Rio Negro, and is shipped  at Para, as
 the product of an undescribed species, certainly not S. syphilitica.  According
 to Richard, it has been ascertained to  be the product of the S. papyracea of
 Poiret.  (See Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xv.  277.)
   The variety described by Professor Bentley under the  name of  Guatemala
 sarsaparilla was collected in  the province of Sacatepeques, about ninety miles
 from the sea.  It is in cylindrical  bundles about two feet  eight inches long  by
 four inches in diameter, composed  of separate roots, arranged in  parallel order,
 without rootstalk, and bound  together by a few turns of the flexible stem of a
 monocotyledonous plant.   The bundles resemble the Brazilian in arrangement,
 but are much less compact.   It is  amylaceous, has  considerable  acrimony, and
 is probably one of the most efficient varieties.  Professor  Bentley ascribes it to
 S. papyracea,   For a particular description of the root,  the reader is referred
 to the Pharmaceutical Journal and  Transactions (xii. 472).
  Much  sarsaparilla has been imported into England from Lima, Valparaiso,
 and other places  on the Pacific coast of South  America.  It is described  by
Pereira as bearing a close resemblance to Jamaica sarsaparilla, but yielding a
smaller proportion of extract.  It is in bundles of  about three feet long and nine
inches thick, consisting of the roots folded with their heads or rhizomes attached 
PART I.
Sarsaparilla.
689
 The epidermis is brown or grayish-brown.  Sometimes roots  of a light  clay
 colour are found in the bundles.
    In a memoir read by Dr. Berthold Seeman before the London Linna?an So-
 ciety, the author stated that, after careful examination, he was convinced  that
 the commercial varieties of sarsaparilla called Brazilian, Jamaica, and Guate-
 mala sarsaparilla, are all the product of one species of Smilax, the S. officina-
 lis of Humboldt and Bonpland, and moreover, that the 8. medica of Schlech-
 tendahl, and the S. papyracea of Poiret, are identical with that species. (Pharm.
 Journ. and Trans., Feb.  1854, p. 385.)
    Properties.   The dried sarsaparilla  roots  are several  feet in length, about
 the thickness of a goose-quill, cylindrical, more or less wrinkled longitudinally,
 flexible, and composed of  a thick exterior cortical portion, covered with a  thin
 easily separable epidermis, of an inner layer of ligneous fibre,  and of a central
 pith.  The epidermis  is  of  various colours,  generally ash-coloured, grayish-
 brown, or reddish-brown, and sometimes very dark.   The cortical portion is in
 some specimens whitish, in others brown, and  not unfrequently of a pink or
 rosy  hue.   It is occasionally white, brittle, and almost powdery like starch.
 The woody part is usually very thin, and composed of longitudinal fibres, which
 allow the root to be split with  facility through its  whole length.   The central
 medulla often abounds in  starch.
    Sarsaparilla  in its ordinary state is nearly or quite inodorous,  but in decoc-
 tion acquires a decided and peculiar smell.  To the  taste it  is mucilaginous
 and  very slightly bitter, and, when chewed for some time,  produces a disagree-
 able acrid impression, which  remains long in the mouth and fauces.  The root
 is efficient in proportion as it possesses  this acrimony, which is said by some
 authors to be confined  to the cortical portion, while the ligneous fibre and me-
 dullary matter are insipid and inert.  Hancock avers that  all parts are equally
 acrid and efficacious.   The truth is probably between  the  two  extremes; and,
 as in  most medicinal roots, it must be admitted that the bark is more powerful
 than the interior portions, while these are not wholly inactive.   The  virtues of
 the root are communicated to water cold or hot, but are impaired by long boil-
 ing.  (See Decoctum Sarsaparillse.)  They are extracted  also by diluted alco-
 hol.   According to  Hancock, the whole  of the active  principle  is not extracted
 by water.  He observes  in his paper upon sarsaparilla, published in the London
 Medico-Botanical Transactions, when speaking of the sarsaparilla from Para
 and the Rio Negro,  "after exhausting half a pound of this sort by two diges-
 tions, boiling, and pressure, I added to the dregs half a pint of proof spirit,
 and digested this with a gentle heat for a few hours in a close vessel, then affus-
 ing hot water to the amount of  that taken off from the first boiling, and press-
 ing again, I procured  by  the last operation about four pints  of an infusion
 which possessed the  acrid properties of the sarsa in a  much higher degree even
 than that obtained by the first decoction  with simple water."   It appears that
 in South America it is the  custom to prepare sarsaparilla by  digestion in wine
 or spirit, or by infusion in water with additions which may produce the vinous
 fermentation, and thus add alcohol to the menstruum.   The same result, as to
 the superior efficacy  of alcohol as a solvent of the acrid principle of sarsapa-
 rilla, has been obtained by the  French  experimentalists.  (Soubeiran, Journ.
 de Pharm., xvi. 38.)
  According to   M.  Thubeuf, sarsaparilla  contains,  1. a peculiar crystalline
 substance, which  is  probably the active principle of the root,  2. a colouring
 substance, 3. resin, 4. starch, 5. lignin, 6.  a thick, aromatic,  fixed oil, 7. a waxy
substance, and 8.  chloride of potassium and nitrate of potassa.  It is said also
to  contain a minute proportion of volatile oil, and Batka found  gum, bassorin,
albumen, gluten  and gliadine,  lactic and  acetic  acids,  and various salts.  The
       44 
690
Sarsaparilla.
part i.
proportion of starch is large.   Chatin found iodine in Honduras sarsaparilla-
but Dr. Winckler, not having succeeded in detecting this principle  in any one
root, thinks it probable that the specimen examined  by Chatin had been ex-
posed to sea-water.  (Pharm. Cent Blatt, May 7, 1S52.)
   Sarsaparillin. (Smilacin. Pariglin. Salseparine. Parillinic acid.) The
crystalline principle in  which the virtues of sarsaparilla reside should be called
sarsaparillin.   It was  first discovered by Dr. Palotta, who described it in 1824
under the name of pariglin.   Subsequently, M. Folchi supposed that he had
found another principle which he called smilacin.  In  1831, M. Thubeuf an-
nounced the discovery of a new substance in sarsaparilla which he named salse-
parine, from the French name of the root. Finally, Batka, a German chemist,
towards the end of  1833, published an  account of a principle  which he had
discovered in the root, and which,  under the impression that it  possessed acid
properties, he called parillinic acid.   M. Poggiale, however, has shown that
these substances  are identical, though procured by different  processes.  The
following is the process of M.  Thubeuf.  The root is treated with hot alcohol
till deprived  of  taste.   The tincture is submitted to  distillation, and seven-
eighths of the alcohol drawn off.   The remainder is treated with animal char-
coal, and filtered at the  end of twenty-four or forty-eight hours.   The sarsapa-
rillin is deposited in the form of a granular  powder.   This is  dissolved in a
fresh portion of alcohol and  crystallized.   The alcoholic mother liquors may
be deprived of that  portion of the principle which they retain by evaporating
to dryness, dissolving the product in water, filtering, again  evaporating to dry-
ness,  redissolving  in alcohol, and  crystallizing.  Sarsaparillin is white, in-
odorous, almost  tasteless in the solid state, but bitter, acrid, and nauseous when
dissolved in alcohol or water.  It is  very slightly soluble in cold water, but
more readily  in boiling water, which deposits it on cooling.   It is very soluble
in alcohol, especially at a boiling temperature.  Ether and the volatile oils also
dissolve it.  Its aqueous solution has  the  property of frothing  very much by
agitation.  M. Beral states that he has procured it pure by distilling by means
of a salt-water bath, a tincture of sarsaparilla prepared with very  dilute alcohol.
In that case it must be  volatile, and we can understand why sarsaparilla suffers
in decoction.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 245, from Journ. de Chim. Med.)
The solutions of sarsaparillin are without  acid or  alkaline reaction.  Batka
erred in considering it an acid.  M. Poggiale found it both in the cortical and
medullary part of the root, but most  largely in the former.   Palotta gave it
internally in doses varying from two to thirteen grains, and found  it to pro-
duce nausea,  and to diminish  the force  of the circulation.   It is probably the
principle upon which sarsaparilla depends chiefly, if not exclusively, for its reme-
dial powers.  (Journ. de Pharm., xx.  553 and  679.)
   The sarsaparilla of the shops is apt to be nearly if not quite inert, either from
age, or from  having been obtained from inferior species of  Smilax.   This ine-
quality of the medicine, with the improper modes of preparing it  long in vogue,
has probably contributed to its variable reputation.  The only criterion of good
sarsaparilla to be  relied on is the taste.  If it leave a decidedly acrid impres-
sion in the mouth after having been chewed for a short time, it may be con-
sidered efficient; if otherwise, it is  probably inert.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses. Few medicines have undergone greater changes
of reputation. About the middle of the sixteenth century it was introduced into
Europe as a remedy for  the venereal complaint, in which it had been found very
useful in the  recent Spanish  settlements in the West Indies.  After a  time it
fell into  disrepute, and was little  employed till about a century ago, when it
was again brought into notice by Sir William Fordyce and others,  as a useful
adjuvant and corrigent  of mercury  in lues  venerea.  Since that period very dif- 
 part I.     Sassafras Medulla.—Sassafras Radicis Cortex.         691

 ferent opinions have been entertained of it.   Some, among  whom was  Dr.
 Cullen, considered it wholly inert; others, on the contrary, have had the most
 unbounded confidence in its powers.   The probable cause of much of this  dis-
 crepancy has been already mentioned.  Experience, both  among regular practi-
 tioners and empirics, would seem to  have placed its efficacy beyond reasonable
 doubt. Its most extensive and useful application is to the treatment of second-
 ary syphilis and syphiloid diseases, and that shattered state of the system which
 sometimes follows the imprudent use of mercury in these affections.  It is also
 employed, though with less obvious  benefit, in chronic rheumatism, scrofulous
 affections,  certain cutaneous diseases, and other depraved conditions of  health.
 Its mode of action is less evident than its ultimate effects.  It is said to increase
 the perspiration and urine; but, allowing it to possess this power,  the amount
 of effect is too trifling to explain its remedial  influence;  and the  diaphoretic
 and diuretic action which it appears  to evince have even been ascribed by some
 to the medicines with which it is generally associated, or the liquid in which it
 is exhibited.  In this ignorance of its precise modus operandi  we call it an al-
 terative, as those  medicines are named which change existing morbid actions,
 without obvious influence over any of the functions.
   Sarsaparilla may be given in powder, in the dose of half a drachm three or
 four  times a day.   The  medicine, however, is  more conveniently administered
 in the form of infusion, decoction, syrup, or extract.  (See the several officinal
 preparations in Part II.)  A beer, made by fermenting an infusion of the drug
 with molasses, is said to be a popular remedy in South America.*   The smoke
 of sarsaparilla has been highly recommended in asthma.  (Journ. de Pharm.
 et de  Chim., xviii.  221.)
   Off. Prep.   Decoctum Sarsaparilla?;  Decoctum Sarsaparilla? Compositum;
 Extractum Sarsaparilla?; Extractum Sarsaparilla? Fluidum; Infusum Sarsapa-
 rilla?; Syrupus Sarsa?;  Syrupus Sarsaparilla? Comp.                   W.


                SASSAFRAS  MEDULLA.  U. S.

                            Sassafras Pith.

   The pith of the stems of Sassafras officinale.  U. S.

           SASSAFRAS   RADICIS CORTEX.  U S.

                      Bark of Sassafras Root.

   The bark of the root of Sassafras officinale.  U.S.
   Off. Syn. SASSAFRAS. Sassafras officinale. The root. Lond.,  Ed  SAS-
 SAFRAS ROOT.  Sassafras officinale. The root. Dub.
   Sassafras, Fr.,  Germ.;  Sassafras, Sassafrasso, Ital.; Sasafras, Span.
  In the new distribution of the species composing the  genus  Laurus of Lin-
 naeus, the sassafras tree has been made the type of a distinct genus, denominated
 Sassafras, which has been admitted into the last edition of our Pharmacopoeia.

  * The following is a formula recommended by Hancock. "Take of Rio rJegro sarsa,
 bruised, 21b.; bark of guaiac, powdered, 8oz. ; raspings of guaiac wood, anise seeds,
 and liquorice root, each 4oz.; mezereon, bark of the root, 2oz.; treacle  [molasses] 21b. ;
 and a dozen bruised cloves ; pour upon these ingredients about four gallons of boiling
 water, and shake  the vessel thrice a day.  When fermentation has  well begun, it is
fit for use, and may be taken in the dose  of a small tumblerful twice or thrice a day."
This formula is worthy of attention; but the bark of guaiacum, which is not  kept in
the shops, might be omitted, or replaced  by the wood. 
692
Sassafras Radicis Cortex.
part I.
   Sassafras. Sex. Syst.  Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lanraeea*
   Gen.Ch. Dioecious.   Calyx  six-parted, membranous; segments eqnal,'per.
 manent at the base.   Males. Fertile stamens nine, in three rows, the three
 inner with double stalked distinct glands at the base. Anthers linear, four-celled
 all looking inwards.   Females, with as many sterile stamens as the males or
 fewer; the inner often confluent.  Fruit succulent, placed on the thick fleshy
 apex of the peduncle, and seated in the torn unchanged calyx. (Lindley.)
   Sassafras officinale.  Nees, Laurin. 488. — Laurus Sassafras.  Willd.  Sp
 Plant ii.  485; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot ii. 142;  Michaux, N Am. Sylv ii
 144.   This is an indigenous tree of middling  size, rising in favourable situa-
 tions from thirty to fifty feet,  with a trunk about a foot in  diameter.  In  the
 Southern States it is sometimes  larger, and in the  northern parts of New Eng-
 land is little more than a shrub.   The bark of  the stem and large  branches is
 rough, deeply furrowed, and grayish; that of the extreme branches or twigs is
 smooth and beautifully green.   The leaves, which are alternate, petiolate, and
 downy when young, vary much in their form and size  even upon the same'tree.
 Some are oval and entire, others have a lobe on one side; but the greater num-
 ber are three lobed.   Their mean length is four or five inches.  The flowers
 which are frequently dioecious, and appear before the leaves, are small, of a pale
 greenish-yellow color, and  disposed in  racemes which arise from the branches
 below the leaves, and have  linear bractes  at their base.  The corolla is divided
 into six oblong segments.   The male flowers have nine stamens; the herma-
 phrodite, which are on a different plant, have  only six, with a simple style.
 The fruit is an oval drupe,  about as large as a pea, of a deep-blue colour when
 ripe, and  supported on a red pedicel, enlarged at the  extremity into a cup  for
 its reception.
   The sassafras is common throughout the United States, and extends into
 Mexico.   It is said also to grow in Brazil and Cochin China; but the plants
 observed in these countries are  probably not of the same species.   In  the U.
 States the sassafras is found both in woods and  open places, and is  apt to
 spring up in the neighbourhood of cultivation,  and in neglected or abandoned
 fields.  In Pennsylvania and New York, it blooms in the beginning of May;
 but much  earlier at the south.  The fresh  flowers have a  slightly fragrant
 odour, and almost all parts of the plant  are more or  less aromatic.  The root
 is directed  by the British Pharmacopoeias ; the bark of the root, and the pith
 of the twigs or extreme branches, by that of the U. States.   The best time  for
collecting the pith is after the  occurrence of frost in autumn.  The root is
exported, and is the part chiefly used in  British pharmacy.   It consists of a
brownish-whhte wood, covered with a spongy bark divisible into layers. The
latter portion is by far the most active, and is usually kept separate  in our
shops.
   L Sassafras Pith.    This  is in slender cylindrical  pieces, very light  and
 spongy, with a mucilaginous  taste, and  in a slight degree the characteristic
 flavour of the sassafras.  It abounds in a gummy  matter, which it readily im-
parts to  water, forming a limpid mucilage, which,  though  ropy and  viscid,
has much  less tenacity than that of gum arabic, and will  not answer as a
 substitute in the suspension of insoluble substances.  It differs also from solu-
 tions of  ordinary gum, in  remaining limpid when added to alcohol.  This
 mucilage is much employed as a soothing  application in inflammation of  the
eyes; and forms an  agreeable and useful  drink in dysenteric, catarrhal, and
nephritic diseases.  It may be prepared  by adding a  drachm of the pith to a
pint of boiling water.
   2. Bark of Sassafras Root  As found in the shops, this is usually in small
irregular fragments, sometimes invested with a brownish epidermis, sometimes 
 part i.       Sassafras Radicis Cortex.—Scammonium.           693

 partially or wholly freed  from it, of a reddish or rusty cinnamon  hue, very
 brittle,  and presenting when freshly broken a lighter colour than that of the
 exposed surfaces.  Its "odour is highly fragrant, its taste sweetish and grate-
 fully aromatic.  These properties  are extracted by water and alcohol.  They
 reside in  a volatile oil,  which is  obtained by distillation. (See Oleum Sassa-
fras.)  According to Dr. Reinsch, the bark contains a heavy and light vola-
 tile  oil, camphorous matter, fatty matter, resin, wax, a peculiar  principle re-
 sembling  tannic acid called sassafrid, tannic acid, gum,  albumen, starch, red
 colouring matter,  lignin, and salts. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 159.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  The bark of sassafras root is stimulant, and
 perhaps diaphoretic; though its possession of any peculiar tendency to the
 skin, independently of its mere excitant property, is quite doubtful.  It is used
 almost exclusively as an adjuvant to other more efficient medicines, the flavour
 of which it improves, while it renders them more cordial to the stomach. The
 complaints for which it has been  particularly recommended are chronic rheu-
 matism, cutaneous eruptions,  and scorbutic and syphiloid affections.  As a  v
 remedy in lues venerea, in which it formerly had a high reputation,  it is now
 considered as in itself wholly inefficient.  It is most conveniently, administered
 in the form of infusion.   The oil may also be given.
   Off.  Prep,  of the Pith.  Infusum Sassafras Medulla?.
   Off. Prep, of the Bark of the Root, or of the  Root  Decoctum  Guaiaci; De-
 coctum Sarsaparilla? Compositum ; Extractum  Sarsaparilla?  Fluidum ; Oleum
 Sassafras.                                                         W.

            SCAMMONIUM.  U S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.

                              Scammony.

   The concrete juice of the root of Convolvulus Scammonia.  U S.  The gum-
 resin emitted from the root cut off.  Lond.  Gummy-resinous exudation from
 incisions into the root.  Ed., Dub.
   Scammonee, Fr.;  Scammonium, Germ.; Scamonea, Ital.; Escamonea, Span.
   Convolvulus.  Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Convolvu-
 lacea?.
   Gen. Ch.  Corolla campanulate.   Style one.  Stigmas two,  linear-cylin-
 drical, often revolute.   Ovary two-celled, four-seeded.   Capsule two-celled.
 (Lindley.)
   Convolvulus Scammonia.  Willd.  Sp. Plant i. 845; Woodv.  3Ied. Bot. p.
 213, t. 86 ;  Carson,  Illust. of Med. Bot ii. 14, pi. 62.   This species of Con-
 volvulus has a perennial, tapering root, from three to four feet long, from nine
 to twelve inches in circumference, branching  towards its  lower extremity,
covered with a light-gray bark, and containing a milky juice.  The  steins are
numerous, slender, and twining, extending sometimes fifteen or twenty feet upon
the ground, or on neighbouring  plants,  and furnished with smooth, bright-
green, arrow-shaped leaves, which stand alternately upon long footstalks. The
flowers  are placed in pairs, or three together upon  the peduncles, which are
round, axillary, solitary, and of nearly twice the length of the leaf.
   The plant is a native of Syria, Anatolia, and certain islands of the Archi-
pelago.   No part is medicinal except the root,  which, when  dried, was found
by Dr. Russel  to be a mild cathartic.   Scammony is  the concrete juice of the
fresh root, and is collected, according to Russel, in the following  manner.  In
the month of June, the earth is cleared away from about the root, the top of
which is cut off obliquely about two inches from the origin of the stems.  The
milky juice which exudes is collected in shells, or other convenient receptacle, 
694
Scammonium.
part i.
 placed at the  most depending part of the cut surface.   A few drachms only
 are collected from each root.   The juice from several plants is put into any
 convenient vessel, and concretes by time.  In this state it constitutes genuine
 scammony,  but is very seldom exported.   It is generally prepared for the
 market by admixture,  while it is yet soft, with the expressed juice of the stalks
 and leaves, with  wheat flour, chalk,  ashes, fine sand, &c. ; and it has been
 supposed that scammony sometimes consists  wholly or in great part of the
 expressed juice of the root, evaporated to  dryness by exposure to the sun, or
 by artificial heat.   The drug is  exported chiefly from Smyrna, though small
 quantities are said to  be sent  out of the country at Alexandretta, the&seaport
 of Aleppo.   Dr.  Pereira  was informed by a merchant who had  resided  in
 Smyrna, that it is brought upon camels in a soft state into that city, and after-
 wards adulterated by a set of individuals called scammony makers.  The adul-
 teration  appears to be conducted in conformity with a certain understood scale
 more or  less foreign matter being added according to the price.  The materials
 employed are chiefly chalk and some kind of flour or meal.   Very little com-
 paratively is exported perfectly pure.   We obtain scammony either directly
 from Smyrna, or indirectly through  some of the Mediterranean ports.*
   The name of Aleppo scammony was  formerly given to the better kinds of
 the drug, and of Smyrna scammony to those  of inferior quality; the distinc-
 tion having probably originated in some difference in the character of the scam-
 mony obtained at these two places.   But  no such difference now exists;  as
 scammony is brought from Smyrna of every degree of purity.  It has been cus-
 tomary in this country to designate the genuine  drug of  whatever quality  as
 Aleppo scammony;  while the name of  Smyrna scammony has been given to a
 spurious  article manufactured in the south of France, and to other factitious
 substitutes.   It is quite time that these terms should be altogether abandoned.
 We shall treat of the drug under the heads of genuine and factitious scammony.
   Genuine Scammony.  This is sent into commerce in drums or boxes, and is

   * An interesting account of the collection and preparation of scammony in Anatolia,
 m the vicinity of Smyrna, has been communicated by Mr. S. H. Maltass to the London
 Pharmaceutical Journ. and Trans, (xiii. 264). The juice is collected in the same man-
 ner as described by Russel in reference to Syria.  The product, however, of each plant
 is somewhat less.  In some districts, according to Maltass, ten plants produce only a
 drachm of scammony; in others the average from  each root is a drachm; and in a
 good soil  a plant four years old will yield  two  drachms.  The juice  received in the
 shells is mixed with another portion scraped from  the  cut surface of the root; and
 this mixture is the pure or lachryma scammony.  Only a small quantity of this is taken
 to Smyrna ; the greater part being adulterated by the peasants before it reaches the
 market.   Sometimes the juice  is worked up with a decoction  of the roots, in which
 case it is  black,  heavier than the preceding, and not so easily broken.  Sometimes
 they add  a calcareous earth, in a proportion varying from 10'to 150 per cent.  The
 kind thus prepared is usually kept for some time in Smyrna, and is apt to ferment, so
 as to become porous and lose its gloss. It is in irregular lumps, and is the kind usually
 sold m hondon as lachryma scammony.  Another kind sold in London in rough lumps,
 and probably under the same name, is prepared in the interior of the country by mix-
 ing the juice with wheat starch, ashes, earthy matters, gum arabic or tragacanth, and
 sometimes wax yolk of egg, pounded scammony roots and leaves, flour, or resin.  A
 kind  much used m Great Britain is prepared by the Jews in Smyrna, and is in the
 form of cakes as described in the text.  It is of two qualities.  The first quality is pre-
 pared hymixmg  skihp (which is an inferior kind of scammony prepared at Anjora,
and consists of 30 to 40 per cent, of juice and 60 to 70 of starch) with 60 per cent, of
inferior scammony from the neighbourhood of Smyrna; the second quality by mixing
skihp with about  30 per cent, of the latter kind,  and adding about 10 per cent, of gum
arabic  and black-lead.  The first quality contains usually about 50 per cent, of  resin,
the second  about 30 per cent.  For an account of several specimens of scammony sent
by Mr. Maltass from Smyrna, see a paper by Mr. Daniel Hanbury in the Pharm. Journ.
and Irans. xm. 268.—Note to the tenth edition. 
PART I.
Scammonium.
695
either in irregular lumps, in large solid masses of the shape of the containing
vessel into which it appears to have been introduced while yet soft, or in circu-
lar, flatfish or plano-convex cakes.   It seldom reaches us in an unmixed state.
Formerly small portions of pure scammony were occasionally to be  met with
in Europe, contained in the shells in which the juice was collected and dried.
This  variety, denominated scammony in shells, is now scarcely to be found.
The pure drug, as at present known in the shops of London, and occasionally
brought to this country, is called virgin scammony.   It is in irregular pieces,
often covered with a whitish-gray powder, friable and easily broken into small
fragments between the fingers, with a shining grayish-green fracture soon pass-
ing into greenish-black, and exhibiting  under the microscope minute air-cells,
and numerous gray semi-transparent splinters.*  It is easily pulverized, afford-
ing a pale ash-gray powder.  When rubbed with water it readily forms a milky
emulsion.  It has a rather strong, peculiar odour, compared to that of old cheese.
The taste is feeble at first, and afterwards somewhat acrid, but without bitter-
ness.   It gives no evidence, when the requisite tests are  applied, of the presence
of starch or carbonate of lime, leaves but a slight residue when burned, and
yields about 80 per cent, of its weight to ether.
   The form of scammony chiefly found in our markets is that in circular cakes.
These are sometimes flatfish on both sides, but generally somewhat convex on
one side and flat on the other, as if dried in  a saucer,  or other shallow vessel.
They are from four to  six inches in diameter, and from half an inch to an inch
and a half, or even two inches thick in the centre.  As found in the retail shops,
they  are often in fragments.  They are hard  and heavy, with a faintly shining
roughish fracture; and when  broken exhibit  in general a structure very finely
porous, sometimes almost compact, and in a very few instances cavernous.  Their
colour  externally is  a dark ash or dark  olive, or slate  colour approaching to
black;  internally somewhat lighter and  grayish, with  an occasional  tinge of
green or  yellow, but deepening  by exposure.   The small fragments are some-
times slightly translucent at the edges.  The mass, though hard, is pulverizable
without great difficulty, and affords a light-gray powder.   It imparts to water
with  which it is triturated a greenish milky appearance.  The smell is rather
disagreeable, and similar to that of the  pure drug.   The taste, very slight at
first, becomes feebly bitterish and acrid.   This kind of scammony is never quite
pure, and much of it is  considerably adulterated.  In some of the  cakes carbon-
ate of lime is the chief  impurity; in others the adulterating substance is pro-
bably meal, as evidences of the presence  of starch and lignin are  afforded;  and
in others again both these substances are found.   Christison discovered in the
chalky specimens a proportion of carbonate of lime varying from 15 to 38 per
cent.; in the amylaceous, from 13 to 42  per cent,  of impurity.   It was proba-
bly to the flat, dark-coloured, compact, difficultly pulverizable, and more impure
cakes that the name of Smyrna scammony was formerly given.   These have
been erroneously ascribed by some to the Periploca Secamone, a plant growing
in Egypt, f

  * According to Maltass, the purest scammony has a  reddish-black fracture, unless
it has been mixed with water in its preparation, in which case it is black and very
glossy. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiii. 266.)
  f Dr.  Pereira, in his work on  Materia Medica, describes the varieties of scammony
as they exist in the London market. As these have interest for the druggist, we intro-
duce a notice of them.
  1. Virgin Scammony.  Pure Scammony.  Lachryma Scammony. The description of this
corresponds with that of pure scammony given in the text.   In addition, the following-
particulars may be mentioned.   The whitish powder often found upon the surface ef-
fervesces with muriatic acid, and consists of  chalk, in which the lumps have probably
been rolled.  The sp. gr. of the masses is 1-210. In the same pieces it sometimes hap- 
696
Scammonium.
PART i.
   Scammony is  ranked among the gum-resins.   It is  partially dissolved by
water, much more largely by alcohol and ether, and almost entirely, when pure,
by boiling  diluted alcohol.  Its active ingredient is resin, which constitutes
from  80 to  90 per cent, of pure dry scammony.   The gum-resin has been ana-
lyzed by various chemists, but the results are somewhat uncertain; as the
character of the specimens examined is insufficiently determined by the terms
Aleppo and Smyrna scammony, employed to designate them.   Thus, Bouillon-
Lagrange and Vogel obtained, from  100  parts  of Aleppo scammony, 60 of
resin, 3 of  gum, 2 of extractive, and 35  of insoluble matter; from the same
quantity of Smyrna  scammony, 29 parts of resin, 8 of gum,  5 of extractive,
and 58 of vegetable remains and earthy  substances.  It is obvious that both
the specimens upon which they operated were very impure.   Marquart found
in pure scammony (scammony in shells) 81 -25 per cent, of resin, 3-00 of gum
with  salts, 0"75 of wax, 4-50 of extractive,  LT5 of starchy envelopes, bassorin,
and  gluten, L50 of albumen and lignin, 3*75 of ferruginous alumina, chalk,
and carbonate of magnesia, and 3-50 of sand.   Christison found  different spe-
cimens of pure scammony to contain, in 100 parts, from 7. 7 to 83 parts of resin,
from  6 to 8 of gum, from 3-2 to 5  of lignin and sand, and from T2 to 12-6 of
water, with occasionally a little starch, probably  derived accidentally  from the
root,  and not in sufficient quantity to cause a  cold decoction of the gum-resin
to give a blue colour with iodine.  Mr. Hanbury, of London, found in the
purest scammony in shells  91*1 per cent,  of resin; and Mr. B. W.  Bull, of New
York, 86-88 per cent, in a  specimen in irregular lumps,  received from Constan-
tinople as Aleppo Scammony.  (N. Y.  Journ. of  Pharm., June,  1852.)   For
the character of the resin, see Extractum sive Resina Scammonii. As already

pens that certain portions are shining and black, while others are dull-grayish. Virgin
scammony readily takes fire, and burns with a yellowish flame. This variety is now
much more  abundant in the  shops of London than formerly.
   2.  Scammony of second quality.  This is called seconds in commerce.  It is in two forms.
1. In irregular pieces.  This, in external appearance, brittleness, odour, and taste, resem-
bles virgin scammony; but is distinguished by its  greater sp. gr., which is 1 463, by its
dull, very slightly shining fracture, and its grayish colour. The freshly broken surface
effervesces with muriatic acid, but the cold decoction does not give a blue colour with
iodine.   It therefore contains chalk, but not  fecula.   2.  In large regular masses.  This
has the form of the drum or box in which  it was imported, and into which it was pro-
bably introduced while soft.   It has a dull grayish fracture, and the sp. gr.  1-359.  It
exhibits, with the appropriate tests, evidence of the presence both of chalk and fecula.
It is sometimes found of a soft or cheesy consistence.
   3. Scammony of third quality.  This is called thirds in commerce.  It is in circular flat
cakes, about five inches in diameter and one  inch  thick. The cakes are dense, heavy,
and  more difficult to break than the preceding varieties.  The fracture is sometimes
resinous and shining, sometimes- dull, and exhibits air cavities, and numerous white
specks, which consist of chalk.   The colour is grayish or grayish-black.  The sp. gr.
varies from  1-276 to 1-543.   Both chalk and flour are detected by tests.   In five dif-
ferent cakes, the quantity of chalk employed in  the  adulteration was stated by the
importer to  be, in 100 parts of the cakes respectively, 13-07, 23-1, 25-0, 31-05,  and 37*54,
numbers which correspond very closely, in the two extremes, with the results obtained
by Christison.  This is the variety of scammony referred to in the text as the  one chiefly
used  in the  United States.
   A valuable paper by Dr. Carson, on the varieties of scammony imported into this
country, was published in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. (xx. i.), to which the reader i*
referred.  Besides the kinds described in  the text, namely the virgin scammony, and
those which are adulterated with chalk  or meal or  both,  Dr. Carson describes two,
under the names of gummy and black gummy scammony, in which the chief adulteration
appears to be tragacanth, or some analogous substance, which is associated in the dark
variety with bone-black.  They afforded from 6 to 13  per cent, of resin.  They are in
circular cakes, hard, compact, of difficult pulverization, and viscid when moistened.—
 Note to the eighth edition. 
PART I.
Scammonium.
697
 stated, scammony is seldom or never quite pure as found in our shops.  Much
 of it contains not more than 50 per cent, of the resin, some not more than 42
 per cent., and the worst varieties as little as 10 per cent., or even less.*  Some-
 times the cakes are of good quality on the outside, and inferior within. (Bull,
 N.  Y. Journ. of Pharm., i. 7.)   It has been suggested, in this uncertainty as
 to the strength of the scammony of the shops, whether it might not be best to
 abandon its internal  use altogether, and to substitute its resin, which is of
 uniform strength.
    The Edinburgh College gives the following signs of pure scammony, -'Frac-
 ture glistening, almost resinous,  if the specimen  be old and dry; muriatic acid
 does not cause effervescence on its  surface; the decoction of its powder, filtered
 and cooled, is not rendered blue by tincture of  iodine.   Sulphuric  ether sepa-
 rates at least eighty per cent, of resin dried at 280°." Effervescence with muri-
 atic acid indicates the presence of chalk, a blue colour with iodine that of starch
 in the form of  flour.
    Factitious Scammony. 3Iontpellier Scammony.  Much spurious scammony
 is manufactured in the  south of  France, said to be made from  the expressed
 juice of Cynanchum Monspeliacum, incorporated with various resins, and other
 purgative substances, f   It  has been occasionally imported into the United
 States, and sold as Smyrna scammony.   It is usually in flat semicircular cakes,
 four or five inches in diameter, and six or eight  lines thick, blackish both ex-
 ternally and within, very hard, compact, rather heavy, of a somewhat  shining
 and  resinous fracture, a  feeble balsamic odour  wholly different from  that of
 genuine scammony, and a very bitter nauseous taste.   When rubbed with the
 moistened finger it becomes dark-gray, unctuous, and tenacious.  We have seen
 another substance  sold as Smyrna scammony,  which was  obviously spurious,
 consisting  of blackish, circular, flat  cakes, or fragments of such cakes, rather
 more than half an inch thick, very light, penetrated with small holes as if worm
 eaten, and when broken exhibiting an irregular,  cellular, spongy texture.  Dr.
 Pereira described a factitious substance sold as Smyrna scammony, which was
 in circular flat cakes about half an inch thick, blackish, and of a slaty aspect,
 breaking with difficulty,  of  a  dull black  fracture, and  of  the sp.  gr.  1-412.
 Moistened and rubbed it had the smell of guaiac, which could also be detected
 by chemical tests.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses. Scammony is an energetic cathartic, apt to
 occasion griping, and  sometimes  operating with  harshness.   It was known to
 the ancient Greek physicians, and  was much  employed  by the Arabians, who
 not only gave it as a purgative, but also applied it externally for the cure of
 various cutaneous diseases.  It may be used in all cases  of torpid bowels, when
 a  powerful impression  is desired; but on account of  its occasional  violence is

   * The following table  is given by Dr. Christison as the result of his examination of
 different specimens of impure commercial scanimony.
                       Calcareous.       Amylaceous.  Calcareo-amylaceous.
   Resin,             64-6  56-6  43-3     37-0   62-0          42-4
   Gum,               6-8   5-0   8-2      9-0    7-2           7-8
   Chalk,            17-6  25-0  31-6      —    —          18-6
   Fecula,              —   1-4  4-0      20-0   10-4          13-2
   Lignin and sand,     5-2   7-1    7-8      22-2   13-4           9-4
   Water,              6-4   5-2   6-4      12-0    7-5          10-4

                    100-6 100-3 101-3     100-2 100-5         10D8
  t This statement as to  the employment of Cynanchum Monspeliacum is made on the
authority of Guibourt.   M.  Thorel, a pharmaceutist of Avallon, denies that this plant
is employed in its preparation. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 107.) 
698
Scammonium.—Scilla.
part I.
 seldom administered, except in combination with other cathartics, the action of
 which it promotes, while its own harshness is mitigated.   It should be given
 in emulsion with mucilage, sugar, almonds, liquorice, or other demulcent • and
 its disposition to gripe may be counteracted by the addition  of an aromatic
 The dose is from five to fifteen grains of pure scammony,  from ten to thirty of
 that commonly found in the market.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio  Scammonii;  Extractum Colocynthidis Compositum •
 Extractum sive Resina Scammonii; Pilula? Colocynthidis Comp.; Pulvis Scam-
 monii Comp.                                                        vy


                  SCILLA.  U. S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.

                                  Squill.

   The bulb of Scilla maritima. U.S.  Urginea Scilla. Recent bulb. Bond. The
 bulb. Dub.  Bulb of Squilla maritima.  Ed.
   Scille, Fr.; Meerzwiebel, Germ.; Scilla, Ital.; Cebolla albarrana, Span.
   Scilla. Sex. Syst  Hexandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Liliacea?.
   Gen.  Ch.   Corolla six-petaled, spreading, deciduous.  Filaments thread-like.
 Willd.
   Scilla maritima. Willd. Sp Plant ii. 125; Woodv. Med. Bot p. 745, t. 255.
 —Squilla maritima.  Steinheil- Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 591; Carson, Illust. of
 Med. Bot.  ii.  46, pi. 89. , This is a perennial plant, with fibrous roots proceed-
 ing  from the bottom of a large bulb, which sends forth  several  long,  lanceolate,
 pointed, somewhat undulated, shining, deep-green leaves.   From  the midst of
 the  leaves a round, smooth, succulent flower-stem rises, from one to three feet
 high, terminating in a long, close spike of whitish flowers.   These are destitute
 of calyx, and  stand on purplish peduncles, at the base of each of  which is a
 linear, twisted, deciduous floral leaf.
   The squill grows on  the sea-coast of Spain, France, Italy,  Greece, and  the
 other countries bordering on the Mediterranean.   The  bulb is the officinal por-
 tion.  It is generally dried for use; but is sometimes imported into this country
 in the recent state packed in sand.
   Properties.   The fresh bulb is pear-shaped, usually larger than a  man's fist,
 sometimes  as large as the head of a child, and consists of  fleshy scales attenu-
 ated at their  edges, closely applied over each other, and  invested by exterior
 scales so thin and dry as to appear to constitute a  membranous coat.   There
 are two varieties, distinguished as the red and white squill.   In the former,
 the exterior coating is of a deep reddish-brown colour, and  the inner scales have
 a whitish rosy or very light pink epidermis, with a yellowish-white parenchyma;
 in the latter, the whole bulb is white.   They do  not differ in medicinal virtue.
 The bulb abounds in a viscid, very acrid juice, which causes it. to inflame and
 even excoriate the skin  when much handled.  By drying, this acrimony is very
 much diminished, with little loss of medicinal power.   The bulb loses  about
 four-fifths of its weight in  the process.   Vogel found 100  parts of fresh squill
 to be reduced to 18 by desiccation.  The process is somewhat  difficult, in con-
 sequence of the abundance and viscidity of the juice.  The  bulb is cut into thin
 transverse slices, and the pieces dried separately by artificial or solar heat.  The
 outer and central scales are rejected, the  former being dry and destitute of ac-
tivity^  the  latter too fleshy and mucilaginous.    The London College gives
directions for the slicing and drying of the recent bulb.
   Dried  squill, as found in our shops, is  in irregular oblong pieces, often more
 or less contorted, of a dull yellowish-white colour with a  reddish or rosy tint,
sometimes entirely white, slightly diaphanous, brittle and pulverizable when per- 
PART I.
Scilla.
699
fectly dry, but often flexible from the presence of moisture, for which they have
a great affinity.   Occasionally a parcel will be found consisting of vertical slices,
some of which adhere together at the base.  The odour is very feeble, the taste
bitter, nauseous, and acrid.
   The virtues of squill are extracted by water, alcohol, and vinegar.   It was
analyzed by Vogel; and, more recently (A. D. 1856) by M. J. H. Marais, who
found in 100 parts, 30 of mucilage,  15 of sugar,  8  of tannin, 10 of a red, acid
colouring matter,  2 of a yellow, acid, odorous colouring matter, 1 of fatty mat-   >
ter, 1 of scillitin, 5 of  salts, and traces of iodine. (Journ. de Pharm. et de
 Chim., Fev. 1857, p. 12*7.)   Examined by the microscope, the bulb is seen to
be pervaded by innumerable minute acicular crystals, consisting of the salts of
squill, chiefly, according  to  M. Marais,  of carbonate of lime, with a little
chloride of calcium.  (Ibid.)  Water distilled from it had neither taste nor
smell, and was drunk by Vogel to the amount  of six ounces without effect.
 The acrid principle,  therefore, is not volatile.   The substance named scillitin
by Vogel was soluble in  water, alcohol, and vinegar; but was considered by M.
Tilloy, of Dijon, to be a compound of the proper  active principle of squill with
 gum and uncrystallizable sugar.   The scillitin,  obtained by the latter  experi-
menter, was insoluble in water and dilute acids, soluble in alcohol, exceedingly
acrid and bitter, and very powerful in its influence on the  system.   A single
grain produced the death of a strong dog.  The process of Tilloy may be seen
in former editions of this work.   The scillitin obtained by him was still  im-
pure.   Labourdais believed that he had obtained it in an isolated state by means
of animal charcoal.  A decoction of squill was first treated with acetate of lead
to separate the viscid matters, was then  filtered and agitated in the cold with
purified animal charcoal in fine powder,  and afterwards allowed to rest.  The
charcoal gradually subsided, carrying with it the bitter  and colouring  princi-
ples.  The liquid being decanted, the solid matter was dried, and treated with
hot alcohol, which acquired  an  insupportable bitterness.    The  alcohol being
distilled off, left a milky liquid, which was allowed to evaporate spontaneously.
The scillitin  thus procured was solid, uncrystallized,  easily decomposable by
heat, almost caustic to the taste, not deliquescent, neuter, but slightly soluble
in water, to which, however, it imparted a very great bitterness, very soluble in
alcohol,  and dissolved, but at the  same time decomposed by concentrated sul-
phuric and nitric acids, imparting to  the former a purple colour, instantly be-
coming black. (Ann. de  Therap., 1849, p. 145.)   L. F. Bley succeeded in ob-
taining  scillitin, by the  process of Labourdais, in  long flexible needle-shaped
crystals,  by simply allowing the last alcoholic  solution  to  evaporate sponta-
neously.   (Arch, der Pharm., lxi. 141.)   Landerer obtained a crystalline prin-
ciple from fresh squill, by treating  the bruised bulb with dilute sulphuric acid,
concentrating  the  solution, neutralizing  it with  lime,  drying the precipitate,
exhausting this with  alcohol,  and evaporating the tincture, which, on cooling,
deposited the substance in question in prismatic crystals.  It was bitter, but not
acrid, insoluble in water or the volatile oils, slightly soluble in alcohol, and, ac-
cording to Landerer,  capable of neutralizing the acids.  (Christison's Dispen-
satory.)   Wittstein inferred from his experiments that the bitterness and acri-
mony of squill reside in distinct principles. (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,
x. 359.)   By a more recent analysis, Tilloy was induced to believe that there
were two active principles in squill; one  a resinoid substance very acrid and
poisonous, soluble  in  alcohol and not in ether, the other a very bitter principle,
yellow, and  soluble in water and alcohol.   The  acrid  principle, in the close of
about three-quarters of a grain, killed a  dog.   The bitter  principle  is much
less powerful.   Both are  contained  in the matters extracted from  squill by
means of animal charcoal. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xxiii. 410.) 
700
Scilla.
part I.
   M. Marais obtained results somewhat different from those of his predecessors
 The  scillitin procured by him is uncrystallizable, hygrometric but not deli'
 quescent, insoluble in water, and very soluble in alcohol and ether, even cold
 It is in minute semitransparent spangles, of a  pale  yellow colour, and of an
 intense pungent bitterness, which is increased by the presence of water.  Sid-
 phuric acid dissolves it, producing a colour precisely similar to that which the
 same acid causes with cod-liver  oil.   Nitric acid also dissolves  it, causing a
 bright red colour, which rapidly disappears.   Muriatic acid has no effect on it.
 The  hydrated alkalies disengage ammonia, showing  that it contains nitrogen
 Ammonia and potassa do not dissolve it, but remove its bitterness.   Tannic
 acid  gives with it a pale yellow precipitate.   It  approaches the alkaloids in
 character; as it has an alkaline reaction, combines with acetic acid, and con-
 tains nitrogen.   In its effects on the system, it  resembles the acrid narcotics
 proving fatal in  the  dose of  three-quarters of a grain.   It first vomits and
 purges violently, then acts as  a narcotic, and finally paralyzes the heart.   In
 fatal doses it occasions violent inflammation of the alimentary canal.  Applied
 endermically, it acts much more rapidly than  by the mouth, and now almost
 exclusively as a narcotic.  A vigorous  dog was killed in  twenty-two minutes
 by six-tenths of a grain applied in this  way.   M. Marais obtains it by making
 a concentrated tincture of dry squill with  alcohol  of 0*56, precipitating with
 milk  of lime, shaking the whole with ether, decanting  the  supernatant liquid,
 washing the magma with  a fresh portion of ether till wholly deprived of bit-
 terness, uniting the liquors, and distilling until there remains in the retort only
 alcohol with the scillitin and a little fatty matter.   This is  then evaporated as
 quickly as possible with a gentle heat, and the residue treated with alcohol of
 0-90,_ which dissolves the scillitin, and leaves the fatty matter.  The  alcoholic
 solution, evaporated to dryness, yields the scillitin, which is to be immediately
 enclosed in a well stopped bottle.  (Ibid. xxi. 128, Fev. 1857.)
   When kept in a dry place, squill retains its virtues for a long time; but if
 exposed to'moisture it soon becomes mouldy.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Squill is expectorant, diuretic, and in large
 doses emetic and purgative.   In over-doses it has been known to occasion hy-
 percatharsis, strangury, bloody urine, and  fatal inflammation of  the stomach
 and bowels.   The Greek physicians employed it as a medicine; and it has re-
 tained to  the present period a  deserved popularity.   As an expectorant, it is
 used both in cases of deficient  and of superabundant secretion  from the bron-
 chial  mucous membrane; in the former  case usually combined with tartar eme-
 tic or ipecacuanha, in the  latter frequently with the stimulant expectorants.
 In both instances, it operates by stimulating the vessels of the lungs; and, where
 the inflammatory action  in  this organ  is considerable, as  in pneumonia and
 severe catarrh, the use of squill should be preceded by depletory measures.  In
 dropsical diseases it is very much employed, especially in connexion with calo-
 mel, which is supposed to  excite absorption, while the squill increases the secre-
tory action of the kidneys.   It is thought to succeed best, in these complaints,
 in the absence of general inflammatory excitement.   On account of its great
 uncertainty and occasional harshness, it is very seldom prescribed as an emetic,
 except in infantile croup or catarrh, in which it is usually given in the form of
syrup or oxymel.   When given in substance, it  is most conveniently adminis-
tered  in the form of pill.   The dose, as a diuretic or expectorant, is one or two
grains repeated two or three times a day, and gradually increased till it pro-
duces slight nausea, or evinces its action upon the kidneys or lungs.  From six
to twelve  grains will generally vomit.  The vinegar and syrup of squill are
officinal, and much used.   An  acetic extract has been  prepared by Mr.  F. D.
Niblett, by digesting a pound of squill with three fluidounces of acetic acid and 
 part I.                  Scilla.—Scoparius.                       701

 a pint of distilled water, with a gentle heat, for forty-eight hours, then express-
 ing, and, without filtration, evaporating to a proper consistence.   One grain is
 equal to about three of the powder. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xii. 133.)
   Off. Prep. Acetum Scilla?; Pilula? Digitalis et Scilla?; Pil. Ipecacuanha? cum
 Scilla;  Pil. Scillae Comp.; Syrupus Scilla? Comp.; Tinctura Scilla?.      W.

              SCOPARIUS. U.S.  Secondary, Lond.

                                Broom.

   The fresh tops of Cytisus Scoparius. U S.  Cytisus Scoparius.  Recent and
 dried top. Bond,
   Off. Sign.  SCOPARIUM.  Tops of Cytisus Scoparius.  Ed, Dub.
   Genet a balais, Fr.; Gemeine Besenginster, Germ.;  Scoparia, Ital.; Retama, Span.
   Cytisus.  Sex. Syst  Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabacea? or Legu-
 minosse.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx bilabiate, upper lip generally entire, lower somewhat three-
 toothed.  Vexillum ovate, broad.  Carina  very obtuse, enclosing the stamens
 and pistils. Stamens monadelphous. Legume piano-compressed, many-seeded,
 not glandular. (De Cand.)
   Cytisus Scoparius.  De Cand.  Prodrom. ii. 154.—Spartium Scoparium.
 Willd.  Sp. Plant, iii. 933; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 413, t. 150.  This is a common
 European shrub, cultivated in our gardens, from three to eight feet high, with
 numerous straight,  pentangular, bright-green, very flexible branches, and small,
 oblong, downy leaves, which are usually ternate, but on the upper part of the
 plant are sometimes simple.  The flowers  are numerous, papilionaceous, large,
 showy, of a golden-yellow colour, and supported solitarily upon short axillary
 peduncles.   The seeds are contained in a compressed legume,  which is hairy
 at the sutures.
   The whole plant has a bitter nauseous  taste, and, when bruised, a strong
 peculiar odour.   The tops of the branches are the officinal portion ; but the
 seeds are also used, and, while they possess similar virtues, have the advantage
 of keeping better.  Water and alcohol extract their active properties.   Accord-
 ing to  Cadet  de Gassicourt, the flowers contain volatile oil, fatty matter, wax,
 chlorophylle, yellow colouring matter, tannin, a  sweet substance,  mucilage,
 osmazome, albumen and lignin.  Dr. Stenhouse has separated from them two
 principles, one of which called scoparin he believes to be the diuretic principle,
 and  the other, named spartein, to be narcotic.  The former is in stellate
 crystals, easily dissolved  by boiling water and alcohol, and is  obtained by
 purifying a yellow gelatinous substance deposited upon the evaporation of the
 decoction.  It may  be given in the dose of four  or  five  grains.  The  latter
 was obtained by  distillation from the mother waters of the scoparin.   It is a
 colourless liquid, having  a peculiar bitter  taste, and all  the properties of a
 volatile organic base.  It appears to have narcotic properties.  But we need
 more definite  information on the subject.  (Ann. de Therap., 1853, p.  153.)
  Medical Properties and Uses. Broom is  diuretic and cathartic, and in large
 doses emetic,  and has been employed with great advantage in dropsical com-
 plaints,  in which it  was  recommended by Mead, Cullen, and others.  Cullen
 prescribed it in the form of decoction, made by boiling half an ounce of  the
fresh tops in a pint of water down to half a pint, of which he gave a fluidounce
every hour till it  operated by stool or urine.  It is a domestic remedy in Great
Britain, but is seldom used in this country.  The seeds may be given in powder,
in the dose of ten or fifteen grains.
  Off. Prep.  Decoctum Scoparii; Decoctum Scoparii Compositum.     W. 
702
Senega.
PART I.
                SENEGA.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.

                                Seneka.

  The root of Polygala Senega.  U S., Bond., Ed., Dub.
  Poly gale de Virginie, Fr.; Klapperschlangenwurzel, Germ.;, Poligala Virginiana, Ital.
  Polygala.  Sex. Syst Diadelphia Octandria.—Nat. Ord.  Polygalaeea\
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-leaved, with two leaflets wing-shaped, and coloured.
Legume obcordate, two-celled.  Willd.
  Besides P. Senega,  two other  species have  attracted some attention in
Europe—P. amara  and P. vulgaris—as remedies in  chronic pectoral affec-
tions; but as they  are not natives of this country, and  are never used by prac-
titioners here, they do not merit particular notice.
  Polygala  Senega.  Willd.   Sp. Plant, iii.  894; Bigelow, Am, 3Ied. Bot. ii.
97; Barton, Med. 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 occasionally
tinged with  red or purple below, 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 and white, and form 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, and two-celled, with 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 western
sections, where the root is collected 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 project-
ing keel-like line,  extending  along  its whole length.   The epidermis is corru-
gated, 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 some-
what 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. Que-
venne.  The senegin of Gehlen, though supposed at one time to be the active
 principle, has been ascertained to be a complex substance, and to have no just
claim to the rank assigned to it.   From a comparison of the results obtained
 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, insoluble
 or nearly so in  water, but soluble in ether and alcohol; 3.  a volatile principle
 considered by some as an essential oil, but thought by  Quevenne to  possess acid 
PART I.
Senega.
703
 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 po-
 tassium, alumina, magnesia, silica, and iron.   The virtues of seneka appear  to
 reside chiefly, if not  exclusively, in  the  active 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 pro-
 duction of a white precipitate, consisting chiefly of polygalic acid.  The liquid
 is allowed to stand for several days, that the precipitate 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.   ETpon 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  pro-
 portions pi boiling absolute alcohol, which deposits most of it on cooling, quite
 insoluble in ether and in the fixed and volatile oils, and possessed of the proper-
 ties of reddening litmus and neutralizing the alkalies.  Its constituents are
 carbon, hydrogen,  and oxygen.   M  Quevenne found it, when given to dogs,
 to occasion vomiting 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 secretion, and explaining in  part the beneficial influence  of seneka  in
 croup. (Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 449, and xxiii. 227.)  M. Bolley confirms the
 opinion of Quevenne as to the strong analogy between polygalic acid or sene-
 gin and saponin,  if not their absolute identity.  He represents  the composi-
 tion of senegin by the formula C36H24O30.  (See Am, Journ. of Pharm., xxvii.
 45.)
   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 aqueous extract, the infusion
 should be prepared on the principle of displacement; as it is thus most concen-
 trated, 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.
  The roots of 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 Gil-
 lenia trifoliata.  This would  be  readily distinguished by its colour and shape
 (see Gillenia), and by its bitter,taste without acrimony.   One of the most cha-
racteristic marks of seneka is the projecting line running the whole length  of 
704
Senega.—Senna.
PART i.
 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.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Seneka is a stimulating expectorant and diu-
 retic, and in large doses emetic and cathartic.   It appears indeed to excite more
 or less all the secretions, proving occasionally diaphoretic andemmenago"ue and
 increasing the flow of saliva.  Its action, however, is 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  acute inflammatory action, or in which the  inflammation has been in great
 measure subdued.   It is peculiarly useful in chronic catarrhal affections, the
 secondary stages of croup, and in peripneumonia 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.  Em-
 ployed  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 recom-
 mended in  amenorrhcea.
   The dose of powdered seneka is from ten to twenty grains; but the medicine
 is more frequently administered in decoction.  (See Decoctum Senegas.)  There
 is an  officinal syrup.   An extract is prepared by macerating sixteen ounces of
 coarsely powdered senega, for two days, in three pints of a liquid consisting of
 one measure of alcohol and two  of water; then putting the mixture into a
 percolator, and pouring upon it a similar fluid until six pints of filtered liquor
 are obtained; and, lastly, evaporating by means of  a  water-bath to the con-
 sistence of an extract.   The dose is from one to  three grains. (Am. Journ. of
 Pharm., xiv:  287.)  A tincture may also be prepared, but is not much em-
 ployed.  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. Prep.  Decoctum Senega?; Electuarium Opii;  Infusum Senega?; Syrupus
 Scilla? Compositus;  Syrupus Senega?.                                W.


                        SENNA.  U.S.,Dub.

                                 Senna.

   The leaflets of Cassia acutifolia (Delile), Cassia obovata (De Candolle), and
 Cassia elongate (Lemaire). U.S.   Cassia acutifolia.  Alexandrian Senna, The
 leaves.  Cassia elongate. Tiunevelly senna.  The leaves.  Dub.
   Off. Syn.  SENNA ALEXANDRINA. Lond., Ed.  Cassia acutifolia and
 C. obovata.  The  leaf.  Lond.  Leaves of various species of Cassia,  probably
 of C.  lanceolata, C. acutifolia, and C. obovata. Ed.  SENNA INDICA. Bond.,
 Ed.  Cassia acutifolia ?  The leaf.  Lond.  Leaves of Cassia elongate.  Ed.
   Sene,  Fr.; Sennesblatter, Germ.; Senna,  Ital., Port.; Sen, Span.
   Cassia.   See CASSIA FISTULA.
   The plants which yield senna belong to the genus Cassia, of which several
 species  contribute  to furnish the drug.  These were confounded together by
 Lmnams in a single species, which  he named Cassia Senna.  Since his time the
 subject has been more thoroughly investigated, especially by Delile, who accom-
panied the French  expedition to Egypt, and had an opportunity of examining
the plant in its native country.  Botanists at present distinguish at least three
species,  C. acutifolia, C. obovata, and C. elongate, as the sources of commercial 
 part I.                          Senna.                             705

 senna; and it is probable that two others, C. lanceolata of Forskhal and C.
 JUthiopica of Guibourt, contribute towards it.   The first three are recognised
 by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
    1.  Cassia acutifolia. Delile, Flore d'Egypte, lxxv. tab. 27, f. 1— C. lanceo-
 lata.  De Candolle;  Carson, Illust.  of 3Ied. Bot i. 34, pi.  27.   This is de-
 scribed as a small undershrub, tw*o or three feet high, with a straight, woody,
 branching, whitish stem; but, according to Landerer, the senna plant attains
 the height of eight or ten feet in the African deserts, and affords the natives
 shelter from the sun.  (See  Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 174.)   The leaves
 are alternate and  pinnate, with glandless footstalks, and two small narrow
 pointed stipules at the base.   The leaflets, of which from four to six pairs be-
 long to each leaf, are almost sessile, oval-lanceolate, a'cute, oblique at their base,
 nerved, from half  an inch to an inch long, and  of a yellowish-green colour.
 The flowers  are yellow, and in  axillary spikes.   The fruit is a flat, elliptical,
 obtuse, membranous, smooth,  grayish-brown, bivalvular  legume, about an inch
 long  and half an inch broad,  scarcely if at all curved, and divided into six or
 seven cells, each containing  a hard, heart-shaped, ash-coloured seed.  C. acuti-
 folia  grows  wild in great  abundance in Upper  Egypt, Nubia, Sennaar, and
 probably other parts of Africa  having similar qualities of soil and  climate.
 This species furnishes the greater part of that variety of senna, known in com-
 merce by the title of Alexandria senna.
    2.  Cassia obovata. Colladon, 3Ionographie des Casses; De Cand. Prodrom.
 ii. 492;  Carson, Illust of 3Ied, Bot. i. 35, pi. 28.  The stem of this species is
 rather shorter than that of  C. acutifolia, rising to the  height of  only a foot
 and a half.   The leaves have from five to seven pairs of leaflets, which  are obo-
 vate, very obtuse, sometimes mucronate, in other  respects similar to  those of
 the preceding species.   The flowers are in axillary spikes, of which the pe-
 duncles are longer than the leaves of the plant.   The legumes are very much
 compressed, curved almost into the kidney form,  of a greenish-brown colour,
 and covered with a very short down, which is perceptible only by the aid of a
 magnifying  glass.   They contain from eight to ten seeds.  The C. obtusata
 of Hayne, with obovate, truncated, emarginate leaflets, is probably a mere va-
 riety of this species.   The plant, which according to Merat is annual, grows
 wild in Syria, Egypt, and Senegambia; and is said to have been cultivated suc-
 cessfully in Italy, Spain, and the West Indies.  It yields the variety of senna
 called  in Europe Aleppo senna, and contributes to the Alexandrian.
   3.  Cassia  elongata  Lemaire,  Journ. de Pharm. vii.  345; Fee, Journ  de
 Chim. Med. vi. 232; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 36, pi. 29.  This name was
 conferred by M. Lemaire upon the plant from which the  India senna of com-
 merce is derived.   The  botanical  description was  completed by M. Fee, from
 dried specimens of the leaves and fruit found by him in unassorted parcels of
 this variety of senna.  Dr. Wallich afterwards succeeded in raising the plant
 from seeds found in a parcel  of senna  taken to Calcutta from Arabia;  and it
 has been described by Dr. Royle, Wight & Arnott, and Dr. Lindley.   As usu-
 ally grown, it is annual; but with care it  may be made  to live through the
 year, and then assumes the character of an undershrub. It has an erect, smooth
 stem, and pinnate leaves, with from four to eight pairs of leaflets.   These are
 nearly sessile, lanceolate, obscurely mucronate, oblique at the base, smooth above
 and somewhat downy beneath, with the veins turned inwards so as to form a
 wavy line  immediately within the edge of the leaflet.   The most striking char-
 acter of the  leaflet is its length, which varies from an inch  to twenty lines.
The petioles are without glands; the stipules minute, spreading, and semi-has-
tate.  The flowers are bright yellow, and  arranged in axillary and terminal
racemes, rather longer than the leaves.   The legume is oblong, membranous,
       45 
706
Senna.
part i.
tapering abruptly at the base, rounded at the apex, and an inch and a half Ion?
by somewhat more than half an inch broad.   This plant is a native of the
southern parts of Arabia.   It has been said also to grow in the interior of In-
dia, and is at present cultivated at Tinnevelly for medical use.
  Besides the three officinal species above described, the C. lanceolata of Forsk-
hal, found by that author growing in the deserts of Arabia, is admitted by Lind-
ley and others  as a distinct species.  Some difference, however, of opinion exists
upon this point.   De Candolle considered it  only a variety of the C. acutifolia
of Delile, from the ordinary form of  which it differs chiefly in having  leaflets
with  glandular petioles;  and, as Forskhal's description  was prior  to that of
Delile, he designated the  species by  the name of  C.  lanceolata.   Forskhal's
plant has been  supposed by some to be the source of the India and Mocha sen-
na; but the leaflets in this variety are  much longer than those of C. lanceolata
from  which the plant differs also in  having no  gland on the petiole.  IViebuhr
informs us that he found the Alexandria senna growing in the Arabian terri-
tory of Abuarish, whence  it is taken by the Arabs to Mecca and Jedda. This
is  probably the C. lanceolata  of Forskhal.  It is highly probable that this
species is the source of  a variety of senna which has  been  brought to this mar-
ket under the name of Mecca senna.
   Cassia JEthiopica of Guibourt (C. ovata of Merat),  formerly confounded
with C. acutifolia, is considered by Dr. Lindley as undoubtedly a distinct species.
It grows in Nubia, Fezzan to the south of Tripoli, and probably, according to
Guibourt, throughout Ethiopia.   It is from this plant that the Tripoli senna
of commerce is derived. *
   Commercial History..   Several varieties of this valuable drug are known in
commerce.   Of these, four have been  received in America, the Alexandria, the
Tripoli, the India, and  the Mecca senna.
   1.  Alexandria Senna.  Though  the name of this variety is derived from the
Egyptian port  at which it is shipped, it is in fact  gathered very far in the in-
terior.  The Alexandria senna does not consist exclusively  of the product of
one species of Cassia.   The  history  of its preparation  is not  destitute of inter-
est.   The senna plants of Upper Egypt yield two crops annually, one in spring
and the  other  in autumn.   They are gathered chiefly in the country beyond
Sienne.  The natives cut the plants, and, having dried them in the sun, strip
off the leaves and pods, which they pack in bales,  and send  to Boulac, in the
vicinity of Cairo, the great entrepot for this article of Egyptian commerce. This
senna from Upper Egypt,  consisting chiefly though not exclusively of the pro-
duct of C.  acutifolia, was here formerly mixed  with  the leaflets of C. obovata,
brought from other parts of Egypt, and even from  Syria, with the leaves of
Cynanchum oleaefolium (C. Argel  of Delile), known commonly by the name

  * The following is the  botanical description of the two species last mentioned, not
hitherto omcinally recognised.
  1.  C. lanceolata. Forskhal; Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 259.  "Leaflets  in four or five
pairs, never more; oblong, and either acute or  obtuse, not at all ovate or lanceolate,
and perfectly free  from downiness even when young; the petioles  have constantly a
small round brown gland, a little above the base.  The pods are erect, oblong, taper-
ing to the base, obtuse, turgid, mucronate, rather  falcate,  especially when young, at
W „1C^tu?f1t?iey are sparingly covered with coarse scattered hairs." (Lindley.)
o™  C^   °P\Ca.' Guibourt> Hist- Ab. des Drogues, frc. ii. 219; Lindley, Flor. Med. p.
259.   The plant is about eighteen inches high.  The footstalks have a gland at the
base,  and another between each pair of leaflets.  There are from three to five pairs of
leaflets, which are pubescent, oval-lanceolate, from  seven to nine lines in  length, and
three  or four in  breadth, rather shorter and less acute than those of C. acutifolia. The
legume is flat smooth, not reniform, rounded, from eleven  to fifteen lines long, with
from three to five seeds. 
PART I.
Senna.
707
  of  argel or arguel, and sometimes with those of Tephrosia Apollinea of  De
  Candolle, a leguminous plant growing in Egypt  and Nubia.   According to
  M. Royer, the proportions in which the three chief constituents of this mixture
  were added together, were five parts of C. acutifolia, three of C. obovata, and
  two of Cynanchum.   Thus prepared, the senna was again packed in bales, and
  transmitted to Alexandria.  But at present there is no such uniformity in the
  constitution of Alexandria senna; and though the three chief ingredients may
  still sometimes be found in it, they are not in the same fixed proportions; and
  not unfrequently the Cynanchum leaves are wholly wanting.  This variety of
  senna is often called in French pharmaceutic works sine de  la palthe, a name
  derived from an impost formerly laid upon it by the Ottoman Porte.
    A parcel of Alexandria senna, as it was formerly brought to market, consisted
  of the following ingredients:—1. The  leaflets of C.  acutifolia, characterized by
  their acute form, and their length almost always less than an inch;  2. the leaf-
  lets of C. obovata, known by their rounded very obtuse summit, which is some-
  times furnished with a small projecting point, and by their gradual diminution
  in breadth towards their base;  3. the pods, broken  leafstalks, flowers, and fine
  fragments of other parts of one or both of these species; 4.  the leaves of Cynan-
  chum olea?folium, which are distinguishable by their length, almost always more
  than an inch, their greater thickness and firmness,  the absence of any  visible
  lateral nerves on their  under  surface, their  somewhat  lighter  colour, and the
  regularity of their base.   In this last character they strikingly differ from the
  genuine senna leaflets, which, from whatever species derived, are always marked
  by obliquity at their base, one side being inserted in  the petiole at a point some-
  what lower than the other, and at a different angle.  Discrimination between
  this and the other ingredients is of some importance, as the cynanchum must be
  considered an adulteration.  It is said by the  French writers  to produce hyper-
  catharsis and much irritation of  the bowels; but was found by Christison and
  Mayer to occasion griping  and protracted nausea, with little purgation.   The
  flowers and fruit of the Cynanchum were also often  present,  the former white,
 and in small corymbs,  the latter an ovoid follicle rather larger than an orange
 seed.   Besides the above constituents of Alexandria senna, it occasionally con-
 tained leaflets of genuine senna, much longer than  those of  the  acutifolia  or
 obovata, equalling in this  respect the cynanchum, which  they also somewhat
 resembled in form.  They were distinguishable, however, by their greater thin-
 ness, the distinctness of their lateral nerves, and the irregularity of their base.
 The leaflets and fruit of  Tephrosia Apollinea, which have been an occasional
 impurity in this variety of senna, may be distinguished, the former by their
 downy surface, their obovate-oblong, emarginate shape, their parallel unbranched
 lateral nerves, and by being usually folded longitudinally;  the latter,  by its di-
 mensions, being from an  inch to an inch and a  half long,  and only two  lines
 broad.  As now imported, Alexandria senna is often quite free from the leaves
 of Cynanchum, and may have few or none of the leaflets of obovate senna  It
 is probably brought directly to Alexandria from Upper Egypt, without having
 undergone intermixture at Boulac or other intervening place.  In Europe, this
 senna is said to have been sometimes adulterated with the leaflets of Collutea
 arborescens or bladder senna, and  the leaves  of Coriaria myrtifolia, a plant
 of Southern Europe, said to be astringent  and even poisonous.   An account
 of the former of these plants is given in Part III. The leaflets of the Coriaria
 are ovate-lanceolate, grayish-green with  a bluish tint, and are readily known,
 when not too much broken up, by their strongly marked midrib, and two lateral
 nerves running from the base nearly to the  summit.   They are chemically dis-
tinguished by giving a whitish precipitate with solution of gelatin, and a bluish-
black one with the salts of sesquioxide of iron, proving the presence of tannin. 
708
Senna.
part I.
Their poisonous properties are denied by Peschier.  According to Bouchardat
they are closely analogous to strychnia in their effects.
   2.  Tripoli Senna.   Genuine Tripoli senna consists in general exclusively of
the leaflets of one species of Cassia, formerly considered as a variety of C. acu-
tifolia, but now admitted to be distinct, and named C. AUthiopica.  The leaflets
however, are much broken up; and it is probably on  this account'that the va-
riety is  usually less esteemed  than the Alexandrian.   The aspect given to it by
this state of comminution, and by the uniformity of its  constitution, enables
the eye at once to distinguish it from the other varieties of senna.  The leaflets
moreover, are  shorter, less acute, thinner, and more fragile  than those of C.
acutifolia in Alexandria senna;  and their nerves are much less distinct.  The
general  opinion at one time was, that it was brought from Sennaar and Nubia
to Tripoli in caravans;  but it is reasonably asked  by M. Fee, how it could be
afforded at a cheaper price than the Alexandrian, if !hus brought on the backs
of camels a distance  of  eight hundred leagues through the desert.   It is pro-
bably collected in Fezzan, immediately south of Tripoli, and brought to that
town for exportation.
   3. India  Senna.  This variety is in Europe sometimes called 3Iocha senna,
probably because obtained originally from that port.  It derives its name of India
senna from the route by which it reaches us.  Though produced in Arabia, it is
brought to this country and Europe from  Calcutta, Bombay, and possibly other
ports of Hindostan.  It consists of the leaflets of Cassia elongata, with some of
the leafstalks and pods intermixed.   The  eye is  at once struck by  the great
length and comparative narrowness of the leaflets,  so that the variety may be
readily distinguished.  The pike-like  shape  of the  leaflet has given rise to the
name of sene de la pique, by which it  is known in French pharmacy.   Many of
the leaflets have a yellowish, dark-brown,  or blackish  colour, probably from ex-
posure after collection;  and the variety has commonly in mass  a characteristic
dull tawny hue.  It  is generally considered inferior in purgative power.
   A variety of India senna has reached  this country, which  is the produce of
Hindostan, being cultivated  at  Tinnevelly, and probably other places in the
south of the Peninsula.   The plant was originally raised from seeds obtained
from the Red Sea, and is the same as  that from which the common India senna
is derived.   The drug is exported from Madras to England, where it is known
by the name of Tinnevelly senna.  It is  a fine unmixed variety, consisting of
unbroken leaflets, from one to two or more inches long, and sometimes half an
inch in their greatest breadth, thin, flexible, and of a fine green colour.
   4. Mecca Senna.  Since the publication of the  fifth edition of this  Dispensa-
tory, a variety  of senna has been imported  under the name of Mecca senna,
consisting of the leaflets, pods, broken stems, and petioles of a single species of
Cassia.   The leaflets are oblong-lanceolate, on the average longer and narrower
than those of C. acutifolia, and shorter than those of C. elongata.   The variety
in mass  has a  yellowish or tawny hue, more like that of India  than that of
Alexandria senna.   May it not be the  product of the C. lanceolata of Forskhal 1
Landerer, however, speaks of a  valuable variety of senna, characterized by the
large size of the leaflets, and sold under the name of Mecca senna, which  he
says comes from the  interior of  Africa.
   Commercial senna is prepared for use by picking out the leaflets, and reject-
ing the  leafstalks,  the small fragments, and the leaves of other plants.  The
pods  are  also  rejected  by some apothecaries; but they possess considerable
cathartic power, though said  to  be milder than the leaves.
   Properties.  The odour of senna is faint and sickly; the taste slightly bitter,
sweetish, and nauseous.   Water and diluted alcohol extract its active principles.
Pure alcohol extracts them but imperfectly.   (Bley and Diesel, Pharm. Central 
PART I.
Senna.
709
  Blatt, Feb. 1849, p.  126.)   The  leaves  are said to yield about one-third of
  their weight to boiling water.   The infusion is of a deep reddish-brown colour,
  and has the odour and taste of the leaves.   When exposed to the air for a short
  time, it deposits  a yellowish insoluble precipitate, supposed to result from the
  union of extractive matter with oxygen.   The nature of this  precipitate, how-
  ever, is not well understood.  Decoction also produces some change in the prin-
  ciples of senna, by which its medicinal virtues have been  supposed to be im-
  paired; but  some experiments  of B. Heerlein would seem to show that this
  opinion is incorrect.   An extract prepared by boiling down an infusion, redis-
  solving the residue, and again boiling down to a  solid consistence, was found to
  operate actively in a  dose equivalent to a drachm of the leaves. (Pharm. Cent
  Blatt, A. D. 1851, p. 909.)  To  diluted alcohol it imparts the same reddish-
  brown colour as to water; but rectified alcohol and ether digested upon the pow-
  dered leaves become of a deep olive-green.   The analysis of senna by MM. Las-
  saigne  and Feneulle furnished the following results.   The  leaves contain__1. a
  peculiar principle called cathartin;  2. chlorophylle,  or  the  green colouring
  matter of leaves;  3. a fixed oil;  4. a small quantity of volatile oil; 5. albumen;
  6. a yellow colouring matter; 7. mucilage; 8. salts of the  vegetable acids, viz.,
  malate and tartrate of lime and acetate of potassa; and 9.  mineral salts.  The
  pods are composed of the same principles, with the exception of chlorophylle,
  the place of which is supplied by a peculiar colouring matter. (Journ. de Pharm.,
  vii. 548, and ix.  58.)  Cathartin was  at one time thought  to be the  active
  principle of senna; but upon trial it has proved to possess little power of affect-
  ing the system; and it is now believed to be a complex body, consisting, accord-
  ing to Bley and Diesel, of a mixture  of resinous and extractive matter.  It is
  an uncrystallizable substance, having  a peculiar smell, a bitter, nauseous taste,
  and a, reddish-yellow colour; is soluble in every proportion in water and alcohol^
  but insoluble in ether; and  in its dry  state attracts moisture from the air.   It
  is prepared in the following manner.   To a filtered decoction of senna the solu-
  tion  of  acetate of lead is added; and  the precipitate which forms is separated.
  A stream of hydrosulphuric acid (sulphuretted hydrogen) is then made to pass
 through the liquor in order to precipitate  the lead, and the sulphuret produced
 is removed by filtration.  The liquid is now evaporated to the consistence of an
 extract; the product is treated with rectified alcohol; and the alcoholic solution
 is evaporated.  To the extract thus obtained sulphuric acid diluted with alco-
 hol is added, in order  to decompose the acetate of potassa which  it contains;
 the sulphate of potassa is separated by filtration;  the excess of sulphuric acid
 by acetate of  lead; the excess of acetate of lead  by hydrosulphuric acid; and
 the sulphuretof lead by another filtration.   The  liquid being  now evaporated
 yields cathartin.   This substance must not be confounded with a purgative prin-
 ciple, also called cathartin, which has  been extracted from  Rhamnus catharti-
 cus.   Bley and Diesel  found in senna a peculiar yellow resin which they name
 chrysoretin, a brown  resin  and  brown  extractive which they could not fully
 separate, pectin, gummy extractive, chlorophylle, fatty matter, and various salts.
 (Pharm. Cent.  Blatt, Feb. 1849, p. 126.)
   In compatibles.   Many substances produce precipitates with  the infusion of
 senna; but  it does not follow that they are all medicinally incompatible ;  as
 they may remove ingredients which have no therapeutical effect, and leave the
 active principles untouched.   Cathartin is precipitated by infusion of galls and
 solution of subacetate of lead.  Acetate of lead and tartarized antimony, which
disturb the infusion, have no effect upon  the solution of this substance.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Senna was first used as  a  medicine by the
Arabians.  It was noticed in their writings so early as the ninth century ; and
the name itself is Arabic.  It is  a prompt, efficient, and very  safe purgative, 
710
Senna.—Serpentaria.
PART I.
well calculated for fevers and febrile complaints,  and other cases in which a
decided but not violent impression is desired.   A disadvantage is that it is apt
to produce severe griping. This effect, however, may be obviated by combining
with the senna some aromatic, and  some one  of  the alkaline salts, especially
bitartrate of potassa, tartrate of potassa, or sulphate of magnesia.  The ex-
planation which attributes the griping property to the oxidized extractive, and
its prevention by the saline substances to their influence in promoting the solu-
bility of that principle, is not satisfactory.   The  purgative effect of senna  is
considerably increased by combination with bitters; a fact  noticed by Cullen
and abundantly confirmed by the experience of others.  The  decoction of guaiac
is said to exert a similar influence.   The dose of senna in powder is from half
a drachm to two drachms ; but its bulk renders it of inconvenient administra-
tion ; and it is not often prescribed in this state.  Besides, the powder is said
to undergo  decomposition, and to become mouldy on exposure to a damp air.
The form of infusion is  almost universally preferred. (See Infusum Senme.)
The medicine is also used in the forms  of confection, fluid  extract, syrup, and
tincture, all of which are officinal.
  Senna  taken by nurses  is said  to purge  sucking infants, and an infusion
injected into the veins operates as  a cathartic.
  Off. Prep. Confectio Senna?; Enema Catharticum; Extractum Senna? Flui-
dum ; Extract. Spigelia? et Senna? Fluidum ; Infusum Senna?; Infusum  Senna?
Compositum ; Syrupus Sarsaparilla? Comp.;  Syrupus Senna?; Tinctura Rhei et
Senna? ;  Tinctura Senna? Comp.; Tinctura Senna? et Jalapa?.          W.


            SERPENTARIA.  U S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                          Virginia Snakeroot.

  The root of Aristolochia Serpentaria,  A. reticulata, and other species of Aris-
tolochia.  U.S.  Aristolochia Serpentaria. The root. Lond., Ed., Dub.
  Serpentaire de Virginie, Fr.; Virginianische Schlangenwurzel, Germ.;  Serpentaria
Virginiana, Ital., Span.
  Aristolochia.  Sex. Syst. Gynandria Hexandria. —Nat. Ord. Aristolochi-
acea?.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx none.  Corolla one-petaled, ligulate, ventricose at the base.
Capsules six-celled, many-seeded, inferior.  Willd.
  Many species of  Aristolochia have been employed in  medicine.  The roots
of all  of them  are tonic  and stimulant; and their supposed possession of
emmenagogue properties has given origin to the name of the genus.  A. Clema-
titis, A. longa, A. rotunda, and A. Pistolochia are still retained in many officinal
catalogues of the continent of Europe, where they are indigenous.   The root of
A. Clernatitis is very long, cylindrical, as thick  as a  goosequill or thicker,
variously contorted, beset with the remains of the stems and radicles, of a grayish-
brown colour, a  strong peculiar odour, and  an acrid bitter taste;  that of A.
longa is spindle-shaped, from a few inches to a foot  in length, of the thickness
of the thumb or more, fleshy, very brittle, grayish externally, brownish-yellow
within, bitter, and of a strong disagreeable odour when fresh; that of A rotunda
is tuberous, roundish, heavy, fleshy,  brownish  on  the exterior, grayish-yellow
internally, and similar to the preceding in odour and taste ;  that of A. Pistolo-
chia consists of  numerous slender yellowish or brownish fibres,  attached to a
common head, and possessed of an agreeable aromatic odour, with a taste bitter
and somewhat acrid.  Many species of Aristolochia growing in the West Indies,
Mexico, and South America, have attracted attention for their medicinal proper-
ties ; and some, like our own snakeroot, have acquired the reputation of antidotes 
PART I.
Serpentaria.
711
 for the bites of serpents.  In the East Indies, A. Indica is employed for similar
 purposes with the European and American species;  and the Arabians are said
 by Forskhal to use the leaves of A. sempervirens as a counter-poison.  We have
 in the United States six species, of which four—A. Serpentaria, A. hirsuta, A.
 hastata, and A. reticulata—contribute to furnish the snakeroot of the shops.
   Aristolochia Serpentaria. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv.  159; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot
 iii. 82; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 41.   This species of Aristolochia is an herbaceous
 plant, with a perennial root, which consists of numerous slender fibres proceeding
 from a short horizontal caudex.   Several stems often rise from the same root.
 They are about eight  or  ten inches in height, slender, round, flexuose, jointed
 at irregular  distances, and frequently reddish or  purple at the base.  The  leaves
 are  oblong-cordate, acuminate, entire, of a pale  yellowish-green colour, and
 supported on short petioles  at the  joints of the  stem.  The  flowers proceed
 from the joints near the root, and stand singly on long,  slender, round, jointed
 peduncles, which are sometimes furnished with one or two small scales, and bend
 downwards so as nearly to bury the flower in the earth or deca)*ed leaves.  There
 is no calyx.  The corolla is purple, monopetalous,  tubular, swelling at the base,
 contracted and curved in the middle, and terminating in a labiate border with
 lanceolate lips.  The anthers—six or twelve in number—are sessile, attached to
 the  under part of the stigma, which  is roundish,  divided into six parts, and sup-
 ported by a short  fleshy style  upon  an  oblong, angular, hairy, inferior  germ.
 The fruit is a hexangular, six-celled capsule, containing several small flat seeds.
   The plant grows in rich, shady woods, throughout the Middle, Southern, and
 Western States,  abounding in  the valley of the Ohio, and in the mountainous
 regions of our interior.  It flowers in May and June.  The root is collected in
 Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, in  Ohio, Indiana,  and Kentucky, and is
 brought eastward chiefly by the routes of Wheeling and Pittsburg. As it reaches
 Philadelphia, it is usually in bales containing about one hundred pounds, and
 is often mixed with the leaves and stems of the plant, and with dirt  from which
 it has not been properly cleansed at the time of collection.
   A. hirsuta. Muhlenberg,  Catalogue, p.  81; Bridges, Am. Journ.  of Pharm.,
 xiv.  121.  In Muhlenberg's Catalogue this species was  named without  being
 described; and botanists, supposing from the name that it was identical with A.
 tomentosa, generally confounded the  two  plants.   But they are entirely distinct.
 A description of  A. hirsuta in the handwriting  of Muhlenberg, and a labelled
 specimen of the plant, in  the possession of the  Academ'y of Natural Sciences
 of this city, have been found to correspond with a dried specimen received by
 one  of the  authors of this work from Virginia.   A. tomentosa is  a climbing
 plant, growing in Louisiana on the banks of the Mississippi and ascending to
 the summit of the highest trees.   A plant in the garden of the author has a
 thick creeping root, entirely different in shape from that of the officinal species,
 though possessed of an analogous odour.  A. hirsuta has a root like that of A.
 Serpentaria, consisting of a knotty caudex, sending out numerous slender simple
 fibres, sometimes  as much as six  inches  in length.   From this arise several
jointed, flexuose, pubescent stems, less than a foot high, with one or two pubes-
cent  bractes,  and several large roundish-cordate leaves, of which the lower  are
obtuse, the upper abruptly acuminate, and all pubescent on both sides and at the
margin.   From the joints near the  root  originate from one to three solitary
peduncles, each bearing three or four leafy bractes and one flower.  The pedun-
cles,  bractes, and  corolla are all hairy.   This species grows in Virginia, and
perhaps other parts of the Western and Southern  States.  It probably contri-
butes to afford the serpentaria of commerce, as its leaves, at one time mistaken
for those of A. tomentosa, have been found in bales of the drug.
  A. hastata.  Nuttall, Gen. .of  N Am. Plants,  p. 200.—A. sagittata. Muhl. 
712
Serpentaria.
part i.
  Catal.   This species, if indeed it can be considered a distinct species, differs
 from A. Serpentaria in having hastate, acute, somewhat cordate leaves, and the
 lip of the corolla ovate.  It flourishes on the banks of the Mississippi, in the
 Carolinas, and elsewhere.  Its root scarcely differs from that of the officinal plant
 and is frequently mixed with it, as proved by the presence of the characteristic
 leaves of A.  hastata in the parcels brought into market.
    A. reticulata.  Nuttall; Bridges, Am.  Journ. of Pharm. xvi. 118- Carson
 Illust of Med. Bot. ii. 32, pi. 77.  This plant was probably first observed by
 Mr. Nuttall; as a specimen  labelled "A. reticulata, Red  river," in the hand-
 writing  of that botanist, is  contained in the Herbarium of the Academy of
 Natural  Sciences  of Philadelphia.  From this specimen, as well as from others
 found in parcels of the drug  brought into market, a description was drawn up
 by  Dr.  Robert Bridges, and published  in the  Amer.  Journ.  of Pharmacy.
 From a root, similar to that of A. Serpentaria, numerous short, slender, round
 flexuose, jointed stems arise,  usually simple, but sometimes branched near the
 root.  The older stems' are slightly villous, the young densely pubescent.  The
 leaves, which stand on very short villous petioles, are round or oblong-cordate
 obtuse, reticulate, very prominently veined, and villous on both sides, especially
 upon the veins.  From the lower joints of the stem four or five hairy, jointed
 peduncles proceed, which  bear small  leafy villous bractes at  the joints, and
 several flowers on short pedicels.   The flowers are small, purplish, and densely
 pubescent, especially at the base and on the germ.  The hexangular capsule is
 deeply sulcate.   This species  grows in  Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and the
 Indian Territory west of that State.
   Bales of a new variety of serpentaria  have within a few years been brought
 to  Philadelphia, which is certainly the  product of this species ;  as specimens of
 all parts of the plant have been found in the bales, and the roots, which differ
 somewhat from those before  known, are homogeneous in character.  One of
 these bales was  brought from New Orleans, and was said  to have come down
 the Red river, and to have been collected by the Indians.   The chief difference
 between  this and ordinary Virginia snakeroot is in the size of the radicles, which
 are much thicker and less interlaced in the new variety.  Each root has usually
 a considerable portion of one or more stems attached to the caudex. The colour
 is yellowish.  The odour and taste are scarcely,  if at all  distinguishable from
 those of common  serpentaria  ;  and there  is no  doubt that the root is equally
 effectual  as a medicine.   From a chemical  examination  by Mr. Thomas S.
 Wiegand, it appears to have  the same constituents, and to differ only in con-
 taining a somewhat larger proportion of gum, extractive,  and volatile oil.
  Properties. Virginia snakeroot, as found in the shops, is in tufts of long,
 slender, frequently interlaced,  and brittle  fibres, attached to a short, contorted,
 knotty head or  caudex.  The colour,  which  in  the  recent root is yellowish,
 becomes  brown by time.  That of the powder is  grayish.  The smell is strong,
 aromatic, and camphorous ; the taste warm, very bitter, and also camphorous.
 The root yields all its  virtues  to water and alcohol, producing with the former
 a yellowish-brown infusion, with the latter a bright greenish tincture,  rendered
 turbid by the  addition of water.   Chevallier found in the root volatile oil, a
 yellow bitter principle soluble in water and alcohol, resin, gum, starch, albumen,
 lignin, and various salts.   Buchholz obtained from 1000 parts, 5 of  a  green,
 fragrant volatile oil, 28*5 of  a yellowish-green resin,  17 of extractive matter,
 181 of gummy extract, 624 of  lignin, and 144-5 of water.  The active ingre-
 dients are probably the volatile oil, and the yellow bitter principle of Chevallier,
 which that chemist considers analogous to the bitter principle of quassia.  The
volatile oil passes  over with water in distillation, rendering the liquid  milky,
and impregnating it with the  odour of  the root.   Dr. Bigelow states that the
liquid, on standing, deposits small crystals of camphor. 
 part I.     Serpentaria.—Sesami Folia.—Oleum Sesami.          713

   The roots of Spigelia Marilandica are sometimes found associated with ser-
 pentaria.  They may be distinguished by the absence of the  bitter  taste, and,
 when the stem and foliage are attached, by the peculiar character of these parts
 of the plant.  (See Spigelia,)  We have  occasionally seen the young roots of
 Polygala Senega mixed with serpentaria.  Independently of their difference in
 odour and teste, they may be readily distinguished by being  simple, and by a
 projecting line running from one end to the other of the root.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Serpentaria is  a stimulant  tonic, acting  also
 as a, diaphoretic or diuretic, according to the mode of its application.   Too
 largely taken, it occasions nausea, griping pains in the bowels, sometimes vomit-
 ing and dysenteric tenesmus.  It is adapted to the treatment  of typhoid fevers,
 whether idiopathic or symptomatic, when the system begins to feel the neces-
 sity for support, but is unable to bear active stimulation.  In exanthematous
 diseases in which the eruption is tardy or has receded, and the grade of action
 is low, it is thought to be useful by promoting the cutaneous  affection.   It has
 also been highly recommended  in  intermittent fevers ;  and though itself gene-
 rally inadequate to the cure of  the complaint, often proves  serviceable as an
 adjunct to Peruvian bark or sulphate of quinia.   With the  same remedies it
 is frequently associated in the treatment of typhous diseases.  It is sometimes
 given in dyspepsia, and is employed  as a gargle in malignant sorethroat.
   The  dose of the powdered root is from ten to thirty grains; but the infusion
 is  almost always  preferred. (See Infusum Seipentariae.)   The decoction  or
 extract would be an improper form;  as the volatile oil, upon  which the virtues
 of the medicine partly depend, is dissipated by boiling.*
    Off.  Prep.  Infusum Serpentaria?;  Tinctura Cinchona? Composita; Tinctura
 Serpentaria?.                                                        W.

                SESAMI FOLIA.  U.S. Secondary.

                            Benne Leaves.
   The leaves of Sesamum Indicum, and of Sesamum orientale. U S.

               OLEUM SESAMI.  U.S.  Secondary.

                               Benne Oil.

   The oil of the seeds of Sesamum Indicum, and of Sesamum Orientale. U. S.
   Sesame, Fr.; Sesam, Germ.; Sesamo, Ital.; Anjonjoli, Span.
   Sesamum.  Sex Syst  Didynamia  Angiospermia.—Nat.  Ord.  Bignonia?,
 Juss.; Pedaliacea?, R. Brown, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx five-parted.  Corolla bell-shaped, five-cleft, with the .lower
 lobe largest. Stamens  five, the fifth a rudiment.   Stigma lanceolate.  Capsule
 four-celled.  Willd.
   Sesamum orientale. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 358; Rheed. Hort. 3Ialab. ix. 54.
 "Leaves ovate, oblong,  entire."
   Sesamum Indicum.   Willd. Sp. Plant iii. 359; Curtis, Bot 3Iag. vol.  xii.
 t.  1688.  "Leaves ovate-lanceolate, the inferior three-lobed, the superior undi-

  * Mr. J. B. Savery proposes a. fluid extract of serpentaria,ma,de in the following man-
ner.  Eight ounces of the powdered root are macerated for a day or two in a pint of
alcohol; and the mixture is then submitted to percolation, diluted alcohol being poured
upon it until four pints have passed.  The tincture thus obtained  is evaporated by a
gentle heat, with constant agitation, to twelve fluidounces, in which eight ounces of
powdered sugar are dissolved, and the whole strained  through flannel.  A fluidounce
contains the virtues of half an ounce of the root.  From half a fluidrachm to a fluidrachm
may be given for a dose. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiii. 120.) 
714
Sesami Folia.—Oleum Sesami.—Sevum.
part i.
 vided.   Stem erect."  There is reason  to believe that this species is the one
 chiefly cultivated in our Southern States.  At least we have found plants, raised
 in Philadelphia from seeds obtained from Georgia, to have its specific character
 as given by Willdenow.                                                  '
    The benne plant of our Southern  States is  annual, with  a branching  stem
 four or five feet high, and bearing opposite, petiolate leaves, varying  consider-
 ably in their shape.  Those on the upper part of the plant are ovate-lanceolate
 irregularly serrate, and pointed; those near the base three-lobed and sometimes
 ternate;  and lobed leaves are not uncommon at all  distances from the ground
 The flowers are of a reddish-white colour, and stand solitarily upon short pe-
 duncles in the axils of the leaves.   The  fruit is an oblong capsule, containing
 small, oval, yellowish seeds.
    These two species of Sesamum are natives of the East Indies, and have been
 cultivated from time immemorial in various  parts of  Asia and Africa.  From
 the latter continent it is supposed that seeds were brought by the Negroes to
 the United States, where, as well as in the West Indies, one or both species are
 now cultivated to a considerable extent.  The plant above described will grow
 vigorously in the gardens  so far  north  as  Philadelphia, though it does not
 usually ripen its seeds in this vicinity.
   The seeds are employed as food by the negroes, who parch them over the fire,
 boil  them in broths, make them  into puddings, and  prepare them in various
 other modes. By expression  they yield a fixed oil, which, as well  as the leaves,
 has been introduced into the  secondary catalogue of the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia!
   1. Benne Leaves.  These abound in  a gummy  matter, which they readily
 impart to water, forming a rich, bland mucilage, much  used  in the  Southern
 States as a drink in various complaints, to which demulcents are applicable, as
 in cholera infantum, diarrhoea, dysentery, catarrh, and affections of the urinary
 passages.   The remedy has attracted attention  also in the north,  and has been
 employed with favourable results in Philadelphia.   One or two fresh leaves of
 full size, stirred about in half a pint of cool water, will soon render it sufficiently
 viscid.   If dried, they should be  introduced  into hot water.  The leaves  also
 serve for the preparation of emollient cataplasms.
   2.  Benne Oil.   This is inodorous,  of  a bland, sweetish taste, and will keep
 long without becoming rancid.  It bears some resemblance to olive  oil in its pro-
 perties, and may be used for  similar purposes.   It  was known to the ancient
 Persians and Egyptians, and is highly esteemed by the modern Arabs and other
 people of the East, both as food and as an external  application to  promote
 softness  of the skin.  Like  olive oil, it is laxative in large doses.        W.


                     SEVUM.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed,

                                  Suet.

  The prepared suet of Ovis Aries.  U S., Lond., Ed.
  Suif Graisse de mouton, Fr.; Hammelstalg, Germ.; Grasse duro, Ital; Sebo, Span.
   buet is the fat of the sheep, taken chiefly from about the kidneys. It is  pre-
pared by cutting the fat into pieces, melting it with a moderate heat, and strain-
ing it through linen or flannel.  In order to avoid too great a heat, the crude
suet is sometimes purified by boiling it in a little water.
_ Mutton suet is of a firmer consistence, and requires a higher temperature for
its fusion than any other animal fat.   It is very white,  sometimes brittle, in-
 i   v0^Y   a bknd taSte'insolub]e in water, and nearly so in alcohol.  Boiling
alcohol, however, dissolves  it, and deposits it upon cooling.  It consists, ac-
cording to Chevreul, of stearin, olein, and a  small proportion of  hircin.   The 
part I.         Sevum.—Silex  Contritus.—Simaruba.              715

two first-mentioned  principles  are described under the fixed oils (page 518).
Hircin is a liquid like olein, from  which it differs in being much more soluble
in alcohol, and in yielding hircic acid by saponification.
   Suet acquires by time an unpleasant smell, and becomes unfit for pharma-
ceutic purposes.  It is employed  to  give a proper  consistence  to ointments,
cerates, and plasters, and sometimes as a dressing to blisters.           W.


                  SILEX  CONTRITUS.  Lond.

                           Pulverized Silex.

   Powdered flint, Silica, Silicic acid;  Silice, Fr.; Kieselerde, Germ.
   In operations of pharmacy,  substances are sometimes employed whose action
is exclusively mechanical.  Thus, in the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia, sand is used in
preparing oil of amber and the fluid* extract of rhubarb, and carbonate of mag-
nesia in forming several of the  medicated waters.  The use of the same carbonate
was also directed  in the London  Pharmacopoeia of  1836, in  alternative pro-
cesses for preparing  several of these  waters.   Mr. R. Warington  objected to
the use of this carbonate, as being dissolved to an injurious  extent, and pro-
posed to substitute porcelain clay,  or  pulverized silica,  glass, or  pumice stone.
The London College, probably influenced by this objection, has, in its Pharma-
copoeia of 1851, abandoned the use of carbonate of  magnesia, and substituted
finely pulverized silex, under the name of Silex Contritus.
   This powder may be conveniently obtained  from colourless quartz or rock-
crystal.   In order to render the mineral more easily pulverizable, it is advan-
tageous to  heat it to redness, and quench  it in water.   It may then be re-
duced to fine powder in a porphyry or agate mortar.
   The London College prepares all the medicated waters, except  two, from the
volatile oils of the plants, in addition  to the method  of distillation with water
from  the plants themselves.   In the excepted cases (rose and elder water), dis-
tillation alone is allowed.  When the volatile oils  are used, pulverized silex
is directed as a mechanical agent.  The oil is rubbed up first with the silex and
then with the water, and the whole is filtered.   The silex acts by minutely divid-
ing the oil and diffusing it through the water, and, by the subsequent filtration,
is entirely removed.
   Pulverized silex is a harsh,  white, tasteless  powder, insoluble  in water and
most other  solvents.  Its sp.  gr. is 2-66.   In  composition  it is  a teroxide of
silicon, Si03. A protoxide (SiO) has been discovered by Wohler.  (Chem. Gaz.
May  15, 1857.)  Silicon is a  non-metallic element,  which has been  obtained
in three allotropic states, called amorphous, graphitoid, and octohedral silicon;
the first corresponding with charcoal,  the second with graphite, and third with
diamond.   The octohedral silicon  crystallizes like diamond with  curved facets,
is hard enough to scratch glass but not topaz,  and has the sp. gr. 2-49.  B.


               SIMARUBA.  U. S.  Secondary, Ed.

                              Simaruba.

   The bark  of the root of Simaruba officinalis.  U.  S. Root-bark of Simaruba
amara. Ed., Dub.
   Ecorce de simarouba, Fr.; Simarubarinde, Germ.; Corteccia di simaruba, Ital.; Cor-
teza de simaruba, Span.
   Quassia.  See QUASSIA.
   Quassia Simaruba. Willd.  Sp.  Plant, ii. 568; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 569, t.
203.—Simaruba officinalis. DeCand. Prodrom. i. 733.—S. amara.  Aublet; 
716
Simaruba.—Sinapis.
part i.
 Lindley, Flor. 3Ied.f. 207.  As this  plant  is  unisexual,  it belongs to the
 genus Simaruba of De Candolle and Lindley,  those only being placed by these
 botanists in the genus Quassia which are hermaphrodite.  But as the Liniwean
 arrangement was adhered to in the case of Q.uassia excelsa, we continue to ad-
 here to it in relation to this plant.  (See Quassia.) It is a tree of considerable
 height and thickness, having alternate  branches, with a bark which in the old
 tree is black and somewhat furrowed, in  the young is smooth, gray, and marked
 here and there with broad yellow spots.  The leaves are alternate and abruptly
 pinnate,  with a naked petiole, to which the leaflets are alternately attached by
 short footstalks.  The leaflets are nearly elliptical, on the upper surface smooth
 and deep-green, on the under whitish.  The flowers are yellow, and in loii"- axil-
 lary panicles.  In some descriptions they are stated to be monoecious, in others
 dioecious.  According to Dr. Wright, the female flowers are never found in
 Jamaica on the same tree with the male.  The number of stamens is ten.
    The tree is found in the West Indies and Guyana.   In Jamaica it is called
 the mountain damson.   The Simaruba  amara of Aublet, which grows in
 Guyana,  and has  generally been considered identical with  Q. Simaruba, is be-
 lieved by Hayne to  be a  distinct species; the  Jamaica plant having dioecious,
 while this has monoecious flowers.  The bark of the root is the part employed;
 the wood itself being nearly tasteless and inert.
    Simaruba bark is in long pieces, some inches in breadth, folded lengthwise,
 light, flexible, tenacious, very fibrous,  externally of  a light brownish-yellow
 colour, rough, warty, and marked with  transverse ridges, internally of a pale
 yellow.   It is without smell, and of  a bitter taste.  It readily imparts its vir-
 tues, at ordinary temperatures, to water and alcohol.   The infusion is at least
 equally bitter with the decoction, which becomes turbid as it cools.-   Its con-
 stituents, according to  M. Morin, are a bitter principle identical with  quassin,
 a resinous matter, a volatile oil having the odour of benzoin, malic acid, gallic
 acid in very minute proportion, an ammoniacal  salt, malate  and oxalate of
 lime, some mineral salts, oxide of iron, silica, ulmin, and lignin.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Simaruba possesses the same tonic properties
 as other simple bitters, and may be employed for the same purposes.  In large
 doses it is said to  purge  and vomit.   It was  introduced into France in 1713
 from Guyana, where it had previously been used as a remedy for dysentery. In
 the treatment of this disease and of obstinate diarrhoea it  afterwards  obtained
 much credit in Europe; but Cullen was right in denying to it any specific con-
 trol over these complaints.   It  operates simply as a tonic; and, though occa-
 sionally beneficial  in relaxed and debilitated  states of the  alimentary canal,
 would do much harm if  indiscriminately prescribed in dysenteric cases.  On
 account of its difficult pulverization, it is seldom given  in substance.  The best
 mode of administration is by infusion.  The dose is from a scruple to a drachm.
   Off. Prep.  Infusum Simaruba?.                                    W.


                       SINAPIS.  U.S.,  Lond.

                                Mustard.

   The seeds of Sinapis nigra and Sinapis alba.  U.S.,  Lond.
   Off. Syn. SINAPI. Flour of  the seeds of  Sinapis  nigra, generally mixed
with those of  Sinapis alba, and deprived of fixed oil by expression. Ed.  SI-
NAPIS ALBA and SINAPIS NIGRA. The flour of the seeds. Dub.
   Moutarde, Fr.; Senfsamen, Germ.; Senapa, Ital.; Mostaza, Span.
   Sinapis.  Sex. Syst.  Tetradynamia Siliquosa. — Nat. Ord,  Brasicacea? or
Crucifera?. 
part I.                         Sinapis.                             717

   Gen. Ch. Calyx spreading. Corolla with straight claws. Glands between the
shorter stamens and pistil, and between the longer stamens-and calyx.  Willd.
   Sinapis nigra. Willd. Sp. Plant iii. 555; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 403, t. 146.
Common or black mustard is an  annual plant, with a stem three or four feet
in  height, divided  and subdivided into numerous spreading branches.  The
leaves are petiolate and variously shaped. Those near the root are large, rough,
lyrate-pinnate, and  unequally toothed;  those higher on the stem are smooth
and less lobed; and the uppermost are entire, narrow, smooth, and dependent.
The flowers are small, yellow, with a coloured calyx, and stand closely together
upon peduncles at the upper part of the branches.  The pods are smooth, erect,
nearly parallel with  the branches, quadrangular, furnished with a short beak,
and occupied by numerous seeds.
   Sinapis alba, Willd. Sp. Plant iii. 555; Smith, Flor. Brit. 721.  The white
mustard is also annual.  It is rather smaller than  the preceding species.  The
lower leaves  are deeply pinnatifid, the upper sublyrate, and all  irregularly
toothed, rugged, with  stiff hairs on both sides, and pale green.   The flowers
are in racemes, with yellow petals, and linear, green  calycine leaflets.  The
pods are spreading, bristly,  rugged, roundish,  swelling in the  position of the
seeds, ribbed,  and provided with a very long ensiform beak.
   Both  plants are natives of Europe and cultivated in our gardens;  and S.
nigra has become naturalized in some  parts of this country.  Their flowers ap-
pear in June.  The seeds are kept in the shops both whole and in the state of
very fine powder, as prepared by  the manufacturers for the table.
   Black mustard seeds  are small, globular, of a  deep-brown colour, slightly
rugose on the surface,  and internally yellow.   In the entire state they are in-
odorous, but have a distinct  smell in powder, and,  when rubbed with water or
vinegar, exhale a strong pungent odour, sufficient in some instances to excite a
flow of tears.   Their taste is bitterish, hot, and pungent, but not permanent.
 White mustard seeds are much larger, of a yellowish colour, and less pungent
taste.  Both afford a yellow powder, which has a somewhat unctuous appear-
ance, and cakes when compressed.   This is commonly called flour of mustard,
or simply mustard, and is prepared by crushing and pounding the  seeds, and
then sifting them ; the purest flour being obtained  by a  second sifting.   Both
the black and the white seeds are used in its preparation.  It is often adulterated
With wheat flour coloured by turmeric,  to which red pepper is added to render
the mixture sufficiently hot.   The skin of white mustard seeds contains a muci-
laginous substance, which is  extracted by boiling water.   When bruised or pow-
dered, both kinds impart their active properties wholly to water, but in a very
slight degree to alcohol.  They yield upon pressure a fixed oil, called oil of mus-
tard, of a greenish-yellow colour, little smell, and a mild not unpleasant taste ;
and the portion which remains is even more pungent than the unpressed seeds.
The fixed oil of mustard yields, upon saponification, a peculiar acid, for which
the name of erucic acid has been proposed.  (Chem. Gaz., vii. 163.)
  It has been  long known that black mustard  seeds yield  by distillation with
water a very pungent volatile oil,  containing sulphur.   Guibourt conjectured,
and Robiquet and Boutron proved, that this oil does not pre-exist in the seeds,
but is produced by the action of water.  Hence the absence or very slight degree
of odour in the seeds when bruised in  a dry state, and  their pungency when
water is added.  It  seemed reasonable to suppose that the reaction in this case
was  similar to that exercised by water upon bitter  almonds (see  Amygdala
Amara); and this has been proved to be the fact by the experiments of Simon,
Bussy, Boutron, and Fremy.   According to M. Bussy, there are two peculiar
principles in black mustard seeds,  one named by him myronic acid, existing in
the  seeds  in the state of myronate of potassa; the other myrosyne, closely 
718
Sinapis.
part i.
 analogous in character to the albuminous constituent of almonds called emulsin
 When water is added to black mustard seed, the myrosyne, acting the part of a
 ferment, determines a  reaction between the water and myronate of potassa
 which results in the production of the volatile oil.   The  same thing happens
 when anyone of the myronates is brought into contact with water and myrosyne
 The presence of the last-mentioned  principle is essential.   Like emulsin  it
 becomes inoperative when  coagulated by heat,  alcohol, or the acids •  and' if
 black mustard seeds be  subjected to either of these agencies  previously to the
 addition of water,  they will yield no volatile  oil.  The myrosyne, however
 sometimes partially recovers its power by continued contact with water.  This
 substance is found also in white mustard seeds, but without myronate of potassa
 If, therefore, white  mustard seeds be added to the black in which the myrosyne
 has been coagulated, the volatile  oil will be generated on the application of
 water.  Though closely analogous to emulsin, myrosyne is yet distinct, as its
 place cannot be  supplied by emulsin with the same effect.  (Journ. de Pharm
 xxvi. 39.)  Simon obtained results somewhat different from those of M. Bussy'
 The former chemist succeeded in procuring a peculiar crystalline principle from
 the seeds which  he  called sinapisin, and which,  upon  contact with water and
 the albuminous principle of the seeds, emitted the odour of the oil of mustard.
   The volatile oil of mustard is usually obtained from seeds which have been
 deprived of  their fixed oil by pressure.   It is a colourless or pale-yellow liquid
 rather heavier than water, of an exceedingly pungent odour, and an acrid burning
 taste.  It boils at about 298°;  is slightly soluble in water, and readily so in
 alcohol and  ether; with alkaline solutions yields sulphocyanurets; and consists
 according to  M.  Lowig  and Dr. Will,  of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and sul-
 phur; its formula being NCSHSSS.   Dr.  Will considers it a sulphocyanuret of
 allyl (C6H5), the compound radical of oil of garlic, which is considered a sul-
 phuret of allyl.* (Chem. Gaz., No. 62 and 64.)  It  is the principle  upon
 which black  mustard seeds depend for their activity.  According to Zeller the
 seeds yield from  0-33 to  0"63 per cent, of the oil.
   White mustard seeds  do not yield volatile oil when treated with water; but
 an acrid fixed principle is developed, which renders these seeds applicable to the
 same purposes as the other variety.   MM. Robiquet and  Boutron, who ascer-
 tained this fact, concluded that the acrid  principle resulted from the reaction of
 water upon sulpho-sinapisin, discovered in the seeds by MM. Henry, Jun. and
 Garot.  Their reason for this  belief was  that mustard, which had been deprived
 of this ingredient, was incapable of developing the acrid principle   The myro-
 syne is equally essential  to the  change here,  as to that which  occurs in black
 mustard; and the reaction equally fails, if this principle be previously rendered
 inert by  heat, alcohol, or the acids.  MM. Boutron and Fremy state that not
 only the acrid principle  of white mustard, but hydrosulphocyanic acid also re-
 sults from the reaction above explained ;  and  this observation renders still closer
 the analogy between the changes that take place, upon  contact with water, in
 mustard seeds and bitter almonds.  (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 50.)f

 ^AJ°JaSle*0il ? mus,taJd h/s been Produced artificially, by MM. Berthelot and S.
 de Luca by treating iodide of propylene (identical with allyl)  (C.H.I), with sulpbo-
 ?FSTL >v0taSSm™' The ^ine unites with potassium,  and the liberated radical
 rN6r?fr «°JnblTne,s.7ltJ the sulphocyanogen  (NC2S2) to form volatile oil of mustard
 iw^lnH ,I^lde.of ProP7lfne is procured by treating glycerin with iodide of phos-
 wZw ,5  ?'S \rT V° arlle 0ll°f Sarlic (s^phuret of allyl), only in containing
 iodine instead of sulphur.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Aout  1855, p. 124.)
 tbL™me may- deT t0 P£8J theSe instigations further, we give the properties of
 these peculiar principles, and the modes of procuring them
rJ5LT° wif IS  t/^  inodor°us substance, of a  bitter'and sour taste, and acid
reaction.   When obtained separate from its bases, it forms a colourless solution, which 
PART I.
Sinapis.
719
  From the above account of the chemical relations of mustard, it  is obvious
that admixture with alcohol or the acids, or the application of a boiling heat,

by evaporation becomes of a thick consistence like molasses, without crystallizing.  It
is soluble in water and alcohol, but not in ether; and  forms  soluble  salts with the
alkalies, baryta, lime, and the oxides of lead  and silver, all of which yield volatile
oil of mustard, when mixed with an aqueous solution of myrosyne.  It contains sul-
phur, besides nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.  It is obtained from the myro-
nate of potassa by adding  to 100 parts of that salt  38  parts of crystallized  tartaric
acid, concentrating the solution by evaporation, and then adding weak  alcohol, which
precipitates the bitartrate of  potassa and retains the  myronic  acid in solution.  To
obtain myronate of potassa from black mustard seeds,  the  powder, having  been dried
at 2123, and deprived of its fixed oil by pressure,  is treated with strong alcohol in  a
displacement apparatus, and, when thus nearly exhausted of everything soluble in
that liquid, is pressed and treated with water.   The aqueous solution  is evaporated,
and, before it is too much  concentrated,  weak  alcohol is added, which precipitates  a
glutinous matter.  The solution, being then  carefully  evaporated, deposits crystals of
myronate  of potassa, which may be obtained very pure  and white by washing the
mass with diluted alcohol.   This  salt is easily crystallizable in fine large, transparent
crystals, is unalterable in the air, very soluble  in water, insoluble in pure alcohol, and
 of a bitter taste.
   Myrosyne, when dry, has the character of an albuminous substance.  It is soluble
in wateu, forming a viscid solution which froths when agitated, and is  coagulated by
heat, alcohol, and the acids.  It is obtained  by treating white mustard  seed with cold
water, filtering the solution, evaporating it by a heat not exceeding 100°, and, when
it is of the consistence of syrup, carefully adding alcohol, which causes a precipitate
easily separable by decantation.  If this be dissolved in water, and  the solution evapo-
rated as before, myrosyne  is obtained, though not entirely pure.  (Journ. de Pharm.,
xxvi.  39.)
   The sinapisin of Simon is in brilliant, white,  scaly crystals, sublimable by heat, solu-
ble in alcohol, ether, and the fixed and volatile oils, but insoluble  in acids and alka-
lies.   To obtain it he exhausted black mustard seed with strong alcohol, distilled off
the greater part of the alcohol, treated the residue  several times with four or five times
its weight of ether, from the ethereal solutions distilled off all the ether,  treated the
extract again with a smaller quantity of ether so as to  leave  behind insoluble sub-
stances, and repeated this  process until the extract  formed a perfectly clear  solution
without residue.  The extract was then dissolved  in cold strong alcohol, and the solu-
tion, having been decolorized with animal charcoal, was allowed to evaporate in the
air.   Simon obtained from 55 pounds of the  seeds only 80 grains of crystallized sina-
pisin.  (Annal. der Pharm., xxvi. 291.)
   Sulpho-sinapisin, the peculiar ingredient of  white mustard  seed, is  white, crystal-
lizable, inodorous, bitter, and soluble in  alcohol and water, forming a yellow solution.
 It was  at  first thought by MM. Henry and Garot to be  an acid, but they afterwards
 ascertained that it was neuter.  It consists of sulphur, nitrogen,  carbon, hydrogen,
 and oxygen.   It may be obtained from white mustard  seeds, previously  deprived of
the fixed oil by expression, by boiling them in water, evaporating the decoction to the
 consistence of honey, mixing the residue with 6  or 8 times its volume of anhydrous
 alcohol which precipitates various substances, then distilling off the alcohol, and set-
ting aside the syrupy residue to crystallize.  The crystals may be purified by repeated
solution and crystallization in alcohol. (Berzelius, Traite" de Chimie.)  This principle,
which has also been called sinapin, is considered by L. von Babo and Hirschbrunn to
be the  sulphocyanuret of  an alkaloid, to which they propose to cosine the name of
sinapin, and for which they give the formula NC32H260]2.  The sulphocyanuret of sinapin
is obtained from seeds, already so far exhausted by cold alcohol  as to yield only a
pale-yellow colour to that liquid, by boiling them in alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-833, evapo-
ratiug the liquor, and crystallizing.   It has an  appearance like that  of  crystallized
sulphate of quinia, is soluble with difficulty in cold water and alcohol, but readily in
both liquids when hot, and is nearly  insoluble in ether.   When boiled with  alkalies,
it yields an acid called sinapic acid.   It is difficult to separate the organic base sina-
pin from it, because this is decomposed by alkalies.   It does not appear that  sulpho-
cyanuret of sinapin yields  with synaptase the  acrid principle developed in white
mustard seeds by water;  but the a,uthors state  that another substance rich in sul-
phur has been ascertained by Simon  to exist in white mustard seeds, which plays an
important part  in the production of the pungent matter.  (See Chem.  Gaz., March 1,
1853, p. 81.) 
720
Sinapis.—Sodium.
part i.
can only have the effect of impairing its  medical virtues, and that the best
vehicle, whether for external or internal use, is water at common temperatures
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Mustard seeds swallowed whole operate as
a laxative, and have  acquired some reputation as a remedy in dyspepsia and
other complaints  attended with torpid bowels and deficient excitement.  ' The
white seeds are preferred, and are taken in the dose of a tablespoonful once or
twice a clay,  mixed with molasses, or previously softened and rendered mucila-
ginous  by immersion in hot water.  They probably act in some measure by
mechanically stimulating the bowels.  The bruised seeds or powder, in  the
quantity of a large teaspoonful, operate as an emetic.   Mustard in this state
is applicable to cases  of great torpor of stomach, especially that resulting from
narcotic poisons.  It  rouses the gastric susceptibility, and facilitates the action
of  other emetics.   In smaller quantities it  is useful as a safe  stimulant of the
digestive  organs; and, as it is frequently determined to the kidneys, has been
beneficially employed in dropsy.   Whey, made by boiling half an ounce of the
bruised seeds or powder in a pint of milk and straining, is a convenient form
for administration.   It may be given in the dose of a wineglassful  repeated
several  times a day.  But mustard is most valuable  as a rubefacient.  Mixed
with water in the form of a cataplasm, and applied to  the skin, it very soon
produces  redness with burning pain, which in less  than an  hour usually be-
comes  insupportable.  When a speedy impression  is  not desired,  especially
when the sinapism is applied to the extremities, the powder should be diluted
with an equal portion of rye meal or wheat flour.   Care  should be taken not
to  allow  the application to continue too  long, as  vesication with obstinate
ulceration, and even sphacelus may result.  This caution is particularly neces-
sary when the patient is insensible, and the degree of  pain can afford no cri-
terion of  the sufficiency of the  action.   The volatile oil,  which is powerfully
rubefacient, and capable  of producing speedy vesication, has been considerably
used in  Germany.   For external application as a rubefacient,  30 drops maybe
dissolved in a fluidounce of alcohol, or 6 or  8  drops in a fluidrachm of almond
or olive oil.   It has been  given  internally  in colic,  two drops being incorpo-
rated with a six-ounce mixture, and half a fluidounce given for a dose. (See
Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xi. 9.)   In overdoses  it  is  highly poisonous, pro-
ducing gastro-enteric  inflammation, and probably perverting the vital processes
by pervading the whole  system.   Its odour is perceptible in the blood, and it
is said to  impart the  smell of horseradish to the urine.
   Off.   Prep. Cataplasma  Sinapis;  Emplastrum Cantharidis Compositum;
Infusum Armoracias.                                                 yy.


                               SODIUM.

                                 Sodium.
  Sodium, Fr.; Natrium, Natronmetall, Germ.;  Sodio, Ital.,  Span.
  Sodium  is a peculiar metal, forming the radical of the alkali soda.  It was
discovered by Sir H. Davy  in  1807, who  obtained it  in small quantity by
decomposing the alkali  by the  agency of galvanic  electricity.   It was after-
wards procured in much larger quantities by Gay-Lussac and Thenard, by
bringing the alkali in contact with iron turnings'heated to  whiteness.   The
iron became oxidized, and the metallic radical of the soda was liberated.   Since
the discovery of a mode for obtaining aluminium in bars,  by Deville, in 1854,
the process for  procuring sodium, which is the  decomposing agent, has been
very much improved and cheapened. (Seepage 83.)   Sodium is now obtained
on a large scale by igniting an intimate mixture of dry carbonate of soda, coal,
and chalk. (See Am.  Journ. of Pharm., Sept., 1856, 417.) 
PART I.
Sodium.—Sodse Acetas.
721
  Sodium is a soft, malleable, sectile solid, of a silver-white colour.   It pos-
sesses the metallic lustre in a high degree, when protected from the  action of
the air, by which it is quickly tarnished and oxidized. Its sp. gr. is 0-97, fusing
point about 200°, equivalent number 23-3, and symbol Na. Its chemical affini-
ties resemble those of potassium, but are less energetic.   Like potassium it has
a strong attraction for oxygen.   When thrown upon  cold water it  instantly
fuses  into a globule without inflaming, and traverses the surface in different
directions with rapidity;  on hot  water it inflames.   In  both cases the water is
decomposed, hydrogen is liberated, and a solution of soda generated.   It com-
bines  also with a larger proportion of oxygen than exists in soda, forming  a
teroxide. This oxide is always formed when the metal is burnt in the open air.
  Sodium is a constituent  of a number of important medicinal preparations,'
and is briefly described in this place as an introduction  to  these compounds.
Its protoxide  only is salifiable, constituting the  alkali  soda, which, united to
acids, gives rise to a  numerous class of compounds, called salts of soda.   These
are characterized by their communicating  to the blowpipe flame a rich yellow
colour, and  by not being precipitable  by any reagent,  except the metantimo-
niate  of potassa.  (Seepage 614.)  Protoxide of sodium (dry soda) consists of
one eq.  of sodium 23-3, and one of oxygen 8=31'3.   United with one eq, of
water 9, it forms hydrate of soda (caustic soda), weighing 40-3.
  The officinal combinations containing  sodium are chloride of sodium, the
solutions of soda and  chlorinated soda, the acetate, borate, carbonate, bicar-
bonate, phosphate, sulphate, and  valerianate of soda, and the tartrate of potassa
and soda.   The description of some of these combinations will immediately
follow;  and the  remainder will be noticed, under their respective  titles  in
Part II.                                                  F          r
                   SODM ACETAS.  U.S., Dub.

                            Acetate of Soda.

   Terra foliata tartari, Lat,; Acetate de soude, Fr.; Essigsaures Natron, Germ. ■ Ace-
 tato di soda, Ital.
   Acetate of soda is included among the Preparations by the Dublin College •
 but, as it is obtained on a large  scale by the manufacturing chemist,  it is more
 properly placed in the catalogue of the Materia Medica in the United States
 Pharmacopoeia.
 ^ Preparation.  The Dublin College obtains this salt by the following process.
 "Take of Crystallized Carbonate  of Soda of commerce one pound [avoirdupois!
 or a sufficient quantity;  Acetic Acid of commerce (sp. gr. 1-044) one pint [Imp!
 meas.].   To the Acid, placed in a porcelain capsule, add by degrees the Car-
 bonate of Soda, and, taking  care that there shall be a slight  excess of Acid
 evaporate the resulting  solution  till a pellicle begins to form on its surface, and
 set it by to crystallize.   The crystals, when drained of the mother liquor,' and
 dried by a short exposure to air on a porous brick, should be enclosed in a well
 stopped bottle." Dub.
  Acetate of soda is prepared by the manufacturer of crude pyroligneous acid
for the purpose of being decomposed so as  to yield the officinal acetic acid by
the action of sulphuric acid.  The steps of the process by which it is made from
the crude acid have been given under the head of Acidum Aceticum (page 19)
  Properties, &c.   Acetate of soda is a white salt, crystallized in  long striated
prisms, and possessing  a sharp,  bitterish, not disagreeable taste.   Exposed to
a dry air it effloresces slowly, and loses about forty per cent, of its weight.  It
is soluble in about three parts of cold water, and in twenty-four of alcohol 
722
Sodae Acetas.—Sodse Boras.
PART I.
Subjected to heat it undergoes first the aqueous  and then the igneous fusion
and is finally decomposed; the residue being a mixture of carbonate of soda and
charcoal.   By the addition of sulphuric  acid it is decomposed, the acetic acid
being liberated, known by its acetous odour, and  sulphate of soda formed. The
salt should be perfectly neutral to test paper, and not precipitated by chloride
of barium, nitrate of silver, or bichloride of platinum.  The non-action of these
tests shows the absence of sulphates, chlorides, and salts of potassa,  For the
proper action of the nitrate of silver test, the solution should be dilute •  for  if
it be strong, there will be  a crystalline precipitate of acetate  of silver,  which
dissolves on the addition of water.  Acetate of soda, when crystallized, consists
of one eq.  of acetic acid  51, one of soda 31*3, and six of water 54=136-3.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Acetate of soda is diuretic, and possesses
generally the  same medical properties as acetate of potassa,  to which article
the reader  is referred.  It is, however, more convenient for exhibition than the
latter salt,  as it is not deliquescent.  The close is from a scruple to two drachms.
It is employed principally to yield acetic acid by the action of sulphuric  acid.
                                                                     B."

                        SOME  BORAS. U S.

                            Borate of Soda.

  Biborate of soda.  U. S.
   Off. Syn. BORAX.  Lond., Ed, Dub.
  Borate de soude, Borax, Fr.;  Boraxsaures Natron, Borax,  Germ.; Borace, Ital.;
Borrax, Span.; Boorak, Arab.
  Borax was known to  the  ancients, but its chemical nature was first  ascer-
tained by Geoffroy in 1732.  It exists native, and may be obtained by artificial
means.   It occurs in several localities in Europe, in Peru, and in  beds, associ-
ated with borate of lime, in the district of Iquique, in the Republic of Ecuador.
This mineral, which has become an article of commerce, contains from  13 to
19 per cent, of borate of soda, and from 23 to 26 per cent, of borate  of lime.
(Le Canu,  Journ. de Pharm.,  July, 1853, p. 22.)  It also  contains,  usually,
some iodine and bromine. (G.  Sims.)   Borax is found  abundantly in certain
lakes of Thibet and Persia, from which it is obtained by spontaneous evapo-
ration.  The impure borax, called in commerce tincal or crude borax, concretes
on the borders of these lakes.   As thus obtained  it is in  the form of crystalline
masses, which are sometimes colourless, sometimes yellowish or greenish, and
always covered with an  earthy coating,  greasy to the touch, and  having the
odour of soap.   The greasy appearance is derived from a fatty matter, saponi-
fied by soda.   The tincal is transferred to the seaports of India, especially Cal-
cutta, from which it is exported to this country in chests.  Besides Indian tin-
cal, there is another  commercial variety of borax which comes from China, and
which is partially refined.   Both varieties require to be purified before  being
used in medicine or the arts.
  Purification.   The method of refining borax was originally possessed as a
secret by the Yenetians and Dutch, but is now practised in several European
countries.  The process pursued in France, as reported by Robiquet and Mar-
chand, is as follows.   The tincal is placed in a large wooden vessel, and covered
to the depth of three or four inches with  water; in which state it is allowed to
remain for five or six hours, being agitated from time to time.  Slaked lime is
now added, in the proportion of one part to four hundred of the impure salt;
and the whole, being thoroughly mixed, is allowed to remain  at  rest till the
succeeding day.   The salt is next  separated by means of a sieve, the crystals
being crumbled between  the  hands, and placed  so as to drain.  The object of 
PART I.
Sodse Boras.
723
 this treatment is to separate the soapy matter, with which the lime forms an in-
 soluble soap; and at the same time sulphate of soda and chloride of sodium are
 removed, with only a minute loss of the borax.   The borax being drained  is
 next dissolved, by  the assistance of heat, in two  and a half times its weight  of
 water, and the solution treated with one-fiftieth of its weight of chloride of cal-
 cium, in order to complete the separation of the soapy matter; after which it
 is strained through a coarse  bag.   The liquor  is then concentrated by heat,
 and run into wooden vessels, lined with lead, having the shape of an inverted
 quadrangular pyramid.   If care be taken that  the  cooling proceed very gra-
 dually, distinct crystals will be obtained, such as  are found in commerce; other-
 wise, crystalline crusts will be formed.   The  Chinese borax is purified in a
 similar manner; but, being less impure than the common  tincal, does not re-
 quire to be washed.
    Preparation of Artificial Borax.  Large quantities of borax are now  made
 by the direct combination  of native boracic acid with soda.  The acid is found
 abundantly in the crater of Vulcano, one of the Lipari Islands; but principally
 in  a  volcanic region of  Tuscany, occupying  a  space of ten or twelve miles.
 Within this region are found numerous hillocks and fissures, the latter of which
 emit hot aqueous vapour, containing boracic acid and certain gases.   Around
 one or several of these fissures, a circular basin of  masonry is built, which is filled
 with water, and called a lagoon.   By the jets of vapour, constantly breaking
 through  it, the  water  becomes gradually impregnated with boracic  acid, and
 heated. A series of such  lagoons are made to communicate with each other on
 the declivity of a hill, and the lowest to discharge itself into a reservoir, where
 the solution is allowed to rest, and deposit mechanical impurities.  From this re-
 servoir the solution is made to pass into leaden evaporating pans, heated by the
 natural vapour, where it receives sufficient concentration to fit it for being con-
 ducted into wooden tubs, where it is allowed to cool and crystallize.   The crude
 acid, thus obtained, contains, on an average, 84  per cent, of boracic acid; the
 impurities consisting chiefly of alum, the double sulphate of ammonia and  mag-
 nesia, and  sulphate of lime.  The product of the  Tuscany lagoons in 1855 was
 over 1800 tons.  (A.  Pechiney-Rangot. Journ. de Pharm., xxviii. 358.)  The
 crude acid is converted into borax  by dissolving  it to saturation in a solution
 of carbonate of soda, heated by steam, and the liquor, after boiling, is allowed
 to stand for  ten or twelve hours.   It is then drawn off into wooden vessels
 lined with lead, where it crystallizes.  The impure crystals, thus obtained, are
 refined by dissolving them in water heated by steam, adding carbonate of  soda
 to the solution, and crystallizing.   The merit  of introducing the  process for
 obtaining artificial borax belongs to Cartier and  Payen, who succeeded in  esta-
 blishing its manufacture in France, notwithstanding  the strong prejudice, felt
 by the workers in metals, against the use of the artificial salt.
   Properties.  Borax is a white salt, generally crystallized in flattened hexa-
 hedral prisms, terminated by triangular pyramids, and  possessing a sweetish,
 feebly alkaline taste, and an alkaline reaction.   It dissolves in twelve times its
 weight  of cold, and twice its weight of boiling water.  Exposed to the air it
 effloresces slowly, and the surface of the crystals becomes covered with a white
 powder.   Subjected to a moderate heat it undergoes the aqueous fusion, swells
 considerably, and  finally becomes a dry porous mass, with loss of half its weight.
 Above a red heat it melts into a limpid liquid,  which, after cooling, concretes
 into a transparent solid, called glass of borax, much used  as a flux in assays
with the blowpipe.   Borax has been found, in the English market, adulterated
to the extent of 20 per cent, with  phosphate of  soda.   This may be detected
by exposing the suspected borax to the heat of a drying room for a few hours,
when the phosphate, if present, will effloresce, and may be picked out. 
724
Sodse Boras.
part i.
   Borax has the property of rendering cream of tartar very soluble in water
 and forms a combination with it called soluble cream of tartar, which is some-
 times used in medicine.  This preparation is made by boiling six parts of cream
 of tartar and two of  borax in sixteen of water for five minutes, allowing the
 solution to cool, and then filtering to separate some tartrate of lime.  Soluble
 cream of tartar attracts moisture from the air, and is soluble in its own wcMit
 of cold, and half its weight of boiling water.   A similar preparation ma\Tbe
 made by substituting  boracic acid for the borax.   Boracic acid soluble cream
 of tartar is directed by the French Codex, and is made by the following formula.
 Four hundred parts of cream of tartar and 100 of the acid are dissolved in a sil-
 ver basin, at the boiling temperature, in  2400 parts of water.  The  solution is
 kept boiling until the greater part of the water is consumed.   The fire is then
 moderated,  and the solution continually stirred while the evaporation proceeds.
 When the matter has become very thick, it is  removed by portions, which are
 flattened in the hand, completely dried by the heat of a  stove, powdered, and
 kept in well stopped  bottles.  This  form of soluble cream of tartar is more
 soluble than that made with borax.  According to M. E. Robiquet, in order to
 obtain  soluble cream  of tartar, made with  boracic acid, of good quality, it is
 necessary to use a large quantity of water, and to boil for a long time.  By pro-
 ceeding thus, the boracic acid  undergoes a molecular modification,  equivalent
 to a change from the crystallized to the vitreous condition,  and a preparation,
 readily and totally soluble  in cold water, is insured.   The product should not
 be powdered, but kept in large  grains. (Journ. de Pharm,  xxi. 197.)
   Composition,   Borax consists of two eqs.  of boracic acid 69-8, and one of
 soda 31-3 = 101-1.  It ordinarily crystallizes in prisms, and contains ten eqs. of
 water (prismatic borax); but a variety of the salt exists, which crystallizes in
 octohedrons, and contains  only five eqs. of water  (octohedral borax).   The
 latter is obtained in the artificial production of borax, by crystallizing from a
 concentrated solution  at a temperature between 174° and 133°. When a solu-
 tion  of borax is evaporated  at 212°, the salt is left as a  transparent, amor-
 phous,  brittle mass, containing  four eqs.  of water. (Schweitzer.)  In composi-
 tion borax is a biborate, though sometimes called a subborate on account of its
 possessing an alkaline reaction.
   Boracic  acid may  be obtained artificially by decomposing a hot  saturated
 solution of  borax with sulphuric acid, which unites with the soda to form sul-
 phate of soda, and sets free the acid.  As thus obtained it is in white, shining,
 scaly crystals, characterized by  the property of imparting a light-green colour
 to the flame of burning alcohol.  Boracic  acid consists of one eq. of boron 10-9,
 and three of oxygen 24=34-9.  Boron  is  a non-metallic element, which, like
 silicon, exists in three allotropic states, called amorphous, graphitoid, and crys-
 tallized boron, representing  severally charcoal, graphite, and diamond.   Crys-
 tallized boron  is very brilliant, and of different colours, from  garnet-red  to a
 nearly colourless  honey-yellow.  Its density is 2-68, and hardness very great.
 Wohler and Deville distinguish three varieties  of crystals, containing from two
 to four per cent,  of carbon;  and one specimen, in  addition to carbon, about
 seven per cent, of aluminium.  The hardest variety was  as hard  as diamond.
 (See  Chem. Gaz., Aug. 1, 1857, p. 281.)
   Medical Properties.   Borax is a mild refrigerant and diuretic.   It is sup-
 posed also to exercise  a specific influence over  the uterus, promoting menstrua-
 tion,  facilitating parturition, and favouring the expulsion of the placenta. Dr.
 Bmswanger denies its specific power of  exciting uterine contractions, or pro-
 moting menstruation.   Nevertheless, Dr. Daniel Stahl, of Indiana, has found it
 useful in dysmenorrhoea, occurring in sanguineous constitutions, venesection
being premised.  He gives it in doses of about  nine grains every two hours, in a 
PART I.
Sodse Boras.—Sodee Carbonas.
725
 tablespoonful of flaxseed tea, for two days before the time of the expected return
 of the menses.  Virey deemed it aphrodisiac; and, according to Dr. J. C. Hub-
 bard, it is eminently so, when used in the form of enema.   Binswanger con-
 siders borax as the best remedy that can  be used in  nephritic  and calculous
 complaints, dependent on an excess of uric  acid.  It probably acts in such cases
 as an alkali, the soda of the salt neutralizing the uric acid, occurring in the
 urinary passages, and the boracic acid being set free.   The dose is from thirty
 to forty grains.  In infantile diarrhoea, unattended by lesions of the intestinal
 mucous membrane, M. Bouchut has found borax peculiarly efficacious, given in
 the form of enema, made by dissolving from two to five drachms in four fluid-
 ounces of water.   Cream of tartar  is conveniently rendered more soluble by
 borax or boracic acid, when it is desirable  to administer it in large quantities.
 Externally the solution of borax is used  as a wash in scaly eruptions.  A solu-
 tion formed by dissolving a drachm of the salt in two fluidounces of distilled
 vinegar has been found,  both by Dr. Abercrombie and Dr. Christison, an excel-
 lent lotion for ringworm of the scalp.   Borax has been employed with  good
 effect by Dr. Brinton in an inveterate case of cracked tongue, applied as a lotion,
 made  by dissolving two  scruples of borax in  an ounce of  glycerin, and  four
 fluidounces of water.  This salt is very  much used as a detergent  in aphthous
 affections of the mouth in children.  When employed for this  purpose,  it is
 generally applied in powder, either mixed with sugar in the proportion of one
 part to seven,  or rubbed up with honey.  (See Mel Boracis.)
    Borax is used in the arts for soldering metals, its  effect being  to keep the
 surfaces free from oxidation.
    Off. Prep.  Mel Boracis.                                           B.


             SOD.E  CARBONAS.   U.  S, Lond,,  Ed.

                          Carbonate  of Soda.

    Off.  Syn.  SOD.E CARBONAS CRYSTALLIZATUM.  Dub.
   Carbonate de soude, Fr.; Einfach Kohlensaures Natron,  Germ.; Carbonato di soda,
 Ital.; Carbonato de soda, Span.
   In the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia this  salt has always been placed in the list of the
 Materia Medica; the crystallized carbonate of  soda, obtained on a large scale
 by the manufacturing chemist, being sufficiently pure, without further prepara-
 tion, for medicinal  use.   The  same position is now given to it by the three
 British Colleges.
   Before  entering upon  the consideration of the carbonate of soda, we  shall
 speak generally of the sources of the alkali soda.
   The sources of carbonated soda may be divided into the natural and artificial.
 The natural sources are the minerals  of native soda, and certain marine plants
 which yield the alkali in  their ashes;  the artificial are certain salts which fur-
 nish it by chemical  decomposition.
   Native soda, sometimes called natron,  is  found chiefly in  Hungary, Egypt,
 and South America, and  exists, in  these  countries, either in the earth of the
 surface, which often exhibits a saline efflorescence, or in  solution in small lakes,
 from which it is extracted by taking advantage of the drying up of the water
 during  the heats of summer.   The native soda from Egypt, called trona, is a
 sesquicarbonate; while that from  South America is less carbonated.  Native
soda, in the form of a sesquicarbonate, has been  found in a soda lake in the ter-
ritory of the Nizam, in Hindostan.
  Impure soda, derived from  the ashes of  plants  growing on the surface or
borders  of the  sea,  is called barilla or kelp, according  to the character of the 
726
Sodas Carbonas.
PART I.
plants incinerated.   Barilla is obtained from several vegetables, principal Iv be-
longing to the genera Salsola, Salicomia, and Chenopodium.  In Spain, Sicily
and some other countries, these plants are cultivated for the purpose of yielding
soda by their combustion.   When ripe, they are cut down, dried, and burnt in
heaps.  The ashes form a  semi-fused, hard, and compact saline mass, which is
broken up into fragments  by means of pickaxes, and thrown  into commerce
Kelp, called vareck in France, is procured by the incineration of various kinds
of sea-weeds, principally the algas and fuci,  which grow on the rocky coasts of
many countries.  The Orkneys and Hebrides, and the rocky coasts of Wales
Scotland, and  Ireland  furnish large quantities  of these weeds.   The plants
are fermented in heaps, then dried, and  afterwards  burnt  to ashes  in ovens
roughly made with brick or stone, and built in the ground.  The alkali in the
ashes melts, and forms the  whole into one solid mass.  When cold, it is broken
up with iron instruments  into large heavy masses, in which state  it is found
in commerce.   About twenty-four tons of sea-weeds produce one of kelp.
  Barilla, when of good  quality, is in  hard, dry, porous, sonorous, grayish-
blue masses, which  become  covered with a saline efflorescence after exposure to
the air.   It  possesses a peculiar odour  and  alkaline taste.  Spanish barilla
contains from twenty-five to forty per cent, of real carbonated alkali; the residue
being made up of sulphate  of soda, sulphuret and chloride of sodium, carbonate
of lime, alumina, silica, oxidized  iron, and  a  small portion of charcoal which
has escaped  combustion.   Before  the introduction of artificial soda, barilla
formed the  source  of the  crystallized carbonate  employed in medicine.  At
present barilla is principally used in the manufacture of soap.
  Kelp is in hard,  vesicular masses, of a dark-gray, bluish,  or greenish colour,
sulphurous odour, and acrid, caustic taste.  It is  still  less  pure than barilla,
containing only from five to eight per cent, of carbonated soda; the rest being
made up of  a large proportion of the sulphates of soda and potassa, and the
chlorides of potassium and sodium, a small quantity of iodide of sodium, and
insoluble and colouring matters.  Large quantities of kelp were formerly manu-
factured in Great Britain and the neighbouring islands, particularly the Ork-
neys ;  but the demand and production have greatly fallen off,  since the intro-
duction of artificial soda at a comparatively low price.  At present kelp is used
principally in the manufacture of iodine.  (See Iodinium,)
  Artificial Soda.  This is made from common salt by two  steps; first, by con-
verting the salt by  sulphuric acid into sulphate of soda, and secondly, by decom-
posing the sulphate by  carbonate of lime and  charcoal at a high temperature,
so as to  yield carbonate of soda.   The sulphate, first dried, is mixed with its
own weight  of ground  limestone, and half its weight of small coal, ground
and sifted, and the  whole is  heated  in a  reverberatory furnace, where it fuses
and forms a black mass, called black ash, soda ball, or British barilla.   The
coal,  at  the  temperature employed, converts  the  sulphate of soda  into sul-
phuret of sodium.  This reacts with the  limestone, so as to fonn sulphuret  of
calcium and carbonate of soda (NaS and CaO,C02=CaS and  NaO,C02).   If
this  compound were digested in water, sulphuret of sodium and carbonate  of
lime would lie reproduced.  To prevent this result a large excess of lime is used,
which gives rise to the formation of an oxysulphuret of calcium  (3CaS,CaO),
which is insoluble in water, and without action on carbonate of soda.  British
barilla contains about 36 per cent, of alkali, imperfectly carbonated on account
of the high heat used ; the remainder being principally oxysulphuret of calcium,
caustic lime, and coaly matter.  It is next digested in warm water, which takes
up the alkali and other  soluble matters,  and  leaves  the insoluble impurities,
called soda waste.  The solution is evaporated to dryness, and the mass obtained
is calcined with  one-fourth of its weight  of sawdust, in order  to convert the 
PART I.
Sodae Carbonas.
727
alkali fully into carbonate, by means of the  carbonic acid resulting from  the
combustion of the sawdust.  The product is redissolved in water, and the solu-
tion evaporated to dryness.  The alkali, in this stage of its purification, contains
about 50 per cent, of carbonate of soda and is called soda-ash,  It is brought
to the state of crystallized carbonate of soda by dissolving it in water, straining
the solution, evaporating it to a pellicle, and setting  it aside to crystallize.  On
the subject of the products of the soda manufacture, see the elaborate paper of
John Brown, Esq., in the Philos. 3Iag. for Jan. 1849.
   The process  here described, for obtaining  soda from common salt, was dis-
covered in  1784 by Leblanc; and the first manufactory for procuring it on  a
large scale was established in  1*190, near Paris, by Leblanc and  Dize.   The
process is pursued on an immense scale in Great Britain,  especially at Liver-
pool and (Jlasgow, and produces soda at  so small a  cost, that barilla and kelp
are nearly  superseded as sources of the alkali.
   A new process for manufacturing artificial soda from  sulphate of soda has
been proposed by M.  Emile Kopp, and has been successfully carried into opera-
tion on  a  large scale, near Manchester, England.   It consists in decomposing
the sulphate by sesquioxide of iron and  coal.   The advantages claimed for this
process are that the arrangements made for fabricating soda by Leblanc's pro-
cess are applicable without alteration; that  the whole of the sulphur of  the
sulphate may be  recovered, instead of being  lost in  the waste oxysulphuret of
calcium of the old process; and  that it is more independent of the skill of  the
workmen.  (See Journ, de Pharm. Nov.  1856, p. 360.)
   The different kinds of  impure carbonate of soda, whether barilla, kelp,  or
soda-ash, being exceedingly variable in composition, it is important to have a
ready method of determining the quantity of real carbonated alkali which they
contain.  The mode in which this is  done, by means  of an instrument called an
alkalimeter, has been  already explained.  (Seepage 613.) These various forms
of carbonated  soda are largely consumed in dyeing  and  bleaching, and in the
manufacture of soap  and glass.
   The following are descriptions of the different  grades of artificial  soda,
known under the names of British barilla, soda-ash, and carbonate of  soda.
   British barilla,.so called to distinguish it from Spanish barilla, which has
its  source  in  the ashes of maritime plants, is a  blackish-brown substance,
becoming darker  by exposure to the air.  When broken it exhibits an imperfect
metallic lustre, and a close striated texture.  Its taste is hepatic and caustic.
By exposure to a moist atmosphere,  it becomes covered with a yellow  efflores-
cence, and quickly falls to powder, with disengagement of  heat and sulphuretted
hydrogen ; at the same time increasing in weight by the absorption of carbonic
acid and water.
   Soda-ash is in  white or gray compact  masses, and contains about half its
weight of foreign salts, consisting principally of chloride of sodium and sulphate
of soda.
   Carbonate of soda is a colourless salt,  possessing a disagreeable taste and
alkaline  reaction, and crystallizing usually in  large oblique rhombic  prisms,
which speedily effloresce when exposed to the  air.   When heated it undergoes
the aqueous fusion;  and, if the heat be continued, it dries and finally suffers
the igneous fusion.   Of the crystallized salt,  100 parts of water  dissolve 60 at
57°, 833 at  97° (temperature of maximum  solubility),  and 445  at 219°,  or
the boiling point of the solution.  (Payen.)  This salt presents some anomalies
in solubility, as ascertained by M. Henri Loewel.  Carbonate of soda is insoluble
in alcohol.   The most usual impurities in it are sulphate of soda and common
salt,  which may be detected by converting it into a  nitrate, and testing sepa-
rate  portions of  this severally with  chloride of barium  and nitrate of silver. 
728
Sodee  Carbonas.—Sodae Sulphas.
PART I.
 Common salt is seldom entirely absent, but good specimens are free from sulph-
 ate of soda,  When badly prepared, it is liable to contain sulphuret of sodium"
 which may be detected by the production of the smell of sulphuretted hvdroo-en
 upon dissolving the salt in water.  Carbonate of soda is incompatible with acids
 acidulous salts, lime-water, muriate of ammonia, and earthy and metallic salts'
 It consists -of one eq. of carbonic  acid 22, and one of soda 31-3=53-3.  WiK,n
 fully crystallized it contains ten eqs. of water 90, giving as the number repre-
 senting  the crystallized salt 143"3.   It is thus perceived that  this salt, when
 perfectly crystallized, contains nearly two-thirds of its weight of water ■ but the
 quantity actually present  in it, as found in  the shops,  is variable, being de-
 pendent on the extent to which it may have undergone efflorescence.'
    3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Carbonate of soda  is antacid,  antilithic
 and resolvent.   It is given principally in diseases  attended with acidity of the
 stomach; such  as gout, uric acid  gravel, and certain forms of dyspepsia.   It is
 more frequently exhibited than carbonate, of potassa; as, from its  less acrid
 taste, it is  more easily taken.  It  has  also been recommended in hooping-
 cough, scrofula, and bronchocele.   In the latter  disease,  Dr. Peschier,  of
 Geneva, considered it more efficacious  than iodine.  It  is also employed with
 advantage,  internally and externally, in skin diseases,  especially those of a
 papulous and scaly character.  A lotion suitable for  these cases may be formed
 by dissolving from two to three drachms of the  carbonate in a pint  of water.
 For a bath, from eight to sixteen ounces of the salt may be dissolved in the
 necessary quantity of water.  The ointment should vary in strength from eight
 to sixty  grains to the ounce of lard, according to the character of the affection.
 Carbonate  of soda is given in doses of from  ten  grains to half a drachm,
 either in powder, or dissolved in some bitter  infusion.  In consequence of the
 variable state in which it exists in the shops, as to the  amount of water  of
 crystallization which it contains, the close cannot be indicated with  precision.
 It is on this account that the salt is most conveniently administered in  the
 dried state, which admits  of its being given in the  pilular form.  (See Sodse
 Carbonas Exsiccatus.)  When taken in an  overdose it acts as a corrosive
 poison.  The best  antidotes are fixed oils, acetic acid, and lemon juice.
   Pharm. Uses. Carbonate of soda is used as a chemical agent by the Edin-
 burgh College in preparing sulphate of  quinia, and by the London College in
 making ammonio-citrate of iron.
   Off. Preyx  Calcis  Carbonas Prascipitatus; Ferri Carbonas  Saccharatum;
 Fern Subcarbonas;  Liquor Sodas; Liquor Sodas Chlorinate;; Magnesias Car-
 bonas; Magnesias Carbonas Ponderosum;  Pilulas Ferri Carbonatis; Pil. Ferri
 Composites; Sodas  Acetas;  Sodas Bicarbonas;  Sodas■ Carbonas Exsiccatus;
 Sodas  Carbonatis Liquor; Sodas et Potassas Tartras;  Sodas Phosphas; Zinci
 Carbonas Praecipitatus.                                               p.


           SODJ3  SULPHAS. U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                          Sulphate of Soda.

  Vitriolated soda, Glauber's salt; Sulfate de soude, Fr.; Schwefelsaures Natron, Glau-
 bersalz, Germ.; Solfato di soda, hat; Sulfato de soda, Sal de Glaubero, Span.
   Sulphate of  soda, m small quantities, is extensively diffused  in  nature, and
 is  obtained artificially in several chemical operations.   It exists in solution in
 many mineral springs, among which may be mentioned those of Cheltenham
 andCarlsbad;  and it is found combined with sulphate  of lime, constituting a
distinct mineral.   Many  ponds containing this salt  are  found in the country
between Santa Fe and the head waters of the Arkansas, and  on the route  to 
PART I.
Sodas Sulphas.
729
 the Rocky Mountains.  The water in one of these ponds forms a solution so
 highly concentrated that, in dry weather, the salt crystallizes on the surface to
 the depth of several inches, so as to  have the appearance of limpid ice.  (Am.
 Journ, of Pharm., xii. 110.)   As an artificial product, it is formed in the
 processes for obtaining muriatic acid and chlorine, and in the preparation of
 muriate of ammonia from sulphate of ammonia and common salt.  It may
 also be procured from sea-water, in which its ingredients are present.
    Of the Pharmacopoeias commented on in  this work, the Edinburgh is the
 only one which gives a formula for preparing sulphate of soda.  It is directed to
 be obtained from the salt, left after the distillation of muriatic acid,  by the fol-
 lowing process.   Dissolve two pounds  of the salt,  which is a supersulphate of
 soda, in three pints (Imp. meas.) of  boiling  water.  Then saturate the excess
 of acid with powdered white marble, and, having boiled the liquid and filtered
 it^wash the insoluble matter with boiling water, and add the washings to the
 original liquid.   Lastly concentrate the solution to a pellicle, and set it aside
 to crystallize.  In this process the excess of acid is removed by converting it
 into the insoluble sulphate of lime.
    Immense quantities of sulphate of soda  are made by decomposing common
 salt by sulphuric acid, in the manufacture of  soda-ash and carbonate of soda;
 and, so far from the  generated muriatic  acid being a product of value, its ab-
 sorption  in a convenient way, so as to avoid the nuisance of its escape into the
 atmosphere in a gaseous state, is  an object of importance to the manufacturer.
 (See Acidum 3Iuriaticum.)  MM. Thomas, Dellisse, and Boucard have pro-
 posed a new process for preparing sulphate of soda, by double decomposition
 between chloride of sodium and sulphate of iron. This process avoids the pro-
 duction of muriatic acid vapours, and is said to furnish a cheap salt.
   The residue of the process for obtaining chlorine, by the action of sulphuric
 acid and deutoxide of manganese on  common salt, is a mixture of sulphate of
 soda and sulphate of protoxide of manganese.  (See Chlorinii Liquor.)  Large
 quantities of this residue are formed in manufacturing chlorinated lime (bleach-
 ing salt);  and the sulphate of soda in it, roughly  purified, supplies a part of
 the consumption of  this salt in making soda-ash and carbonate of, soda.
   The process for obtaining muriate of ammonia from sulphate of ammonia
 and common salt, forms another source of  sulphate  of soda,  By double de-
 composition, sulphate of soda and muriate of ammonia are formed; and by
 exposing the mixed salts to heat,  the muriate of ammonia sublimes, and  the
 sulphate of soda remains behind. (See Ammonise 3Iurias.)
   In some of the Northern States, a portion of Glauber's salt is procured from
 sea-water  in the winter season.   The circumstances  under  which it  is formed
 have been  explained by Mr. Daniel B. Smith, of this city.  The constituents
 of a number of salts exist in sea-water, and the binary order in which  these
 constituents will precipitate during evaporation, depends on the  temperature.
 During the prevalence of rigorous cold, sulphate of soda is the  least soluble
 salt  which can be formed out of the acids and bases present, and consequently
 separates in the form of crystals.
   Properties.  Sulphate  of soda is  a colourless salt, possessing a cooling,
 nauseous,  bitter taste, and crystallizing with great facility in six-sided striated
 prisms.  When recently prepared, it is  beautifully transparent;  but by  ex-
 posure to  the air it effloresces, and the crystals become covered with an opaque
 white powder.  By long exposure it undergoes complete efflorescence, and falls
to powder with loss of more than half its  weight.   It is soluble in three times
its weight of cold  water, and in its own weight of boiling water, but is insol-
uble in alcohol.   Subjected to heat, it dissolves in its water of crystallization,
then dries, and afterwards, by the  application of a  red heat, melts, with the 
 730               Sodae Sulphas.—Sodii Chloridum.           part i.

 loss of 551 per cent, of its weight,  Occasionally it contains an excess of acid
 or alkali, which may be discovered by litmus or turmeric paper.   The presence
 of common salt may be detected by sulphate of silver;  that of iron  by ferro-
 cyanuret of potassium or tincture of galls.   This salt is not subject to adulte-
 ration.  It is incompatible with carbonate of potassa, chloride of calcium the
 salts of baryta, acetate and subacetate of lead, and with nitrate of silver if the
 solutions are strong.  It consists of one eq. of sulphuric acid 40  one of soda
 31*3, and ten of water 90=161-3.
   3Ieclical Properties and Uses.   Sulphate of  soda, in doses of  from half an
 ounce to an ounce, is  an efficient cathartic; in smaller doses, an aperient and
 diuretic.  When in an effloresced state, the dose  must be reduced one-half on
 account of its having lost about one-half of its weight in water.   Prof. Buck-
 heim has ascertained, by experiment, that the ingestion of this salt causes an
 increase of sulphates in the urine, especially if its purgative action be delayed
 or prevented by other medicines.   These results were not affected by the quan-
 tity of water taken with the  salt.  Sulphate of  soda is  much less used  than
 formerly, having  been almost entirely superseded by sulphate of magnesia,
 which is less disagreeable  to  take.  Its nauseous taste, however, may be dis-
 guised by the admixture of a  little lemon-juice or cream of tartar, or the addi-
 tion of a  few drops of  sulphuric  acid.  It is  an ingredient in  the  artificial
 Cheltenham salt.  (See Part III.)  Its only use in the  arts is to make  car-
 bonate of soda, and as an ingredient in  some kinds of glass.  It has no officinal
 preparations.                                                         B<

            SODII  CHLORIDUM.  U.  S., Lond., Dub.

                          Chloride of Sodium.

   Off. Syn. SOV>M MURIAS. Ed.
   Muriate of soda, Sea  salt, Common salt; Chlorure- de sodium, Hydro-chlorate de
 soude, Sel marin, Fr.; Chlornatrium, Kochsalz, Germ.; Salt, Dan., Swed.; Chlorurodi
 sodio, Sal commune, Ital.; Sal, Span.
   This mineral production, so necessary to  mankind, is  universally distributed
 over  the globe, and is the  most abundant of  the native soluble  salts.  Most
 animals have an instinctive relish  for it; and from its frequent presence in the
 solids and fluids of the animal economy, it may be supposed to perform an im-
 portant part in nutrition and  assimilation.
   Natural  State.  Common salt exists  in nature,  either in the solid state or in
 solution.   In  the solid state, called rock salt, fossil salt, and sal gemmae, it is
 often found forming extensive beds, and even entire mountains, from which it is
 extracted in blocks or masses  by mining operations.  Its geological position is
 very constant, occurring almost invariably in secondary formations, associated
 with clay and gypsum.   In  solution it  occurs in certain springs and lakes, and
 in the waters  of  the ocean.   The principal salt mines are found in Poland,
 Hungary, and Russia; in various  parts of Germany, particularly the Tyrol; in
 England, in the county of Cheshire; in Spain;  in various parts of Asia and Africa;
 and in Peru, and other countries of South America.   In the United States there
 are no salt mines, but  numerous salt springs, which  either flow naturally, or
are produced artificially by sinking wells to various depths in places where salt
is  known to exist.  These are found principally  in Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Yirginia,  and New York.   In the last-mentioned State the
 springs are the most productive; the chief ones being situated at Salina, Monte-
zuma, and Galen.   In Yirginia an important salt region exists, extending fifteen
miles on both sides of the great Kenhawa river.   Rock salt is always transparent 
PART I.
Sodii Chloridum.
731
 or translucent; but it often exhibits various colours, such as red, yellow, brown,
 violet, blue, &c, which are supposed to be derived from iron and manganese.
   Extraction.  Mines of salt are worked in two ways.   When the salt is pure
 it is merely dug out in blocks and thrown into commerce.   When impure it is
 dissolved in water, and extracted afterwards from the solution by evaporation.
 When the salt is naturally in  solution, the mode of extraction depends upon the
 strength of the brine, and the temperature of the place where it is found.   When
 the water contains from fourteen to fifteen per cent, of salt, it is extracted by
 evaporation in large iron boilers.  If, however, it contains only two, three, four,
 or five per cent., the salt is obtained in a different manner.  If the climate be
 warm it is procured by spontaneous evaporation, effected by the heat of the sun;
 if temperate; by a peculiar mode of evaporation to be mentioned presently, and
 the subsequent application of artificial heat.
   Sea-water is a weak saline solution, containing 2-7 percent, of common salt,
 which is  extracted by  the agency of solar heat in warm countries.  Salt thus
 obtained  is called bay  salt.   The extraction is conducted in Europe principally
 on the shores of the Mediterranean, the waters of  which are Salter than those
 of the open ocean.  The mode in which  it is performed is by letting the sea-
 water into shallow dikes, lined with clay, and capable, after being filled, of being
 shut off from the sea.   In this situation the heat of the sun gradually concen-
 trates the water, and the salt is deposited.  In temperate climates, weak brines
 are first concentrated in buildings, called graduation houses.  These are rough
 wooden structures  open  on the sides, ten  or eleven yards high, five or six wide,
 and three or four hundred long, and containing an oblong  pile  of brushwood
 somewhat smaller than the building itself.  The brine is pumped up into troughs
 full of holes, placed above the brushwood, upon which it is allowed to fall; and
 in its descent it becomes minutely divided.  This operation, by greatly increasing
 the surface of the brine,  promotes its evaporation;  and, being repeated  several
 times, the solution  is at last brought to the requisite degree of strength to per-
 mit of its final concentration in iron boilers by artificial heat.
   Properties.   Chloride of sodium is white, without odour, and of a peculiar
 taste  called saline.   It is usually crystallized in cubes;  but by hasty evapora-
 tion it often assumes the form of hollow quadrangular pyramids.  When pure
 it undergoes no change in  the  air; but, when contaminated with chloride of
 magnesium, as not unfrequently happens, it is deliquescent.   Water at 54° F.
 dissolves  36 per cent, of this salt, and at  the boiling temperature, 40 per cent.
 (Fehling.)   It is but  sparingly soluble in alcohol.   One hundred parts of this
 liquid (sp. gr. 0-815) dissolve, at the temperature of 59°, only 0-174 parts of
 common salt.  (R. Wagner.)   Exposed to a gradually increasing heat,  it first
 decrepitates from the presence of interstitial moisture, next melts, and finally
 volatilizes in white fumes without decomposition.  It is decomposed by several
 of the acids, particularly the sulphuric and nitric, which disengage vapours of
 muriatic acid; by carbonate of potassa with the assistance of heat; and by the
 nitrates of silver and of protoxide of mercury.
   Several varieties of  common  salt are distinguished  in commerce; as slaved
 salt, fisiwry salt, bay salt, &c.; but they are characterized by the size and com-
 pactness of the grains, rather than by any difference in composition.
   Composition.   Common salt, in its pure state, consists of one eq. of chlorine
 35-5,  and one of sodium 23-3=58-8.  It  contains no water of crystallization.
 When in solution it is by some supposed to become muriate of soda, in conse-
 quence of the decomposition of  water, the hydrogen and oxygen of  which are
alleged to convert the  chlorine and sodium into muriatic acid and soda.   The
common salt of commerce, besides pure chloride of sodium, contains, generally
speaking,  insoluble matter, and usually more or  less of the  sulphates of lime 
732
Sodii Chloridum.
PART I.
 and magnesia, and chlorides of calcium and magnesium.   When pure it is not
 precipitated by carbonate of soda, chloride of barium, or ferrocyanuret of potas-
 sium.  Chloride of calcium is generally present in very small amount; but the
 chloride of magnesium sometimes amounts to 28 parts in 1000.  Sulphate of
 lime is usually present, constituting variously from 1 to 23.V parts in 1000- and
 sulphate of magnesia is sometimes present and sometimes absent.  To separate
 the earths, a boiling solution of carbonate of soda must be added, as long as any
 precipitate is formed.  The earths will fall as carbonates, and must be separated
 by filtration, and the sulphate of soda  and chloride of sodium, resulting from
 the double decomposition, will remain in solution.   The sulphate of soda may
 then be decomposed by the cautious addition of chloride of barium, which will
 generate chloride of sodium and insoluble sulphate of baryta.
   Medical Properties, dec. Chloride of sodium, in small closes, acts as a stimu-
 lant tonic and anthelmintic; in larger ones as  a purgative and emetic.  It cer-
 tainly promotes  digestion, and the almost universal animal  appetency for it,
 proves it to be a  salutary stimulus in health.  From the experiments  of Prof!
 Buckheim, it appears that common  salt,quickly passes into the blood, and is
 thrown  off in greater part, in six hours, by  the kidneys.  The portion not
 found in the urine and feces, is probably appropriated to the  uses of the economy.
 According to the experiments of M.  Plouviez,  made upon  himself, at intervals,
 during twenty-five months, a  saline regimen  has the  effect of increasing the
 weight and strength of the body.  He began with a teaspoonful daily, which
 he increased to a tablespoonful, continuing to take this dose for a period of
 three or four months. The regimen appeared to produce plethora.  The blood,
 analyzed while under the full effects of the salt, was found to contain  more of
 the corpuscles  and salts, but less of the albumen and.water.
   Common salt has  been used with  good effect  by  a  number  of practitioners
 as a remedy in intermittent fever.   This practice is said to have been long fol-
 lowed in  Hungary.   In 1850  it was  brought  to the notice of the  profession
 by M. Scelle-Mondezert, of Charenton, oh whose results  M.  Piorry reported
 favourably.  Since then the power of common  salt as an antiperiodic has been
 attested  by Dr.  Lattimore of New  York,  Dr. Hutchinson of Brooklyn, Dr.
 Moroschkin of Russia, and others.  In some cases, observed by M. Piorry, the
 spleen rapidly diminished in size.  It is not alleged to be equal to quinia; but,
 while it  cures  many  cases, it has  the merit of cheapness'.  The close is from
 eight  to twelve  drachms,  given in divided doses during the apyrexia.  It is
 best administered in mucilage of slippery elm, or in  coffee.
   On  the sudden occurrence of hasmoptysis, common salt is usefully resorted to
 as a styptic, in  the dose of a teaspoonful, taken  dry, and often proves successful
 in stopping the flow  of blood.   Externally applied in solution it is  stimulant,
 and maybe used  either locally or generally.  Locally, it is sometimes employed
 as a fomentation in sprains and bruises; and as a general external application,
 it forms the salt-water bath, a  valuable remedy as a tonic and  excitant in de-
 praved conditions of the  system, especially when occurring  in children.  A
 pound of salt, dissolved in four gallons of water, forms a solution of about the
 strength  of sea-water, and  suitable for a bath.   The dose, as a tonic, is from
 ten grains to a drachm;  as a  cathartic, from  two drachms to  half an ounce.
 In doses of from half an ounce to an ounce, dissolved in four or five times its
 weight of  water,  it frequently proves a prompt and efficient emetic, invigorat-
ing rather than depressing the  powers of the system.   It is frequently used as
 a clyster, in the quantity of from one to two tablespoonfuls in a pint of water.
   The uses of common salt in domestic economy as a condiment and antiseptic
are well  known.   In  pharmacy it is employed  to  prepare chlorine,  muriatic
acid, muriate of  ammonia,  calomel, and corrosive sublimate   It is also used
to form sulphate  of soda, with  a view to its conversion into carbonate of soda. 
PART I.
Solidago.—Spigelia.
733
   Chloride of sodium is employed by the Edinburgh College, as a  chemical
 agent, in preparing biniodide of mercury.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum Muriaticum Purum; Chlorinei Aqua; Hydrargyri Chlo-
 ridum Corrosivum;  Hydrargyri  Chloridum Mite; Liquor  Sodas Chlorinates;
 Sodas Murias Purum.                                                B.

                  SOLIDAGO.  U.  S.  Secondary.

                              Golden-rod,

   The leaves of Solidago odora.   U. S.
   Solidago.  Sex. Syst  Syngenesia Superflua. — Nat. Ord, Compositas Aste-
 roideas, De Candolle;  Asteraceas, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch. Calyx imbricated, scales closed. Radical florets about five, yellow.
 Receptacle naked, punctate. Pappus simple pilose.  Nuttall.
   This is a very abundant genus,  including, according to Eaton's enumeration,
 upwards of sixty species belonging to this country.  Of these S. odora  only is
 officinal.  S. Virgaurea, which is common to the United States and Europe,
 was formerly directed by the Dublin College, but has been  omitted.   It is as-
 tringent, and has been supposed to possess lithontriptic  virtues.
   Solidago odora. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2061; Bigelow, Am. Med, Bot. i.  187.
 Sweet-scented golden-rod has a  perennial creeping root, and a slender, erect,
 pubescent stem, two  or three feet high.  The leaves are sessile, linear-lanceolate,
 entire, acute,  rough  at  the  margin, elsewhere smooth, and covered  with  pel-
 lucid dots.  The flowers are of a deep golden-yellow colour, and are arranged
 in a terminal, compound, panicled raceme, the branches of which spread  almost
 horizontally, are each accompanied by a small leaf, and support the flowers on
 downy pedicels, which put forth from the upper side of the peduncle, and have
 small linear bractes at their base.   The florets of the ray are ligulate, oblong,
 and obtuse; those of the disk, funnel-shaped,  with acute  segments.
   The plant grows in woods and fields throughout the United States, and is in
 flower from August  to October.  The leaves, which are the officinal portion,
 have a fragrant odour,  and a warm, aromatic, agreeable  taste.  These proper-
 ties depend on a volatile oil, which may be separated by distillation with water.
 It is of a pale greenish-yellow colour, and  lighter than water.
   Aledical Properties and Uses. Golden-rod is aromatic, moderately stimulant
 and carminative, and, like other substances of the same class, diaphoretic when
 given in warm infusion.  It may be used to relieve pain arising from flatulence,
 to allay nausea, and to cover the taste or correct the operation of unpleasant or
 irritating medicines.   For these purposes  it may be given in infusion.   The
 volatile oil dissolved in alcohol is  employed in the Eastern States.   Accord-
 ing to Pursh, the dried flowers are used as a pleasant and wdiolesome substitute
 for common tea.                      v                              \\r


                       SPIGELIA.  U.S., Ed.

                              Pinkroot.

  The root of Spigelia Marilandica.  U S., Ed.
  Spigelie du Maryland, Fr.; Spigelie, Germ.; Spigelia, Ital.
  Spigelia.  Sex. Syst. Pentaudria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianas,  Juss.;
Spigeliaceas, Martius, Lindley.
  Gen, Ch. Calyx five-parted.  Corolla funnel-shaped, border five-cleft, equal.
Capsule  didymous, two-celled, four-valved, many-seeded. Nuttall. 
734
Spigelia.
PART I.
   Two species of Spigelia have attracted attention as anthelmintics, 8. anthel
 mia of South America and the West Indies, and S. Marilandica of this coun"
 try. The former is an annual plant, used only in the countries where it grows-
 the latter is much employed, both in this country and in Europe.
   Spigelia 3Iarilandica. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 825; Bigelow, Am. 3Ied. Bot  i
 142; Barton, Med. Bot ii. 75.  The Carolina pink is an herbaceous plant with
 a perennial root, which sends off numerous fibrous branches.  The stems, several
 of which rise from the same root, are  simple, erect, four-sided, nearly smooth
 and from twelve to twenty inches high.  The leaves are  opposite, sessile, ovate-
 lanceolate,  acuminate, entire, and smooth, with the veins and margins slightly
 pubescent.  Each stem terminates in a spike, which leans to one side, and&sup-
 ports from  four to twelve flowers with very short peduncles. The calyx is ner-
 sistent, with five long, subulate, slightly serrate leaves, reflexed in the ripe iruit.
 The corolla is funnel-shaped, and  much  longer than the calyx, with the tube
 inflated in the  middle, and  the border  divided into five acute, spreading seg-
 ments.  It is of a rich carmine colour externally, paler at the base, and orange-
 yellow within.  The edges of the segments are slightly tinged with green. The
 stamens, though apparently very short, and inserted into the upper part of the
 tube between the segments, may be traced down its internal surface to the base.
 The anthers are oblong, heart-shaped; the germ superior, ovate; the style about
 the length of the corolla, and terminating in a linear fringed stigma, projecting
 considerably beyond  it.   The capsule  is double, consisting of two cohering,
 globular,  one-celled portions, with many seeds.
   The plant is a native of our Southern and South-western States, being seldom
 found north of the Potomac.   It grows in rich soils on the borders of woods,
 and flowers from May to July.   The root is  the only part recognised in  the
 Pharmacopoeias*  The drug was formerly collected in Georgia and the neigh-
 bouring States by the Creek and Cherokee Indians, who disposed of it to the
 white traders.   The whole  plant was gathered and dried, and  came to us in
 bales or casks.   After the emigration of the  Indians,  the supply of spigelia
 from this source very much  diminished,  and has  now nearly if not quite failed.
 The consequence was for a time a great scarcity and increase in the price of the
 drug; but a new source of supply was opened from the Western and South-western
 States, and  it is now again plentiful.  As we receive spigelia at present, it con-
 sists chiefly if  not exclusively of  the root, without the  stem and leaves.  We
 have been informed that most of it conies in casks or bales from  St. Louis by
 the way of  New Orleans.   ThaVcontained in casks is to be preferred,  as less
 liable to be  damp and mouldy.
   Properties.   Pinkroot consists  of numerous slender, branching, crooked,
 wrinkled  fibres, from three to six inches long, attached to a  knotty head or
 caudex, which exhibits traces of the stems of former years.   It is brownish or
 yellowish-brown  externally, of a faint,  peculiar smell, and  a sweetish, slightly
 bitter, not very disagreeable taste.   Its virtues  are extracted by boiling water.
 The root, analyzed by M. Feneulle, yielded  a  fixed and volatile  oil, a small
 quantity of resin, a  bitter substance supposed to be  the active principle, a
 mucilaginous saccharine  matter,  albumen, gallic acid, the  malates of potassa
 and lime, &c,  and woody fibre.   The principle upon which the virtues of the
 root are thought to  depend is brown, of a bitter nauseous taste, like that of
 the purgative matter of the leguminous plants, and, when taken internally,
 produces vertigo and  a kind of intoxication.
   The  stalks of the dried plant are oval below the first .pair of leaves, and then
become  obscurely four-sided.  The leaves, when good,  have a fresh greenish
 colour, and an odour somewhat like that of tea.   In taste they resemble the
root, and  afforded to M. Feneulle nearly the same principles.   The  quantity, 
PART I.
Spigelia—Spiraea.
735
however, of the bitter substance  was less, corresponding with their  inferior
efficacy.  This circumstance should cause their rejection from the shops - as the
inequality in power of the two portions of the plant would lead to uncertainty
in the result, when they are both employed.
   The roots are sometimes mixed with those of other plants, particularly of a
small vine which twines round the stem of the Spigelia,  These are long, slender,
crooked, yellowish, thickly set with short capillary fibres, and much smaller and
lighter-coloured than the pinkroot.  They should be separated before the latter
is used.  The activity of spigelia  is  somewhat diminished by time.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Pinkroot is generally considered among the
most powerful anthelmintics.  In the ordinary dose it usually produces little
sensible effect on the system; more largely given it acts as a cathartic, though
unequal and uncertain in its operation;  in  overdoses it excites the circulation,
and determines to the brain, giving rise to vertigo, dimness of vision, dilated
pupils, spasms of the  facial muscles, and sometimes even to general convulsions.
Spasmodic movements of the eyelids have been observed among the most com-
mon attendants of its narcotic action.  The death of two children, who expired
in convulsions, was attributed by Dr. Chalmers to the  influence of spigelia.
The narcotic effects are said to be less apt to occur when the medicine purges, and
to be altogether obviated by combining it with cathartics.  The danger from its
employment cannot be great; as it is in very general use in the United States,
both in regular and domestic practice, and we never hear at present of serious
consequences.  Its effects upon the nervous system have been erroneously con-
jectured to depend on other  roots sometimes mixed with the genuine.   The
vermifuge  properties  of spigelia were first learned from the  Cherokee Indians.
They were made known to the medical profession by Drs. Lining, Garden, and
 Chalmers,  of South Carolina.   The remedy has also been recommended in in-
fantile remittents and other febrile  diseases; but is entitled to little confidence
in these complaints.
   It may be given in substance or infusion.  The dose of the  powdered root
for a child three or four years old, is from ten to twenty grains, for an adult from
one to two drachms,  to be repeated morning and evening for several days suc-
cessively, and then followed by a brisk cathartic.  The practice of preceding
its use by an emetic has been generally abandoned.   It is frequently  given in
combination with  calomel.  The infusion, however, is a more common form of
 administration. (See Infusum Spigelise.)   It is usually combined with senna
 or some other cathartic, to ensure its action gn the  bowels.   A preparation
 generally kept in the  shops, and much prescribed by physicians, under the name
 of worm tea, consists of pinkroot, senna, manna, and  savine,  mixed together,
in various  proportions, to suit the views of different individuals.  Spigelia is
 also very often given in the form of fluid extract.
    Off. Prep.  Extractum Spigelias  et Sennas Fluidum; Infusum Spigelias.
                                                                    W.

                     SPIR^A.   U.S.  Secondary.

                                Hardhack.

    The root of Spirasa tomentosa.  U S.
    Spir>3ea. Sex.  Syst. Icosandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Rosaceas.
    Gen. Ch. Calyx spreading, five-cleft, inferior.  Petals five,  equal, roundish,
 Stamens numerous,  exserted.   Capsules  three to twelve,  internally bivalve,
each one to three-seeded. Nuttall.
    Spirsea  ulmaria, queen of the meadow, or meadow-sweet, which is a Euro-
 pean plant, though introduced into this country, has been found by M. Tessier, 
736
Spiraea.—Spiritus Pyroxilieus.
PART i.
of Lyons,  to possess valuable diuretic properties, united with those of a mod-
erate tonic and astringent,   All parts of it are active.   M. Tessier employed
it in the form  of decoction, of which he gave a quart daily.  For more ex-
tended observations  in relation to this medicine, see Bouchardat's Annuaire
de Therapeutique (A. D. 1852, p. 119).
   Spiraea  tomentosa.  Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1056;  Rafinesque, Med, Flor. vol
ii.  This is an indigenous shrub, two  or three feet high, with numerous simple
erect, round, downy,  and purplish stems, furnished with alternate leaves, closely
set upon very short footstalks.  The leaves are ovate-lanceolate,  unequally
serrate, somewhat pointed  at  both ends,  dark-green on their upper  surface
whitish and tomentose beneath.  The flowers are beautifully red or purple and
disposed in terminal, compound, crowded spikes or racemes.
   The hardhack flourishes in low grounds, from New England to Carolina, but
is most abundant in  the Northern  States.   It flowers in July and August. ' All
parts of it are medicinal.  The root,  though designated in the Pharmacopoeia,
is, according to Dr.  A. W.  Ives, the  least valuable portion.   The taste of the
plant is bitter and strongly astringent,   Among  its constituents are tannin,
gallic acid, and bitter extractive.  Water extracts its sensible properties and
medicinal virtues.
   3Iedical Properties and  Uses.   Spirasa is tonic and astringent, and maybe
used in diarrhoea, cholera infantum, and other complaints in which astringents
are indicated.   In consequence of its tonic powers it is peculiarly adapted to
cases of debility; and, from the same cause, should not be given during the
existence of inflammatory action, or febrile excitement.  It is said to have been
employed by the aborigines ; but was  first brought to the  notice of the medical
profession  by Dr. Cogswell,  of  Hartford, Connecticut.  It is said to be less
apt to disagree with the stomach than most other astringents.
   The form in which it is best  administered is that of an extract, prepared by
evaporating the decoction of the leaves, stems, or root, or an infusion of the
same parts made by percolation.   The dose  is from five to fifteen grains, re-
peated several times  a day.   A  decoction, prepared by boiling an ounce of'the
plant in a pint of water, may be given in the dose of one  or two fluidounces.
                                                                    W.

               SPIRITUS   PYROXILICUS. Dub.

                            Pyroxylic Spirit.
   Pyroligneous  spirit, Wood spirit, Wood naphtha, Pyroxylic alcohol, Wood alcohol,
Methylic alcohol, Hydrated oxide of methyl, Bihydrate of methylen • Esprit pyroxy-
lique, Esprit de bois, Alcool methylique,  Fr.
   This substance was discovered in 1812 by P. Taylor, and was afterwards ex-
amined by Macaire and Marcet,  Liebig, Dumas and Peligot, Kane, and others.
   When wood is subjected  to  destructive  distillation, there is formed, besides
acetic  acid, tar, and  other  products  (seepage 18),  about one per cent,  of an
inflammable,  volatile liquid, which, when  separated and purified, constitutes
pyroxylic spirit.  The crude liquor, derived from the wood, separates on stand-
ing into two liquids  ; the lighter containing the tarry matters, and the heavier
consisting  of  water, acetic  acid, pyroxylic spirit, &c.  The heavier liquid is
saturated with lime,  and  subjected  to distillation, whereby the impure pyroxylic
spirit first comes over, mixed, however, with various compounds, among  which
are aldehyd and pyroacetic spirit (acetone). This, after having been redistilled,
and  deprived  of water by repeated rectifications from lime, forms  the  pyro-
xylic spirit of commerce.   The  spirit of commerce is purified  by adding  to
it as much  chloride of calcium  as it can dissolve, and allowing the mixture  to
stand for a few days. The pyroxylic  spirit unites with the chloride of calcium, 
  part I.                  Spiritus Pyroxilicus.                      737

  and the compound formed is  subjected to distillation to separate certain con-
  taminating substances, which distil over.  Finally, the pyroxylic spirit is sepa-
  rated from the chloride of calcium by the addition of water and a new distilla-
  tion, and from water by rectification from dry lime.
    Properties.   Pure anhydrous pyroxylic spirit is a mobile, colourless liquid,
  possessing  a hot, pungent taste, and a peculiar aromatic smell, recalling that
  of acetic ether.   It  mixes in  all proportions with water, alcohol, and ether,
  without having its transparency disturbed.   It burns like alcohol, but with a
  less luminous flame.  Its sp.gr. as a liquid  is  0-798; as  a vapour, 1-041.
  (Regnault)  Its vapour is irritating to the  eyes.  It boils at 140°, and during
  ebullition its vapour  causes concussions, which render its  distillation difficult,
  and which may be prevented by placing in the bottom of the vessel a layer of
  mercury.  As  a solvent  it resembles  alcohol, all bodies soluble in that men-
  struum being likewise' soluble in pyroxylic spirit.  As it has the same relation
  to the compound radical, methyl (CaH3), that common alcohol has to ethyl
  (C4Hj), if is deemed an  alcohol, and called methylic alcohol.   It  consists of
  two  eqs. of carbon 12, four  of hydrogen 4, and two of oxygen 16=32; and
  its empirical formula is C2H402,  Considered as a hydrated oxide  of methyl,
  its formula is CaH„0 + HO.   Yiewed as a bihydrate of methylen,  it is repre-
  sented by CaH24-2HO.    According to Mr. Reuben Phillips, pyroxylic spirit
  usually contains sulphur, not easily separated from it.
    The officinal  pyroxylic spirit is directed by  the Dublin College to have  the
  sp. gr. 0-846.   The density,  thus recognised, shows  that the College contem-
  plated,  not the pure,  but  the commercial  pyroxylic spirit,  which has a straw-
  yellow  colour,  and a powerful odour of wood-smoke.  But the commercial
  spirit is often too  impure for  medicinal use.   According  to  Mr. Morson, of
  London, it  may be purified " by largely diluting it with water, when  an oily
  substance separates, after the removal of which the spirit may be recovered by
 distillation."   Pyroxylic spirit has been confounded with pyroacetic spirit,
 They may be distinguished, according to Mr. Scanlan, by chloride of  calciumj
 which is without action on the latter, but dissolves  in the former.  In applying
 the test, a drop or two of a saturated solution  of chloride of calcium is added
 to the doubtful liquid in  a test tube.   This  solution is immiscible with pyro-
 acetic spirit, separating  after  agitation, but dissolves  instantly in pyroxylic
 spirit.   The liquid examined must be sufficiently pure not to separate into two
 layers, nor to become  milky on the addition of water.
   Medical Properties, dec.   Pyroxylic spirit, under  the  incorrect name of
 naphtha, was introduced  as a therapeutic agent, some years ago, by Dr. John
 Hastings, of London, who proposed it as a remedy for consumption.   It exerts
 no curative power over this disease, but may be usefully employed  to palliate
 the cough and lessen the  febrile excitement which attend it.   The therapeutic
 properties of pyroxylic spirit have not been  fully investigated  ; but, so far as
 observation has gone,  it may be ranked as a narcotic, sedative, and anti-emetic.
 In chronic vomiting, whether dependent on functional or organic disease, Dr.
 Christison has found it useful, having frequently seen the vomiting arrested or
 greatly mitigated by its use.   Dr. D.  W. Yandell speaks favourably of  its
 efficacy in diarrhoea and dysentery.   The dose is from ten to forty drops, three
 times a day, sufficiently diluted with water.  At one time it was doubtful whether
 the substance, used by  Dr. Hastings under the name of naphtha, was pyroxylic
 or pyroacetic spirit; but it is now decided to  have been the former.
   Crude  pyroxylic spirit, varying in density from 0*846 to 0*890, is employed
 by hatters and varnish-makers  for dissolving resinous substances, and by che-
 mists for burning in lamps as a  substitute for alcohol.   For the latter purpose
it is more economical than alcohol; giving out more heat for equal weights. 
 738          Spiritus Pyroxilicus.—Spiritus Vini Gallici.     part i.

   In Great Britain alcohol  is subjected  to a heavy duty, which, until lately
 prevented it from being used  in many manufactures; because the products of
 its use  can be more cheaply  obtained from  abroad.  The British parliament,
 wishing to encourage  the use of alcohol in the arts, but not as a beverage,
 passed  an  act in  1855, allowing it to be used duty-free, provided it be mixed
 with at least  one-ninth of its bulk  of pyroxylic spirit, which renders it unfit
 for drinking,  but does not spoil it for use in the arts.  This mixture is called
 methylated spirit, and  is now employed  extensively, in Great Britain, by hat-
 ters, brass founders, and cabinet-makers for dissolving shell-lac and  other resi-
 nous substances, and by manufacturing chemists for making ether, chloroform,
 and sweet  spirit of nitre.  These  medicines, thus prepared, are  said to be fit
 for therapeutic use, when properly purified.  In this country there is no motive
 for  substituting methylated spirit for alcohol, on account of the cheapness of
 the latter.                                            *-              B.

            SPIRITUS  VINI  GALLICI. U.S., Lond.

                                 Brandy.

   Spirit obtained from French wine by distillation. U. S., Lond.
   Eau de vie,  Fr.; Brantwein, Germ.;  Acquavite, Ital.; Aqua ardiente, Span.
   All liquids which have undergone the alcoholic fermentation, yield an ardent
 spirit by distillation. (See Alcohol, page 63.)   When the alcoholic liquid is
 wine, the product of the distillation is brandy.  This ardent spirit is subject to
 variation, according to the character of the wine from which it is distilled.  The
 best brandy is obtained from French wines,  and the kinds called Cognac  and
 Armagnac are most esteemed.  The Catawba brandy of Messrs. Longworth
 and Zimmerman,  of Cincinnati, distilled  from the lees of the Catawba wine of
 Ohio, is a good brandy;  but possesses the peculiar flavour of the  wine.  When
 the brandy is distilled from the marc of  the Catawba grape, it has  an unplea-
 sant taste, and contains a large amount of fusel oil.  (E. S. Wayne, Am. Journ.
 ■of Pharm., Nov. 1855, p. 498.)
   Brandy has an agreeable, vinous,  aromatic odour, and a peculiar, well known
 taste.  Its sp. gr. varies from 0*902 to  0-941, and it contains on  an average
 53  per cent,  by  measure of alcohol of  the density 0-825.  Besides  alcohol,
 water,  and volatile oil, it contains  colouring  matter, tannin,  cenauthic ether
♦described under wine,  a little acetic ether, and a little aldehyd.  Brandy is dis-
 tinguished by its  colour into  the pale and high-coloured.   Pale brandy has a
 yellow colour, derived from the cask in which it is kept.  High-coloured brandy
 has its deep-red colour given to it, before  importation, by burnt sugar (caramel),
 which  is said to impart a more agreeable flavour.  Factitious brandy is some-
 times made from  alcohol, deprived  of fusel oil, and reduced to the proper proof
 by water, by adding to it acetic ether in the proportion of from half an ounce
 to an ounce to the gallon.   The proper colour is then given by burnt sugar.
 The spurious liquid may be known by  its  leaving on evaporation a residue,
 containing sugar and no tannin ; the absence of the latter being shown by its
 not striking a black colour with the salts of sesquioxide  of iron.  It may also
 be detected by the absence of aldehyd.  (Magnes Lahens.)
    3Iedical Properties.   Brandy is esteemed cordial and stomachic, and is fre-
 quently given, in the form of toddy or milk punch, in the sinking stages of low
 fevers. The only officinal preparation of it is the Mistura Spiritus Vini Gallici
 of the London College,  which is an imitation of the compound  known under
 the name of  egg-flip.
    Off* Prep.  Mistura Spiritus Yini Gallici.                           B. 
PART I.
Spongia.
739
                       SPONGIA.  U. S,  Ed.

                               Sponge.

  Spongia officinalis.  U S., Ed,
  Eponge,  Fr.; Badeschwamm, Germ.; Spugna, Ital.; Esponja, Span.; Isfung, Arab.
  The sponge is now generally admitted to be an animal.  It is characterized
as " a flexile, fixed, torpid, polymorphous animal, composed either of reticulate
fibres, or masses of small spires interwoven together, and clothed with a gelatin-
ous flesh, full of small  mouths on its surface, by  which it absorbs  and ejects
water." More than two hundred and fifty species  have been described by natur-
alists, of which several are probably employed, though  Spongia officinalis is
the only one designated in the Pharmacopoeias.  Sponges inhabit the bottom
of the sea, where they are fixed to rocks or other solid bodies; and are most
abundant  within the tropics.  They are collected chiefly in the Mediterranean
and Red Seas, and  in  those of the East  and West  Indies.   In the Grecian
Archipelago many persons derive their  support altogether from  diving  for
sponges.   When collected they are enveloped in a gelatinous coating, which
forms part of the animal, and is separated by first rubbing them with fine sand
(Landerer), and then  washing them with water.   Large quantities of  the
coarser kinds are imported from the Bahamas; but the finest and most esteemed
are brought from the Mediterranean.
   Sponge, as found in commerce, is in yellowish-brown masses of various shape
and size, light,  porous, elastic, and composed of  fine, flexible, tenacious fibres,
interwoven  in  the form of cells and  meshes.  It usually contains  numerous
minute fragments of coral or stone, or small shells, from which it must be freed
before it can be used for  ordinary purposes.  Sponge is prepared by macerat-
ing it for  several days in cold water, beating it in order to break up the con-
cretions which it contains, and dissolving what cannot thus be separated of  the
calcareous matter by muriatic acid diluted with thirty parts of water.  By this
process, it is rendered perfectly soft, and fit for surgical use.  It may be bleached
by steeping it in water impregnated with sulphurous  acid,  or by exposure in a
moist state to the action of chlorine.   When  intended for surgical purposes,
the softest, finest, and most elastic sponges should  be selected ; for forming
burnt sponge, the coarser will answer equally well.                         Jk.
   According to Mr. Hatchett, the chemical constituents of sponge are gelatin,
coagulated albumen, common salt, and carbonate of lime.  Magnesia, silica,
iron, sulphur, and phosphorus have been detected  in it; as also have iodine and
bromine, combined with sodium and potassium.  From the experiments of Mr.
Croockewit,  it would appear that sponge is closely analogous to, if not identi-
cal with the fibroin of Mulder, differing from it only in  containing iodine, sul-
phur, and phosphorus. (Annal.  der  Chem. und Pharm., xlviii. 43.) Fibroin
is an animal principle, found by Mulder in the interior of the fibres of silk.
  Medical Properties and Uses. Sponge, in its unaltered state, is not employed
as a medicine;  but, in  consequence of its  softness, porosity,  and  property of
imbibing liquids, it is very useful in surgical operations.  From the same quali-
ties it may be advantageously applied  over  certain ulcers, the irritating sanies
from which it removes by absorption.   Compressed upon a bleeding vessel, it is
sometimes useful for promoting the coagulation of the blood, especially in hemor-
rhage from the  nostrils.  In the shape of sponge  tent it is also useful for dilat-
ing sinuses.  This is prepared by dipping sponge  into melted wax, compressing
it between two flat surfaces till the wax hardens, and then  cutting it into pieces
of a proper  form and size. By the heat of the body the wax becomes soft,  and 
740
Spongia. —Stannum.
PART i.
the sponge, expanding by the imbibition of moisture, gradually dilates the wound
or sinus in which it may be placed.  After having been partially charred by heat,
sponge has long been used as  a remedy in goitre. (See Spongia  Usla.) Its effi-
cacy in this complaint, formerly considered doubtful by many physicians, has
been generally admitted since  the discovery of iodine.
   Off. Prep. Spongia Usta.                                          W.


                   STANNUM.  U.S.,  Ed., Dub.

                                   Tin.

   Etain, Fr.; Zinn, Germ.; Stagno, Ital.;  Estanno, Span.
   Tin is one of the metals which have been known from the earliest ages.
It exists  generally as an oxide (tin stone and wood tin), rarely as a sulphuret
(tin pyrites), and is by no means generally diffused.  It is found in England,
Spain, Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, in  Europe ; in  the island of Banca
and the peninsula of Malacca, in Asia ; and in Chili and  Mexico.   Tin mines
are particularly abundant and  rich in the Tenasserim provinces of British India.
(Dr. Royle.) A valuable tin  ore has been discovered in the United States, at
Jackson, New Hampshire.  The Cornwall mines are the most productive, but
those of  Asia furnish the purest tin.  The metal is extracted from the native
oxide. When this occurs in its purest state, in detached roundish grains, called
stream tin, the reduction is effected by heating with charcoal.  When the com-
mon oxide, called mine tin, is melted, it requires to be freed, by pounding and
washing, from the adhering gangue;  after which it is roasted to drive off sul-
phur, arsenic, and antimony,  and finally reduced in furnaces by  means of stone
coal.   The metal, as thus obtained, is called block tin, and is not pure.  The
purest kind of tin, known in commerce, is called grain tin.
   Properties. Tin is a malleable, rather soft metal, of a silver-white colour.  It
may be beaten out into thin leaves,  called tinfoil.   It undergoes a superficial
tarnish in the air.  Its taste is slight, and when rubbed it exhales  a  peculiar
smell.  Its ductility and tenacity are small; and, when bent to and fro, it emits
a crackling noise, which is characteristic.  Its sp. gr. is  7*29,  melting point
442°, equivalent number  59,  and  symbol Sn.   It forms  three  oxides, a pro-
toxide, sesquioxide, and deutoxide.  The protoxide is of a grayish-black colour.
When perfectly  pure it has, according to Dr.  Roth, a red colour. The sesqui-
oxide is gray.  The deutoxide acts as an acid, and exists in two isomeric states,
called stannic and metaslannic acid.   Stannic acid maybe prepared by decom-
posing bichloride of tin with  water.  The metastannic acid is formed by acting
on tin with nitric acid, which converts it into a  white powder.  The  native
crystallized oxide is metastannic acid.   These acids, though  having the same
composition, Sn02, are perfectly distinct in chemical properties.  The stannic
acid is soluble, the metastannic insoluble in nitric acid and dilute  sulphuric acids.
One eq.  of potassa requires for saturation, one eq. of stannic acid, but five of
metastannic acid.  Hence the latter is sometimes represented by Sn5O10.
   The tin of commerce is  often impure, being contaminated with other metal,
introduced by fraud, or present in  consequence of the mode of extraction from
the ore.  A high specific gravity is an indication of impurity.   When its colour
has a bluish or  grayish cast, the  presence of copper, lead, iron, or antimony
may be suspected.   Arsenic renders it whiter, but at the same time harder;
and lead, copper, and iron cause it to become brittle.   Pure tin is converted
by nitric acid into a white  powder (metastannic acid), without being dissolved.
Boiled with  muriatic acid, it forms a solution which gives a white precipitate
with ferrocyanuret of potassium.   A blue precipitate with  this test indicates 
PART I.
Stannum.—Staphisagria.
741
 iron; a brown one, copper; and a violet-blue one, both iron and copper.   If
 lead be present, a precipitate will be produced by sulphate of magnesia.   The
 Malacca and Banca tin, and the English grain tin are the purest kinds found
 in commerce.   Banca tin, from  recent analyses by Mulder, appears to be par-
 ticularly pure, containing only ?Jth of one per cent, of foreign metals.   Block
 tin and the metal obtained from Germany are always of inferior quality.
    Uses.  Tin  enters into the composition of bronze, bell-metal, pewter, and
 plumbers' solder.  It is used also in making tin-plate, which is sheet-iron coated
 with tin, in silvering looking-glasses, and in forming the solution of bichloride
 of tin, a combination essential to the perfection of the scarlet dye.   It is em-
 ployed in fabricating various vessels and instruments, useful in domestic economy
 and the arts.  Being unaffected by weak acids, it forms a good material for vessels
 intended for boiling operations in pharmacy.  For its medical properties, see
 Stanni Pulvis.
    Off. Prep. Stanni Pulvis.                                           B.


                    STAPHISAGRIA.  Lond., Ed.

                                Stavesacre.

   Delphinium  Staphisagria.  The seed.  Lond., Ed.
   Staphisaigre,  Fr.; Stephanskraut, Lausekraut, Germ.;  Stafisagria, Ital.; Abarraz,
 Span.
   Delphinium. See DELPHINIUM.
   Delphinium Staphisagria.  Willd. Sp. Plant,  ii. 1231;  Woodv.  Med. Bot.
 p. 471,  t. 168.  Stavesacre is a handsome annual or biennial plant, one or two
 feet high, with a simple,  erect, downy stem, and palmate, five or seven-lobed
 leaves, supported on hairy footstalks.   The  flowers are bluish  or  purple, in
 terminal racemes, with pedicels twice as long as the flower, and bracteoles in-
 serted at the base of the pedicel.  The nectary is four-leaved and shorter than
 the  petals, which are five in number,  the  uppermost projected backward so as
 to form a spur, which encloses two spurs of the  upper leaflets of the nectary.
 The seeds are contained in straight, oblong capsules.  The plant is a  native of
 the south of Europe.
   Properties.  Stavesacre  seeds are about as large as a grain of wheat, irregu-
 larly triangular, wrinkled, externally brown, internally whitish and oily.  They
 have a slight but disagreeable odour, and  an extremely acrid, bitter, hot, nause-
 ous  taste.   Their virtues  are  extracted by water and  alcohol.   Analyzed  by
 MM. Lassaigne and Feneulle, they yielded a  brown and a yellow bitter prin-
 ciple, a volatile  oil, a fixed oil, albumen, an azotized substance, a  mucilaginous
 saccharine matter, mineral salts, and  a peculiar organic alkali called  delphine
 or delphinia, which exists  in the seeds combined with an excess of malic acid.
 It is white,  pulverulent, inodorous,  of a bitter acrid taste, fusible by heat and
 becoming hard  and brittle upon cooling, slightly soluble in cold water,  very
 soluble in alcohol and ether, and capable of forming salts with the acids.   It
 is  obtained by boiling a decoction of  the  seeds with magnesia, collecting  the
 precipitate, and  treating it with alcohol, which  dissolves the delphinia, and
 yields it upon evaporation.  According to M. Couerbe, it is impure as thus
 obtained, consisting of three distinct principles—one of a resinous nature, sepa-
rated from its solution in diluted  sulphuric acid by the  addition of nitric acid;
another distinguished by its insolubility in  ether, and named by M.  Couerbe
staphisain;  and the third soluble both in  alcohol and ether, and considered as
pure delphinia.  (Journ. de Pharm., xix.  519.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  The seeds were formerly used as an  emetic 
 742                     Staphisagria.—Statice.                 PAUT T

 and  cathartic,  but  have  been  abandoned in consequence of their violence
 Powdered and mixed with lard, they are employed in some cutaneous diseases
 and to destroy lice in the hair.  An infusion in vinegar has been applied to the
 same purpose.  A preparation made by mixing three parts of the seeds in fine
 powder with five parts of lard, and maintaining the mixture at the temperature
 of 212°  for twenty-four hours, is recommended  by Dr. Bourguignon as'very
 efficacious in the itch.  (Journ.  de Pharm., 3e sir., xviii. 421.)   M. Bazin hv
 obtained good effects from the external and internal use of stavesacre in eczema'
 He gave the extract in the dose of a grain and a half from four to twelve times
 a day.  (Ann. de Thirap., 1851, p.  18.)  A  strong tincture has been employed
 with asserted advantage as an embrocation in rheumatism.   In some countries
 the seeds are used to intoxicate  fish in the same manner as Cocculus Indicus
   Delphinia  is  highly poisonous, exerting  its effects chiefly on  the nervous
 system.  Experiments  made by Drs. Falck  and  Rorig on the  lower animals
 show that, introduced into the rectum, the cellular tissue, or the veins, it pro-
 duces death by asphyxia, preceded by symptoms of local irritation, convulsive
 movements, and extreme anassthesia, without apparent disturbance of the cere-
 bral functions until the moment before death.  Introduced into the stomach,
 it caused salivation, vomiting, and diarrhoea, without other signs of absorption'
 (Arch. Gen., 4e ser., xxx. 482.)   Similar results were subsequently obtained
 by Dr.  Yan Praag, who found also that the  nerves of motion were  paralyzed
 as well as those of sensation.   After death, congestion of the cerebral mem-
 branes, heart, great veins, and liver was observed.   Dr. Turnbull, in his work
 "On the Medical Properties of the Banunculaceae," states that pure delphinia
 may be given to the extent of three  or four grains  a  day, in doses of  half a
 grain each, without exciting vomiting, and without producing much intestinal
 irritation, though it sometimes purges.  In  most instances it proves diuretic,
 and gives rise to sensations of heat  and tingling in various parts of the body!
 Externally, it acts like veratria;  but, according  to Dr.  Turnbull, produces
 more redness and burning, and less tingling than that substance.   He has em-
 ployed it in neuralgia, rheumatism, and paralysis.  It may be applied by friction,
 in the form of ointment or alcoholic solution, in proportions  varying from ten
 to thirty grains  of the  alkaloid to an  ounce of the vehicle;  and the friction
 should  be continued till a pungent sensation is produced.               W.


                           STATICE.  U.S.

                           Marsh  Rosemary.

   The root of Statice Caroliniana.  U S.
   Statice. Sex. Syst.  Pentandria Pentagynia. — Nat. Ord.   Plumbaginaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx one-leaved, entire, plaited, scariose.  Petals five. Seed one,
 superior.  Nuttall.
   Statice Caroliniana.  Walter, Flor. Car. 118; Billow, Am, Med. Bot. ii. 51.
 This  is considered by Nuttall, Torrey, and some  other  botanists, as a  mere
 variety  of the Statice Limonium of Europe.  Pursh, Bigelow, and others
 follow Walter in considering it as a distinct species.  It is an  indigenous mari-
 time plant with a perennial root, sending up annually tufts of leaves, which are
 obovate or cuneiform,  entire, obtuse, mucronate, smooth, and on long footstalks.
 They differ from the leaves of  S. Limonium in being perfectly flat on the mar-
 gin, while the latter are undulated.   The flower-stem is  round,  smooth, from
 a few inches to a foot or more in height, sending off near its summit numerous
alternate subdividing branches, which terminate in  spikes, and form altogether
a loose  panicle.   The flowers are  small,  bluish-purple, erect, upon one side 
 part I.                   Statice.—Stillingia.                      743

 only of the  common peduncle, with  a mucronate scaly bracte at the base of
 each, a five-angled, five-toothed calyx,  and spatulate, obtuse petals.
   Marsh rosemary grows  in the salt marshes  along the  seacoast, from New
 England to  Florida, and flowers in August and September.   The root, which
 is the officinal portion, is  large, spindle-shaped or branched, fleshy, compact,
 rough, and of a purplish-brown colour.   It is bitter and extremely astringent
 to the taste, but without odour.  Mr. Edward Parrish, of Philadelphia, found
 it  to contain tannic acid,  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.)
   Medical Properties and  Uses. Statice is powerfully astringent, and in some
 parts of the United States, particularly in  New England, is much employed.
 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.

                              Queers-root.

   The root  of Stillingia sylvatica.  U. S.
   Stillingia.  Sex. Syst Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord.  Euphorbiaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Male. Involucre hemispherical, many-flowered, or wanting. Calyx
 tubular, eroded. Stamens two  and three, exserted.  Female.  Calyx  one-flow-
 ered, inferior. Style trifid.  Capsule three-grained.  Nuttall.
   From the fruit  of Stillingia sebifera, the Chinese procure a vegetable tallow
 in large quantities, which is said to be almost pure stearin, and is much used
 in making candles. It exists between the shell of the seeds, and the outer husk;
 the  kernel, contained  within the shell,  yielding a liquid oil by  expression.
 (Pharm. Journ, and Trans., xii. 73.)
   Stillingia sylvatica. Willd.  Sp. Plant, iv. 588.  This is an  indigenous pe-
 rennial plant, commonly  called  Queers delight, with herbaceous stems,  two or
 three feet high, and alternate, sessile, oblong or lanceolate-oblong, obtuse, ser-
 rulate 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 occupied 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 Yirginia 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 presented to the writer 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 yel-
 lowish 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 ac-
tivity when long kept. 
 744                  Stillingia.—Stramonii Folia.             part i.

   Medical Properties and Uses.  In large doses, stillingia is emetic and cathar-
 tic, 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  Medical Recorder  for April, 1828 (vol. xiii. p. 312) as a
 valuable alterative remedy in  syphilitic affections, and others ordinarily requir-
 ing the use of mercury.  Dr. Simons's statements  have been confirmed and
 extended by Dr. A. Lopez, of Mobile (N. Orleans Med. and Surg. Journ., iii.
 40), and Dr. H R. Frost, of Charleston, S. C. (South.  Journ. of Med. 'and
 Pharm. for November, 1846).  From the reports 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 preferable.   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.   Stil-
 lingia is sometimes advantageously combined with  sarsaparilla and other al-
 teratives.                                                          \y

                  STRAMONII  FOLIA.    U.S.

                        Stramonium Leaves.

  The leaves of Datura Stramonium.  U S.
  Off. Syn. STRAMONII FOLIUM. Datura Stramonium.  The leaf.  Lond.
 STRAMONIUM.  Herb of Datura Stramonium.  Thornapple. Ed.

                  STRAMONII  RADIX.  U.S.

                          Stramonium Boot.

  The root of Datura Stramonium.  U. S.

              STRAMONII  SEMEN.  U. S., Lond.

                          Stramonium Seed.
  The seeds of Datura Stramonium. U. S., Lond.
  Off. Syn.  STRAMONIUM.  Datura Stramonium. The seeds.  Dub.
  Thornapple; Stramoine, Pomme epineuse,Fr.;  Stechapfel, Germ.; Stramonio, Ital;
Estramonio, Span.
  Datura.  Sex. Syst Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Solanaceas.
  Gen. Ch. Corolla funnel-shaped, plaited. Calyx tubular, angular, deciduous.
 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 rich soil
sometimes 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 above, with numerous spreading 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 
part I.       Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen.            745

the edges, unequal at the base, dark-green on the upper surface, and pale beneath.
The flowers are large, axillary, solitary, and peduncled; having a tubular, pent-
angular, five-toothed calyx, and a funnel-shaped corolla with a long tube, and
a waved plaited border, terminating in five acuminate teeth.  The upper por-
tion 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, and containing numerous seeds, attached to a longitudinal re-
ceptacle 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, how-
ever, is considered by some botanists as a distinct species, being the D.  Tatula
of Linnasus.   The properties of both are the same.
   It is doubtful to what country this plant originally belonged.   Many Euro-
pean botanists refer it to North America, while we in return trace it to the old
continent. Nuttall considers it as having originated in South America 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, are taken  in the earth put on ship-
board for ballast from one country to  another, 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, frequenting 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 are
medicinal.  The herbaceous portion is directed by the Edinburgh College; the
seeds by that of Dublin; the leaves and seeds by the  London College; and the
leaves, root,  and seeds by the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.  The leaves may be gath-
ered at any time from the appearance  of the flowers till the autumnal frost.
In this country the plant is generally known by the name of Jamestown weed,
derived probably from its having been first  observed in the neighbourhood of
that old settlement in Yirginia.  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 des-
titute of their active properties.  They contain, according to Promnitz,  0-58
per cent, of gum, 0-6 of extractive, 0*64 of green starch, 0-15 of albumen,  0T2
of resin, 0-23  of saline matters, 515  of  lignin,  and 9L25  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 teste 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.   Chemists, however, have failed  to  obtain  the
daturia of Brandes  by his own process;  and Berzelius  states that it has been
admitted, even by that chemist himself, to be nothing more than phosphate of
magnesia. (Traite de Chimie, vi. 319.)  But Geiger and Hesse succeeded in
isolating an alkaline principle, to wdiich  the same name has  been given, and
which Trommsdorff has repeatedly procured by their process. 
 746           Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen.       part r.

    As described by Geiger and Hesse, daturia crystallizes in colourless inodor-
 ous, 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 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 stroiHv
 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 Med
 Sci., xvi. 485.)   It may be procured from the seeds  in the same manner as
 hyoscyamia from those of  Hyoscyamus niger. (See Hyoscyamus.)   The pro-
 duct is exceedingly small.   In the most favourable case,  Trommsdorff got only
 sV of one per cent.  (Annal. der Pharm., xxxii. 275.)   Mr. Morries obtained
 a poisonous empyreumatic oil by the destructive  distillation of stramonium
 According to Dr.  A. Yon Planta, daturia is identical with atropia, its formula
 being NC34Hffl06.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiii. 38.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Stramonium is a powerful narcotic. When
 taken in quantities sufficient to affect the system moderately, it usually produces
 more  or  less cerebral disturbance, indicated by vertigo, headache, dimness 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  inconvenience is
 subsequently experienced. 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, sometimes
 deafness,  flushing  and swelling of the face,  headache, vertigo, delirium  some-
 times of a furious, sometimes of a whimsical character,  tremors of the limbs,
 palsy, and ultimately stupor and convulsions.   In a case recorded by Dr. C. b!
 Faust,  the  whole surface  of the body was  of a scarlet colour. (Charleston
 Journ. & Rev., ix. 745.)   From all these symptoms the  patient may recover;
 but they have frequently terminated in death.  To evacuate  the stomach by
 emetics or the stomach pump is the most effectual remedy.
   Though long known as a poisonous and intoxicating herb, stramonium was
 first introduced into regular practice by Baron Storck, of Yienna, 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
 m which  benefit has accrued from it in these complaints.  Other  diseases iii
 which it has been found  beneficial are neuralgic and rheumatic affections, dys-
 menorrhosa^ syphilitic  pains, cancerous sores, and spasmodic 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 sub-
 verts.   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 Datura ferox, in the paroxysms of this distressing complaint.  The
 same parts  of  D.  Stramonium were  substituted, and found equally effectual.
 lo 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 fre-
quently with temporary vertigo or drowsiness, and  sometimes with nausea.
 The remedy  should never be used in plethoric cases, unless preceded by ample 
  part i.               Stramonii Folia.—Styrax.                   747
    r
  depletion, and in no case where there is determination to the head.  Dangerous
  and even fatal consequences have resulted from its incautious or improper use;
  and General Gent, who was instrumental in introducing the practice into Eng-
  land, is said at last to have fallen a victim to it.   Stramonium has sometimes
  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 inau-
  gural dissertation  of his pupil Dr. G. W. Holstein, with 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 mammas, and painful hemor-
  rhoidal affections.  Dr. J. Y. Dortch, of  North Carolina, has  found it very
  useful in tinea capitis.  (Thesis, Feb. 1846.)  By American surgeons it is very
  frequently  applied to the eye, in  order to produce dilatation of the pupil, pre-'
  viously 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 evapo-
  rating the  decoction, in one quarter or half the quantity.  The  dose of the pow-
  dered leaves is two or three grains.  The inspissated juice of  the fresh  leaves
  is more commonly prescribed than any other preparation, and  maybe adminis-
  tered in the  quantity of one grain. (See  Extractum Stramonii  Foliorum.)
  There is also an officinal tincture, to which the reader is referred.   The dose
  should be gradually increased till  the  narcotic  operation becomes evident, or
  relief from the symptoms of the disease is obtained.   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.  Extractum Stramonii Foliorum.
    Off. Prep,  of the Seeds.  Extractum Stramonii Seminis;  Tinctura  Stra-
  monii.                                                              tat

                    STYRAX.  U.S., Lond., Ed.

                                 Storaoc.

   The concrete juice of Styrax officinale. U. S.  Balsamic exudation. Ed.  An
 uncertain plant.  The liquid balsam. Lond.
   Storax, Fr., Germ.; Storace, Ital.; Estoraque, Span.
   Styrax.  See BENZOINUM.
   Styrax officinale. Willd. Sp. Plant ii.  623;  Woodv. Med. 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 been
naturalized in Italy, Spain,  and the south of France, where, however, it  does
not yield balsam.  This circumstance induced some naturalists to doubt whether
Styrax officinale is the real source of storax; and, as the  Liquidambar styra-
cifflua of this country affords a balsam  analogous to that under consideration,
Bernard de Jussieu  conjectured that the latter might be derived from another
species of the same genus, L. orientale of Lamarck, which is more abundant
in Syria than the Styrax,   It will be seen in a subsequent paragraph, that at
least one of  the commercial varieties of storax really has this origin. 
748
Styrax.
PART I.
    Storax is obtained in Asiatic Turkey by making incisions into the trunk of
 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 call it
 storax amygdaloide.   This and the preceding variety have a 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 cer-
 tain degree of tenacity, and softening under the teeth.  Upon exposure, it be-
 comes covered upon the  surface with  a white efflorescence of benzoic acid.  It
 evidently consists  of  sawdust, 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 resinous
 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  somewhat
 like that  of Peruvian balsam,  though less  agreeable.   It is  kept in jars,
 and is the most employed.   The source of liquid storax was till  recently quite
 uncertain.   Some  supposed it  to be  derived by  decoction from the young
 branches of Liquidambar  styraciflua; but a specimen of the  juice of this
 plant, brought from New Orleans, which  we had an opportunity of inspecting,
 had 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 Styrax officinale,
 by subjecting them to pressure.  But Mr.  Daniel Hanbury, in a communication
 to the Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions (xvi. 422), has shown this
 to be an error;  none whatever of the balsam being  collected in those islands.
 It has  been stated above that liquid storax  had been  conjecturally referred to
 Liquidambar orientale.   From specimens of the plant furnishing the balsam,
 collected by Mr. Maltass, and sent by him to Mr. Hanbury, there can scarcely be
 a doubt of the correctness of this  reference.   It is a tree of considerable size,
 forming forests in the south-western  parts of  Asia Minor, where the balsam
 is collected,  and whence it  is  sent in casks to Constantinople,  Smyrna, and
 other parts of the Levant.*
   General Properties.   Storax has a fragrant odour and aromatic taste.  It
 melts with a moderate heat, and, when the temperature is raised, takes fire and

   * Liquidambar orientale  (Miller, Diet.  No. 2) is  figured  in the Pharm. Journ. and
 Trans, (xvi. 462), from the specimens referred to in the text.   Accounts somewhat
differ  as to the mode of collecting the balsam.  They agree, however, in the point,
that, the outer bark having been  removed, the inner bark is scraped off and submitted
to pressure.  According to Mr. Maltass the bark is first pressed cold in horse-hair bags,
after which hot water is thrown over  them, and  they are again pressed. Lieutenant
Campbell states that the inner bark is  first  boiled with water, and, a portion of the
balsam which rises having been  skimmed off, is  aeain pressed so as to extract the
remainder.  The  residuary bark, after expression, Is dried in the  sun,  and employed
m various parts of Turkey for  fumigation. It is the drug known  in  commerce as
Storax bark or Cortex  Thymiamatis. (Hanbury, Pharm.  Journ. and Trans., xvi. 463).-
Note to the eleventh edition. 
part I.                   Styrax.—Succinum.                      749

burns with a white flame, leaving a light spongy carbonaceous residue.   It im-
parts its odour to water, which it renders yellow and milky.   Its  active con-
stituents 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
or cinnamic acid by distillation, it is entitled to be ranked as a balsam.  Besides
oil, resin, and benzoic acid, 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 con-
sidered identical with the slyracin  of Bonastre.  According to Toel, styracin
is a compound of cinnamic acid with a peculiar  substance which he calls sty-
rone, and is in composition  perfectly analogous to the natural fats.  (Chem.
Gaz., July 2, 1849.)  Strecker gives the name of styrone  to a substance  re-
sulting from the action of caustic potassa on liquid storax.   He states that, if
this be oxidized by exposing spongy platinum moistened with it in the liquid
state to the air, the  odour of oil of cinnamon is perceived, evincing the pro-
duction  of  a portion of that oil. (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xv. 180.)
   3fedical  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 leucorrhoea  as equally effectual with copaiba, and less disagree-
able.  From  ten  to twenty grains may be given twice  a day, and the dose
gradually increased.
   Off. Prep.  Styrax Purificata.                                      W.

                      SUCCINUM.  U.S., Dub.

                                 Amber.

  Succin, Ambre jaune,  Karabe, Fr.; Bernstein, Germ.; Ambra gialla, Succino, Ital.;
Succino, Span.
  Amber is a fossil resin, derived, probably, from extinct coniferse, 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.   Large deposits occur in some lakes on the eastern coast of Cour-
land, and an extensive  bed of yellow amber was discovered in 1854, on sinking
a well in the coal mines near Prague.  The largest mass of amber, yet found,
weighed thirteen pounds.  Amber  also occurs in considerable quantities near
Catania, in Sicily.   It is usually associated with lignite, and sometimes  en-
closes insects and parts of vegetables.  In the United States, it was found at
Cape Sable, Maryland, by Dr. Troost.   In  this locality it is associated with
lignite and iron pyrites.   It has also been discovered in New Jersey.   The am-
ber,  consumed in this country, 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 when cold, but
exhales a peculiar, aromatic smell when heated.   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 combustion, a small portion 
750
Succinum.—Sulphur.
PART I.
 of ashes.   Subjected to distillation in a retort furnished with  a tubulated re-
 ceiver, it yields, first, a yellow acid liquor; and afterwards a thin yellowish oil'
 with a yellow waxy substance, which is deposited 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 sub-
 stance, identical with the chrysen of Laurent.   A white crystalline substance
 identical with the idrialin of Dumas, may be separated from  the micaceous
 substance by boiling alcohol.   Both chrysen and idrialin are carbohydrogens
 (Pelletier and Walter, Journ. de Pharm., v. 60.)   As the distillation proceeds'
 a considerable quantity of combustible gas is given off, which must be allowed
 to escape.   By continuing the heat, the oil gradually deepens in colour, until
 towards the end of the distillation, it becomes black and of the consistence of
 pitch.   The oil obtained is called oil of amber, and the acid liquor is a solu-
 tion of impure succinic acid.  Repeatedly distilled from nitric acid, amber yields
 an acid  liquor, from which, after it has been neutralized with caustic potassa
 ether separates pure camphor. (Doepping. Journ.de Pharm., vi. 168.)  Camph-
 or is also obtained by distilling to dryness  powdered amber with an extremely
 concentrated solution of caustic potassa.  (G. Reich, Ibid., xiii. 33.)
   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 a 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 con-
 stituting more than  four-fifths of the amber.  It also contains a  strongly
 odorous, bright-yellow substance, which hardens by time, but preserves in part
 its odour.  The constituents of amber are carbon 80-59, hydrogen 7-31, oxygen
 6-73, ashes (silica, lime, and alumina) 3-27=97-90.
  _ Pharmaceutical Uses, &c.   Amber was held in  high  estimation by the an-
 cients as a medicine; but at present is employed only in pharmacy and the arts.
 In pharmacy it is  used to prepare  oil of amber and succinic acid. (See Oleum
 Succmi  and Succinic Acid.)   In the arts it is made into ornaments, and em-
 ployed 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 lin-
 seed oil and oil of turpentine.   This solution forms amber varnish.
   Off. Prep. Oleum Succini.                                         g


                  SULPHUR.  U. S., Lond., Ed.

                                Sulphur.

   Sublimed sulphur.  U. S., Lond.   Sulphur entirely sublimed  by heat, and
free from acidity.  Ed,
   Off. Syn. SULPHUR SUBLIMATUM.  Dub.


                   SULPHUR LOTUM.   U. S.

                          Washed Sidphur.

  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 preci- 
PART I.
Sulphur.
751
 pitated.  The sublimed sulphur is designated in the United States and London
 Pharmacopoeias by the single word Sulphur; the washed sulphur in the United
 States Pharmacopoeia by the name Sulphur Lotum.  The Dublin College has
 dismissed washed sulphur, and the Edinburgh College recognises sulphur only
 which is free  from acidity; calling it "Sulphur" in the Materia Medica list,
 and "Sulphur Sublimatum" under the  Preparations.  Sublimed Sulphur 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 mus-
 tard and other cruciform plants.  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 abund-
 ant in volcanic countries, and is hence  called  volcanic sulphur.  The most pro-
 ductive mines  of sulphur are found in  Sicily, at  Solfatara, in the  kingdom of
 Naples, and in the Roman States.
    Extraction, &c.   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 brickwork.
 From the upper  and lateral part of  each pot, a  tube proceeds obliquely down-
 wards, which communicates with the upper part of a similar pot, situated out-
 side the furnace,  and perforated near its bottom,  to allow  the melted sulphur to
 flow into a vessel  containing water, conveniently placed to receive it.  Fire
 being applied,  the sulphur rises in vapour, leaving the impurities behind, and,
 being condensed again, flows from the  perforated pot into  the vessel contain-
 ing the water.   Sulphur, as thus  obtained, is called  crude sulphur, and con-
 tains 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 im-
 purities subside, and the purer sulphur is dipped out and poured into cylindri-
 cal 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, called in the shops 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 brickwork over a furnace,
 and furnished with an iron head.   The head has two  lateral communications^
 one with a chamber of brickwork, the other with  an  iron  receiver, immersed in
 water,  which is constantly renewed to cool it sufficiently  to cause  the  sulphur
 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 sulphur con-
 denses on its walls in the form of an impalpable powder, and constitutes sub-
 limed sulphur or flowers of sulphur.  If, on the other hand, the  communica-
 tion 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 cylindrical moulds,
forms the roll sulphur of commerce.
   The extraction of sulphur from the bisulphuret of iron  (iron pyrites) is per-
formed 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 
752
Sulphur.
PART r.
is employed for making sulphate of iron, or green vitriol.  In the island of
Anglesea, 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 sul-
phur is condensed.   Each chamber is furnished with a door, through which the
sulphur is withdrawn once in six weeks.
  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 combus-
tion.  The weight of  the incombustible residue, added to that  lost in drying,
gives the amount of impurity.
  Crude sulphur comes to this country principally from Messina in Sicily, and
the ports of Italy, being  imported for  the use of the sulphuric acid manufac-
turers.   Roll sulphur  and the flowers are usually brought from Marseilles.
Good Sicilian sulphur does not contain more than three per cent, of impurity,
consisting chiefly of earths.
  Properties.  Sulphur is  a  non-metallic element, susceptible  of several allo-
tropic states.  In its ordinary state it is a 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 it varies a little in density in its different allotropic
states.   Occasionally, from impurity, its sp. gr. is as high as  2-35.   Its eq.
number is 16, and its symbol S.   It is a bad conductor  of heat, and becomes
negatively electric by friction.   The melting point of sulphur  varies with its
allotropic state, which is  readily altered by heat.  In ordinary  sulphur, which
is a  mixture of the element in different allotropic states, this point varies from
232° to 248°.   If heated above its melting point, it undergoes, in proportion
to the heat applied, a progressive change, which will cause it, upon slow cool-
ing,  to solidify at a  temperature lower than that at which it was melted; and
if it be remelted it will be found to have a higher  melting point than before.
Melted sulphur is perfectly limpid, and  of a bright  yellow colour.   When sul-
phur is  melted, and,  after partial cooling, the  crust formed on its surface is
pierced, and the fluid portion poured out, it may be obtained in  slender prisma-
tic crystals,  called prismatic sulphur.   When sulphur is heated above its melt-
ing point, it becomes deeper coloured and less fluid.  At 392°  it has  a deep-
brown colour, and is so viscid that it  cannot be poured from  the containing
vessel.  If the temperature be  still further increased, the sulphur resumes its
fluidity, but retains its brown colour.    Finally, when the temperature reaches
752°, it boils in close vessels, forming  a yellow vapour,  and may be distilled.
If melted sulphur, heated above 392°, is suddenly cooled, by being poured out
into water, it becomes a reddish-brown  plastic mass, with alteration of proper-
ties, called soft sulphur (viscid sulphur), which is employed in taking impres-
sions of medals, &c.   This form of sulphur resumes the hard state, but not its
original colour, after the  lapse of a few  days, or suddenly, if heated to about
212°.   Sulphur is insoluble in water, but soluble in alkaline solutions, petro-
leum, rectified coal naphtha, the fixed oils, oil of turpentine and other volatile
oils, alcohol and ether, chloroform, and bisulphuret of carbon.   Its best solvent
is bisulphuret of carbon, from solution in which it crystallizes generally in octo-
hedrons, a form belonging to a different system from the prism, obtained by crys-
tallizing melted sulphur by cooling.   Hence sulphur is said to be dimorphous.
  The allotropic states of sulphur have  been studied chiefly by Brodie, Mag-
nus and Weber, and Berthelot.   These states are induced, for  the  most part,
by heat,  and are distinguished by their crystalline form, and by their solubility
or non-solubility in bisulphuret of carbon.  According to the corrected deter- 
PART I.
Sulphur.
753
 minations of Magnus and Weber, there are four allotropic states of sulphur,
 which they distinguish  by the names  of  prismatic, octohedral, crummy, and
 insoluble sulphur.  Prismatic sulphur forms the greater part of ordinary sul-
 phur.  It is soluble in bisulphuret of  carbon.  If heated just to its point of
 fusion, it will have a coinciding melting and solidifying point at 248°.  (B.  C
 Brodie.)  Octohedral sulphur may be obtained from freshly made soft sul-
 phur, by acting on it  by bisulphuret  of  carbon, which  dissolves  it in part.
 This solution, by distilling off a portion of the bisulphuret, yields, on cooling,
 octohedral sulphur.  The melting point of this sulphur is 238°; but it is dif-
 ficult to get it correctly,  owing to the facility with which octohedral sulphur is
 changed by heat  into the prismatic, with the effect of raising the melting point.
 (B. C. Brodie.)  The solution, when no more crystals can be obtained from  it,
 still contains sulphur, which may be separated as a cellular amorphous mass,
 called crummy sulphur, by the spontaneous evaporation of the solvent.  Crum-
 my sulphur forms from  two to five per cent, of the soft sulphur;  and, though
 obtained from its solution in bisulphuret of carbon, cannot be redissolved in  it,
 even at the boiling temperature.   Insoluble sulphur is the name given  to that
 part of  the soft  sulphur which is left undissolved by the bisulphuret, amount-
 ing to between one-third and  nearly one-half of the former.  Mr. Brodie was
 unable to determine the  melting point  of this  sulphur, but found it considera-
 bly above 248°,  or the  melting point  of prismatic  sulphur.  Flowers  of sul-
 phur contain about one-third of their  weight of insoluble sulphur.   Crummy
 sulphur is either yellow  or red, according as it is obtained from a soft sulphur
 which has been once or several times melted and poured out into water.  What
 Magnus formerly called  red sulphur, is a red modification of crummy sulphur.
 Red and black  sulphur are no longer considered by Magnus as allotropic states
 of sulphur; but rather as sulphur modified by the presence of a minute propor-
 tion of foreign matter.   This opinion is founded on the recent discovery of
 Mitscheriich, confirmed by Magnus, that a number of substances, especially the
 fats and oils, when heated with sulphur, give it a red  or black colour.  Thus,
 one part of tallow, heated with 3000 parts of sulphur, imparts to it  an in-
 tensely red colour; and the same proportion of paraffin changes it  to  red  or
 black.  So minute is the quantity of foreign matter, capable of producing this
 change, that Magnus asserts that sulphur, touched  by the hands,  will be co-
 loured red by the greasy  matter thereby imparted, upon being heated to 572°.
 Black sulphur forms a soft, greasy, ductile mass, which, after a time, solidifies,
 when  it assumes a glassy appearance.  (See Chem. Gaz., May 15,  1854, and
 Philos. Mag. Supplement, Jan. 1857.)
   Sulphur takes fire at about the temperature 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  nume-
 rous,  and among the most powerful agents of chemistry.   It forms with oxy-
 gen four principal acids,  the hyposulphurous, sulphurous, hyposulphuric, and
 sulphuric, with hydrogen, sulplwhydric acid (hydrosulphuric acid or sulphu-
 retted hydrogen), and with the metals,  various sulphurets.   Some of the sul-
 phurets are analogous to acids, others to bases; and these different sulphurets,
 by combining with each  other, form compounds which, from their analogy  to
 salts, are 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 vol-
 canic, is not subject to  this  impurity.  The common English roll  sulphur  is
 sometimes made from iron pyrites, and is then apt  to contain orpiment (ter-
sulphuret of arsenic).   This impurity may be detected by heating the  sus-
pected sulphur with nitric acid.  The arsenic, if present, will be converted into
       48 
754
Sulphur.
PART I.
arsenic acid; and the nitric solution, diluted with water, neutralized with car-
bonate of soda, and acidulated with muriatic acid, will give a yellow precipi-
tate 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.   According to  Dr. Playfair, a solution of
nitroprusside of sodium is a delicate test for the alkaline sulphurets,  producing
with them a violet tint.   The late Prof. Bailey, of West Point, employed the
same test for detecting sulphur in  any compound.   The  substance suspected to
contain it is fused with carbonate  of soda, with the  addition of carbonaceous
matter if necessary.  If sulphur be present it will be converted into sulphuret
of sodium; and, upon the addition of a small portion of the fused  mass to a
drop of the nitroprusside, the characteristic violet tint will be produced.
   Sublimed sulphur, usually called flowers 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  at  the expense of the
oxygen of the air contained in the subliming chambers.   Accordingly, it always
reddens litmus; and, if the acid be  present in considerable quantity, it some-
times cakes.   It may be freed from acidity by careful ablution with  hot water,
when it becomes the officinal washed sulphur.
   Washed sulphur is placed in the list of the Materia Medica in the U. S. Phar-
macopoeia, with an explanatory note, that it is sublimed sulphur, thoroughly
washed with water.   The Edinburgh College includes it among the Prepara-
tions, and directs it to be prepared by subliming " sulphur," and washing the
powder obtained with boiling water until it is freed from acid taste. Washed
sulphur has'the general appearance of sublimed sulphur, and is wholly volati-
lized by heat.  When properly prepared it does  not affect litmus, and under-
goes no  change by  exposure to the air.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Sulphur is laxative, diaphoretic, and resolvent.
It is supposed to be rendered soluble by the soda of the bile.  It evidently 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 sulphur is principally used are hemorrhoidal affections, atonic
gout, chronic rheumatism, chronic catarrh,  and  asthma.   It has also  been
given as an antiperiodic, being considered  as particularly applicable to cases
in which the apyrexia is incomplete.  It is also much employed, both in-
ternally 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 external use of sul-
phur is strongly recommended by Dr. O'Connor, of London, in sciatica, and
chronic  articular rheumatism.   The limb affected is covered with sulphur, and
bandaged with new flannel, over which sheets of  wadding  are wrapped.  The
dressing should not be taken  off for several days; as its earlier removal would
interfere-with the absorption of the sulphur, on  which its curative effect de-
pends.  (Lancet, Am. ed. June, 1857, p. 507.)  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.
   According to M. Hannon, of Brussels, soft sulphur,  recently prepared, pos-
sesses valuable therapeutic properties, not as a laxative, but as a stimulant to 
PART I.
Sulphur.—Tabacum.
755
the circulation, lungs, and skin, far more active than ordinary sulphur.  The
dose of soft sulphur is from twenty to fifty grains, given in the form of pill.
   Sulphur is consumed in the arts, principally in the manufacture of gunpowder
and sulphuric acid.
   Off. Prep, of Sulphur.  Confectio Sulphuris; Emplastrum Ammoniaci cum
Hydrargyro; Emplast. Hydrargyri;  Ferri Sulphuretum; Hydrargyri Sulphu-
retum  Nigrum; Hydrargyri Sulphuretum Rubrum; Potassas Sulphas cum Sul-
phure; Potassii Sulphuretum;  Sulphur Prascipitatum; Sulphuris Iodidum;
Unguentum Sulphuris; Unguent. Sulphuris Compositum.              B.

               TABACUM. U.S., Lond., Ed,  Dub.

                                Tobacco.

   The leaves of Nicotiana Tabacum.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
   Tabac, Fr.; Tabak, Germ.; Tobacco, Ital.; Tobaco, Span.
   Nicotiana. Sex. Syst Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceas.
   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. Med. Bot p. 208, t. 77. The tobacco is an annual plant, 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 six inches broad.  The flowers  are disposed 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 ulti-
mately 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 cap-
sule, containing numerous reniform seeds, and opening  at the summit.
   There is good reason to believe that this plant is a native of tropical America,
where it was found by the  Spaniards upon their arrival.  It  is at present culti-
vated in most parts  of the world, and nowhere more abundantly than within  the
limits of the United States. Virginia is, perhaps, the region 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 development 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. While hung
up in the drying houses, they undergo a curing process, consisting in exposure
to a considerable degree of heat, through which they become moist, or in other
words are said to sweat, after which they are dried for packing.
   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 
756
Tabacum.
PART i.
Nicotiana  are  also  cultivated, especially N. rustica and N. paniculata, 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 quad-
rivalvis of Pursh affords tobacco to the Indians of the Missouri and Columbia
rivers;  and N. fructicosa, a native of China, was probably cultivated 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 wanting in the fresh leaves, and
a bitter, nauseous, and acrid taste.  These properties are imparted to water and
alcohol.   They are injured by long  boiling; and the extract is, therefore, rela-
tively feeble.  An elaborate analysis of tobacco was made by Vauquelin, who dis-
covered in it,  among  other ingredients, an acrid, volatile,  colourless liquid,
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, Yauquelin recognised alkaline properties, which he
ascribed to 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.   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
Yauquelin 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, Posselt andReimann, subsequently analyzed tobacco, and
ascertained the alkaline nature of its active principle, which, however, neither
they nor Vauquelin 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 ex-
tractive, 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.  (Ber-
zelius, Traite 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 moderate,  and afterwards in-
creased to the boiling  point.   The product of the distillation was received in a
vessel containing about 30 or 40 parts  of  sulphuric acid, diluted with 3 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 then allowed to cool. A
slight deposit which had formed  was separated by filtration, an excess of caustic 
PART I.
Tabacum.
757
 soda was added, and the  liquor  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 consist-
 ence, and more or less of the colour of amber.   In the liquid, after a few days,
 minute crystalline plates formed; but, in consequence of their affinity for moist-
 ure, it was difficult to isolate them.   This liquid was pure nicotia.
   Nicotia. (Nicotina. Nicotin.)  This is a colourless or nearly colourless fluid;
 of the sp. gr. L048; remaining  liquid at 22° F.; of  little smell when  cold;
 of an exceedingly acrid burning taste, even when largely diluted; entirely vola-
 tilizable, and, in the state of vapour, very irritant to the nostrils, with an odour
 recalling that of tobacco; inflammable; very soluble  in water, alcohol, ether,
 the  fixed oils, and oil of turpentine; strongly alkaline in its reaction; and capa-
 ble 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 most of the other organic alkalies.  Its formula is N3C20H14, and combining
 number consequently 162. 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 dog;  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 counter-poison.  It exists in tobacco in small pro-
 portion.  Henry and Boutron found different varieties of tobacco to give pro-
 ducts varying from 3-8 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 alkaloid.*  It has
 been employed as a poison.  For a very interesting account of it in all its toxi-
 cological relations, the reader is  referred to a memoir by Orfila, translated by
 Dr.  Lee, and published in the N  Y.  Journ. of Med. (N. S., ix. 112,  219, and
 369). It has the remarkable property of resisting decomposition in the  decay-
 ing  tissues of the body, and  was detected by Orfila in  the bodies of animals
 destroyed by it two or three months after their death.
   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 nico-
 tianin 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 solution of potassa.   This was not obtained by MM. Henry and Boutron.
 It produces sneezing when applied to the nostrils, and a grain of it swallowed
 by Hermstadt occasioned giddiness and nausea.

  * M. Schloesing obtained a much larger proportion than that stated  above by the
 following process.   Tobacco is exhausted by boiling water, the infusion evaporated to
 a semisolid consistence, and the extract shaken with twice its volume of alcohol of
 36°.   Twodayers 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 with 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.  157.)
Orfila, in his memoir on nicotia, states that Havana tobacco  yields 2 per cent, of this
alkaloid, Maryland, 2-3 per cent., and Virginia 6-9 per  cent. 
758
Tabacum.
part i.
  When distilled at a temperature above that of boiling water, tobacco affords
an empyreumatic oil, which Mr. Brodie 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 do"-
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 sir., ix. 465.)
  It is quite certain that tobacco leaves undergo  considerable chemical changes
during the processes of curing, and preparation for use. Thus, the characteristic
odour  of ordinary tobacco  is entirely different from that of the fresh leaves
and must be owing to the generation of a new volatile principle.  The propor-
tion, too, of nicotia contained in prepared tobacco is asserted to be much greater
than in the fresh.   It appears that a kind of fermentation takes place in the
leaves,  by which certain  pre-existing principles are  converted into nicotianin
and probably nicotia.  A similar change is probably produced during the com-
bustion of tobacco;  for M. Malapert obtained  from the  condensed products  of
a portion of common French smoking tobacco which he burned, as much as 9
per cent, of nicotia, Avhile the proportion obtained by the ordinary processes
seldom exceeds 2 per cent., and the highest proportion of which we have seen
any account is  6'9 per cent.  (See Am. Journ.  of Pharm. xxvii. 119.)
  3Iedical Properties and Uses. Tobacco unites with the powers of a sedative
narcotic, those of an emetic and  diuretic; and produces these effects to a greater
or less extent to whatever surface it may be applied.  In  addition, when snuffed
up the nostrils, it excites violent  sneezing and a copious secretion 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 sometimes 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, faintness,  nausea, vomiting, and
general debility of the nervous  and circulatory functions, which, if increased,
eventuates in alarming and even fatal prostration.  The  symptoms of its exces-
sive action are severe retching, with the most distressing and continued nausea,
great feebleness of pulse,  coolness of the skin, fainting, and sometimes convul-
sions.   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 excites the function of the kidneys, at the same
time that it reduces the nervous and secondarily the arterial power.  The experi-
ments  of Brodie lead to the  inference that the function of the heart is affected
by tobacco, through the medium of the nervous system; for in a decapitated
animal in which the circulation  was sustained by artificial respiration, the infu-
sion 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 indi-
cations are, after the evacuation of the poison, to support the system by external
and internal stimulants, and to allay irritation of stomach by the use of opiates.
  The use of tobacco was adopted by the Spaniards from the American Indians. 
PART I.
Tabacum.
759
In the year 1560, it was introduced into France by the Ambassador of that
country at the court of Lisbon, whose nanus—Nicot—has been perpetuated 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, chew-
ing,  and snuffing, the drug is  now largely consumed in every country on  the
globe.   It must have properties peculiarly adapted to the propensities 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 ex-
cess, it enfeebles digestion, produces emaciation and general debility,  and  lays
the foundation of serious nervous disorders.   The late Dr.* Chapman  informed
us that he had met with several instances of mental disorder, closely resembling
delirium tremens, which resulted from its abuse, and which subsided in a  few
days after it  had  been abandoned; and Dr. Kirkbride, in the Annual Report
of the Pennsylvania  Hospital for the Insane for 1850, refers to four cases of
insanity, the origin of which was ascribed to the abuse of tobacco.
   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 infernal 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 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 cataplasm  to the throat.
A similar application to the abdomen  is highly recommended 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 rheumatism;  and  has been  employed in the
same way, as well as by injection, in cases of obstinate verminose  affections.  As
an emetic it is seldom employed, unless in the shape of a cataplasm to the  epi-
gastrium, 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 often imitated.  There is no better-errhine than tobacco, for the
ordinary purposes for which this class of  medicines is employed.   As a siala-
gogue, it is beneficial in rheumatism of the jaws, and often relieves toothache
by its anodyne 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 propor-
tion of twenty drops  to the ounce, has been applied with advantage,  by A merican
practitioners, 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. (See Oleum Tabaci.)  This remark is applicable to all
the modes of  employing tobacco; particularly to the injection of the infusion
into the rectum, which has caused death in several instances.  It  is even more
dangerous than a proportionate quantity introduced into the stomach; as, in 
760
Tabacum.—Tamarindus.
part i.
 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 eMit
 years old, in consequence of the application of the expressed juice of the leaves
 to the head, for the cure of tinea capitis.  Death has also been produced by the
 inhalation of the smoke.
   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 -riven
 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; Oleum Tabaci; Unguentum Tabaci; Vinum Ta-
 baci.                                                              w


                TAMARINDUS.  U. S, Lond., Ed.

                               Tamarinds.

   The  preserved fruit of Tamarindus Indica. U. S.  Pulp of the fruit.  Lond.
 Pulp of the pods of Tamarindus indica. Ed.
   Off.  Syn.  PULP OF  TAMARINDS.  Tamarindus Indica.   The pulp of
 the pods. Dub.
   Tamarins, Fr.; Tamarinden, Germ.; Tamarindi, Ital.; Tamarindos, Span.
   Tamarindus.  Sex.  Syst Monadelphia Triandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceas 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.  Med, 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 opposite 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
 yellow petals beautifully variegated with red veins.   The fruit is a broad, com-
 pressed, reddish ash-coloured pod, much curved, from two to six  inches long,
 with numerous brown,  flat, quadrangular 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 extremity of the pod, the attachment of which they serve
 to strengthen.  The shells are fragile and easily separated.
   Tamarindus Indica appears to be a native of the East and West Indies,
 Egypt,  and Arabia, though believed  by  some  to have been imported into
 America.   De Candolle is doubtful whether the East  and West India trees are
 of the same species.  It is stated by writers  that the pods of the former  are
much larger than those of the latter,  and have a greater  number of seeds;  the
East India tamarinds containing six or seven, those from  the West  Indies
rarely more than three or four.   We found,  however, in a parcel of the latter
in our possession, numerous 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, 
PART I.
Tamarindus.—Tanacetum.
761
 in layers  in  a cask, and pouring boiling  syrup  over them.  A better mode,
 sometimes practised, is to place them  in  stone jars, with  alternate  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 ad-
 hesive mass, consisting of  syrup mixed with the pulp, membrane, 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 entire, 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 owing chiefly 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.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Tamarinds are laxative and refrigerant, and
 infused in water form a highly grateful drink in febrile diseases.  Convalescents
 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 connexion with
 other mild cathartics, and  is one of the ingredients of the confection  of senna.
 Though frequently given with infusion of senna to cover its taste, it  is said to
 weaken its purgative power; and the same observation  has been made of  its
 influence upon the resinous cathartics in general.  From a drachm to  an ounce
 or more may be taken at a dose.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Sennas;  Infusum Sennas Compositum;  Tamarindi
 Pulpa.                                                            W.


                 TANACETUM. U. S. Secondary.

                                 Tansy.

  The herb of Tanacetum  vulgare.  U.  S.
  Tanaisie, Fr.; Gemeiner Rheinfarrn, Wurmkraut, Germ.; Tanaceto, Ital., Span.
  Tanacetum.  Sex. Syst.  Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord.  Compositas-
 Senecionideas, De Candolle; Asteraceas, Lindley.
  Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked. Pappus somewhat marginate.  Calyx imbri-
 cate, hemispherical.  Corolla rays obsolete, trifid.  Willd.
  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 reddish,
 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 composed 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 with  a membranous 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.
  There is a variety of the plant with curled leaves, which  is said to be more 
762                      Tanacetum.—Tapioca.                 parti.

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, tannic and gallic acids, bitter extractive, gum,  lignin'
and a peculiar  acid which 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.
According to  Zeller, one pound of the  fresh herb, in  flower, yields upon an
average twenty-four grains of oil.  (Cent. Blatt, 1855,  p. 206.)
  3Iedical Properties and Uses.   Tansy has the medical  properties  of the
aromatic bitters.   It has been recommended in intermittents, hysteria, amenor-
rhcea, and as a preventive  of arthritic paroxysms; but at present it is  chiefly
used as an anthelmintic, and in this country  is little 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 poi-
soning with half an ounce  of oil of tansy is  recorded in  the Medical Magazine
for  November, 1834.   Frequent and violent clonic spasms  were experienced,
with much disturbance of respiration; and  the  action  of  the heart gradually
became weaker till death took place from its entire suspension.  No inflamma-
tion of the stomach or bowels was discovered upon dissection. (Am. Journ. of
the  Med, Sci., xvi. 256.)   Two other fatal  cases have since  been recorded, one
in which more than a fluidounce was taken, the»other  only  a fluidrachm.  In
both death followed  speedily,  preceded by coma and violent convulsions. In
two of the three cases above referred to, the oil seems  to have  been taken to
produce abortion, but no such effect followed in either.  (Ibid., xxiii. 136, and
xxiv. 279.)                                                         W.

                    TAPIOCA U. S., Ed., Dub.

                                  Tapioctt,

  The fecula of the root of Janipha Manihot.  U S., Ed, Dub.
  Janipha.  Sex. Syst Monoscia Monadelphia. — Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae.
  Gen. Ch.  Calyx  campanulate,  five-parted.  Stamens  ten,  distinct, alter-
nately shorter.  Stigmas three, many-lobed.  Fruit three-celled, with solitary
seeds.  (Lindley, 3Ied.  and CEconom. Bot,  82.)
  Botanists have generally followed Kunth in separating this genus from Ja-
tropha.   Its name was derived from the Indian designation of another species.
  Janipha Manihot Curtis's Bot.  Mag. 3071.— Jatropha Manihot Willd. Sp
Plant iv. 562.  This is the cassava plant  of the West Indies, the mandioca
or tapioca of Brazil.   It is a shrub about  six or  eight feet high, 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 alternate petiolate leaves,
deeply divided into three, five, or seven oval-lanceolate,  very acute lobes, which
are  somewhat wavy upon their borders, deep-green on  their  upper  surface,
glaucous and whitish beneath.   The flowers are in axillary racemes.
  Janipha Manihot is a native of  South America, and is cultivated extensively 
 part I.                 Tapioca.— Taraxacum.                    763

 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  exten-
 sively cultivated, abounds in an acrid milky juice, which  renders it highly poi-
 sonous 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 varie-
 ties 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 bitter
 variety, is submitted to pressure so as to  separate the deleterious juice.  It is
 now  in the state of meal or powder, which is  made into bread, cakes, or pud-
 dings.   As the poisonous principle is volatile, the portion which may have re-
 mained in the  meal is  entirely dissipated by the heat employed in  cooking.
 The  preparation denominated tapioca among us is obtained from the  expressed
 juice.  This, upon standing, deposits a powder, which,  after repeated wash-
 ings  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 its cha-
 racteristic consistence.   When  dried without heat, it is pulverulent, and closely
 resembles the fecula of arrow-root.
   Tapioca  is in 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 distinct hilum, which  is sur-
 rounded by rings, and cracks in a stellate manner.  Tapioca meal, called some-
 times Brazilian  arrow-root, and by the  French moussache, 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 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 are usually
 grateful additions; and,  in low states of disease or cases  of debility, it may be
 advantageously  impregnated 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.   Taraxacum Dens-leonis.   The
 recent root. Lond.  The root of Taraxacum Dens-leonis. Ed
   Off. Syn.  TARAXACUM DENS-LEONIS.  The root. Dub.
  Pissenlit, Dent de lion, Fr.; Lowenzahn, Germ.; Tarassaco, Ital.; Diente de leon, Span.
  Leontodon.   Sex. Syst.   Syngenesia JEquafis.—Nat. Ord.   Composites-
 Cichoraceas, De Candolle; Cichoraceas,  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,   - 
 764                            Taraxacum.                       part i,

 which spring immediately from the root, are long, pinnatifid, generally runci-
 nate, 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, hollow'
 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 nu-
 merous, ligulate, and toothed at their  extremities.   The  receptacle is convex
 and punctured.   The seed-down is stipitate, and  at the period of maturity 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  summer.
 All parts of the plant contain a  milky bitterish juice,  which exudes when they
 are broken  or wounded.   The leaves, when very  young,  and blanched by the
 absence of light during their  growth, are  tender and not unpleasant 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.   The Pharmacopasias
 recognise 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 dark-brown, much shrunk, wrinkled longitudinally, brittle, and when broken
 presents a shining somewhat resinous fracture.  A transverse section  exhibits
 an  exterior cortical portion, thick, spongy, whitish, and marked with concentric
 rings, and a smaller central portion, ligneous and yellow; though in  very old
roots the  latter is sometimes wanting.  It is without smell, but has a sweetish,
mucilaginous, bitterish, herbaceous taste.  Its active properties 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, caout-
chouc, saline matters, a trace of resin, and a free acid.   Besides these  ingre-
dients, starch or inulin, and saccharine matter exist in  the root.  Mannite,
which has been found in the infusion of the root, has been demonstrated by the
Messrs. Smith, of Edinburgh, not to pre-exist in the root, but to be formed by
spontaneous changes consequent on  exposure.  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 concen-
trated liquor, and allowing  it to evaporate  spontaneously in a warm place.
The taraxacin crystallizes, and may be purified by repeated solution and crys-
tallization in  alcohol or water. 
part i.              Taraxacum.—Terebinthina.                  765

  The root of Aspargia hispida has been largely substituted for dandelion  in
England by the herb gatherers (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xi. 107); and we
are informed that a similar fraudulent substitution is not unfrequent, in this
country, of the root of Cichorium Intibus, or chicory. This is distinguishable
from the genuine root by its  lighter  colour, and greater bitterness.  For a
particular account of the characteristic properties of the root, by which it may
be distinguished from all others, the reader is referred to an article by Mr. K.
Bentley, in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, (xvi. 304).
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Taraxacum  is slightly tonic, diuretic, and
aperient, and 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 practitioners
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 inflammation 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 in its favour.  An irritable con-
dition of the stomach and bowels, and  the existence of acute inflammation,
contra-indicate its employment.   It is usually given in the form of extract or
decoction, though some prefer the infusion.  (See these preparations in Part
II.)  Bitartrate of potassa is sometimes added to the decoction when an ape-
rient effect is desired; and aromatics will occasionally be found useful in cor-
recting a tendency to griping or flatulence.   The root is  sometimes prepared
and ground with coffee, the taste of which  covers that of the dandelion.
(Pharm. Journ. and Trans, xii. 505.)
   Off.Prep. Decoctum Scoparii Compositum; Decoctum Taraxaci; Extractum
Taraxaci; Infusum Taraxaci.                                      W.

            TEREBINTHINA.  U.S., Lond., Dub.

                             Turpentine.

  The juice of Pinus palustris, and other species of Pinus. U. S.  Pinus pal-
ustris and P. Tasda.  An oleo-resin effused from the stem on the removal of the
bark. Lond.   Pinus sylvestris.  Common turpentine. Dub.

          TEREBINTHINA CANADENSIS. U.S.

                        Canada Turpentine.

  The juice of Abies balsamea. U.S.
  Off. Syn. BALSAMUM CANADENSE. Fluid resinous exudation of Abies
balsamea; Canada balsam. Ed.

            TEREBINTHINA CHIA. Lond., Ed.

                         Chian Turpentine.

  Pistacia Terebinthus.   An oleo-resin effused from the incised stem. Lond.
Liquid resinous exudation of Pistacia Terebinthus.  Ed. 
766
Terebinthina.
PART i.
                TEREBINTHINA  VENETA.  Ed.

                           Venice Turpentine.
   Liquid resinous exudation of Abies Larix.  Ed.
   Terebenthine, Fr.; Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina, Ital., Span.
   The  term turpentine is  usually 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  Pistacia  Terebinthus,  which yields the Chian
 turpentine.  Some 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 accordance with the plan of this work.  It is proper
 first to  observe that  the original genus Pinus of Linnasus has been divided into
 the three  genera, Pinus, Abies, and Larix, which are now very generally recog-
 nised, though Lindley unites the two latter in his  Flora Medica.
   Pinus.  Sex. Syst.  Monoecia Monadelphia. — Nat. Ord. Piuaceas or Coniferas.
   Gen. Ch. Flowers monoecious.  Males.  Catkins  racemose, compact, and
 terminal;  squamosa; 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 3Iat 3Ied. 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
 brilliant 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  pro-
 portion 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 indexed."
   This  is  the loblolly, or old field pine of the Southern States. It is abundant
 in Virginia, where it occupies the  lands exhausted by cultivation.  It exceeds
 eighty feet m 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
 hght-green colour.   It yields turpentine  in abundance, but less fluid than that
 which flows from the preceding species.
   \  Pinus sylvestris. AVilld.  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  tree, when of full size,  is eighty feet high, with a  trunk four or five
feet m 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 
PART I.
Terebinthina.
767
haying been given 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.
Pinus maritima (P.  Pinaster of Aiton and Lambert), growing in the south-
ern 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  Pinus Pumilio, which inhabits  the
mountains of Eastern and South-eastern Europe, a terebinthinate juice exudes
spontaneously, called  Hungarian  balsam.  Pinus Cembra, or the 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 of 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.  Pinus Lambertiana, of
California, produces by exudation  a saccharine matter, which has been found
to contain a  peculiar sweet  principle called pinite.  (Comptes Rendus, Sept.
1855.)   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 BURGUNDICA.
   Abies balsamea. Lindley,  Flor.  3Ied.  p. 554.—A. balsamifera.  Michaux,
N Am. Sylv. iii. 191.—Pinus balsamea, Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 504.  "Leaves
solitary, flat, emarginate or entire,  glaucous beneath, somewhat pectinate, sub-
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 south.   It is  an
elegant tree, seldom  rising more than forty feet, 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, in-
serted in rows on the  sides and tops of the branches, narrow, flat, rigid, bright-
green on  their upper  surface, 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 appearance.
It is from this tree that the Canada balsam is obtained.
   Several other species of Abies are officinal.   Abies 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 Burgundica  and Pix
Canadensis.)   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.
By the distillation of its cones with water, it  also affords  a variety of oil  of
turpentine called in France essence de templine.  The Abies nigra  (Pinus
nigra), or black  spruce of this  country, yields a  product,  which, though not
recognised by the Pharmacopoeia,  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, as-
tringent taste.  It is used in the preparation of the beverage commonly known
by the name of spruce beer, which  is a pleasant and wholesome drink in sum-
mer, and useful in long sea-voyages as a preventive of scurvy.*

  * The following is the formula.  Take of essence of spruce half a pint;  pimento
bruised, ginger bruised, hops, each./our ounces; water, three gallons.   Boil for five or
ten minutes; then strain, and add. of warm water eleven gallons; yeast a pint; mo-
lasses six pints.  Mix, and allow the mixture to ferment for twenty-four hours. 
768
Terebinthina.
part i.
   Larix.  Sex. Syst.  Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord.  Pinacea or Coni-
 feras.
   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 Europcea. 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
 male and female flowers are dioecious, small,  and in branching racemes.  It 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., Bond.)
 is procured chiefly from Pinus palustris, partly also from Pinus Tseda, and
 perhaps 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 has
 been until recently almost exclusively supplied from  North Carolina, and the
 south-eastern parts  of Virginia.   Within  a  few years, however, attention has
 been turned to the collection of this valuable product in Georgia and Florida;
 and there is no  doubt that, in time, an abundant supply will be derived from
 the vast pine forests which occupy the  southern portion  of our country bor-
 dering on the Gulf of Mexico.  The following is the process for obtaining the
 turpentine as described by Michaux.  During the winter, 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 autumn.  The
 liquid is removed from these excavations as they fill, and transferred 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 consumption of this country, but also to  furnish a valuable export*

  * A particular and interesting account of tne mode of collecting  turpentine, distil-
ling the oil, and preparing tar, practised in North Carolina, is contained in Olmsted's
Journey in the Sea-board Southern States, N. Y., 1856, p. 339. 
PART I.
Terebinthina.
769
    White turpentine, as found in  our shops, is yellowish-white, of a  peculiar
  somewhat aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent, bitterish teste.   It  is some-
  what translucent, and of a consistence varying with the temperature.   In the
  middle of summer it is almost semi-fluid and very adhesive, though brittle; 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 perfectly hard
  and dry.  In the recent state it affords but 17  per cent, of volatile oil.   It is
  apt to contain small pieces of bark, wood, or other impurity.

                    2. Common European Turpentine.
   Terebenthine de Bordeaux, Terebenthine commune, Fr.; GemeinerTerpentin, Germ.;
  Trementina comune, Ital.; Trementina comun, Span.
    This is the  Terebinthina Vulgaris of the former London  Pharmacopoeia.
  It is furnished by several  species of pine;  but  chiefly by P. sylvestris  and P.
  maritima.  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 turpen-
  tine.   It is  procured by 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
  transparent, the other of a consistence and appearance  like those of thickened
  honey.  As found in European commerce  it often consists wholly of this latter
  portion.   It speedily hardens on exposure to the air in  thin layers.  The most
  liquid specimens are completely solidified by the addition  of one part of mag-
  nesia  to thirty-two of the turpentine. (Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 499.)   It is
 scarcely ever given internally, but furnishes large quantities 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, or 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 Dublin College, and is sometimes
 called yellow resin  (resina fflava).  White resin (resina  alba) is prepared by
 incorporating this, while in fusion, with a  certain  proportion  of water.   Tar
 (pix liquida) is the turpentine extracted from the wood by slow combustion, and
 chemically altered by heat.  Common pitch  (pix, pix nigra, or resina nigra) is
 the solid residue left after the evaporation by boiling of the liquid parts of tar.
                         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 Abies balsamea,  and is  collected in  Canada and the
 State of Maine.  It is procured 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 yellowish, 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 yel-
low, and finally solid.   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,
       49 ' 
770
Terebinthina.
PART i.
 it is sometimes called balm of Gilead, from its supposed resemblance to that
 celebrated medicine.  The term balsam, as at present understood, is improperly
 applied to it; as  it contains  no benzoic nor cinnamic acid, and  is  in fact  a
 true turpentine, consisting chiefly of resin and volatile oil.  Bonastre obtained
 from 100 parts of Canada turpentine,  186 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 49 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, Terehenthine  de Venise, Fr.; Venetianischer  Terpentin
 Germ.; Trementina di Venezia, Ital.;  Trementina de Venecia, Span.
   This turpentine  was named from the circumstance that it was formerly an
 extensive article of Venetian commerce.  It is procured in Switzerland, and the
 French province of Dauphiny, from the Larix Europosa  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 conduct the juice by means
 of wooden gutters  into small tubs, placed at a convenient distance.  It is after-
 wards purified by filtration through a  leather sieve.   Genuine Venice terpen-
 tine is a  viscid liquid, of the consistence of honey, flowing with  difficulty, cloudy
 or imperfectly transparent, yellowish or slightly greenish, of a strong not dis-
 agreeable odour, and a warm, bitterish,  and acrid taste.  It does not readily con-
 crete 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 tur-
 pentine.   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 prepara-
 tion as that which passes under the name in this country.

                          5. Ciiian Turpentine.
   Terebenthine de Chio, Fr.; Cyprischer Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina Cipria,  Ital.
   This variety of turpentine  is collected chiefly in the island of Chio or  Scio,
loj incisions made during the summer in the bark of 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 sub-
 stances 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 becomes  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
 Strasburg turpentine, much used in France, and obtained from the Abies Picea
 (Abies pectinata 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 Abies balsamea of Canada; the Damarra
 turpentine, which speedily concretes into a very hard resin, and is derived from 
PART I.
Terebinthina.
771
  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 Dombeya excelsa, the
  Araucaria Dombeyi of Richard, which inhabits Chili, and  is said to be identi-
  cal 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 pro-
  perly 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  volatilization,
  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 vola-
  tile oil.  They are almost wholly soluble in alcohol and ether, and readily unite
  with the fixed oils.   They yield by distillation a volatile oil,  called oil of tur-
 pentine; the residue consisting exclusively of resin.  (See Oleum Terebinthinse
  and Resina.)  A minute proportion of succinic 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. 3Ied., 1830, p. 94.)   According to  M. Thierry, the same
  result is obtained by the addition of  one part of hydrate of lime to thirty-two
  parts of common European turpentine. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e  sir., i.  315.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  The effects of the turpentines upon the  system
 are dependent entirely on their volatile 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 ex-
 perienced when they operate upon the bowels.    Externally  applied they act as
 rubefacients.   Their medical virtues  were known to  the ancients.   At present
 they are less used than formerly, having been  superseded by their volatile oil.
 They are, however, occasionallyprescribed in leucorrhoea, gleet, and other chronic
 diseases of the urinary passages; in piles and chronic inflammation or ulceration
 of the bowels; in chronic catarrhal affections;  and in various forms of rheuma-
 tism, especially sciatica and lumbago.   The white turpentine is usually employed
 in this country.
   They  may be given in the shape of pill made with powdered liquorice root;
 in emulsion  with gum arabic  or yolk  of egg, loaf sugar,  and  water;  or in
 electuary 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 with flatulence.
   The  vapour  of turpentine, employed as a vapour-bath,  has  recently been
 highly recommended in the treatment of obstinate chronic rheumatism.   Ac-
 cording to M.  A. Chevandier, it  is borne well  for about twenty-five  minutes,

   *  The product of Abies picea, referred to in the text as Strasburg turpentine, is, accord-
 ing to Guibourt, nearly as liquid as olive oil, at first turbid and whitish, but becoming
 by filtration or long standing transparent and almost colourless, of an agreeable  odour,
 analogous to that of the citron, and of a 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 by incisions into the vesicles which form upon the surface
 of the tree, beneath the outer bark.  Guibourt states that this is the true Venice turpen-
 tine,  while that described in the text, and generally recognised by authors as Venice
turpentine, is in fact the Strasburg. (Journ.  de Pharm., xxv. 487.) 
772
Testa.— Tormentilla.
PART I.
at a temperature of from 140° to 160° F., producing acceleration of the pulse
and copious  sweating, sometimes  accompanied with  a confluent  eruption'
(Arch.  Gin., 4e sir., xxviii.  80.)
   Off. Prep. Ceratum Resinas Compositum;  Emplastrum Cantharidis Comp. •
Emplastrum Galbani Comp.; Unguentum Elemi; Unguentum Iniusi Canthar-
idis.                                                                "vV

                            TESTA.  U.S.

                              Oyster-shell.

   The shells of  Ostrea edulis. U S.
   Ecailles des huitres, 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  owrn coast, and in the bays of  our laro-e
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, parti-
cularly 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
and animal matter, the latter being of the nature of coagulated albumen. Ac-
cording to the analysis of Bucholz and Brandes, their 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 carbonic acid are dis-
sipated, and the shells are converted into a species of lime, called oyster-shell lime.
   Pharmaceutical  Uses.  Oyster-shells must be  reduced  to an impalpable
powder, before  they are fit for medical use.   Thus prepared they form Testa
Prseparata, under which head their medicinal properties wall be noticed.
   Off. Prep. Teste  Prasparata.                                       B.

         TORMENTILLA.  U. S.  Secondary, Lond., Ed.

                                Tormentil.

   The root  of  Potentilla Tormentilla. U. S.,  Ed.   The rhizoma. Lond,
   Tormentille, Fr.; Tormentillwurzel, Germ.; Tormentilla, Ital; Tormentila, Span.
   Potentilla. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Polygynia.—Nat, Ord.  Rosaceas.
   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.
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. 3Ied. Bot. p.  503, t.
181. — 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,  villous,
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 
  part I.             Tormentilla.—Toxicodendron.                 773

  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 red-
  dish within.  It has a slight aromatic odour, and a very astringent taste.  Tan-
  nin 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 its virtues  to boiling water.
    Medical^ Properties and Uses.   Tormentil is a simple and powerful astrin-
  gent, applicable to  all eases of  disease in which this class of medicines is indi-
  cated.  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 Tormentillas; Pulvis Cretas Compositus.       W.

              TOXICODENDRON.   U.S.  Secondary.

                               Poison-oak.
    The leaves of Rhus Toxicodendron.  U S.
    Sumach veneneux, Fr.; Gift-Sumach, Germ.; Albero del veleno, Ital.
    Rhus.  See RHUS GLABRUM.
    Admitting, as appears generally to be done at present, that Rhus Toxico-
 dendron and  Rhus radicans of Linnasus are mere varieties of the  same plant,
 there are three indigenous species  of Rhus which possess poisonous properties
 —the one above mentioned, R. vernix, commonly  known  by the  name of
 swamp sumach or poison sumach, and  R pumilum of the Southern States.
 Though the  first only is designated in the Pharmacopoeia, we shall briefly de-
 scribe the three; as  their medical effects are probably similar, and  their opera-
 tion upon the system such that the plants.should be known to every practitioner
   1.  Rhus radicans. Willd. Sp. Plant  i. 1481;  Bigelow, Am. 3Ied. Bot  iii
 17. —i?. Toxicodendron. Pursh, Ft  Am. Sept p. 205.   Though Elliott and
 Nuttall  consider 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  having; the
 characters of  both varieties."   The difference, however,  in  their appearance is
^sufficiently striking to have led to the adoption  of different common names •  R
 radicans being usually called poison vine, and 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 throws out
 from its  sides.  The leaves, which stand upon long footstalks,  are ternate with
 broad-ovate or rhomboidal,  acute leaflets, 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.
  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 
774                         Toxicodendron.                     part i.

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 R. radicans do not put forth rooting fibres until several years old, and are
influenced in this respect by the contiguity of supporting objects.
   This species of Rhus grows in woods, fields, and along fences from Canada to
Georgia.  It flowers in June and July.  Wrhen 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 vesication;
and the same poisonous property is possessed by a volatile principle which escapes
from the plant itself, and  produces in certain persons, when they come into its
vicinity, an exceedingly troublesome erysipelatous affection, particularly of the
face.  Itching, redness, a sense of burning, tumefaction, vesication, and ulti-
mate 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 purgatives, and
the local  use  of cold lead-water, are  the  best remedies.   Dr. A. Livezey,  of
Lumberville, Penn., strongly recommends a saturated tincture of lobelia as a
local application in this affection.   He applies it by means of linen or muslin
cloths, and believes that it arrests the  inflammation. (Boston 3Ied. and Surg.
Journ., Iv. 262.)  All persons 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.
Swamp sumach  is a beautiful shrub,  or small tree, usually ten or fifteen feet
high, but sometimes  thirty feet.   The bark of the trunk is dark-gray, of the
branches lighter, of the extreme twigs  and petioles beautifully 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 sinuated, acuminate,  smooth, and,
except the one  at the end, nearly sessile.  The flowers, as  in the preceding spe-
cies, are dioecious.  They are very small,  greenish, and in loose axillary pani-
cles.  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 exudes from
our native plant when wounded, and which becomes permanently black on ex-
posure,  may be  made  to afford a brilliant, glossy, durable varnish, by boiling
it sufficiently before applying it.
   Rhus vernix produces, much more powerfully than R. radicans, the poison-
ous 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 spontaneously subsides
without destroying life.   As in the former instance, the susceptibility to the
influence of the  poison is exceedingly various, and some persons 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. 
 part I.             Toxicodendron.—Tragacantha.                775

   It is probable that all parts  of Rhus  radicans (R. Toxicodendron) are
 active; but the leaves only are directed in  the Pharmacopoeia,' under the title
 of Toxicodendron.  These are inodorous, have a mawkish acrid taste, and yield
 their virtues to water.  The presence of tannic and gallic acids has been de-
 tected in them.
   Medical 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 stupe-
 fying effect upon  the nervous system.  They were successfully used by Du Fres-
 noy, in France, in the cure of obstinate cutaneous diseases.  Dr. Anderson, 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 with  little 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 them
 in larger doses, with  little other than a  laxative effect.   Dr. Horsfield admin-
 istered  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., Dub.

                              Tragacanth.

   The concrete juice of Astragalus verus. U S.   Juice exuded from the bark,
 hardened in the air. Lond.  Gummy exudation from Astragalus gummifer and
 probably A. verus, and other species. Ed.   Astragalus gummifer.   The gum-
 my exudation.  Dub.
   Gomme Adraganthe, Fr.; Tragant, Germ.; Dragante, Ital.; Gomo tragacanto, Span.
   Astragalus.  Sex. Syst. Diadelphia  Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceas or
 Leguminosas.
   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 A. Tragacantha of Linnasus (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 A. verus, which inhabits Asia
Minor, Armenia, and Northern Persia. Labdlardiere 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 commerce.   Sieber
denies that any one of these species yields  the officinal  tragacanth, which he
ascribes to A. aristatus,  growing in Anatolia,  especially upon Mount Ida,
where the gum is  most abundantly collected.  This plant, however, is not the 
776
Tragacantha.
part i.
 A. aristatus of Villars, which, according to Sibthorp, furnishes tnuracanth in
 Greece.  (3Ierat and De Dens.)  Professor Lindley received two specimens of
 plants, said to be those which furnish tragacanth in Turkistan, one of which
 proved to be A. gummifer of Labdlardiere, which was said to yield a white
 variety,  and the other a new  species which he  called 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.   They are very abundant
 on the mountains of  Asia Minor, and, according to information recently re-
 ceived by M. J.  Leon  Soubeiran from M. Balansa, a  scientific traveller who
 derived his  knowledge from personal  observation, the gum-producing  species
 are closely analogous to the A. Creticus of  Lamarck.  It is in the chain of
 Anti-Taurus that the gum is chiefly collected.   Transverse incisions are made,
 near  the base of the  stem,  into the medullary  part, which alone yields juice!
 This exudes very slowly, flowing at night, and ceasing during the day; and two
 weeks usually elapse before the pieces are large  enough for collection.  The
 shape of the pieces is influenced by the rapidity  of the exudation, and the lines
 on their surface  indicate the daily concretion.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim
 Feb.  1856, p. 117, and Feb. 1857, p.  149.)
   As 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, p. 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 branches, 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 col-
 lected in Persia,  and thence transmitted southward to India through Bagdad
 and  Bassora, northward to Russia, and  westward to Aleppo.  The juice is
 said to exude spontaneously during  the summer from the stems and branches,
 hardening as it exudes.
   Properties.   Tragacanth is  either  in  flaky,  leaf-like pieces,  irregularly ob-
 long  or  roundish, or in tortuous vermicular  filaments,  rounded or  flattened,
 rolled up or extended, of  a whitish,  yellowish-white, or  slightly  reddish co-
 lour,  somewhat translucent, and resembling horn in appearance.  It is hard
 and  more or  less fragile, but  difficult of pulverization, unless exposed to a
 freezing  temperature, 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 P384.  Introduced into water, it absorbs  a certain pro-
 portion of that  liquid,  swells very much,  and forms a soft adhesive paste, but
 does not dissolve.  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 separates, 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 swelling in  water, but not dissolving.   The former is said to differ
 from gum arabic in affording no precipitate with  silicate of  potassa or sesqui-
chloride  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 
 part I.                Tragacantha.—Triosteum.                   777

 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 anything.  Ber-
 zelius considers  tragacanth as a variety of mucilage. (See Linum.)  Examined
 by Dr. Kiitzing, by means of the microscope, it  was found to consist  of or-
 ganized cells, having thick walls sometimes of several concentric layers, and
 filled with starch granules.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxv. 37.)
   It is stated by Mr. S. H. Maltass that tragacanth is adulterated, in the Le-
 vant, with worthless gums brought from Armenia and Caramania, which, as they
 are originally of a dark colour, and destitute of the  flaky form of the genuine
 gum, are broken into small fragments, and whitened by means of carbonate of
 lead, before being mixed with  the tragacanth.   Mr. Hanbury states, in con-
 firmation  of this information, that he has detected lead in the small  traga-
 canth imported into London. (Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., xv. 20.)
   Medical 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 insolu-
 ble  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; Mucilago Tragacanthas;  Pilulas Ferri Iodidi;
 Pulvis Tragacanthas Compositus.                                     W.

                  TRIOSTEUM.  U. S. Secondary.

                               Fever-root.

   The root of Triosteum perfoliatum. U. S.
   Triosteum.   Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord. Caprifoliaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx five-cleft, persistent, nearly the length  of the corolla ;  seg-
 ments linear, acute. Corolla tubular, five-lobed, sub-equal; base  nectariferous,
 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, Med. 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
 beyond 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.
   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, preferring a
 limestone soil and shady situations.  Its flowers appear in June.  The whole
 plant is bitter;  but the  root is most active, and is the only officinal part.
   It is horizontal, long, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, thicker
and tuberculated near the edge  of the stem, of a yellowish or brownish colour
externally,  whitish within, and  furnished with fibres  which may be considered 
778
Triosteum.— Ulmus.
part I.
 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 alcohoi
 take up its active properties, which are retained in the extract.
   3Iedical 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.

                            ULMUS. Lond.

                               Elm Bark.

   Ulmus campestris.  The interior bark.  Lond,
   Ecorce d'orme, Fr.; Ulmenrinde, 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. 3Ied. Bot. p. 710, t.
 242.   This species of  elm is characterized  by its  doubly serrate leaves, unequal
 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, brownish-yellow, inodorous, and of a mucilaginous,  bitterish, and very
 slightly astringent taste.  It imparts to water its taste and mucilaginous prop-
 erties.  Tincture of iodine indicates the presence  of starch, and Davy found
 somewhat  more than  two per  cent, of tannin.  A vegetable principle called
 ulmin or ulmic acid,  now believed to  be a constituent of most barks, was first
 discovered in the matter which  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.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   The bark of the European elm is demulcent,
 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 tinea capitis, employed both  internally and externally. (Medico-
 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.                                        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, un- 
PART I.
Ulmus.
779
 equally serrate, pubescent and very rough on both sides, four or five  inches in
 length by two or three  in breadth, and supported on short footstalks.   The
 buds, a  fortnight before their development, are covered with a  dense russet
 down.   The flowers, which appear before the leaves, are sessile, 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, short, and of a pale-rose colour.   The fruit
 is a membranaceous capsule or samara,  enclosing 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
 white 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,
 and is brought to the shops separated from the epidermis.
   It is in long, nearly flat pieces, from one to two lines thick, of a fibrous tex-
 ture, a tawny colour which is reddish on the inner surface, a peculiar 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.   The mucilage is
 precipitated by solutions of acetate and subacetate of lead, but not by alcohol.
   Much of the bark recently brought into the market is of inferior quality, im-
 parting  comparatively little mucilage to water.   It has the characteristic odour
 of the genuine bark, but is much less fibrous and more brittle, breaking abruptly
 when bent, instead of being capable, like the better kind, of being folded length-
 wise without breaking.   To what this inferiority is owing, whether to difference
 in the species or the age, or to circumstances in the growth of the tree produc-
 ing it, we are unable to determine.
   Dr. C. W. Wright, of Cincinnati, in a  communication to the Western Lancet,
 states that slippery elm bark has the property of preserving fatty substances
 from rancidity; a fact derived originally from the Indians, who prepared bears'
 fat by melting it with the bark, in the proportion of a  drachm of the latter to
 a  pound of the former, keeping them heated together for a few minutes, and
 then straining off the fat.  Dr. Wright  tried the same  process with butter and
 lard, and found them to remain perfectly sweet  for a long time.  (Am.  Journ.
 of Pharm.,  xxiv. 180.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Slippery elm bark is an excellent demulcent,
 applicable to all cases in which this class of medicines is employed.  It is espe-
 cially 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 demulcents 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 commonly used 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,
recommended  the  use  of slippery elm  bark for the  dilatation  of fistulas and
strictures (3Ied. Examiner, i. 244, from the West. Journ. of Med. and Phys. 
780
Ulmus.— Uva Passa.
part r.
 Sci.)-,  and subsequently Dr.  H. R. Storer, of Boston, has used it advantage-
 ously for dilating  the os uteri  (Bost 3led. and Surg. Journ., liii.  300);  and
 Dr. A. Abbe, of the same place, succeeded in curing with it a case of stricture
 of the  rectum (Ibid., liv. 349).
    Off.  Prep. Infusum Ulmi.                                         ^y


                         UVA PASSA.  U.S.

                                 Raisins.

   The  dried fruit of Vitis vinifera.  U. S.
   Off. Syn.  UVA.  Vitis vinifera. The prepared fruit. Lond.; UWE PASSJJ.
 Dried fruit of Vitis vinifera.  Ed., Dub.
   Raisins sees, Fr.;  Rosinen, Germ.; Uve passe, Ital.; Pasas, Span.
   Vitis. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Vitaceas.
   Gen. Ch,  Petals cohering at the apex, withering.  Berry five-seeded, supe-
 rior.  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 species 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 froin 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 refreshing 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 resem-
 blance 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 re-
 freshing 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 varieties  which have resulted from cul-
 ture or  situation are innumerable.  Those which yield the raisins of commerce
 are confined to the basin of the Mediterranean.
   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  short 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 pro-
duced m Calabria  are similar.   The Smyrna raisins  are  also large, but of a
yellowish-brown color, slightly musky odour, and less agreeable flavour.  They
are originally brought from the coast of  Syria.   The Corinthian 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 for- 
PART I.
UvaPassa.— Uva Ursi.
781
 merly cultivated.  At present they are procured chiefly from Zante, Cephalonia,
 and the other  Ionian Islands.   In the older Pharmacopoeias they are distin-
 guished by the title of uvse passse minores.
   Raisins contain a larger proportion of sugar than recent grapes.  This prin-
 ciple, 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
 (glucose)  differs from that of the cane, and is said to be identical with that pro-
 duced by the action of sulphuric acid upon starch.   It is  less sweet than com-
 mon sugar, less soluble in cold water, much less  soluble in alcohol, and forms
 a syrup of less consistence.
   Medical 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 pro-
 duce unpleasant effects, especially in children.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Guaiaci; Decoctum Hordei Compositum; Mistura Al-
 thasas; Tinctura Cardamomi Composita;  Tinctura  Quassias  Comp.; Tinctura
 Rhei et Sennas; Tinctura Sennas Comp.                              W.


               UVA  URSI.  U. S,  Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Uva  Ursi.

   The leaves of Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi.  U S., Bond.,  Ed., Dub.
   Eusserole, Raisin  d'ours, Fr.; Barentraube, Germ.; Corbezzolo,  Uva Ursina, Ital.;
 Gayuba, Span.
   Arctostaphylos. Sex. Syst Decandria Monogynia. — Nat Ord, Ericaceas.
   Gen. Ch. Drupe  with five distinct,  one-seeded stones.  Corolla urceolate,
 with a revolute limb. Stamens included. Anthers with two spurs at the back.
 (Lindley, Aled. and (Econ. Bot, 106.)
   Arctostaphylos Uva  Ursi. Sprengel, Syst. ii. 287; Carson, Illust. of Med.
 Bot. i.  61, pi. 52.—Arbutus Uva Ursi. Willd. Sp. Plant,  ii. 618;  Bigelow,
 Am. 3Ied.  Bot. i. 66.  The uva ursi, or bearberry, is a low evergreen shrub|
 with trailing steins, the young branches of which rise obliquely upwards for a
 few mches.  The leaves are scattered, upon short petioles, from half an inch to
 an inch long, obovate, acute at the base, entire, with a rounded margin, thick,
 coriaceous, smooth,  shining, deep-green on their upper surface, paler and covered
 with a network of veins beneath.  The  flowers, which stand on short reflexed
 peduncles, are in small clusters at the ends of the branches. The calyx is small,
 five-parted,  reddish, 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^
 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 abundance.  It prefers a barren soil, flourishing on gravelly hills,
 and elevated sandy plains.   The leaves are the only part used in medicine.
 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. 
782
Uva Ursi.
PART I.
   In Europe the uva ursi is often  adulterated with the leaves  of  Vaccinium
 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 like the genuine leaf.   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 offi-
cinal alcohol.   Among their ingredients are tannic and gallic acids, bitter ex-
tractive,  resin, gum, fatty matter, a volatile oil, and salts of potassa and lime.
The tannic acid is so abundant  that  the leaves are used for tanning in some
parts of  Russia.  Neither this principle nor  gallic acid exists in the leaves  of
the Vaccinium  Vitis Idsea.  A. crystallizable principle was extracted from
uva ursi  by Mr. J. C. C. Hughes, by  the following  process.  An aqueous ex-
tract of the leaves was treated with strong alcohol,  and submitted for twenty-
four hours to the action of purified  animal charcoal.   The tincture was filtered
and evaporated, and the residue redissolved in alcohol, and treated with animal
charcoal  as before.  After filtration, the liquid was allowed to evaporate spon-
taneously, and yielded colourless, transparent, .needle-shaped crystals, soluble  in
water, alcohol, ether, and dilute acids, insoluble in the fixed and volatile oils, neu-
tral to test-paper, and combustible.  Its watery solution was precipitated by sub-
acetate of lead and carbonate of potassa,  but not by lime-water, or tincture  of
chloride of  iron.  One grain of  it acted as a powerful diuretic.  Mr.  Hughes
proposed for this substance the name of ursin.  (Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xix.
90.)  Kawalier obtained a crystalline substance, named arbutin, by precipitat-
ing the decoction with acetate of lead, filtering, treating the liquid with sul-
phuretted hydrogen, again  filtering, evaporating  to the consistence of syrup,
and allowing the resulting product  to stand for several days.  This gradually
assumed  the form of a crystalline jelly, which, being placed upon linen so  as
to allow  the mother liquor to drain  off, and then pressed, yielded nearly colour-
less crystals, which were purified by solution in boiling water,  and treatment
with animal charcoal.   Arbutin thus obtained is  in  long, acicular, colourless
crystals,  united  in tufts,  and of a bitter taste.   It is soluble  in water,  alcohol,
and ether, unchanged apparently by a heat of 212°, but fusible at a high  tem-
perature,  without action on  vegetable colours, and not precipitated by sesqui-
salts of iron, or by acetate or subacetate of lead.  Its formula is C^H^O^.
(Chem.  Gaz.,  Feb. 15,  1853,  p. 61.)  Another crystallizable  principle has
been discovered  by Trommsdorff, who calls it urzone.  It appears to be of a
resinous character,  being tasteless and inodorous, insoluble in water, difficultly
soluble in alcohol and ether, fusible, at a higher temperature volatilizable, and
inflammable in  the air.   It is obtained from  an ethereal extract of uva ursi,
by washing it with  ether, and crystallizing from  an alcoholic  solution.  (See
Am, Journ, of Pharm., xxvii. 334.)
   3Iedical  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 com-
plaints of which it  is chiefly used.   Others deny  that  it possesses a peculiar
tendency of this kind, and ascribe 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 influence  on  the kid-
neys and urinary passages.  Though known to the ancients, it had passed into 
 parti.                  Uva Ursi.— Valeriana.                     783

 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 par-
 ticularly recommended when there is reason to conjecture the existence of ulcera-
 tion in the kidneys, bladder, or urinary passages.  Diabetes, catarrh of the blad-
 der,  incontinence of urine, gleet, leucorrhoea, 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.  Dr. E.  G. Harris,
 of Fayette, Alabama, believes it  to  have the property of promoting uterine
 contraction, and has employed it with supposed advantage as a substitute for
 ergot in tedious labours. (Med. Exam.,  N.  S., ix. 727,  from South.  Med. and
 Surg. Journ.)   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 preferred.
 (See Decoctum  Uvse  Ursi.)*
    Off. Prep.  Decoctum Uvas Ursi;  Extractum Uvas Ursi.             W.

              VALERIANA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                 Valerian.

    The root of Valeriana officinalis. U S., Ed.  Root of the wild plant. Lond.,
 Dub.
   Valeriane, Fr.; Wilde Baldrianwurzel, Germ.; Valeriana silvestre, Ital.; Valerian
 silvestre, Span.
   Valeriana.   Sex.  Syst Triandria Monogynia. — Nat.  Ord. Valerianaceas.
    Gen. Ch.  Calyx very small, finally enlarged into  a feathery pappus.  Corol-
 la 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. Med. 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  flow-
 ering branches.   The  leaves of the^tem  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 feet

  * Mr. J. M. Maisch proposes a fluid extract, to be made by pouring upon  sixteen
ounces of the powdered leaves twenty ounces of a mixture of equal parts of alcohol and
water, macerating for 24 hours, then slowly displacing with a mixture of three parts
of water and one of alcohol till the powder is exhausted, and lastly evaporating to a pint.
A fluidrachm contains the virtues of a drachm of the leaves.  (Am. Journ.  of Pharm.,
xxix.  302.)—Note to  the eleventh edition. 
784
Valeriana.
part i.
high, and is distinguished by its narrow leaves.  It has been generally believed
to be superior to the others in  medicinal virtue; but, from experiments of  A
Buchner, it appears  that the dried roots of the variety which  grows in low
moist  grounds are in no  respect inferior, and that the general opinion to the
contrary is a prejudice. (Pharm, Cent. Blatt, June, 1852, p. 429.)
   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, cylin-
drical fibres, issuing from a tuberculated head or rhizoma.  As brought to this
country, it frequently has portions of the stem attached.  The English is supe-
rior to that from the continent of Europe.   Within a few years valerian of
good quality has been produced by the Shakers at  Enfield, New Hampshire.
(Gardener, New York Journ. of Med., N. S., iv. 190.) From our own observa-
tion, we know that the plant grows luxuriantly under culture in this country.
   Properties. The colour of the root is externally yellowish or brown, internally
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 plea-
sant to many persons, is very disagreeable to others.   Cats are said to be strongly
attracted by it.   The taste is at first  sweetish, afterwards  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 so-
lutions; 18-75 of gum; 6-25 of a soft odorous resin; and 63 of lignin.  Runge
found in it a peculiar fixed acid, which produced with bases white salts, becom-
ing green on exposure to the air.  (Chem. Gaz., No. 170, p.  452.)  Of these
constituents the most  important is the volatile 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 vis-
cid by exposure.   Trommsdorff ascertained that it contains a peculiar volatile
acid, upon which the name of valerianic  acid or valeric acid has been con-
ferred.  This, when separated from the oil, is  a colourless liquid,  of an oleagin-
ous  consistence, having an odour  analogous to that of valerian, and a very
strong, sour,  disagreeable teste.  It is soluble in thirty parts of water, and in
all proportions in ether and  alcohol.   It combines with salifiable bases, form-
ing  soluble salts, 'which retain, in a diminished degree, the  odour of the acid.
(Journ.  de Pharm., xx. 316.)   From Jjie  experiments  of MM. Cozzi and
Thirault, it would  appear that this acid does not pre-exist in the root, but re-
sults from the oxidation  of the volatile oil.  (Ibid., 3e sir., xii.  162.)   Vale-
rianic acid is obtained by distilling the impure oil from carbonate of magnesia,
decomposing by sulphuric acid the valerianate of magnesia 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, distilling, separating  the oil, saturat-
ing the liquor with carbonate of soda, evaporating, 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 distill-
ing so bulky a root as valerian, while it answers the same purpose as that of 31
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 
part I.              Valeriana.— Veratrum Album.                 785

this with carbonate of soda, concentrate the liquid, decompose the valerianate of
soda contained in it by sulphuric acid, and separate the valerianic acid set free,
either by a separatory, or by distillation.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvii.  253.)
M. Lefort obtains the acid by the rapid oxidation of the volatile oil.   He dis-
tils 100 parts  of the root with 500  of water, 10 of sulphuric acid, and 6  of
bichromate of potassa.  In this way he has procured a larger proportion of acid
than by any other process. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir.,  x. 194.)*
   The roots of 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 Ra-
nunculacese, which, according to Ebermayer, are sometimes fraudulently sub-
stituted in Germany. They may be readily detected by their want of the pecu-
liar odour of the officinal root.  According to M. O.  Raveil, the valerian in the
markets of Paris is  largely adulterated with the roots of scabious (Scabiosa
succisa, and S. arvensis, Linn.)  They are shorter than the genuine root, with
larger radicles, less rough, little or not at all striated, very brittle, with a white
amylaceous fracture.  The roots are inodorous in themselves, but acquire  smell
from contact with the valerian. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xxvi. 209.)
   3Iedical Properties and Uses. Valerian is gently stimulant, with an especial
direction to the nervous system, but without  narcotic effects.  In large doses it
produces  a sense of heaviness and dull pain in the head, with various other ef-
fects 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 recommended
are hysteria, hypochondriasis, epilepsy, hemicrania, and low forms of fever at-
tended with  restlessness, morbid vigilance, or other nervous disorder.   It has
also been used in intermittents, combined  with Peruvian bark.   At best,  how-
ever, 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 experimented with
it, to be less apt to irritate the alimentary canal than when administered in sub-
stance.  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 continent of Europe; and the
volatile oil is  occasionally substituted with advantage for the root.  The dose
of the oil is four or five drops.
   Off. Prep.  Extractum Valerianae Fluidum; Infusum Valerianas; Oleum Va-
lerianae ;  Tinctura Valerianas; Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata.         AY.


                  VERATRUM ALBUM.  U.S.

                           White  Hellebore.

   The rhizoma of Veratrum album. U. S.
   Off. Syn.  VERATRUM.  Veratrum album.  The rhizoma, Lond.,  Ed.

  * Recently valerianic acid has been obtained from various sources  as a result  of
chemical  reaction.  A relation has been discovered  between it and fusel oil (Alcohol
Amylicum,  Dub.), similar to that which exists between acetic acid and alcohol.   Amyl
(CI0Hn) is a compound radical, which, by uniting with one eq. of oxygen and one  of
water, forms fusel oil (C10HnO-j-HO).   This, by the absorption of two eqs. of oxygen
and the loss of two eqs. of hydrogen, is converted into hydrated valerianic acid (C10H9
03-f HO).  Such a change may be effected by exposing the fusel oil to various oxidiz-
ing influences.  (See Alcohol Amylicum and Sodcc  Valerianas in Part II.)
       50 
786
Veratrum Album.
part I.
  Ellebore blanc, Fr.; Weisse Niesswurzel, Germ.; Eleboro bianco, Ital.; Veratro bian-
co, Span.
  Veratrum.  Sex. Syst.  Polygamia Moncecia.—Nat. Ord. Melanthaceas.
  Gen. Ch,  Hermaphrodite.   Calyx  none.  Corolla six-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 Linnasus, place this genus in
the class and order Hexandria Trigynia, 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. Med.  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 alternate
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.
  White hellebore is a  native of the mountainous regions of continental Eu-
rope,  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 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 trun-
cated 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, and afterwards bitterish, acrid, burning, and dur-
able.   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 colouring matter, starch,
gum,  lignin, silica, and various salts of lime and potassa.  The medicinal proper-
ties 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 this alkaloid, see the article Veratria, among
the preparations.   Simon  believed that he had found two new  vegetable alka-
lies in white hellebore,  one of which was named barytina, from being precipi-
tated, like  baryta, from its solution in acetic  or phosphoric acid by sulphuric
acid or the sulphates; the other jefvina, from  the Spanish name for a poison
obtained from the root  of white hellebore.  (Pharm, Cent. Blatt, 1837, p. 191.)
   3Iedical Properties  and Uses.  White hellebore is a  violent emetic and ca-
thartic, capable of producing dangerous and fatal effects  when incautiously ad-
ministered.  Even in small doses it has sometimes occasioned severe vomiting,
hypercatharsis with bloody stools,  and alarming symptoms of general prostra-
tion.    Like many other acrid substances, it  appears, in small  doses, to be a
general stimulant to the secretions.  Applied externally upon a portion of the
surface denuded of the  cuticle, as upon ulcers, for example, it gives rise to grip-
ing pain in the bowels, and sometimes violent purging.  When snuffed up the
nostrils, it occasions great irritation with violent sneezing, and its use in this
way is not free from danger.   It was employed by the ancients in dropsy, ma-
nia, epilepsy, leprosy, elephantiasis, and other obstinate  disorders, not  without
occasional advantage;  but the severity of its operation  has led to its  general 
parti.         Veratrum Album.— Veratrum  Viride.              787

abandonment as an internal remedy.   It is sometimes used as an errhme, di-
luted with some mild powder, in cases of gutta serena and lethargic affections;
and, in the shape of decoction, or of ointment prepared by mixing the pulver-
ized root with lard, has been found beneficial as an external application in the
itch, and other cutaneous eruptions.  From the resemblance  of its  operation
to that of the eau medicinale dillusson, so celebrated for the cure of gout, it
was at one time, though erroneously, conjectured to be the chief constituent of
that remedy.   A mixture of the wine of white hellebore and the wine of opium,
in the proportion of three parts of the former to one of the  latter, was intro-
duced into use by Mr. Moore, of London, as a substitute for the eau medicinale,
and was considerably employed in gouty and rheumatic  affections.
   In whatever way white hellebore is used, it requires cautious  management.
It has been given in doses varying from one grain to a scruple. Not more than
two grains should be  administered at first.   When employed as an errhine, it
should be mixed with five or six parts of pulverized liquorice root, or other in-
active powder.  Ten or twelve grains of the  mixture may be snuffed up the
nostrils at one time.  Veratria acts in a similar manner with the white helle-
bore, but is much more powerful.  From one-twelfth to one-sixth  of a grain
may be given in pill or alcoholic solution, and repeated  three or four times in
the twenty-four hours, till it nauseates or purges.  For an account of its  prac-
tical applications the reader is referred to  Veratria, among the  Preparations,
in  the second part of this work.
    Off. Prep. Unguentum  Sulphuris Compositum; Unguentum  Veratri Albi;
 Vinum Veratri Albi.                                                W.

                  VERATRUM VIRIDE.  U. S.

                        American Hellebore.

   The rhizoma of Veratrum viride. U. S.
   Veratrum.  See VERATRUM ALBUM.
    Veratrum viride. Willd. Sp. Plant iv. 896; Bigelow, Am. Med, Bot. ii. 121.
The American hellebore,  known also by the names of Indian poke, poke root,
and swamp hellebore, has a perennial, thick, fleshy root  or rhizoma, the upper
portion of which is tunicated, the lower solid,  and beset with  numerous whitish
 fibres or radicles.   The stem is  annual, round,  striated, pubescent, and  solid,
 from three to six feet in height, furnished with green bright  leaves, and termi-
nating in a panicle of greenish-yellow flowers.  The  leaves gradually decrease
in size as they ascend.  The lower  are from six inches to a foot long, oval, acu-
minate, plaited, nerved, and pubescent; and embrace the stem at their  base,
thus affording  it a sheath for a considerable portion of its length.   Those on
the upper part of the stem, at the origin of the flowering branches, are oblong-
lanceolate.   The panicle consists of numerous flowers,  distributed in racemes
with downy peduncles.  Each flower is  accompanied with  a downy pointed
bracte, much longer than its pedicel.  There is no calyx, and the corolla is di-
vided into six  oval acute segments, thickened on the inside at their base, with
the three alternate segments longer than the others.   The  six  stamens have
recurved filaments, and roundish two-lobed anthers.  The germs are three, with
recurved styles as long as the stamens.   Some of the flowers have only the ru-
 diments of pistils.  Those on the upper end of the branchlets are barren, those on
 the lower portion fruitful.   The fruit consists of three cohering capsules, sepa-
rating at top,  opening on  the inner side, and  containing flat imbricated seeds.
   This indigenous species  of Veratrum is found from Canada to the Carolinas,
 inhabiting swamps, wet meadows, and the banks of mountain  streamlets.  Early 
788
Veratrum Viride.
part I.
in the spring, before the stem rises, it bears  a slight resemblance to the Sym-
plocarpus foetidus, with which it is very frequently associated; but the latter
sends forth no stem. From May to July is the season for flowering. The root
should be collected in autumn, and should not be kept longer than one year as
it deteriorates by time.
   The root of the American hellebore has a bitter acrid taste, leaving a perma-
nent  impression  in the mouth and  fauces.   In sensible properties  it bears a
close  resemblance to white hellebore; and has been shown by the experiments
of Mr. J. G.  Richardson, of Philadelphia, to  contain veratria. (Am. Journ.
of Pharm., xxix. 204.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  American hellebore has been thought to re-
semble its European congener in its effects upon the system, though asserted by
Dr. Osgood to be wholly destitute of cathartic properties.  In addition to its
emetic action, which is often violent and  long-continued, it is said  to increase
most  of the secretions, and, when  freely taken, to exercise a powerful influence
over the nervous system, indicated by faintness, somnolency, vertigo, headache,
dimness of vision, and  dilated pupils. According to Dr. Osgood, it reduces the
frequency and force of the pulse, sometimes, when taken in full doses, as low as
thirty-five strokes in the minute.  It may be safely substituted for the Euro-
pean  root in most cases  in which  the latter is  employed, and is highly recom-
mended as a  substitute for colchicum by Dr. Tully,  of New Haven.  Gouty,
rheumatic, and neuralgic affections are those to which  it appeared best adapted
For an account of its medical properties and applications, the reader is referred
to a paper by Dr. Charles Osgood, of Providence, in the American Journal
of the Medical Sciences (xvi. 296).  It may be used in substance, tincture, or
extract.   Dr. Osgood states the dose in which it will  generally prove emetic at
from four to six  grains of the  powder, one  or two fluidrachms of  a tincture
made of six  ounces  of the fresh  root and a pint of alcohol,  and one or'two
grains of an extract made by inspissating the juice of the root.  The medicine,
however, should, in most cases, be given in doses insufficient to  vomit.
   After the publication of Dr. Osgood's paper, little  attention was paid to the
subject until a few years since, when various communications appeared in our
southern medical journals, tending to prove that American hellebore is appli-
cable  to the treatment of numerous febrile and inflammatory affections, in which
an indication  is offered for reducing the frequency of  the pulse.   The credit of
calling public attention to it was  due more especially to Dr. W. C.  Norwood,
of Cokesbury, South Carolina, who employed it with great success in pulmo-
nary inflammation, typhoid fever,  &c, and believed that it afforded  the means
of reducing the frequency of the pulse at will.   He  used a saturated tincture,
made by macerating eight ounces of the dried root in sixteen ounces of alcohol
for at least two  weeks.   Of this he gave to an adult man eight drops, and re-
peated the dose every  three hours, increasing  by one drop at each dose, until
the pulse was reduced, or  nausea and vomiting were occasioned, when it was
to be diminished one-half, and continued so long as might be necessary to pre-
vent a return  of the symptoms.  (Charleston Med, Journ. and Rev., vii.  768.)
From numerous communications subsequently made  to the  journals,  there
can be no doubt of the great efficiency of this remedy in reducing the circula-
tion ;  and many practitioners speak with great confidence of  its usefulness iu
pneumonia, inflammatory rheumatism, and other inflammatory  and febrile dis-
eases, with a  greatly excited circulation.   Some have found  the commencing
dose of Dr. Norwood  too large; but from six to eight drops of the saturated
tincture, repeated every three hours, and gradually increased, if necessary, until
its effects are experienced, may be given with safety.   From its powerful emetic
properties, and the prostration resulting from excessive doses, it should always 
PART I.
Veratrum Viride.— Vinum.
789
be used with  great caution, and  its effects carefully observed.  Its nauseating
and depressing effects are best counteracted by opiates and alcoholic stimulants.


                  VINUM ALBUM.  U.S., Ed.

                             White Wine,
   Sherry wine.  U S., Ed.
   Off. Syn. VINUM XERICUM.  Lond.;  VINUM ALBUM HISPANI-
CUM. Sherry wine. Dub.
   Vin blanc, Fr.; Weisser Wein, Germ.; Vino bianco, Ital.; Vino bianco, Span.

                    VINUM  RUBRUM.  U.S.

                              Red Wine.
   Port wine.  U. S.
   Vin rouge, Fr.; Rother Wein,  Germ.; Vino vermiglio, Ital.; Vino tinto, Span.
   Wine is the fermented juice of the grape, the fruit of Vitis vinifera of bota-
nists. (Sie Uva Passa.)  The juice of sweet grapes consists of a considerable
quantity of grape sugar, a peculiar matter of the nature of ferment or  yeast,
and a small portion of extractive, tannic  acid, bitartrate of potassa, tartrate of
lime,  common salt, and  sulphate of potassa ;  the whole dissolved or suspended
in a large quantity of water.   Sour grapes contain, in addition, a peculiar acid
isomeric with the tartaric, called paratartaric acid, (See page 56.)   Grape
juice,  therefore, embraces all the ingredients essential to the production of the
vinous fermentation, and requires only the influence of the atmosphere and
a proper temperature to convert it into wine.  (See page 63.)
   Preparation.   When the  grapes are  ripe, they are gathered, and  trodden
in wooden vessels with perforated bottoms,  through which the juice, called the
must, runs into a vat placed beneath.  The temperature of the air being about
60°, the fermentation gradually takes place in the must, and becomes fully es-
tablished after a longer or shorter period. In  the mean time, the must becomes
sensibly warmer, and emits a large quantity of carbonic acid, which causes the
more  solid parts to be thrown  to the surface in a mass of froth, having a hemi-
spherical shape, called the head.  The liquor from being sweet becomes vinous,
and assumes a deep-red colour  if the product of red grapes.  After a while the
fermentation slackens, when it  becomes necessary to accelerate it by thoroughly
mixing the contents of the vat. When the liquor  has acquired a strong vinous
taste, and becomes perfectly clear, the wine is considered formed, and is racked
off into casks.  But even  at this  stage of the process, the  fermentation con-
tinues for several months  longer.   During  the whole of this period, a frothy
matter is formed, which for the first few days collects round the bung, but
afterwards precipitates along with colouring matter and tartar, forming  a de-
posit  which constitutes the wine-lees.
   Division and Nomenclature.   Wines, according to their colour, are divided
into the red and white;  and, according to their taste and other qualities, are
either spirituous, sweet, dry, light, sparkling, still, rough, or acidulous.   Red
wines are derived from the must  of black grapes,  fermented with their husks;
white  wines, from white grapes, or from  the juice of black  grapes, fermented
apart  from their husks.    The other qualities of wines, above  enumerated, de-
pend on the relative  proportions of  the constituents of the must,  and on the
mode  in which the fermentation is conducted.  The essential ingredients of the
must as a fermentable liquid are water, sugar, and a ferment.  If the  juice be
very saccharine, and contain sufficient ferment to sustain the fermentation, the 
790
Vinum.
part i.
conversion of the sugar into alcohol will proceed until checked by the produc-
tion of a certain amount of the latter, and there will be formed a  sjn'rituous
or generous wine.   If,  while the juice is highly saccharine, the ferment be de-
ficient in quantity, the  production of alcohol will  be less, and  the redundancy
of sugar proportionably greater, and a sweet wine will  be formed.  When the
sugar and ferment are in considerable amount, and in the proper relative  pro-
portions for mutual decomposition, the wine will  be strong bodied and sound,
without marked sweetness  or  acidity, and of the kind called dry.  A small
proportion of sugar can give rise only to a small proportion of alcohol, and
consequently the less saccharine grapes will generate a comparatively weak, or
light wine, which will be sound and stable in its constitution, in case the fer-
ment is not in excess, but otherwise liable  to pass  into the acetous fermenta-
tion and become acescent.   In  case the wine is bottled before the fermentation
is fully completed, the  process  will go on  slowly in the bottles, and the car-
bonic acid generated, not having vent, will  impregnate  the  wine, and render it
effervescing and sparkling.  The rough or astringent wines owe their flavour
to a portion of tannic acid derived from the husks  of the grape; and the acidu-
lous wines to the presence of carbonic acid  or of an unusual proportion of tar-
tar.  Several of the above qualities often co-exist.  Thus a wine may be spiritu-
ous and sweet, spirituous and rough, sweet and rough, light and sparkling, «fcc.
   Wines are made in many countries, and are known in commerce by various
names, according  to their source.   Thus, Portugal produces port and lisbon;
Spain, sherry, saint  lucar,  malaga, and tent;  France, champagne, burgundy,
hermitage, vin  de grave, sauterne, and  claret; Germany,  hock and moselle;
Hungary, tokay; Sicily, marsalaor Sicily madeira, and lisa; the Cope of Good
Hope, constantia ;  Madeira and the Canaries, madeira and teneriffe.
   In the United States the first attempt to manufacture wine, on an extended
scale, was made towards the  close of the last century, at Spring Mill, near
Philadelphia, by Peter Legaux, agent of the Pennsylvania Vine Company, and
proved unsuccessful.   The native grape found most suitable by the Company,
after the foreign had failed on account of the climate, was the Schuylkill mus-
 cadel grape.   The next attempt was made by the Swiss at Vevay, Indiana,
with the Schuylkill grape, and was partially successful; a rough red wine being
manufactured which met with  a ready sale in the  neighbouring States.   In a
 few years the manufacture of this wine languished, being superseded by foreign
 wines.  The foreign grape, after numerous trials, not succeeding as a wine
 grape, investigations were undertaken  to  determine  the  adaptation  of our
 various native grapes for making wine.   Among these the Catawba grape, a
 native of North  Carolina, introduced  to  public notice by Major Adlum, of
 Washington city, about the year  1825, is the most esteemed; being largely
 cultivated in southern Ohio as a wine  grape.  The chief  objection  to it is its
 liability to the rot.  The Isabella grape is also  cultivated, but more  for the
 table than for wine.   It is claimed by some to  be a native;  but the evidence
 preponderates  in favour of its foreign origin.   The  wine produced by the
 Catawba grape, called catawba wine, is of two kinds; the still and  the spark-
 ling.   Still  catawba,  the  result of a completed fermentation, is a  light, dry,
 acidulous wine, in these particulars like hock, but entirely different in  flavour.
 It has a pinkish or straw colour.   Sparkling catawba is made by letting the
 wine undergo the secondary fermentation in the  bottle.   It looks like cham-
 pagne, but has a different and peculiar taste.  These native wines are gradually
 coming into use, and  constantly improving in quality.  They are principally
 manufactured  by Mr.  N. Longworth, of Cincinnati.  The chief  objection to
 them  is their  excess  of acidity, caused by defects  in their manufacture, which
 are in course of being  remedied.   The average product of catawba wine is 400 
PART I.
Vinum.
791
 gallons to the acre, and the amount produced in Ohio in  1855 was estimated
 at 400,000 gallons.  (See the remarks of E.  S. Wayne,  of Cincinnati, in Am.
 Journ. of Pharm., Nov. 1855, p. 494.)  The Herbemont and Missouri grapes
 are also used for making wine; the latter producing a wine  said to resemble
 madeira.   The  Scuppernong grape, indigenous  to  North Carolina, yields a
 hard dry wine;  and the vine is said to be a very abundant bearer.  According
 to Mr. R. Buchanan, this grape produces from two to three thousand gallons of
 wine per acre. (Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape.  Cincinnati, 1850.)
 The climate of Texas is peculiarly favourable to the growth of the grape vine.
 The El Paso grape is found in the vicinity  of the falls of the Rio Grande;
 and the great mustang grows luxuriantly in every part of the State, and yields
 a superior red wine.   California is rich in native grapes, and produces a con-
 siderable quantity of wine.   At present the grape, for wine making, is success-
 fully cultivated  in eighteen States  of the Union.
    Properties.   Wine, considered as the name of a class, may be characterized as
 a  spirituous liquid, resulting from  the fermentation of grape juice, and con-
 taining colouring matter, and other substances, either combined or intimately
 blended with  the spirit.  It always contains a small proportion of aldehyd.
 (3Iagnes Lahens.) All its other qualities vary with the nature of each particular
 wine.  The principal wines used for medicinal purposes are the officinal wines,
 sherry and  port, together with madeira, teneriffe, claret, and champagne.
    Sherry (Vinum Album) is of a deep amber colour, and when good possesses
 a dry aromatic flavour and fragrancy, with very little acidity.   It ranks among
 the stronger white wines, and contains, on an average, 19 per cent, by measure
 of alcohol.  The U. S. and British Pharmacopoeias agree in indicating it as
 the officinal white vine.   It is prepared in the vicinity of  Xeres  in Spain, and
 hence its English name sherry.  This wine is supposed to have been the sack
 of Shakspeare, so called from the word sec (dry).
   Port (Vinum Rubrum) is of a deep-purple colour, and, in its new state, is a
 rough, strong, and moderately sweet wine.  When kept a certain time in bottles,
 it deposits a considerable portion of its astringent matter, loses the greater part
 of its sweetness, acquires more flavour, and retains its strength.   If too long
 kept, it deposits the whole of its astringent and. colouring matter, and becomes
 deteriorated.  Considerable quantities  of brandy are usually added toit, which
 causes its heating quality on  the palate.  It is  the  strongest  of the wines  in
 common use.  According to Dr. Muspratt, of Liverpool, the alcohol in genuine
 port never exceeds nineteen per cent. (3Ied.  Times and Gaz., Oct., 1856, p. 355.)
 Port  wine was made officinal in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850.
   Madeira is the strongest of the white wines  in general use.   It is some-
 what acid, and,  when  of proper age and in good condition, has  a rich, nutty,
 aromatic flavour.  As it occurs in the market, however, it is  of  very variable
 quality, on account of  the adulterations and  mixtures to which it is subjected
 after  importation.  The madeira consumed in this country is  generally better
 than that used in England; its adulteration being practised to a less extent with
 us, and our climate being more favourable to  the improvement of the wine.
   Teneriffe is a  white wine, of a somewhat acid taste, and, when of good quality,
 of  a  fine aromatic flavour.  Its average strength is about the same as that of
 sherry.   It is made from the same  grape as madeira, to which it bears a close
resemblance.
   Claret, called  in France vin de Bordeaux, from its being produced near that
city, in the district of Medoc, is a red wine, and from its moderate strength  is
ranked as a light wine.   It has a deep-purple colour, and, when good, a delicate
taste,  in which the vinous flavour is blended with some acidity and astringency.
The most esteemed kinds are the  clarets called Chateau-3Iargaux, Chateau- 
792
Vinum.
PART I.
Lafite, and Chdteau-Latour.  Another celebrated variety is the Chateau-Haul
Prion of the Pays de Grave.   Claret is the French wine most extensively con-
sumed in the United States.
  Dr. H.  Bence Jones has ascertained the acidity of equal bulks of the above
wines, except teneriffe, expressed in grains of caustic soda.   The bulk taken was
that of 1000 grs. of water at 60°, and the numbers express the extremes of acid:
sherry, 1-95-2-85; port, 2-10-2-55; madeira, 2-70-3-60; claret, 2,55-.'N5.
The same authority has  determined the proportion  of sugar to the ounce in
sherry, port,  and madeira, expressed in grains: sherry, 4-18;  port, 16-'U;
madeira, 6-20.   Claret  contains no sugar.  Assuming that  the sugar becomes
acid in the system,  the  order of acidity of these wines,  beginning with the
least acid, is claret, sherry, madeira, port.  (Chem. Gaz., Jan. 16, 1854, p. 35.)
  Dr.  Christison considers it a mistake to suppose that wines become stronger
by being kept a long time in cask.   His experiments  appear to prove the re-
verse.   While, however, the wine is not rendered more  alcoholic by age, its
flavour is improved, and its apparent strength increased.
   Composition,   Wines consist mainly of water and alcohol.   They contain
also volatile oil, cenanthic ether, grape sugar, gum, extractive, colouring mat-
ter,  tannic, malic, and carbonic acids, bitartrate of potassa (tartar), and tar-
trate of lime.   The volatile oil has never been  isolated, but is supposed to be
the cause of  the delicate flavour and odour of wine, called the bouquet.  Ac-
cording to Dr. F. L. Winckler, the bouquet  depends upon  the presence of a
nitrogenous  compound  of a volatile organic acid with a volatile base, which
has a different smell in different wines.    CEnanthic ether  (cenanthate of oxide,
of ethyl)  was  discovered in  wine by Pelouze  and  Liebig.  It is obtained
towards the end of the distillation of wine, on the great scale, for making brandy.
It forms only about one part in ten thousand of the wine.   It  is a colourless
liquid, having a peculiar vinous odour, and a taste,  at first slight, but after-
wards acrid.  It is considered to be identical with pelargonic ether, under which
head,  in Part III., it is more fully described,   ffinanthic ether must not be
confounded with the substance which gives rise to the bouquet of wine.  The
 other ingredients of  wine, above enumerated, are sometimes present and some-
 times absent.   Thus, sugar is present in sweet wines, tannic  acid in  rough
 wines, and carbonic acid in those that effervesce.  The different kinds of wine
 derive their various qualities from the  mode of fermentation, the nature of the
 grape, and the soil and  climate in which it may have grown.   The alcohol in
 pure wine is that which  results from the vinous fermentation, and is intimately
 united with  the other ingredients of the liquid; but with almost all the wines
 of commerce a portion of brandy is mixed, the state of union of which is pro-
 bably different from  that of the natural alcohol of the wine.   By the British
 custom-house regulations, ten per  cent, of brandy may be added to wines after
 importation;  but to good wines not more than four  or five per cent, is added.
    The intoxicating ingredient in all wines is the alcohol which they contain;
 and hence their relative strength  depends upon the quantity of this substance
 entering into  their composition.  The alcohol, however, naturally in wine, is
 so blended with its other constituents, as to be in a modified state, which ren-
 ders it less intoxicating and injurious  than the same  quantity of alcohol, sepa-
 rated by distillation and diluted with water.   Mr. Brande published in 1811 a
 very interesting table, giving  the per centage by measure of alcohol of the sp.
 gr. 0-825 in different kinds of wine.   Similar tables have since been published
 by M. Julia-Fontenelle, Dr. Christison, and Dr. II. Bence Jones.  An abstract
 of  their results is given in the following table; the results  of Julia-Fontenelle
 being distinguished by F., those of Dr. Christison by C, and those of Dr. Jones
 by J.  The rest are Mr. Brande's. 
part I.                           Vinum.                              793
Table of the Proportion by Measure of Alcohol (sp. gr. 0-825) contained in
                       100 parts of different Wines.
Lisa (mean)	25*41	Vidonia .	19*25
Raisin wine (mean) .	25-12	Alba flora	17-26
Marsala [Sicily madeira]		Zante . .	17-05
(mean)	25-09	Malaga	17-26
strongest (J.)	21-10	White hermitage	17-43
weakest (J.)	19-90	Rousillon (mean)	18-13
Port, strongest	25-83	Claret, strongest	1711
mean	22-96	mean	15-10
weakest	19-00	weakest	12-91
strongest (C.) .	20-49	ditto (F.) . . .	14*73
mean (C.)	18-68	vin ordinaire (C.)	10-42 •
weakest (C.)	16-80	Chateau-Latour, 1825	(C.) 9-38
strongest (J.)	23-20	first growth, 1811, (C	.) 9-32
weakest (J.)	20-70	strongest (J.)	1110
White port (C.)	1722	weakest (J.)	9-10
Madeira, strongest .	24-42	Malmsey madeira	16-40 -
mean	22-27	Ditto (C.)	15-60
weakest	19-24	Lunel	15-52
strongest (C.)	20-35	Ditto (F.)	18-10
strongest (J.)	19-70	Sheraaz .	15-52
weakest (J.)	19-00	Ditto (C) .	15-56
Sercial madeira	21-40	Syracuse .	15-28
Ditto (C.)	18-50	Sauterne .	1422
Sherry, strongest	19-81	Burgundy (mean)	1457
mean	19-17	strongest (J.)	1320
weakest	18-25	weakest (J.)	10-10
strongest (C.) .	19-31	Hock* (mean) .	12-08
mean (C.)	18-47	strongest (J.)	13-00
weakest (C.)	16-96	weakest (J.)	9-50
Amontillado (C )	15-18	Nice	14-63
strongest (J.)	24-70	Barsac	13-86
weakest (J.)	15-40	Tent	13-30
Teneriffe .	19-79	Champagne (mean) .	1261
Ditto (C.)	16-61	Ditto (F.) . ' .	12-20
Colares .	19-75	Ditto, strongest (J.) .	14-80
Lachryma Christi	19-70	weakest (J.)	14-10
White constantia	19-75	Red hermitage .	1232
Red constantia	18-92	Vin de Grave (mean)	1337
Lisbon . . . .	18-94	Frontignac (Rives Altes) .	12-79
Ditto (C.)	19-09	Ditto (C.)	12-29
Bucellas .	18-49	Cote rotie	12-32
Red madeira (mean)	20-35	Tokay .	9-88
Cape muschat .	18-25	Rudesheimer, first qual., (C.	) 1014
Cape madeira (mean)	20-51	inferior (C.)	8-35
Grape wine	18-11	Hambacher, first quality, (C	.) 8-88
Calcavella (mean)	18-65		
  * Prof. Diez,  of Madrid, has ascertained, among other points, the per centage in
volume of alcohol, and the per centage of acid, determined by potassa, in forty Rhen-
ish wines. He found these constituents to varv, the former from 12-2 to 9-5 per cent. ;
the latter from 0-779 to 0-332.  (Central Blatt,'2Q Aug. 1854, p.  651.) 
794
Vinum.
part r.
    Adulterations. Wines are very frequently adulterated, and counterfeit mix-
 tures are often palmed upon the public as genuine wine.   Free sulphuric acid
 in red wines cannot be detected bybarytic salts; for all wines contain a small
 quantity of the soluble sulphates.  It may be discovered, however, by dropping
 the suspected red wine on-a piece of common glazed paper, containing  starch!
 If the wine be pure, the spot, when  dry, will be violet-blue, and the paper un^
 altered in texture; but if the wine contain even a thousandth part of sulphuric
 acid, the paper will be spotted rose-red, and  prove brittle and friable when
 slightly rubbed between the fingers.  (Lassaigne,  0.  Henri,  and Bayard.)
 Formerly the wine dealers were in the habit of  putting litharge into wines that
 had  become acescent.  The oxide of lead formed with the acetic acid acetate
 of lead, which, being sweet, corrected the defect of the wine, but at  the same
 time rendered it poisonous.  At the present day, this criminal practice is wholly
• abandoned.  The adulteration  is readily detected by sulphuretted hydrogen,
 which causes a black and flocculent precipitate.  Mr. Brande,  among the nu-
 merous samples of  wine of suspected purity which  he  has examined, did not
 find  one containing any poisonous ingredient fraudulently introduced.  Lead,
 in minute quantity, may sometimes be detected; but is derived invariably from
 shot in the bottle, or from some analogous source.  Rhenish wines, when acid
 from the presence of free tartaric or acetic acid, may be restored by the addition
 of neutral  tartrate of potassa,  which gives rise to the formation of cream of
 tartar. (Andrew Ure.)  Spurious  mixtures, frequently containing very little
 of the fermented juice of the grape, and which are sold as particular wines, may
 not be poisonous; but are, notwithstanding, highly pernicious in  their effects
 upon  the stomach, and always produce mischief and disappointment, when de-
 pended on  as therapeutic agents.  The wines most frequently imitated are port
 and madeira; and cider is the chief ingredient in the spurious mixtures.  English
 port is sometimes made of a small portion of real port, mixed with cider, juice
 of elder berries, and brandy, and rendered astringent with logwood and alum.
 By most dealers  in wine, colouring is employed, made usually of elder berries
 and alum.   The practice of colouring wines is very reprehensible.   In France,
 colouring  is openly sold with impunity, and extensively employed,  although
 the wine dealer who uses it is liable to  fine and imprisonment. (A. Chevallier.)
 Alum may  be detected in red wine by  boiling it for a few minutes.   If alum be
 present, even in j^j-th part, the wine gradually becomes  turbid, and  furnishes
 a flocculent precipitate; while a pure red wine is not rendered  turbid, even by
 long boiling. (J. L. Lassaigne.)
  _ Besides the grape, a number of other  fruits yield a juice susceptible  of the
 vinous fermentation.   The infusion of malt, also, is capable of undergoing this
 process, and becomes converted into the different kinds of porter and ale.  The
 product in  all these cases, though not commonly called a wine,  is nevertheless,
 a vinous liquor, and may be classed among the wines properly so called.   The
 following is a list of these vinous liquors, together  with the per centage of al-
 cohol  which they contain, as ascertained  by Mr. Brande: Currant wine, 20-55;
 gooseberry  wine,  11-84; orange wine, 11-26; elder wine, 8'79; cider, from  5-21
 to 9-87; perry, 7*26; mead, 732;  Burton  ale, 8*88; Edinburgh ale, 6'20; brown
 stout, 6-80; London porter, 4-20; small beer, 1-28.   Dr. H Bence"Jones gives
 the following per centages  of alcohol in the under-named liquors:  cider, from
 5-4 to 7-5;  bitter ale, from 6*6 to 12-3;  porter, from 6-5  to 7"0; brown stout,
 from 6-5 to 7*9.  According to  L.  Hoffmann,  Burton ale consists, in the 100
 parts,  of carbonic acid 0-04, absolute  alcohol 6-62,  extract of malt 14-97, and
 water 78-37; and pale ale, of carbonic acid, 0-07, absolute alcohol,  5-57, ex-
 tract of malt 4-62, and water 89*74.   None of these liquors should be kept in
 leaden vessels, for fear of being rendered  poisonous. 
PART I.
Vinum.
795
   3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Wine is consumed in most civilized countries;
 but in a state of health is at  least useless, if not absolutely pernicious.   The
 degree of mischief which it produces depends on the character of the wine.  Thus
 the light wines of France are comparatively harmless; while the habitual use
 of the stronger wines,  such as sherry,  port, madeira, &c, even though taken
 in moderation, is always injurious, as having a tendency to induce gout, and
 apoplexy, and other diseases dependent on plethora and over-stimulation.  All
 wines, however, when used habitually in  excess,  are  productive of bad  conse-
 quences.   They weaken the stomach, produce disease of the liver, and give rise
 to dropsy, gout, apoplexy, tremors, and not unfrequently mania.  Nevertheless,
 wine is an important medicine, productive of the best effects in certain diseases.
 As an article of the materia medica, it ranks as a stimulant and antispasmodic.
 In the convalescence from protracted fever, it is frequently the best remedy that
 can be employed.   In certain stages of fever, and in extensive ulceration and
 gangrene, this remedy, either alone, or conjoined with bark  and opium, is often
 our main dependence.  According to Dr. Stokes, of Dublin, the weakness or
 absence of the first sound of  the heart is an indication for  the use  of wine in
 typhus fever.  When given in low febrile affections, if it increase the fulness and
 lessen the frequency of the pulse, mitigate delirium, and produce a tendency to
 sleep, its further use may be deemed proper; but, if it render the pulse quicker,
 augment the heat and thirst, produce restlessness, or increase delirium, it should
 be immediately laid aside as injurious.   In some convulsive diseases, as for ex-
 ample tetanus, wine, liberally given, has often proved useful.
   Wine, when used medicinally, should be good of its  kind;  for  otherwise it
 will disagree with the stomach, and prove rather detrimental than useful.  The
 individual wine selected for internal exhibition must  be determined  by the na-
 ture of the disease, and the particular object in view.  Sherry, when  in  good
 condition, is a fine wine, and, as it contains very little acid, is to  be preferred
 whenever the stomach is delicate, or has a tendency to dyspeptic acidity.  Good
 madeira is the most generous of the white wines,  particularly adapted to the
 purpose of resuscitating debilitated constitutions, and of sustaining the sinking
 energies of the system in old age.  The acidity, however, of pure madeira causes
 it to disagree with some stomachs,  and renders it an  improper wine for  gouty
 persons.  Teneriffe is a good variety of white wine for medicinal use,  being of
 about the medium strength, and agreeing very well with most stomachs.   Port
 is generally used in cases of pure debility, especially when attended with a loose
 state of the bowels, unaccompanied with inflammation.   In such cases it often
 acts as a powerful tonic as well  as stimulant, giving increased activity to all
 the functions, especially digestion.   Claret is much less heating,  and is often
 useful on account of its aperient and diuretic qualities.  Champagne  is appli-
 cable to  the sinking stage  of low fevers, and is often useful in the  debility of
 the aged.
   All the acidulous wines are contra-indicated  in the gouty and uric acid dia-
 thesis; as they are apt to convert the existing predisposition into disease.
   The quantity of wine which may be given with advantage in disease is very
 variable.   In low fevers, it may be administered to the extent of a bottle or
 more in twenty-four hours, either pure,  or in the form of wine-whey.  This is
 made by adding to a pint of boiling milk, removed from the  fire, from a gill
 to half a pint of wine, straining without pressure to separate the curd, and
 sweetening the clear whey with loaf sugar.  Wine-whey often forms  a  safe and
grateful stimulus in typhoid fevers, and  other febrile affections, which, after de-
pletion, may  tend to a state of deficient action, and be accompanied with a dry
skin.   Under these circumstances, it generally acts as a diaphoretic, and, when
used of moderate strength, does not stimulate the system injuriously. 
796
Vinum.— Viola.
PART i.
   M. Aran, of Paris, has found  enemata of  wine highly useful in the con-
 valescence from severe diseases.  He has also  derived benefit from them  in
 chlorosis, dyspepsia, gastralgia attended with  debility and gastric irritability
 vomiting of food, and obstinate diarrhoea, especially that of phthisis. The rec-
 tum should be emptied by a laxative enema,  immediately before givino- the vin-
 ous, which may consist of from five to eight  fluidounces of tepid wine, «-ene-
 rally diluted with water.  (See Am.  Journ. of Med. Sci., July, 1855, p. 208.)
   Pharmaceutical  Uses.  White wine is employed as a menstruum to extract
 the virtues of  several plants, and  the preparations thus formed are called vin-
 ous tinctures or medicated wines.  Tartar emetic and iron are the only mineral
 substances prepared in a similar manner. (See Vinum Antimonii and Vinum
 Ferri.)  For the peculiar  powers  of wine as a menstruum see  Vina Medicata.
                                                                     B.

               VIOLA.  U. S. Secondary, Lond., Ed.

                                  Violet.

   The herb of Viola pedata. U S.  Viola odorata.  The;recent petal.  Lond.
 The flowers. Ed,
   Violette odorante, Fr.; Wohlriechendes Veilchen,  Germ.; Violetta, Ital.; Violeta
 Span.
   Viola.  Sex. Syst Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat.  Ord. Violaceas.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx  five-leaved. Corolla  five-petaled,  irregular, horned  at the
 back.  Anthers cohering.  Capsule superior,  three-valved, one-celled.
   This genus includes numerous species, of which, though perhaps all or nearly
 all are possessed of analogous  properties, two  only are recognised as officinal;
 Viola odorata, by the London and Edinburgh  Colleges, and Viola pedata, by
 our National Pharmacopoeia.   Viola ovata, an  indigenous  species, has been
 recommended as a remedy for the bite of the  rattle-snake. (See a paper by Dr.
 Williams in the Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xiii. 310.)
   Viola odorata.  Willd.  Sp. Plant, i.  1163; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 251, t. 89.
 This is a small, pretty, creeping plant, the runners of which are furnished with
 fibrous roots, and send up annually tufts of leaves and  flowers.   The leaves are
 heart-shaped, crenate, and  supported on long petioles.   The flowers are at the
 summit of delicate, quadrangular,  channeled, radical peduncles. The leaves of
 the calyx are shorter than  the petals, which  are obovate, obtuse, unequal, and
 of a bluish-purple or deep-violet colour, except at the claws, which are whitish.
 The two lateral petals are  spreading and bearded towards the base, the inferior
 furnished with a large spur, and the  two upper reflected.  In the centre are the
 stamens  with very short filaments, and anthers  slightly cohering by an orange-
 coloured membranous expansion.
   The sweet violet is a native of Europe, growing in woods, hedges, and other
 shady places.   It is  cultivated  in gardens both for its beauty and for medical
 use; and has been introduced into  this  country.  It is valued chiefly for its
 flowers, which appear in April and May.
   The flowers of this species of violet, besides their beautiful colour, have a
peculiar agreeable odour, and a very slightly bitter taste.  These properties they
yield to boiling water; and their infusion affords a very delicate test for acids
 and alkalies,  being reddened by the former, and rendered green by  the latter.
 Their odour is  destroyed by desiccation; and the degree to which they retain
their fine colour depends upon  the care  used in  collecting and drying  them.
They should  be gathered before being fully blown, deprived of  their  calyx, and
rapidly dried, either in a heated room, or by exposing them to a current of very
dry air.  The flowers of other species are often mingled with them, and, if of
the same colour, are equally useful as a chemical test. 
PART I.
Viola.— Wintera.
797
   In the root, leaves, flowers, and seeds of Viola odorata, M. Boulay discovered
 a peculiar alkaline principle, bearing some resemblance to emetia, but possessing
 distinct properties.  He called it violine (violia).  It is white, soluble in alco-
 hol, scarcely soluble in water, and forms salts with the acids.   It exists in the
 plant combined with malic acid, and may be obtained by treating with distilled
 water the alcoholic extract of the dried root, decomposing by means of magnesia
 the malate of violia contained in the solution, and extracting the alkali from the
 precipitated matters by alcohol, which yields it on evaporation.  To  obtain it
 entirely pure, a more complicated process is necessary.   Orfila  has ascertained
 that it is exceedingly active and even poisonous.   It is probably contained in
 most of the other species of Viola.
    Viola pedata.  Willd. Sp. Plant i. 1160 ; Curtis, Bot. Mag. 89.  This is an
 indigenous species, without  stems, glabrous, with many-parted often pedate
 leaves, the segments of which  are linear-lanceolate, obtuse, and nearly entire.
 The flowers are large and of a beautiful blue colour, often more or less varie-
 gated.  The divisions of the calyx are linear and acute.   The stigma is large,
 compressed at the sides, obliquely truncate and  perforate at the  apex.   The
 plant grows in dry sandy hills and fields, and rocky woods, from New England
 to Carolina, and flowers in  May and June.
   3Iedical Properties, die. of the Violets.   The herbaceous parts of different
 species of violet are mucilaginous, emollient, and slightly laxative ; and have
 been used in pectoral, nephritic, and cutaneous affections.  Much was formerly
 thought of the Viola tricolor, or pansy, as a remedy in crusta lactea.  A de-
 coction in milk of a handful of the fresh herb was taken morning and evening,
 and a poultice made with the same decoction was applied to the affected part.
 Cures in numerous instances are said to have been effected by this treatment,
 persevered in for some time.  Our own Viola pedata is considered a useful ex-
 pectorant and demulcent in  pectoral complaints.  (Bigelow.)
   In Europe, a syrup prepared from the fresh flowers of Viola odorata is em-
 ployed as an addition to demulcent drinks, and as a laxative for infants.  (See
 Syrupus Violse.)  The seeds were  formerly considered useful in gravel, but are
 not now used.  The root, which has a bitter, nauseous, slightly acrid taste, acts
 in the dose of  from thirty grains to a drachm as  an emetic and cathartic.  It
 is probable  that the same property is possessed by the roots of all the violets,
 as it is known to be by several species  of lonidium, which  belong to the same
 natural family.  The existence in small proportion of the emetic principle, upon
 which the powers  of the root probably depend, in the leaves and flowers, ac-
 counts for the expectorant properties attributed to these parts of the plant.
   Off. Prep.  Syrupus Violas.                                        "W


                  WINTERA.  U. S. Secondary.

                            Winter's Bark.

   The bark of Drimys Winteri. U. S.
   Ecorce de Winter, Fr.; Wintersche Rinde, .Germ.; Corteccia Vinterana, Ital.; Corteza
Winterana, Span.
   Drimys.  Sex. Syst PolyandriaTetragynia.—Nat Ord. Magnoliaceas^wss.;
Winteraceae, Lindley.
   Gen. Ch.  Calyx with two or three deep divisions.   Corolla with two or
three petals, sometimes more numerous. Stamens with the filaments thickened
at the summit, and anthers having two separate cells.  Ovaries from four to
eight, changing into the same number of small, many-seeded berries. A. Richard.
  Drimys Winteri.  De Cand. Prod. i. 78 ; Carson, Illust.  of Med. Bot. i. 
798
Wintera.
PART I.
 11, pi. 5.— Wintera aromatica. Willd. Sp. Plantii. 1239;  Woodv. Med. But
 p. 647, t. 226.  This is an evergreen tree, varying very much in size, sometimes
 rising forty or fifty feet in height, sometimes not more than 'six or eight feet
 The bark of the trunk is gray, that of the branches  green  and  smooth.  It-
 leaves are  alternate, petiolate, oblong, obtuse, somewhat coriaceous,  entirely
 smooth, green on their upper surface, of a pale-bluish colour beneath, with two
 caducous stipules at their base.   The flowers are small, sometimes solitary but
 more frequently in clusters of three or four, upon  the summit of a common
 peduncle about an inch  in length,  simple, or  divided  into as many pedicels as
 there are flowers.   The tree is a native of the southern parts  of South America
 growing along the Straits of Magellan, and  extending as far  north as  Chili!
 According to Martius, it is found also in Brazil.
   The bark of the tree was brought to England, in the latter part of  the six-
 teenth century, by Captain Winter, who  attended Drake in his voyage round
 the world, and while in the Straits had learned its aromatic  and medicinal pro-
 perties.   Since that period, a bark has been occasionally employed in medicine
 under the name of Winter's bark ; but it is now believed not to have been de-
 rived from Drimys Winteri;  as it does not correspond with the specimens of
 the bark derived from that tree, still preserved in the cabinets of Europe.   The
 origin of the commercial Winter's bark is unknown.  The following is the de-
 scription of a specimen which came into  our possession many years since.  It
 corresponds closely with Guibourt's description of commercial Winter's bark.
   It is in quilled  pieces, usually a foot in length,  and an inch or more in dia-
 meter, appearing  as if scraped  or rubbed on the outside, where the colour is
 pale-yellowish or reddish-gray, with red elliptical  spots.   On the  inside the
 colour is that of cinnamon, though sometimes blackish.  The pieces are  some-
 times flat and very large.  The bark is two or three lines in thickness, hard and
 compact, and when broken exhibits on the exterior part of the fracture a gray-
 ish colour, which  insensibly passes into reddish or yellowish towards the in-
 terior.   The powder resembles  in colour that of Peruvian bark.   The odour is
 aromatic, the taste spicy, pungent, and even burning.
   Winter's bark was found by M. Henry to contain resin, volatile  oil, colour-
 ing matter, tannic acid,  several salts of potassa, malate of lime,  and oxidized
 iron.   The presence of  tannic acid and oxide of iron serves to distinguish it
 from canella  alba, with which it has often been confounded.  The bark above
 described as commercial Winter's bark, is destitute both of tannic acid and oxide
 of iron,  and cannot, therefore, be the bark examined by M.  Henry.*

  * M. Guibourt, in the third edition of his "Drogues  Simples," published  in 1850,
 gives the following  description of a specimen of the true Winter's bark, presented to
 him by Robert Brown, and labelled "Port Famine, Captain P. King, Drimys Winteri."
 The bark is 3 millimetres (.118 of an inch) thick, and covered with a grayish-white,
 very thin, and rather smooth epidermis.  It is of a deep reddish-brown colour inter-
 nally, and has a spongy appearance, especially in the part in contact with the wood,
 where it appears to be formed of longitudinal, radiating, ligneous layers, isolated one
 from the  other. It has a strong odour, somewhat analogous to  that of canella and
 slightly camphorous, and a taste in like manner very aromatic, with considerable
 acrimony.
  Another specimen brought from the Straits of Magellan, in 1840, hears  a  close re-
 semblance to the above, being in quills as large as the little finger, with a thickness
 of 2 millimetres, and an epidermis thin, smooth, and of a whiteness strongly contrast-
 ing with the reddish-brown colour of  the interior.  Beneath the epidermis there is a
 certain number of very compact concentric layers ; hut  most of the thickness  of the
bark is formed of radiating and distinct ligneous layers, altogether like those  of the
preceding specimen.
  Guibourt also describes the barks of two other species  of Drimys, those of D. Mexi-
 cana, and D. Granatensis, growing respectively in Mexico and New Granada, both of
which have  considerable  resemblance to the preceding.—(Tom. iii. p. 681, 682.)—
Note to the eleventh edition. 
 part I.       Wintera.—Xanthorrhiza.—Xanthoxylum.           799

   Medical Properties and Uses. Winter's bark is a stimulant aromatic tonic,
 and  was employed  by Winter as a remedy for scurvy.   It may be used for
 similar purposes with cinnamon or canella alba, but is scarcely known in the
 medical practice of this country.  The dose of the powder is about half a drachm.
 Another species, the Drimys Chilensis of De Candolle, growing in Chili, yields
 a bark having similar properties. (Carson, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 81.)
                                                                    W.

              XANTHORRHIZA.  U.S. Secondary.

                              Yellow-root.
   The root of Xanthorrhiza apiifolia.  U. S.
   Xanthorrhiza.  Sex. Syst. Pentandria Polygynia. —Nat. Ord.  Ranuncu-
 laceas.
   Gen.Ch, Calyx none. Petals five. Nectaries five, pedicelled.  Capsules five
 to eight, one-seeded, simibivalve. Nuttall.
   Xanthorrhiza apiifolia.  Willd.  Sp.  Plant, i. 1568 ; Barton, Med. Bot ii.
 203.—X tinctoria. Woodhouse, N. Y. Med. Repos. vol. v.  This is an  indige-
 nous shrub, two or three feet in height, with a horizontal root, which sends off
 numerous suckers.   The stem is simple, rather thicker than a goose-quill, with
 a smooth bark, and bright-yellow wood.  The  leaves, which stand  thickly at
 the upper part of the stem, are compound, consisting of several ovate-lanceolate,
 acute, doubly serrate leaflets, sessile upon a long petiole, which embraces the
 stem at its base.   The flowers are small, purple, and disposed in long,  droop-
 ing, divided racemes, placed immediately below  the first leaves.   The nectaries
 are obovate and bilobed, the styles usually about six or eight in number.
   The yellow root grows in  the interior of the Southern, and in the Western
 States.  Nuttall says that it is abundant on the banks of the Ohio.   It flowers
 in April.  The root is the part directed by the Pharmacopoeia; but the bark of
 the stem possesses the same virtues.
   The root is from three inches to afoot in length, about half an inch in thick-
 ness, of a yellow colour, and of a simple  but extremely bitter taste. It imparts
 its colour and taste to water.  The infusion is not affected by a solution  of sul-
 phate of iron.  By the late Professor Barton the  bark of the root was con-
 sidered more bitter than its ligneous portion.
   Medical  Properties and Uses.  Xanthorrhiza possesses properties closely
 analogous to those of columbo, quassia, and the other simple tonic bitters; and
 may be used for the same purposes, and in the same manner.  Dr. Woodhouse
 employed it in the dose of two  scruples, and found it to lie easily  upon the
 stomach.                                                           W

              XANTHOXYLUM.  U.S. Secondary.

                             Prickly Ash.

  The bark of Xanthoxylum fraxineum.  U. S.
  Xanthoxylum.  Sex. Syst Dicecia Pentandria.—Nat. Ord. Terebintaceas
 Juss.; Xanthoxylaceas, Bindley.                                        '
  Gen. Ch. Male.  Calyx five-parted.   Corolla none.  Female. Calyx five-
parted.  Corolla none.  Pistils five.  Capsules five, one-seeded.  Willd*

  * The fruit of Xanthoxylum piperitum is known by the name of Japanese pepper, being
used as a condiment m Japan and China.  It is  in small roundish capsules, of which
one or more stand upon a peduncle, of a reddish-brown colour, and beset externally
with numerous little prominences, which appear to enclose the oil to which the fruit 
800
Xanthoxylum.
PART I.
   Xanthoxylum fraxineum.  Willd. Sp. Plant iv. 757 ;  Bigelow, Am. Med
 Bot.  iii. 156.   X. Americanum.  Miller; Torrey  and Gray, Fl.  of N. Am
 i. 214.   The prickly ash is  a shrub from five to ten feet in height, with alter-
 nate branches, which are covered with strong, sharp, scattered prickles.  The
 leaves are alternate and pinnate, consisting of four or five  pairs of leaflets and
 an odd terminal one, with a common footstalk, which is sometimes prickly on
 the back, and sometimes unarmed.  The leaflets are nearly sessile, ovate acute
 slightly serrate, and somewhat downy on  their under surface.   The flowers
 which are small and greenish, are disposed in sessile umbels near the origin of
 the young shoots.   The plant is polygamous; some shrubs bearing both°male
 and perfect flowers, others only female.   The number of stamens is five of the
 pistils three or four in the perfect flowers, about five in the pistillate.   Each
 fruitful flower is followed by as many capsules as it had germs.  These capsules
 are stipitate, oval, punctate,  of a greenish-red colour, with  two valves, and one
 oval blackish seed.
   This species of Xanthoxylum is indigenous, growing in  woods and in moist
 shady places throughout the Northern, Middle,  and Western  States.  The
 flowers appear in April  and  May, before the foliage.   The leaves and capsules
 have an aromatic odour recalling that of the oil of lemons.  The bark is the
 officinal portion.
   This, as found in the shops, is in quilled pieces, from  one or two lines to
 nearly an  inch in  diameter, rather thin, externally of a darkish-gray colour
 diversified by whitish patches, with  the epidermis  in  many pieces marked by
 closely set transverse cracks, internally finely striated longitudinally and some,
 what shining,  and, when derived  from the  smaller  branches, exhibiting occa-
 sionally remains of the prickles.  The bark is very light, brittle, nearly or quite
 inodorous, and of a taste which is at first sweetish and slightly aromatic, then
 bitterish, and ultimately acrid.  The acrimony is imparted to boiling water and
 alcohol, which extract the virtues of the bark.   Its constituents,  according to
 Dr. Staples, besides fibrous substance, are volatile oil, a greenish fixed oil, resin,
 gum,  colouring matter,  and  a peculiar crystallizable principle which he calls
 xanthoxylin, but of which the properties are not designated.  (Journ. of the
 Phil. Col. of Pharm., i. 165.)  It is probably identical with the bitter crystal-
 line principle found by MM.  Chevalier and Pelletan  in the bark of  Xanthoxy-
 lum Clava Herculis, and named by them xanthopicrite.
   A  specimen of bark has been  shown  to us, collected on  the  shores of the
 Chesapeake Bay, and said to be the product  of Xanthoxylum Clava Herculis,
though probably derived from the trunk of the plant under consideration, as
the X.  Clava Herculis is a native of the West Indies, and not of  the United
 States, and the X. fraxineum was considered by Linnasus as a variety of that
 species.  The specimen referred to resembles the bark above described consider-
ably in its general characters, but differs in consisting of irregular fragments of
a bark of larger dimensions, flat, or  but slightly rolled, and exhibiting on the
 outer surface of some of the fragments, large conical, corky eminences, which
serve  as the bases of the spines, and no doubt give to the trunk of the tree the
rough, knotty appearance, which  obtained for its congener the  name of the
Club of Hercules.

owes its pungency. The flavour of the capsule is aromatic, pungent, and agreeable. The
seeds are black, shining, and destitute of pungency.  Dr. Stenhouse has obtained from
the fruit by distillation a liquid volatile oil, isomeric with oil of  turpentine, which he
calls xanthoxylene, colourless, and of an extremely agreeable odour; and a crystalline
stearoptene, which separates from the liquid on cooling.  This he calls xanthoxylin. It
is slightly aromatic, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, fusible, and volati-
lizable unchanged. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xvii. 19.)— Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART I.
Xanthoxylum.—Zincum.
801
   Dr. Bigelow states that the Aralia spinosa, or angelica tree, which grows in
 the Southern States, is occasionally confounded with X. fraxineum, in conse-
 quence partly of being sometimes called, like the latter, prickly ash.  Its bark,
 however, in appearance and flavour, is entirely different from xanthoxylum.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Xanthoxylum is stimulant, producing, when
 swallowed, a sense of heat in the stomach, with more or less general arterial
 excitement, and a tendency  to diaphoresis.  It is thought to resemble mezereon
 and guaiac in its remedial action, and is given in the  same complaints..  As a
 remedy in chronic rheumatism, it enjoys considerable reputation in this country.
 The dose of the powder is from ten grains to half a drachm, to be repeated three
 or four times a day.  A decoction, prepared by boiling an ounce in three pints
 of water down to a quart, may be given in the quantity of a pint, in divided
 doses, during the twenty-four hours.  The powder has sometimes been employed
 as a topical irritant; and the bark, used as a masticatory, is a popular remedy
 for toothache, and has been recommended in palsy of the tongue.       W.

                 ZINCUM.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                   Zinc.

   Speltre; Zinc, Fr.; Zink, Germ.; Zinco, Ital., Span.
   Zinc occurs native in two principal states; as a sulphuret, called blende, and
 as a carbonate and  silicate, to  which the  name of calamine is  applied  indis-
 criminately.  It has been detected in the vegetable  kingdom, in a peculiar vio-
 let, growing on the calamine hills of Rhenish Prussia.  It is found most abun-
 dantly in Germany, whence the  United States are chiefly supplied.  The metal
 is extracted generally from  calamine.  This is roasted  and mixed with charcoal
 powder, and the mixture heated in iron cylinders placed horizontally over a fur-
 nace.  When the reduction of the zinc commences, iron receivers are adapted to
 the  opening of the cylinder to condense the volatilized metal.  The metal is
 then melted and run into moulds, and forms speltre, or the zinc of commerce.
 In this state it contains iron, and  traces of lead, cadmium, arsenic, copper,
 sulphur, and charcoal.  To  purify it from these substances, it must be subjected
 to a second distillation in a crucible, furnished with a tube passing through its
 bottom, and open at both ends; its upper extremity reaching a little more than
 half way up the interior of the crucible, and its lower end terminating above a
 vessel of water.  The impure zinc being  placed in the  crucible, the cover luted
 on, and  the fire applied, the  pure zinc is volatilized,  and, passing down the
 tube by a descending distillation, condenses in the water below.
   Properties.  Zinc has a bluish-white colour, a peculiar taste, and  a percepti-
 ble smell when rubbed.   Its texture is laminated, and its fracture crystalline.
 Its malleability and ductility are not very great.   When perfectly pure, it may
 be reduced to thin leaves at ordinary temperatures; but the zinc of commerce
 requires to be heated to a temperature between 212° and 300° to render it suf-
 ficiently malleable to be rolled into sheets.   The softness of zinc is peculiar as
 is shown  by the circumstance that it clogs the file, when the attempt is made
 to reduce it to filings; and hence, to have it in the divided form, it is necessary
 to melt it, and triturate it at the moment of solidification.  Its sp. gr. is about
 6-8, its equivalent 32-3,  and symbol Zn.  Favre makes its  equivalent 32-99
and  Erdmann, 32-527.   Subjected  to heat, it fuses at 773°.  At full redness
it boils, and in close vessels may be distilled over;  but in open vessels it takes
fire, and  burns with a dazzling white flame, giving off dense white fumes.   It
dissolves in most of the acids with disengagement of hydrogen, and precipitates
all the metals either in the metallic state,  or in that of oxide.   It forms but ono
       51 
802
Zincum.—Zing iber.
PART i.
well-characterized oxide (a protoxide), and but one sulphuret.   The protoxide
is officinal, and will be described under another head.  (See Zinci Oxidum )
   Zinc of good quality dissolves in dilute sulphuric acid, with the exception of
a scanty grayish-black residue.  If absolutely pure, it would be wholly dissolved
The solution is colourless, and yields white precipitates with ferrocyanuret of
potassium and hydrosulphate of ammonia.  Ammonia throws down from this
solution a white precipitate, whicb is wholly dissolved when the alkali is added
in excess.  If copper be present, the solution will  be rendered blue by the am-
monia; if iron, it will be thrown down by this alkali,  but not redissolved by
its excess.  Arsenic may be detected, unless present in very minute proportion
by dissolving the zinc in pure dilute sulphuric acid in a self-regulating reservoir
for hydrogen, when arseniuretted hydrogen will be formed, recognisable by its
flame producing a dark stain on a white plate.
   Zinc is extensively employed in the arts.   It is  the best metal that can be
used, in conjunction  with co/pper, for galvanic combinations.   Combined with
tin and mercury, it forms the amalgam for electrical machines.   Its solution in
dilute  sulphuric  acid furnishes the readiest method for obtaining hydrogen.
With copper it forms brass, and, in the form of sheet zinc, it is employed to
cover the roofs of houses, and for other purposes.  It  should never be used for
culinary vessels, as it is soluble in the weakest acids.
   The compounds of zinc are poisonous,  but not to the same extent as those
of lead.  The oxide of zinc, used in painting as a substitute for white lead is
said to be capable of producing a colic, resembling that caused by lead, and
called zinc colic.   It attacks workmen, exposed to  the dust of the oxide while
engaged in packing it in barrels, and yields to the remedies appropriate to the
treatment of lead  colic. (See Chem.  Gaz., Sept.  16, 1850.)
   Pharmaceutical Uses.   Zinc is  never  used as  a medicine  in the metallic
state;  but is  employed in this state to prepare  the officinal acetate, sulphate,
and chloride of zinc.   In combination, it forms a number of important prepa-
rations, a list of which, with their synonymes, is subjoined.
   Zinc is employed medicinally,
  I.  Oxidized.
        Zinci Oxidum, U.S.,  Bond., Ed.; Zinci Oxydum, Dub.
       .   Unguentum Zinci  Oxidi,  U.S.; Unguentum Zinci, Lond., Ed.;
                   Unguentum Zinci Oxydi, Dub.
 II.  Combined with chlorine.
        Zinci Chloridum, U. S., Lond., Dub.
          Zinci Chloridi Liquor, Dub.
III.  Oxidized and combined with acids.
        Zinci Acetas, U S., Dub.
        Zinci Carbonas Prascipitatus, U S.; Zinci Carbonas, Dub.
          Ceratum Zinci Carbonatis, U. S.
        Calamina, U. S.
          Calamina Prasparata, U.S., Lond., Ed.
             Ceratum Calaminas, U S., Lond, Ed.
        Zinci Sulphas, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
          Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond.
        Zinci Valerianas, Dub.                                       g


              ZINGIBER.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.

                                Ginger.
   The rhizoma of Zingiber officinale. U. S., Lond., Ed  Dub
   Gingembre, Fr.;  Ingwer, Germ.; Zenzero, Ital.; Gengibre, Span. 
PART I.
Zingiber.
803
    Zingiber.  Sex. Syst. Monandria Monogynia.—Nat Ord.  Scitamineas, R.
  Brown; Zingiberaceas, Lindley.
    Gen. Ch. Flowers spathaceous.  Inner limb of the corolla with one lip.  An-
  ther double, with a simple recurved horn at the end.  Germen  inferior.  Style
  enclosed in the furrow formed by the anther.  Loudon1 s Encxgc. of Plants.
    Zingiber officinale. Roscoe, Trans. Linn. Soc. viii. 348; Carson, Illust of
  Med. Bot. ii. 55, pi. 98.— Amomum Zingiber.  Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 6; Woodv.
  Med. Bot. p. 731, t.  260.  The ginger plant has a biennial  or perennial, creep-
  ing, tuberous root or rhizoma,  and an annual  stem, which rises two or three
  feet in height, is solid, round, erect, and enclosed in an imbricated membranous
  sheathing.  The leaves are lanceolate, acute, smooth,  five or six inches long by
•  about an inch  in breadth, and  stand alternately on  the sheaths of the stem.
  The flower-stalk rises by the side of the stem from six inches to a foot, and like
  it is clothed with oval, acuminate sheaths;  but it is without leaves, and termi-
  nates in an oval, obtuse, bracteal, imbricated spike. The flowers are of a dingy
  yellow colour, and appear two or three at a time between the bracteal scales.
    The plant is a native of Hindostan, and is cultivated in  all  parts  of India.
  It is also cultivated in the West Indies, whither it was transplanted from the
  East, and at Sierra Leone in Africa.  The flowers have an aromatic smell, and
  the stems, when bruised, are slightly fragrant;  but the root is the portion in
  which the  virtues of  the plant  reside.  This  is fit to be dug up when  a  year
  old.  In the West Indies, the ginger crop is gathered in January and February
  after the stems have  withered.  After having been properly cleansed, the root
  is scalded in boiling water, in order to prevent germination,  and is then  rapidly
  dried.  Thus prepared, it constitutes the ordinary ginger of commerce, or black
  ginger, as it is sometimes called from the darkish colour acquired in the process
  It is imported chiefly from Calcutta, and is known to the druggists by the name
  of East  India ginger; but recently considerable quantities  have been brought
 from Africa, and some probably reaches us from the West Indies.  In Jamaica
 another variety is prepared by selecting the best roots, depriving them of their
 epidermis, and drying them separately and carefully in the sun.   This is called
 in the books white ginger, and is most highly valued.  It reaches us from Eng-
 land, where it is said to undergo some further preparation, by which its appear-
 ance is improved.  It is usually called in our markets Jamaica ginger    The
 root is also at present imported from the East Indies deprived of the epidermis
 Considerable quantities  are brought immediately from the Wrest  Indies in a
 recent state, and sold  by the  confectioners.  A preserve is  made from  ginger
 by selecting the roots while young and tender, depriving them of their cortical
 covering, and boiling them in syrup.   This is occasionally  imported from the
 East and West Indies.   When good it is translucent  and tender.
   The recent root is from one to four inches  long, somewhat flattened  on its
upper and under surface, knotty, obtusely and irregularly branched  or  lobed  •
externally of a light ash-colour with  circular rugas, internally yellowish-white
and fleshy.  It sometimes germinates when kept in the shops.
   The common or black ginger is of the same general  shape, but has a dark
ash-coloured wrinkled epidermis, which, being removed in some places  exhibits
patches of an almost black colour, apparently the result  of exposure. 'Beneath
the epidermis  is a brownish, resinous, almost horny cortical  portion.   The
interior parenchyma is whitish arid somewhat farinaceous.   The powder is of
a light yellowish-brown colour.  This variety is most  extensively used.
   The Jamaica or white ginger differs in being entirely deprived of epidermis
and  white, or  yellowish-white on the  outside.   The  pieces  are rounder and
thinner, in consequence of the loss of substance  in their preparation.  They
afford when  pulverized a beautiful  yellowish-white  powder,  which is  brought 
804
Zingiber.
part I.
from Liverpool in jars.  This variety is firm and resinous, and has more of the
sensible qualities of ginger than the black.  The uncoated ginger of the Kast
Indies resembles the Jamaica, but is darker.   There is reason to believe that a
portion at least of the white ginger of commerce has been subjected to a bleach-
ing process, by which not only the exterior, but also the internal parts are ren-
dered whiter than in the unprepared  root.  Trommsdorff found in a specimen
which he examined, evidences of the presence of chlorides, sulphates,  and lime-
and concluded that the bleaching was effected by chlorine,  or by chloride of
lime  and sulphuric acid.   Having  macerated some black ginger in  water, de-
prived it of the cortical portion, treated it for twenty-four hours with sulphuric
acid diluted with nine times its weight of water, and finally placed it in a mix-
ture of chloride of lime and water, in which it was  allowed to remain for two
days, he found it, upon being washed and dried, to present an appearance
closely resembling that  of the finest white giuger, both on the surface  and
internally. (Annal.  der Pharm., xvii. 98.)   According to  Brande, ginger is
often washed in whiting  and water;  and Pereira  states that it is sometimes
bleached by exposure to the fumes of burning  sulphur.
   General Properties.  The odour of ginger is aromatic and penetrating, the
taste spicy, pungent, hot, and biting.  These properties gradually diminish,  and
are ultimately lost by exposure.   The virtues  of ginger are extracted by water
and  alcohol.  Its constituents,  according  to  M. Morin, are  a volatile oil; a
resinous matter, soft, acrid, aromatic, and soluble in ether and alcohol;  a sub-
resin insoluble in ether; a little ozmazome;  gum ; starch; a vegeto-animal
matter ; sulphur ;  acetic acid ; acetate of potassa ;  and lignin.   The peculiar
flavour  of the root appears to depend on the volatile oil, its pungency partly on
the resinous or resino-extractive principle.   A considerable quantity of pure
white starch may be obtained from it. The volatile oil, examined by A. Papousck,
was  yellow, of the odour of ginger, and  of a hot aromatic taste.  Its sp. gr.
was  0-893, and boiling point 475°.  Deprived of water by distillation with an-
hydrous phosphoric acid, it consisted  of carbon and hydrogen, with the formu-
la CinH8, and therefore belongs to the camphene series.  (See  Chem. Gaz., Jan.
1, 1853, p. 12.)  According to Zeller, one pound of the dried root yields  one
drachm seventeen grains of volatile oil. (Cent Blatt, 1855, p. 207.)
   Those pieces of ginger which  are very fibrous,  light and  friable,  or worm-
eaten, should be rejected.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Ginger is a grateful stimulant and carmin-
ative, and is often given  in dyspepsia, flatulent colic,  and the feeble state of
the alimentary canal attendant upon atonic gout.   It is an  excellent addition
to bitter infusions and tonic powders, imparting to them an agreeable, warming,
and cordial operation upon the stomach.   When chewed it produces much irri-
tation of the mouth, and a copious flow of saliva;  and, when snuffed up the
nostrils, in powder, excites violent sneezing.  It is  sometimes used  as a local
remedy  in relaxation of the uvula, and palsy  of the tongue  and fauces.  Ex-
ternally it is rubefacient.  It may be given in powder or infusion.  The dose of
the former is from ten grains to a scruple or more.  The infusion may be pre-
pared by adding half an ounce of the powdered or  bruised root to  a pint of
boiling  water, and may be given in the dose of one or two fluidounces.
   Off. Prep. Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum; Confectio Opii;  Confectio
Scammonii; Infusum Sennas; Infusum Zingiberis ; Pilula Cambogias Compo-
sita ;  Pilulas Scillas Compositas; Pulvis Aromaticus ; Pulvis  Cinnamomi Com-
positus; Pulvis Jalapas Comp.; Pulvis Rhei Comp.; Pulvis Scammonii Comp.;
Syrupus Rhamni; Syrupus Zingiberis;  Tinctura Cinnamomi Composita; Tinct.
Rhei Comp.; Tinct. Zingiberis; Vinum Aloes.                        W. 
PART  II.
                        PREPARATIONS.

   The preparation of medicines, which constitutes the art of Pharmacy, comes
 within the peculiar province of  the apothecary. It is for his guidance that the
 various formulas of the  Pharmacopoeia have been arranged, and to him that
 their directions are especially addressed.*
   A few general observations, therefore, of an explanatory nature, calculated to
 facilitate the progress of the pharmaceutical student, will not be misplaced under
 the present head.  The duty of the  apothecary is to obtain a supply of  good
 medicines, to  preserve them with care, to prepare them properly for use, and to
 dispense them.   Our remarks will embrace each of these points.
   The substances  obtained from the mineral and animal kingdoms, and those
 furnished by the chemical manufacturer, are of a nature to admit of no general
 precepts as to their proper condition,  which would not be suggested by the com-
 mon sense of the purchaser.   He must receive them as  offered, and judge of
 their fitness for his purposes by his knowledge of the peculiar properties of each.
 The same remark applies to vegetable substances from abroad; but with respect
 to  indigenous plants, the apothecary is frequently called upon to exercise  his
 judgment in relation to their collection and desiccation, and will  derive advan-
 tage from some  brief practical rules upon the subject.
   Collecting and Drying of Plants.  The proper mode of proceeding varies
 according to the nature of the part used.   The different parts of plants are to
 be gathered at the period when the peculiar juices of the plant are most abund-
 ant in them.   In the roots of annual plants this happens just before the time
 of flowering; in  the roots of biennials, after the vegetation of the first year has
 ceased; and in those of perennials, in the  spring  before vegetation has com-
 menced.  They should be washed, and the small fibres, unless they are the part
 employed, should be separated from the fleshy solid part, which is to be cut in
 slices previously to being dried.   Bulbs are to be  gathered after the new bulb
 is perfected, and before it has begun to vegetate, which is at the time the leaves
 decay.   Barks, whether of the root, trunk, or branches, should be gathered in
 the autumn or early in the  spring.  The dead epidermis, and the decayed parts
 are to be separated.  Of some trees, as the slippery elm, it is the inner bark only
 that is  preserved.  Leaves are to be gathered after their full development, before

  * These preliminary observations to the second  part of the work were originally
prepared by Mr. Daniel B. Smith, President of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
They have from time to time been considerably modified since their first appearance ;
but never to the same extent as in the present edition.   The alterations now made are
such as the improvements in  Pharmacy have suggested, and were deemed necessary to
render the work a proper exponent  of the present state of knowledge upon the subject.
The authors are happy to acknowledge their obligations, in the revision of this intro-
duction, to Professor William Procter, of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.— Note
to the ninth edition. 
806               Collecting and Drying of Plants.            part ii.
the fading of the flower.  The leaves of biennial plants do not attain their per-
fect qualities until the second year.  Flowers should in general be gathered at
the time of their expansion, before or immediately after they have fully opened-
and some, as the Rosa  Gallica, while in the bud.  Aromatic herbs are to be
gathered when in flower.  Leaves, flowers, and herbs are to be gathered in clear
dry weather, in the morning, after the dew is exhaled.   Stalks and twigs are
collected in  autumn;  seeds at the  period of their full maturity.
  Vegetables should be dried as rapidly as is consistent with their perfect  pre-
servation.   Those collected in the warm months, and during dry weather, may,
except in a few instances, be dried by spontaneous evaporation in a well-venti-
lated apartment; and some, as roots and barks, may be exposed to the direct
rays of the sun.  In spring and autumn, and especially in damp, foggy, or rainy
weather, the drying room should be artificially heated, and furnished with aper-
tures near the top for the escape of the moist warm air,  and others beneath in
the direction of the prevailing wind, so as to command a current of  air.   The
arrangements for supplying heat, which may consist of a small stove, or a drum
connected with a stove in another apartment, should be capable of regulation, so
that the temperature may range between 70° and 100° Fahr. at will.  The  sub-
stances to be dried should be supported on wicker or tinned wire hurdles, arranged
horizontally above each other, so that the ascending and lateral currents of air
may pass over and through every part.  Fibrous roots may be dried in the  sun,
or at a heat from 65° to 80° in the drying  room.  Fleshy roots should be cut
in transverse slices not exceeding half an inch in length, and, during the drying
process, should be stirred  several times to prevent moulding; the heat being at
first maintained  at about 100°.  Bulbs must have the outer membranes peeled
off; in other respects they are to be treated like fleshy roots.   Barks,  woods,
and twigs readily dry in thin layers in the open air.  Leaves, after separation
from the stalks,  should be loosely strewed over the hurdles, and their position
changed twice a day till they become dry.  When  very succulent they require
more care in order to prevent discoloration.   For dry and thin leaves the heat
need not exceed 70°; for the succulent, it may be gradually raised to 100°.  An-
nual plants, and tops, if not too juicy, may be tied loosely in small bundles, and
strung on lines stretched across the drying room.  Flowers must be  dried care-
fully and rapidly so as to preserve their colour.  They should be spread  loosely
on the hurdles and turned several times by stirring.   When flowers or leaves
owe their  virtues to volatile oils, greater care is necessary.  Succulent fruits, as
berries, may be dried when in bunches by suspending them in the drying room.
   The following table, taken from the Edinburgh Dispensatory, presents the
amounts yielded by 1000  parts of the vegetables respectively mentioned, after
being  dried.

                                      Leaves of Digitalis purpurea   .  180
                                                Hyoscyamus niger   .  135
                                                Melissa officinalis    .  220
                                                Salvia officinalis     .  220
                                      Tops of Mentha piperita .     .215
                                      Flowers of Anthemis nobilis   .  338
                                                 Borago officinalis   .   96
                                                 Lavandula vera     .  510
                                                 Sambucus Ebulus   .  256
                                      Petals of Papaver Rhoeas      .   84
                                               Rosa rubra    .     •  330

  Preservation of  Medicines.   The proper preservation of medicines  is an
object  of the greatest importance to the apothecary.  The apartment destined for
Roots of Angelica Archangelica	263
Aspidium Filix Mas	500
Inula Helenium .	187
Valeriana sylvestris	316
Bark of the Oak	410
Elder .	292
Elm	375
Twigs of Solanum Dulcamara	308
Leaves of Atropa Belladonna	140
Conium maculatum	185
Datura Stramonium	110
 
  part ii.  Preservation of Medicines.— Weights and Measures.      807

  a store room should be quite dry, and capable of being ventilated at will, and
  protected from vermin.  As a general rule drugs should  be excluded from the
  light, and not packed away until thoroughly dry.   New  parcels should not be
  put in old receptacles until these have been examined, and freed from dust and
  insects.  Barrels and boxes, well  fitted with movable covers, are suitable for most
  roots, barks, and woods, and for  some herbs, leaves, and seeds.   They should be
  painted externally, and are  less  liable to harbor insects when varnished inside
  with a solution of shellac, imbued with aloes, wormwood, or colocynth.   Roots
  and bulbs, which are to be preserved fresh, should be buried in dry sand.  Aro-
  matic leaves and those containing alkaloids, flowers, most seeds, and  some
  roots especially liable to the attacks of insects, should be kept in tin canisters,
  or in light boxes lined with lead, tin, or zinc, or in opaque glass, or earthen-
  ware vessels.  They should be frequently examined in order to prevent  deterio-
  ration from insects or moisture.   When insects are discovered  in a drug, the
  best means of destroying them, according  to  Lutrand, is to suspend an open
  vial containing chloroform in the canister,  which is to be closed securely, so that
  the  atmosphere of the vessel may become saturated with the vapour.  Can-
  tharides and ergot may be thus  treated.  Bundles of aromatic herbs, the leaves
  of which are very friable, as sage, marjoram, &c, should  be wrapped loosely in
  refuse paper, so as to  preserve  a due proportion  between  stems, leaves, and
  flowers.   Gum-resins, unless in original  packages, should be kept in  earthen
  jars,  or tinned boxes.   Fixed and volatile oils should be kept in canisters or
  bottles, in a cool dark place, where  the  average temperature is about 60°.
  Substances in the form of fecula should be kept in oak barrels,  or in canisters,
  and carefully examined from time to time  to detect and remove insects.
    Garbling op Drugs. Drugs frequently require to be garbled before they are
  in a proper state for use.  Senna is to be separated from the stalks and legumes;
  cetraria from moss, leaves,  and  sticks; myrrh from bdellium, &c.;  gum Sene-
  gal from Bassora gum and  a  terebinthinate resin; flaxseed from  clover  and
  garlic seed; seneka from ginseng; spigelia from the stems and leaves, and both
  it and serpentaria from adhering dirt.  Seroons  of  cinchona  should be exa-
  mined, and the barks assorted before they are put by for use.   Gums and gum-
  resins should be garbled, and the tears preserved separately.
   Weights and Measures. A  precise acquaintance with the recognised mea-
  sures  of weight and capacity is essential to the operations of the apothecary.
  The weights used by him in compounding medicines are the troy pound  and its
  divisions; those by which he buys and sells, the avoirdupois pound and its di-
  visions.  The former contains 5760 grains, the latter 7000 grains;  so that 11
  troy pounds are nearly equivalent to 9 pounds avoirdupois.  The troy pound
  contains  12 ounces of  480 grains; the  avoirdupois pound 16 ounces of 437i
 grains; eleven of the former being nearly equal to twelve of the latter.  The
 troy ounce is divided, for the  use of the apothecary, into 8 drachms of 60 grains
 each;  and the drachm into 3 scruples  of 20 grains each.   The United  States
 and British Pharmacopoeias,  that of the Dublin College excepted, recognise the
 troy weights; and whenever, in  this work, any terra is used  expressive of weight,
 when not otherwise stated, it is to be understood as being of this denomination.
 The Dublin  Pharmacopoeia  of 1850  recognises  the avoirdupois pound and
 ounce; dividing the ounce into 8 drachms of 54*68 grains each; and the drachm
 into 3 scruples of  18-22 grains each.
   The measures used by the  apothecary, in this country, are the  wine pint and
 the gallon.   The wine pint contains 28-875 cubic inches.   The weight of a pint
 of distilled water, at 62° Fahrenheit and 30 inches of the  barometer, is 7289'7
 grains, or 1 pound 3 ounces 1 drachm 29-7 grains troy, or 1 pound 289'7  grains
•avoirdupois.   The gallon is divided into 8 pints, the pint into 16 fluidounces, the
 fluidounce into 8 fluidrachms, the fluidrachm  into  60 minims.   The weight of 
808
Weights and Measures.—Specific Gravity.
part ir.
 a fluidounce of water is 4551 grains, being 18 grains more than an avoirdupois
 ounce.  A drop is generally though incorrectly considered as equivalent to a
 minim.  Drops vary in size according to the nature of the fluid, and the size and
 shape of the lip from which they fall.   A drop of water nearly equals a minim
 A fluidrachm of antimonial wine will make, on an  average, about 72 drops, one
 of laudanum 120 drops, one of alcohol 138 drops, one of ether 150 drops, and
 one of chloroform more than 200 drops.  For a table showing the relative value
 of minim and drops, see the Appendix.   The measures recognised by all the
 British Pharmacopoeias are the Imperial gallon of 70,000 grains of distilled water
 or 277 cubic inches, and its divisions.   This gallon is divided into 8 pints of 20
 fluidounces each.  The fluidounce is divided as that of wine measure, but differs
 from it in value, containing precisely an ounce avoirdupois, or 437-5 grains, of
 distilled water.   Measures are employed,  both in the United States and British
 Pharmacopoeias, to express the quantity of liquids in nearly all their formulas.
   Liquids are to be dispensed from graduated measures, of which those holding
 from a fluidounce to  a pint are hollow  inverted cones; and those holding a fluf-
 drachm, and graduated to every five minims, are cylindrical.  For smaller quan-
 tities than five minims, a slender tube holding a fluidrachm may be used, having
 the aliquot parts divided off, and marked with a diamond.   Alsop's minimeter,
 which consists of a slender glass syringe graduated into sixty parts, each equal
 to a minim, is  the most convenient and accurate instrument for measuring frac-
 tions of a fluidrachm.  Care should be  taken to verify these instruments.  The
 following approximate measures are used in prescribing medicines; viz., a wine-
 glassful containing two fluidounces, a tablespoonful containing half a fluidounce,
 a dessertspoonful two fluidrachms, and  a teaspoonful a fluidrachm.
   Specific Gravity.  The specific gravity of liquids affords one of the best
 tests of  their purity.  The instrument commonly used by the apothecary for
 ascertaining this is Baume's hydrometer.   This is a glass bulb loaded at one
 end, and drawn out at the other into a tube on which the scale is marked. That
 used for alcohol is graduated by loading it  until it sinks to the foot of the stern
 (which is marked zero) in a solution of  one  part of common salt in nine parts of
 water.   It is then put into water,  and  the  place to which it sinks marked 10°
 of the scale, which is constructed from these data.  The hydrometer for liquids
 heavier than water is made by loading it, so that in distilled water it shall sink
 nearly to the top of the stem.   The place to which it sinks in a solution of 15
 parts of salt in 85 parts of water is then marked 15°, and the scale divided off.
 For a table exhibiting the value  of these  scales in  specific  gravities, see  the
 Appendix.   Hydrometers  are made specially for syrups, acids, and saline solu-
 tions.   Those for syrups should have a very short tube, graduated from 20° to
 40°  of Baume's scale for heavy liquids.  The  advantage of a short stem is,
 that the instrument may be used in small vessels.*
   The hydrometers commonly imported are so carelessly made that scarcely any
 two  will agree, and little dependence can be placed on their accuracy.   A more
 certain method consists in  weighing the liquid at a uniform  temperature in a
 bottle, the capacity of which, in grains of  distilled water, has been previously
 ascertained.  If a bottle is selected which will hold exactly 1000 grains of water
 at 60°, the weight in grains of the quantity  of any liquid which it will hold, will
 be the specific gravity of that liquid.   Such bottles are sold  in the shops.   If

  * For some interesting observations in reference to the inaccuracy of the existing
 tables of specific gravities corresponding  to the several  degrees of Baume's hydro-
 meter, to the uncertainty  of the hydrometer in use, and to a mode of remedying these
 inconveniences,  the reader is referred to a  paper by Mr. Henry Pemberton in the  Am.
 Journ. of Pharm. (xxiv. i.) ; and for a good and accurate method of graduating hydro-
meters to a communication from Dr. W. H. Pile, in the same Journal (xxiv. 310). 
PART II.
Mechanical Division.
809
  one is not attainable, an ordinary vial may be used, and the specific gravity ob-
  tained by dividing the weight of the liquid examined by the weight of the water.
  The operation is rendered more accurate by fitting a smooth cork to the vial,
  passing a pin transversely through it so as to rest on the lips of the vial,  and
  then cutting a small vertical groove into the side of the cork so as to admit of
  the escape of the excess of liquid, when the cork is inserted.
    Gay Lussac's centesimal alcoholmeter is a very useful instrument, being gra-
  duated so as to indicate the per centage of absolute alcohol in any mixture of
  pure spirit and water.
    The  specific gravity of a solid is ascertained by first weighing it in air  and
  then in water, and dividing the former weight by the difference between the two.
  If  lighter than water, it should  be first weighed in the air, then in air and in
  water in connexion with a heavier body, which has itself been previously weighed
  in  air and in water; and the weight of the lighter body in the air, should be
  divided by the excess of the difference between the weights in air and water of
  the two conjoined, over that of the weights in air and water of the heavier body
  alone.  If the body be soluble in  water, its relative weight to that of some other
  liquid  of known  specific  gravity should be  ascertained, in the manner  above
  directed, and this weight multiplied by the specific gravity of that liquid.
    The specific  gravity of insoluble powders heavier than water, as calomel, may
  be  obtained by introducing 100 grains into a thousand grain bottle, filling it
  carefully  with distilled water,  so  as to  disengage all the air, ascertaining the
  weight of the contents in grains, subtracting the number of grains, exceeding
  1000, from the weight of the powder in air, and dividing the latter by the differ-
  ence.  When the powder is soluble  or  lighter than water,  another liquid, as
  alcohol, ether,  or oil of turpentine may be used, the necessary allowance being
  made for the difference in specific gravity. Very accurate thousand grain bottles
  are now made in Philadelphia.
   Mechanical Division.  One of the simplest methods of preparing medicines
 is their  reduction,  by mechanical means, to a state of minute division.  This is
 effected  by the operations of slicing, bruising, rasping, filing, triturating, grind-
 ing, sifting, levigation, and elutriation.  When the result is  a fine powder,  the
 process  or processes employed  are called pulverization.
   The more important drugs which are sold in the state of powder are pulverized
 by persons who pursue that occupation for a livelihood.  Owing to the readiness
 with which fraud can be perpetrated in this operation, the apothecary cannot be
 too careful to place his drugs in honest hands.   In sending drugs to the pow-
 derer a certain per centage of powder is sometimes required,  without regard to
 the  condition of the drugs, as to moisture, extraneous admixture, &c, which per
 centage often cannot be obtained without the addition of foreign matter.  This
 procedure  on the part of the druggist is  one of the chief sources of dishonesty
 in the powderer, and is highly  reprehensible.  The loss of weight during the
 processes of pulverization is due to the evaporation of moisture, the unavoidable
 escape of dusty particles, and the useless residue called gruffs.   The following
 statement  has been abbreviated from a table  prepared by MM. Henry and
 Guibourt.   One  thousand  parts of the substances mentioned yielded,  when
 pulverized—
         Roots.
 Jalap  ...   940
 Rhubarb     .    .   920
 Columbo     .    .   900
 Liquorice root    .   900
 Valerian     .    .   860
Elecampane  .    .   850
Gentian      .    .   850
Florentine orris	850	Cinchona, red	880
Rhatany	850	--------, yellow .	900
Calamus	840	Cinnamon	890
Virginia snakeroot	800	Angustura	825
Ipecacuanha .	750	Leaves,	
Squill (bulb)	820	Hemlock	800
Barks.		Savine .	800
Cinchona, pale	875	Digitalis	790
 
810                     Contusion.—Grinding.
Belladonna .	785	Nux vomica .	850
Senna .	720	Colocynth	500
Henbane	530	Vegetable Products	
Flowers.		Aloes	960
Chamomile .	850	Tragacanth .	940
Saffron .	800	Opium . Gum arabic .	930 125
Fruits.		Scammony	915
Mustard	950	Catechu	900
Black pepper	900	Liquorice (extract)	810
900
850

980

950
950
                                                      Animal Substances
                                                   Castor  .     .    .  .
                                                   Spanish flies
                                                      Mineral Substances
                                                   Red oxide of mercury
                                                   Red sulphuret of mer-
                                                     cury .
                                                   Arsenious acid
                                                   Sulphuret of antimony 950
                                                   Tin                 825
   The apothecary often finds it necessary to pulverize drugs in small quantities.
For this purpose he should be provided with mortars of iron, brass, Wedgwood
ware, glass, and marble, sieves of several degrees of fineness, at least one hand
mill, one or more cutting knives,  a rasp, and a pair  of pruning shears.
   Contusion should be performed in an iron  or brass  mortar, the latter being
used for astringent substances.  The curve of the interior surface of the bottom
should  be elliptical, and that of the pestle should be of the same kind, but of
shorter radius, so that, when the pestle stands vertically in the mortar, their sur-
faces  may approximate pretty closely for some distance  around  the point of
actual contact.   Powdering by contusion is much facilitated by using a large
mortar, with the pestle suspended on a spring so as to assist in elevating it. In
powdering acrid substances, as well as to prevent loss  in those that are dusty,
a leathern cover should be attached to the pestle, and held tightly around the
edge of the mortar by a circular wrooden frame.  The  operator  should guard
himself against the fine  particles of very acrid substances, like cantharides,
euphorbium, &c, by standing with his back to a current of air, and covering
his nostrils with a wet cloth.   He should be  careful  not to impede the process
by introducing too large a quantity of the  material,  so as to clog the pestle.
After the pestle has been in action a certain time, the fine particles accumulate
so as to hinder the reduction of the coarser.  At this point the sieve should be
brought into requisition.   Sieves for powders are constructed of woven brass
wire, and silk cloth (bolting cloth).  The best arrangement for the apothecary's
use is that known as  the  box  or  drum  sieve, being  cylindrical, with a cover
above, and a receptacle below for the powder.  After introducing the contents
of the mortar, a jerking circular motion should be given to the sieve, without
much jarring, so that none but the finest  particles may pass.   The coarser por-
tion should then be returned to the mortar to be again acted on.  A set of simple
sieves,  formed by tacking pieces of woven wire, with meshes varying from the
twentieth to the fourth of an inch, to square wooden frames, should be provided
to prepare drugs for percolation and other modes of solution.  When the quan-
tity of material to be sifted is large, recourse may be  advantageously had to
                                     Harris's  patent  sieve, which has the
merits of the  drum  sieve,  with
facility of use.  (See Am. Journ. of
Pharm., xxv.  31.)   A  figure of this
instrument is given in the margin.
   Grinding.   The  hand  mill  is  ex-
ceedingly useful  for  the coarse com-
minution of  drugs, especially of those
which from  their acrimony may  an-
noy the operator in the  process of
contusion.    Swift's   drug  mill  (see
following page),  is  one of the most
useful and  manageable of the kind.
It  does  not  answer  well  for  fibrous 
 part II.        Trituration.—Levigation.—Elutriation.           811

 drugs like slippery elm  and sarsa-
 parilla, unless sliced transversely in
 short sections.
    Trituration is the effect produced
 where a  circular motion, accompa-
 nied by pressure, is communicated to
 the pestle; and is applied most gene-
 rally  to  friable substances,  or  to
 powders  obtained  by other  means
 with a view to their further and more
 regular  comminution.   The  opera-
 tion is accelerated by alternately in-
 creasing and diminishing the circular
 movements, so as to bring the pestle
 in contact with all portions  of the
 surface of the mortar. Dover's pow-
 der and red oxide of mercury are in-
 stances requiring this operation; and
 in prescriptions for powders, where
 a variety of  substances of variable
 molecular condition are associated,
 this process is employed to bring them to a uniform state of division.
   Levigation, or porphyrization as it was formerly called, is a kind of tritura-
 tion effected between the flat surfaces of a slab and muller. As the surfaces are
 equidistant at all parts,  a substance, subjected to their action, has its particles
 more  uniformly divided than between the curved surfaces  of  a mortar and
 pestle.  It is usual to moisten  the  powder with water or alcohol (in which it
 should be insoluble) so  as to bring it to a pasty consistence.   The slab and
 muller are made of glass, porphyry,  Wedgwood ware, or marble.
   Elutriation bears the  same relation  to trituration and levigation that sifting
 does to contusion.   It consists  in agitating a powder, obtained by  those pro-
 cesses, in  a large quantity of  water, allowing the coarser particles to subside,
 and pouring off the supernatant  liquid, holding the finer particles in suspension,
 that they may settle separately.  The pasty  thick mass, left when  the clear
 liquid  is decanted, is put into a funnel, and dropped in small portions  on a chalk
 stone so as to form small conical masses.   The fineness of the powder depends
 on its  specific  gravity, and the length of time which elapses before  the liquid
 from which it subsides is drawn  off.
   Various means are used to facilitate powdering.   All  vegetable  substances
 must be carefully and thoroughly dried.   No part of the  business of the pow-
 derer requires  more care  than this,  especially in relation to  substances which
 owe their activity to volatile principles.  The heat derived from steam, regu-
 lated below 100° for aromatic substances, and below 140° for others not injured
 thereby, is the most appropriate.  Resins, gum-resins, and gums  must be pow-
 dered in cold frosty weather.   Tragacanth and nux vomica must be  dried in a
 stove heat, and powdered while hot.  The fibrous roots, as  liquorice and marsh-
 mallow, should be previously cut into thin transverse slices.   Agaric is to be
 beaten into a paste  with water, then dried, and triturated.  Cloves and the aro-
 matic seeds may be  ground in a hand mill, and afterwards triturated.  Squill
 and colocynth, the comminution of which is sometimes aided by soaking them
 in mucilage of tragacanth and then  drying, are best powdered in a  dry atmo-
 sphere, after being  thoroughly dried by a stove heat.  Camphor requires the
addition of  a  few drops of alcohol.  The efflorescent salts may be obtained in
the state of fine powder by exsiccation ; and those which are insoluble in alco-
 
812
Separation of Solids from Liquids.           part
 hoi may be precipitated by it, in impalpable powder, from their aqueous solu-
 tions.   Vanilla, mace, and other  oily aromatic substances, may be  rubbed to
 powder with  sugar; magnesia and white lead, by friction on a wire  sieve.
   Care should be taken, in powdering, to separate previously the inert portions
 and impurities,  and to mix intimately the whole of the powder which  is reserved
 for use.  The central woody fibre of ipecacuanha and of other roots,  the virtues
 of which reside in  the bark, is to be rejected.  The first portions of those barks
 to which lichens, and the dead epidermis adhere, are inert; as are also the last
 particles of the fibrous roots and barks.
   Ivory, horn, nux vomica, wood, and iron are prepared for pharmaceutic pur-
 poses by filing and rasping ; guaiacum wood and quassia by turning in a lathe •
 roots, stalks,  and dried herbaceous  plants by cutting with a large pair of shears'
 or with a large  knife, fixed in a frame at one end  and  furnished with a lon^
 handle at the  other.  Tin and zinc are granulated by melting them, and
 strongly agitating  while they are cooling; and carbonate of potassa, by stirring
 with a  rod the concentrated  solution-as it hardens.   Earthy insoluble sub-
 stances are conveniently reduced to powder by levigation.
   Separation  op Mixed Substances.  Various mechanical  operations  for
 this purpose are resorted  to in practical pharmacy.   Some  of  these have  re-
 ference to the separation of solids from liquids, others to the separation of one
 liquid from another.
   Separation of Solids from Liquids.   This includes the processes of decan-
 tation, filtration, straining, expression, clarification,  &c.
   Decantation.   Solids may  be separated from liquids, when there exists  no
 chemical action between them, by being allowed to subside.  The supernatant
 liquid may then  be carefully poured off;  or  it may be drawn off by  a syphon,
 or separated by  filtering.  The last  operation, or expression by a stronger force,
 is necessary to separate the whole  of the liquid.
   Jars larger at bottom than at the top, and furnished with a lip for pouring,
 called precipitating jars, are sold in the shops, and are proper for decantation^
 precipitation,  and the receiving of filtering liquids.   When the decanted liquid
 is the object of the process, and the powder  subsides very slowly, the precipita-
 tion may be greatly hastened by  the addition of a small quantity of solution of
 gelatin.   Decantation by  pouring is  facilitated by  holding  vertically against
 the lip a glass rod, which attracts and directs the current, and prevents it from
 running down the sides of the vessel.  The syphon is a tube bent like the letter
 U having one limb longer than  the other.  When it is  filled with liquid, and
 the shorter end  is inserted in the fluid to be decanted, a  current is established
 towards the longer limb  owing to the greater weight of its  contents, and
 continues as long as the shorter  limb is kept below the surface of the liquid.
   Filtration consists in pouring a mixture of solid and fluid matter on a porous
 surface, called a filter or strainer, which admits of the passage of the fluid only,
 and is designed either to clarify the liquid,  or to separate the solid from  the
 associated liquid by washing and draining.
  Filters or strainers are made of unsized paper, cotton, linen, and woollen cloth,
 charcoal, glass, and sand.  The apothecary should be provided with several kinds
 of filtering paper, one of which should be white and free from matter soluble in
dilute acids, especially oxides of iron.   Paper filters are plain or plaited. The
plain filter is made by folding a square piece of paper twice, so as'to bring  the
four corners together, and then separating one of the layers from the other three
so as to form a hollow cone, which is inserted in a funnel.   Such filters are best
for precipitates;  but when rapid filtration is required, the plaited filter, by pre-
senting a much greater extent of surface, and numerous channels for the descent
* 
PART II.
Filtration.
813
  of the liquid, Is to preferred.   The paper is folded
  into 32 triangular surfaces, all the points meeting
  in the centre, and the edge presenting a  zig-zag
  outline as in the figure.  In some cases it may be
  necessary to place a small cone of the same material
  outside of the large one to strengthen it.  When
  the liquid is too viscid to pass readily through paper,
  a cotton or woollen bag of a conical shape may be
  used.  Cotton flannel  with a thick nap is well suited
  for syrups. Acids may be filtered through a layer
  of fine siliceous sand, supported in the neck of a
  glass funnel by pieces of glass gradually decreasing in size. Castor oil, syrups, and
  oxymels may be filtered through coarse paper, made entirely of woollen shreds;
  but the best material for fixed oils is hatters' felt, in the conical form in which
  it is prepared in the making of hats.  This may be attached to a tin ring, and
  suspended over a suitable vessel.  Melted fats, resins, wax, and plasters may be
  strained  through muslin stretched  over a
  square  frame, or  a hoop.  Hair  cloth or
  wire gauze is better suited for  plasters than
  muslin.   Small sieves of  fine bolting cloth
  serve for  straining  emulsions,  decoctions
  and infusions;  and a  temporary strainer
  for these purposes may be made by fasten-
  ing a  piece of muslin  between  the  upper
  and lower parts of a common pill box, and
  then cutting off the ends so as to leave the
  rim only  of  the box around  the muslin.
  The filtration of viscid substances is  facili-
 tated by heat.  Filtration through bone black
 is practised for muddy or dark coloured li-
 quids.  Much inconvenience is often expe-
 rienced in the filtration of hot saturated sa-
 line solutions, by the cooling of the liquid,
 and consequent crystallization of the salt, in
 the filter and neck of the funnel.  To obviate this, the tin apparatus represented
 in  the wood cut above was contrived by Dr. Hare.  The vessel is filled with hot
 water, which is kept
 at a boiling heat by
 a spirit lamp placed
 under  the cavity
 having the shape of
 an inverted funnel.
 A glass funnel with
 a filter is placed in
 the  other  cavity, ^iH
 and the liquid pass- \J
 es through rapidly.
 In filtering alcohol-
 ic solutions, it is ne-
 cessary  to  protect
the liquid from the flame of the lamp,  and for this purpose the partition  under-
neath has been added.  No apothecary should be without this useful apparatus.
The arrangement of Dr. Hare has been simplified by having a funnel with double
sides, as in the figure, with a hollow cylindrical projection at the lower part, to
fk
o €3
 
814           Expression. — Clarification.—Precipitation.      part ii.

which a spirit lamp heat may be applied, while the funnel is supported on a lamp
stand; the space between the sides being filled with water.  Frames of various
sizes for holding funnels and filters will be found useful; the wood cut represents
the one commonly used.  The efflorescence of  saline solutions on the edge of
the filtering paper may be prevented by dipping it in melted tallow or lard.
   The filtration of liquids which are altered by exposure to the air requires much
caution.  A very simple method of accomplishing it is to insert a slender tube
of glass into the funnel, long enough to reach below the neck, while the upper
part is nearly as high as the top of the funnel.  The space between the tube and
the neck must  be filled with bits of glass and fine  sand so as to form a good
filtering bed; the liquid is  then poured in, and the top of  the funnel covered
with a plate  of glass.   If this be luted on, and the funnel luted into the neck
of a bottle, the process will be performed with perfect accuracy.   Another way
of performing this operation, in relation both to liquors  altered by the carbonic
acid of1 the air,  and to those which are  very volatile, as ethereal and ammoniacal
solutions, consists in covering the funnel with a sheet of tin foil, or moist blad-
der, and putting a small tube within and against the side of the funnel, extending
nearly to the top, so as to form a communication between the atmosphere of the
receptacle and  that of the funnel.   By such an arrangement ordinary filtering
through paper can be conducted with perfect success with ether or solution of
ammonia.   The filtration of large quantities of liquids is facilitated by having
a self-supplying apparatus,  so that the level of  liquid in the filter may be con-
stant.   This  is effected by inserting a tube, with a bore of a quarter of an inch,
through the cork of a  large bottle containing the liquid to be filtered, and sup-
porting the bottle in an inverted position over the filter, as at page 823, so that
the tube shall dip slightly below the surface of the liquid.  As this descends, its
place is  supplied from the bottle above.  Another arrangement, in which a
syphon is used, is figured in the following page.
   Expression  is required to separate the last portions of tinctures and infusions
from the dregs.  A screw-press is used for this  purpose.   The substance to be
pressed is put into a cylinder of strong sheet tin, the sides of which are pierced
with small holes.  This is placed on a square tray of tin having  a lip for pour-
ing.  A block  of wood, which fits into the cylinder, like a piston, is placed on
the top, and  the whole is put under the screw-press, the pressure of which is
gradually brought to bear upon it.
   This  press is to be used for expressing the juices of fresh plants, which, pre-
viously to being pressed, must be well  beaten in  a mortar, water being added to
those which are hard and dry.  The juices of  succulent fruits, as strawberries,
raspberries, &c, are most advantageously extracted by  filling several strong
flannel bags about two-thirds full, without bruising them, laying these in a pile
on a suitable tray, placing a strong block over the whole, and  gradually bring-
ing the press to bear upon them.  The expressed oils are obtained by bruising
the seeds which contain them, and enclosing the bruised mass in strong bags,
which are placed in a firm hollow frame, and subjected to strong sudden pres-
sure by driving up a wedge.  Expressed oils are  clarified from mucilage by boil-
ing them with  water.
   The clarification of liquids may be effected by the addition of some coagulable
substance, such as milk or an aqueous solution  of ichthyocolla.  The white of
an egg beaten up with water will coagulate with a gentle heat, and clarify any
liquid with which it is mixed.   The vegetable  acids will clarify many  of the
expressed juices;  and the juice of  sour cherries  will cause the complete separa-
tion of the pectin of currant and raspberry juice, so as to fit them for syrups.
  Precipitation is  sometimes mechanical, as in the levigating and elutriating
of chalk, and sometimes  chemical, as in the preparation of  the  precipitated 
part II.     Separation of Liquids.—Application of Heat.         815
carbonate of lime by decomposing chloride of calcium.   When a precipitant is
directed to be added until no further precipitation takes place, the fact may be
ascertained by taking a drop of the liquid on a glass plate, and trying it with
the precipitant.  The formation of a precipitate is often much assisted by agi-
tation, or by heat.  The separation of the supernatant liquid from the precipitate
is most effectually accomplished by means of a syphon.  When the  liquid is a
saline solution, it is necessary to wash the precipitate until the water exhibits  no
trace of the salt.  In doing this great care must be taken to select  the purest
and clearest water, and the ultimate drying of the precipitate must be performed
in a filter, or on a porous stone.
   The apparatus figured in the margin is very con-
venient for procuring a constant and gentle stream
of water, in washing precipitates, and in clearing
crystals of the impurities of their mother-water.   It
consists of a syphon  having legs  of equal length,
one of which is inserted in an air-tight bottle nearly
filled with water, and the  other dips into the funnel.
A straight open tube is also inserted in the bottle,
the lower end of which is about half an inch or an
inch above the end of the syphon.  It is obvious that
the water will run from the  syphon no longer than
till the water in the funnel is level with the end of the
straight tube.  The same effect may be produced by using an inverted bottle and
tube, as described in the preceding page.
  Separation of Liquids.  Liquids which
have no  chemical  affinity, and differ in
specific gravity, may  be separated  by
allowing them to remain at rest in  the
separating funnel represented in the  an-
nexed  figure, and then drawing off  the
heavier fluid.  Another very convenient
method of separating fluids is by means
of the separatory figured in the wood
cut in the  margin.  The last drops of
the heavier fluid may be drawn  off by
means of this instrument.
  Application of Heat.  The most efficient and economical means of obtaining
heat is a subject of great importance to the pharmaceutist,  on
account of the variety of processes in which it is required.
   With the small furnaces, which are now made of fire-clay, of
various patterns and sizes, almost all the operations of the labora-
tory which require  heat  can be  performed.  The fuel used  is
charcoal, although anthracite will burn in those  of a larger size,
and is to be preferred where a  uniform heat is  necessary for
several hours.   The apothecary should be provided with a  com-
plete set of these useful utensils, including  one with a dome for
a reverberatory furnace.   By adding a pipe several feet in length
to this, and urging the fire with a pair of double bellows, the heat
may be raised to that of an air furnace.   A small pipe of  sheet
iron with a cone at the lower end, as in the figure, to  fit on the
furnace, will be found an excellent means of obtaining an intense
heat in those of the smallest size.  For operations on a smaller
scale, a convenient means of obtaining heat is by alcohol lamps.
Alcohol burns without smoke or smell, and is almost as cheap a
fuel as oil, to which it is on every other account preferable.  The
vy
CE3 
816              Application of Heat.—Gas Burners.          part
 annexed figures represent the usual form of spirit lamps.  The larger one will
                                                 be found very useful in heat-
                                                 ing  spatulas for  spreading
                                                 plasters.
                                                   Gas burners  afford a yet
                                                 more eligible and economical
                                                 means of applying heat than
                                                 alcohol  lamps.    When coal
                                                 gas is mixed with a due pro-
                                                 portion  of  atmospheric air
 before ignition, it  burns with a bluish  frame and  produces but  little  if any
 smoke.  The gas burner consists of a cylinder of sheet or tinned iron from 2 to
                                  4 inches in diameter, and 6 or 8 inches long,
                                  open  at the inferior end,  while the upper
                                  end, which is slightly flared, is covered with
                                  a piece of number 40 or 50 brass wire gauze,
                                  fastened on with wire.   This burner is sup-
                                  ported vertically over an ordinary gas jet in
                                  any convenient position, and the gas on being
                                  allowed to issue into it, rises  from its supe-
                                  rior levity, mixes with the air, and is ignited
                                  by means of a taper above the gauze.  The
                                  heat can be managed by regulating the flow
                                  of gas,  and by using burners of different
                                  sizes.   The left -of  the two  figures  in the
                                  margin exhibits this arrangement.  That on
                                  the right, in which a tube conveying gas (a)
                                  enters the cylinder horizontally while the air
                                  passes in at b below, is an arrangement sug-
 gested by Dr. Bridges, and may be adapted to the common bat-wing or fish-tail
 gas burner.
   For supporting  the substance to be heated, iron tripods, of various heights
                               and sizes, must be provided.   These should be
                               furnished with sets of  concentric  rings, as in
                               the figure,  for  vessels  of different  sizes.  A
                               very convenient support is the stand and ring
                               figured in the wood cut, which will answer for
                                                         a spirit  lamp, or for
                                                         a small furnace made
                                                        from a black lead cru-
                                                        cible, as in the figure.
                                                           The  temperature
                                                        required  for  fusion
                                                        in pharmaceutic pro-
                                                        cesses seldom exceeds
                                                         a red heat; and the
                                                         vessels used are cru-
                                                         cibles  of silver, por-
                                                         celain, Wedgwood
                                                         ware, black lead, and
fire clay (Hessian crucibles).   Silver is used for the fusion of potassa, porcelain
for nitrate of silver, and black lead and Hessian crucibles for the metals, glass of
antimony, sulphuret of potassium, and the ordinary operations which require a
great heat.   They  are each liable to objections; silver fuses too readily; porce-
 
part ii.              Evaporation.—Distillation.                   817

lain and Wedgwood ware do not bear sudden changes of temperature; black
lead, which bears these changes, is destroyed by saline substances, and burns in
a current of air; and the Hessian crucibles are so porous as to absorb and waste
much of the fused substance.  The crucibles should be covered with a lid or an
inverted crucible, and  should be supported at a little distance from the  bottom
of the grate, and surrounded and covered with ignited coals.
   Liquefaction is performed in open earthen, copper, or iron vessels, and care
must be taken not to  raise the heat so  as to char or inflame the substance.
   A sand bath is an indispensable part of the pharmaceutic apparatus.  It is
usually an iron pot, or a shallow vessel of sheet iron, capable of holding sand to
the depth of four or six inches.   It serves to regulate the action of the heat on
vessels which do not bear a rapid change of temperature.   It is sometimes heated
to a red heat, as in preparing the mineral acids, though more frequently used for
the evaporation of saline solutions and vegetable juices.
   Evaporation is one of the most important operations of the pharmaceutical
laboratory, and on its proper management depends the value of a large number
of preparations.   The readiness with which organic matter is modified by direct
heat, has caused the invention of various means and apparatus to effect evapo-
ration under the most favourable circumstances, as the water bath, steam bath,
solution bath,  vacuum pans, etc.
   The  water bath is  to be used in all cases where a heat above that of boiling
water would be injurious.  A convenient one consists of two copper vessels, the
upper one of which is well tinned.   It  is  still more convenient to have the water
bath constructed as a  hollow vessel, with one opening at the top for the escape of
steam and for the introduction of the water,  as in
the figure.   By inserting a cork in the aperture, the
contents of the inner  vessel  may be poured out, as
from a  dish, without spilling the water. It may be
made of tinned iron, or preferably of tinned copper.
Where  a temperature above that of boiling water,
and not exceeding 228° is required, the water bath
may be  filled with a saturated solution  of common
salt, sulphate  of soda, or chloride of calcium, the
last mentioned  salt communicating a heat as high as 240° when desired.
   Steam baths are by far the most useful aud easily regulated of the arrange-
ments for indirect heating.  When steam heat is applied in a double-sided vessel
like the water bath, this is called a steam jacket, and must have two openings,
one for the ingress of the steam, the other for the exit of the air, and for drawing
off the condensed water. When the steam jacket is strongly made, a heat of 300°
may be readily commanded.   A more economical and easily applied arrangement
consists in placing a coil of tube  in the vessel containing the liquid to be evapo-
rated, and causing a strong current of steam to circulate through it.  For further
remarks on apparatus for evaporation, including the vacuum pan, see Extracts
   The apothecary should be provided with a set of evaporating vessels, of porce-
lain, glazed iron, tinned iron, and copper.   For metallic solutions vessels of Ber-
lin porcelain are the most useful.  In most cases of surface evaporation, where
the product is uncrystallizable, the process should be hastened by stirring.
   Distillation consists in vaporizing a liquid in one vessel, and conducting the
vapour into another vessel, where it is condensed and  collected.   The process
is  used for separating a liquid from solid  substances which it may hold  in solu-
tion, or with  which it may be mixed; for  separating a more volatile liquid, as
ether  and alcohol, from one less so; for impregnating a liquid with the volatile
principles of plants to the exclusion of  other principles, as in the preparation of
aromatic spirits and waters;  and for separating, by means of aqueous vapour, the
       52
 
818
Distillation.
PART II.
essential oils and volatile proximate principles of the vegetable kingdom.  When
in the last two operations, the distillation is repeated with the same liquid ami
a fresh quantity of the plant, the operation is called cohobation.  The process
for  separating one liquid from another is termed rectification.  Distillation is
also used  for obtaining the volatile products  which result from the decomposi-
tion by heat of  substances of animal or vegetable origin.   The oils which are '
obtained in this manner are called empyreumatic oils.   Sometimes the result
is an acid, as  the succinic acid, and sometimes a volatile alkali, as in  the de-
structive distillation of animal substances.
  The common still and worm, the vessels in general use for distillation, are
too well known to need description.   A convenient  still or alembic for small
operations, which may be heated by a  spirit  lamp, is figured in the wood cut,
The top of the head is kept filled with cold water; and all escape of vapour is
prevented by having an inner ledge to the still, and filling the space in which
the head  fits with water.   The condensation of all  the vapour is secured by
adapting a worm,  or a long tube to the apparatus.  The boiler of this still may
                         hold one or two  gallons, and it will be found a very
                         useful  means of recovering the alcohol, in making al-
                         coholic extracts.   It may easily be converted into a
                         water bath, by fitting on the top of the boiler a vessel
                         of convenient form.   These stills are easily adapted
                         to the  common cylindrical anthracite stoves, used for
                         heating,  by means  of a sheet  iron  collar, through
                         which  the boiler of the still is made to pass,  and on
                         which  it is supported.
                            When  the common  glass retort and receiver are
                         used for the distillation of liquids, care should be taken
                         not to apply the luting until the atmospheric air is
                         expelled,  unless  the  receiver has a  tubulure for its
                         escape.   The chief objects to be aimed at are to keep
the body  of the retort hot, and the neck and receiver cool.  A hood of paste-
board or  tin,  as represented in the figure, will much facilitate the former; and
                                   the latter will be gained by keeping the neck
                                   and receiver wrapped in wet cloths, on which
                                   a stream of cold water is kept running.  This
                                   may  be conveniently  done by  means of a
                                   syphon, made by dipping one end of a strip
                                   of cotton  or woollen cloth in  a vessel of
                                   water,  and allowing  the other  end to hang
                                   down upon cloths bound loosely around the
                                   receiver and  the  neck of the retort.  The
                               apparatus  figured in  the margin is one of the
                               best for the condensation of ethereal vapour, as
                               in  regaining the ether in the process for making
                               ethereal  extracts.   It consists of a close hollow
                               cylindrical tin vessel, having a large neck above
                               for the insertion of the neck of a retort or a tube;
                               and a small tube below for the escape of the
                               condensed  ether.   This vessel sits in a large one
                               open at top, which is kept filled with cold water,
                               constantly renewed by a tube descending to the
                               bottom.
                                 When certain liquids are boiled  in glass ves-
                               sels, sudden jars or succussions are apt to occur,
 
PART II.
Sublimation.—Lutes.
819
which are often inconvenient, and sometimes interrupt the process.   These may
be obviated by giving  a metallic coating to the lower portion of the  interior
surface of the vessel. Mr. Bed wood recommends for this purpose the process of
Drayton.  He introduces into the flask or retort as much ammoniacal solution
of silver as may cover the part to be coated, precipitates the silver by the addi-
tion of  essential oils, and afterwards thoroughly cleanses the vessel by boiling
in it successive portions of alcohol, until the silver becomes perfectly bright, and
all  smell of the oil is removed.   A coating of platinum may also be obtained,
though less perfect, by precipitating a solution of the bichloride of that metal by
formic acid, and afterwards boiling. (See^4m. Journ, of Pharm., xx. 333.) These
succussions are moderated and sometimes prevented by putting in the retort a
number of small angular fragments of glass or quartz crystal.  The most con-
venient and effectual apparatus for distillation, in  small quantities, is the  flask
and Liebig's condenser, figured  in page 833;  and, with such an arrangement,
the contents of the flask are less likely to be driven over, so as to mix with the
distilled liquid.
   When the object of distillation is to preserve the residuum, and this is liable
to  injury from heat, as is the case with vegetable extracts, the operation is best
performed in vacuo.  For this purpose the still and recipient are made  so  as to
form an air-tight apparatus, and the latter is furnished with a stop-cock, which
is kept open until the whole of the atmospheric air is expelled by the  vapour.
It is  then  closed, and a vacuum  formed and maintained in the recipient by sur-
rounding it with cold water.  The distillation is  carried on  in this manner at a
much lower temperature than under ordinary circumstances; and the heat may
be applied by a water or steam bath, with greater certainty of obtaining an unin-
jured product. For a more extended account of vacuum apparatus, see Extracts.
   Sublimation.  The vapours of some volatile solids have the property of con-
densing  into the solid form, either in mass, or in a state of minute division.  The
operation in which this occurs is called sublimation.  When the product is com-
pact it is called  a  sublimate, when slightly cohering it is called flowers.   The
operation is generally performed in a sand bath; and the apparatus consists of
two vessels fitting each other, one being inverted over the  other.  The shape,
size, material, and depth of the vessels, and  the degree of heat to be applied are
regulated by the nature of the substance operated  on.  For the details  of this
process,  see the articles corrosive sublimate, camphor, and benzoic acid.
  Lutes. The most precious material for the chemist is glass, the transparency,
insolubility, and hardness of which fit it for almost every purpose.   It is often
necessary to strengthen it by means of lutes which will bear  a heat at which
glass would soften; and the application of lutes for this purpose, and for securing
the junctures of tubes and vessels, is an important part of the pharmaceutic art.
Those lutes which are required for coating vessels  exposed  to a great heat, are
made of Stourbridge clay.   The clay is made into a paste with water, mixed
with chopped straw or cut hemp, and successive coats applied  as they become
dry.  Dr. Hare recommends the fine wood-like turnings of iron, for this purpose,
instead of chopped straw.  Earthenware vessels may be rendered impervious to
air  or vapours by brushing over them a thin paste, made of slaked  lime and a
solution  of borax containing an ounce to the half pint. This is allowed to dry,
and the  vessel is  then coated with slaked  lime and linseed oil, beaten  till the
mixture becomes plastic. Earthenware retorts, thus coated, may be safely used
more than  once,  the  coating being renewed every time.
  Fat lute is applied to the joinings of apparatus to prevent the escape of cor-
rosive vapours.  It is made like glaziers' putty, pipe clay being substituted for
whiting.   It will bear a considerable heat, and  great care  must be taken that
the  part  where it is applied is perfectly dry.  If it be exposed to heat, slips of
moistened bladder must be wrapped around it, and secured with twine. 
820           Lutes.— Chemical Operations.—Solution.        PART n.

  Roman cement and plaster of Paris may be applied in the same manner as
fire-clay.  When used for securing the joinings of apparatus a coating of oil
or wax will render them air-tight.
  A very useful lute is formed by beating the. white of an egg thoroughly with
an equal quantity of water, and mixing it with some slaked lime in the state of
fine powder so  as to form a.thin paste.   This must be spread immediately on
strips of muslin, and applied to the cracks or joinings intended to be luted.  It
soon hardens, adheres strongly, and will bear a heat approaching  to redness
without injury.   A leak in this lute is readily stopped by the application of a
fresh portion.  Solution of glue, or any liquid albuminous matter, may be used
in place of the  white of eggs.
  An excellent cement for surfaces of iron consists of one part of sulphur, two
of sal ammoniac, and eighty  of iron  filings, mixed together and slightly moist-
ened.   It is rammed or caulked into the joints,  and solidifies perfectly in time.
  White lead ground in oil  is an excellent cement for broken glass.  Spread
upon linen, it forms a good coating  for a cracked surface, but dries slowly.
Strips  of bladder macerated in water adhere  well to glass, and are very useful.
  A mixture of whiting and paste or  gum water, spread upon strips of paper,
forms an excellent luting for joinings not exposed to acrid vapours or great heat.
  A useful lute is formed by spreading a solution of  glue on strips of cloth,
and coating them, after they are applied,  with drying  oil.
  Linseed  meal, beaten into  a uniform mass with milk, lime  water, rye paste,
or thin glue, and applied in thick  masses,  adheres well; and when dry will
resist most vapours.
   Cap cement  is made of six parts of resin, one part of yellow wax, and one of
Venetian red.  It is a very useful cement for fastening metals or wood to glass,
and for rendering joints impervious to water.  Soft cement is used for the same
purposes, and is made of yellow wax, melted with half its weight of turpentine,
and coloured with a little Venetian  red.   It is very useful for rendering the
stoppers of bottles perfectly air-tight.
  A cement of which gutta percha forms a  part has  been very highly recom-
mended by Edmund Davy.  It is made by melting together, in an iron pan, two
parts of common pitch and one of gutta percha, stirring them well together until
thoroughly incorporated, and then pouring the liquid  into cold water.   When
cold it is black, solid, and elastic; but it softens with heat, and at 100° is a thin
fluid.   It may be used as a soft paste, or in the liquid  state, and answers an
excellent purpose in cementing metal, glass,  porcelain, ivory, &c.   It may be
used even for glazing windows. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 457.)
   Chemical Operations.   Some of the chemical processes, conducted by the
apothecary, have been explained in the former part of this Introduction.  It
remains to notice others in constant or frequent use.
  Solution.   The act of  solution, in  which  solid substances  assume the fluid
state through the agency of liquids, is one of the most important operations of
practical pharmacy.   The process has  received a variety of names, according to
the mode of applying the menstruum and  the degree of heat employed; as
maceration, infusion, digestion, decoction, displacement  or percolation, and
circulatory displacement
  Two classes of substances are the subjects  of  solution ; those which dissolve
entirely in the menstruum, as salts, gum, &c, and those which  consist of soluble
and insoluble matter, as roots, leaves, barks, etc.  The former yield simple solu-
tions;  the latter infusions, decoctions, tinctures, wines, etc.  Solution  is some-
times accompanied  by chemical reaction,  as when metals are  dissolved  in acid
liquids.  Mechanical division  facilitates  solution by increasing the extent of
surface.  Heat as a  general  rule favours solubility,  All aqueous solutions of
solid bodies are denser than water.  A solution is said to be saturated when the 
  part ii.         Infusion.—Decoction.—Lixiviation.               821

  dissolved substance ceases to be taken up at common temperatures. A saturated
  solution of one salt will dissolve other salts, a fact taken advantage of in purify-
  ing nitre, and other saline bodies in powder, by percolating them with their own
  saturated solutions.  Rapid solution, when unaccompanied by chemical reaction,
  causes a reduction of temperature; hence, in such cases, where dense solutions
  are required, heat should be employed to counteract that effect.   In dissolving
  a substance wholly soluble in the amount of liquid used, a convenient method
  is to powder it in a  mortar, add the liquid in  portions, and decant until the
  whole is dissolved.   Capsules and flasks are the most suitable vessels for per-
  forming solution when heat is necessary.  If the solid softens before dissolving,
  as in the case of the extracts, a capsule should be used, with constant stirring.
  When effervescence occurs, a flask should be used inclined to one side to avoid
  loss; or, if the capsule be employed, an inverted funnel should be placed over it.
  When the quantity of a substance is large, and time permits, the process called
  circulatory displacement is preferable, especially in  making saline solutions.
  This is performed by suspending the salt, enclosed in a piece of gauze or other
  porous tissue, near the surface of the liquid.  The solution  proceeds rapidly; as
  the liquid in contact with the salt, by becoming saturated and heavier, descends
  to give place to less saturated  portions, so as to cause a kind of circulation of
  the solvent.   This process is  applied in the arts, and has been suggested in
  making infusions and tinctures.
    Infusion is the subjecting of a substance containing soluble principles to the
  action of a menstruum, which is usually water.   Hot infusions are made by
  pouring boiling water on the substance, and allowing it  to remain in a covered
  vessel till cold.   Cold infusions are made with cold water, and require several
  hours to attain their full strength.  3Iaceration is the term employed to denote
  the action of liquids upon medicines, when allowed to remain upon them for
  some time, at a heat from 60° to 90°.  Digestion is the name given to the same
  operation, when conducted at a temperature between 90° and 100°.   This pro-
 cess is sometimes effected at higher temperatures;  but the heat is uniform dur-
 ing the operation, and always below the boiling point of the liquid.   It is com-
 monly performed in glass bottles or flasks, and a common  fire or stove heat is
 employed.  When digestion is performed with alcohol and ether at temperatures
 near their boiling points, the  vessel  should  be connected with a refrigerated
 worm, or other condenser, to save the vaporized portion.  Soubeiran places the
 worm above the digesting vessel, so that the condensed fluid runs back at once
 into the vessel.
   Decoction, or boiling, is much employed in extracting the virtues of plants; but
 it is often  disadvantageous, as most of the proximate principles of vegetables
 are altered by it,  especially when long continued.   When  it is  practised,  the
 ebullition should generally be continued for a few minutes only, and the liquid
 be allowed to cool slowly in a close vessel.  For further remarks on infusions and
 decoctions see the preliminary notices  to these classes of preparations.
   Lixiviation is a process used to separate a soluble from  a porous insoluble
 body.  It consists in placing the substance to be lixiviated in  a vessel, the bot-
 tom of which is covered with straw, sand, &c, pouring water upon it, allowing
 the water to remain until saturated, and then  drawing it  off through an open-
 ing at the bottom of  the vessel.  It is found that,  if fresh  water is poured on
 without disturbing the mixture  in the vessel, it does  not mix with the liquid
 already there, but percolates the solid particles, driving the saturated liquid be-
 fore it; so that, for example in lixiviating wood ashes, if a gallon of water had
 been poured on the ashes, and allowed to become saturated with  the alkali, we
shall  obtain, by this mode of proceeding, a gallon of strong ley,  and immedi-
ately  thereafter the water will become almost tasteless.   This fact has been ap- 
822
Percolation.
PART II.
plied to the service of the pharmaceutist, and has led to some valuable improve-
ments in the mode of extracting the medicinal qualities of plants.
   The operation referred to is called by the French the method of displacement;
                         but the terms percolation for the process, and perco.
                         lator for the instrument in which it is performed, are
                         more appropriate in our language. The figure in the
                         margin represents Boullafs filter, or percolator, con-
                         structed on this principle.  It consists of a long tin
                         vessel, nearly cylindrical, but narrower at the  lower
                         end, which has a funnel shaped termination, for the
                         purpose of being inserted in the neck of a bottle.
                         A metallic plate, or diaphragm,  pierced with holes,
                         like a colander, and having a handle in the centre,
                         fits  accurately in the  lower  part  of the  cylinder.
                         Upon this, previously covered with  a thin layer of
                         carded  cotton, tow, or a piece of cotton flannel, is
                         placed  the substance upon which it  is intended  to
                         operate, and which  should be coarsely powdered,  or
                         ground in  a  mill.  It must then be  saturated  with
                        the menstruum, which is  done by pouring on the  li-
quid from time to  time until it will absorb no more, and then allowing them to
             remain for  a few hours in contact.  On the top of the powder is
             placed another similarly  pierced plate, and fresh portions of the
             menstruum are gradually and successively added, until the process
             is completed.  The first portion, that with which the powder was
             mixed, flows off very highly concentrated, while the next is much
             less so, and the successive infusions rapidly become weaker.   A
             stop-cock at the lower end of the instrument, as represented  in
             the second  figure, will be convenient for regulating the discharge
             of the fluid. A single example will show the value of this process.
             The Messrs. Boullay, by subjecting four ounces of bruised cinchona
             to percolation  with half a pint of water, and then adding four half
             pints in succession,  obtained the following results.
                               1st  Half pint yielded 3 drs. 48 grs. dry extract.
                               2d    Do.     "    ldr.   5 grs.   Do.
                               3d    Do.     "          15 grs.   Do.
                               4th   Do.     "          9 grs.  Do.
                               5th   Do.     "          7 grs,  Do.
                                 Cylinders 14 inches long by 2^ in width at
                               the  base, 14 inches by 4, and 17 by 6, are con-
                               venient  sizes  for  ordinary use.  Queensware
                               percolators are now to  be procured from the
                               druggists, and are useful for acid or astringent
                               solutions.   In a large  proportion of the cases
                               of percolation, small vessels only are required.
                               The common glass cones used as lamp glasses,
                               figured in the margin, when inverted, with a
                              piece of close canvass or flannel tied over the
                              smaller end, form convenient percolators; and
                              their  transparency enables the  operator  to
                              assure himself that the  powder is  properly
                              stratified before adding the menstruum.  A
                              tin percolator, formed  with a double rim into
                              which the rim of the lid is inserted (the  inter-
 
PART n.             Percolation.—Crystallization.                  823
  stice being filled with water so as to make an air-tight juncture), and furnished
  with an open vertical tube extending from the top through the diaphragm below,
  is  employed  when  volatile
  liquids, as ether, alcohol, and
  spirit of ammonia, are used as
  menstrua.  It is figured in the
  preceding page.  When  it is
  wished to operate upon a fine
  powder, it will be found  ad-
  visable to increase the height
  of the column of  liquid by
  making the top of the cylinder
  air tight,  and inserting a tin
  tube  several feet  long, which
  must  be  kept filled with  the
  liquid. All the substantial ad-
  vantages of this method may,
  however, be generally obtained
  without pressure, by using the
  filter of Boullay.  For operat-
  ing on very small quantities of
  a substance, an adapter or the
  neck of a broken retort may be
  used, by loosely stopping  the
  lower and smaller end with a
  piece of cotton.
    Soubeiran has  adapted to
  Boullay's filter a  receiver of
  tin, from which the  filtered
 liquor may be drawn off by a stop-cock at the most dependent part.  An appa-
 ratus  of this kind is represented above.   One of the most important points in
 conducting the displacement process, is to keep the ingredients constantly satu-
 rated, with a stratum of the displacing liquid over them.   To avoid the neces-
 sity of constant supervision to effect this, the arrangement in  the right-hand
 figure above may be used.   An ordinary bottle containing the menstruum  with
 a tube of a quarter of an inch bore  passing through the cork, is inverted over
 the percolator, with the end of the tube  dipping in the liquid above the ino-re-
 dients.                                                               b
   Crystallization.  Numerous chemical substances, in  becoming solid when
 their solutions are evaporated, take on certain regular forms.  The bodies hav-
 ing such forms are called crystals, and the process for obtaining them, crystal-
 lization.   The  most usual method is by the evaporation of solutions either
 spontaneously, or by heat.   The extent  to which the evaporation  should  be
 carried depends on the solubility of the substance.  The proper degree of con-
 centration is attained, when a drop of the solution, removed to a cool glass plate
 deposits well formed crystals.  When set aside to crystallize, a solution  should
 not be disturbed until deposition ceases.   The crystals are large in proportion
 to the slowness of the cooling of the solution, to effect which the vessel is some-
 times set m the drying.closet, and sometimes left to cool with the sand bath   The
 deposition of crystals is facilitated by suspending some insoluble  substance,  as
 wood, or sheet lead in the solution, or crystals of the same substance, which are
thus increased in size.  When  it is desirable to have small acicular crystals the
solution should be cooled rapidly and stirred constantly meanwhile
  Crystallization is one of the best means of purifying many substances; the im-
 
821           Effects of Beat.—Dispensing of Medicines.      part ii.

purities remaining wholly or chiefly in the residual  liquid called mother water.
Fine silky crystals, which retain their mother water by capillary attraction, must
be dried by strong expression in a linen bag.   The finest silky crystals may be
entirely freed  from adhering liquid,  by placing them  in  a funnel which'fits
closely to one of the necks of a double mouthed bottle, and fitting a tube to the
other, through which air is drawn.  The current of air, in passing through the
funnel, carries the water with it, and  dries the crystals perfectly.
 ■  The operations which require a heat greater than that used in  digesting are
liquefaction, fusion, calcination, ustulation, incineration, distillation, sub-
limation, and reduction.
   Liquefaction is the melting of those substances  that become soft previously
to fusion, as wax, tallow, plaster,  &c.   The  heat  employed  is  always below
that at which charring takes place.
   Fusion is the melting of those substances  which pass immediately from the
solid  to the fluid state.  It is employed in pharmacy in preparing nitrate
of silver and  caustic potassa for casting into  cylinders.  The former must be
melted  in a porcelain, the latter in an iron  crucible.  The  moulds in which
they are cast are formed of  two thick plates of cast iron, with semi-cylindrical
grooves that fit accurately to each other.   Fusion is also used  in  preparing
the glass of antimony.
   Calcination is the term applied to the changes produced in  mineral  sub-
stances by intense heat, not attended  with fusion, and  leaving a solid residue,
and is often synonymous with oxidation.   The term ustulation is restricted to
the metallurgic operations of roasting ores, to drive off the volatile matters, as
arsenic, &c.   Calcination is often used to express the ustulation or burning of
carbonate of magnesia.   This is to be performed in an earthen vessel at a red
heat.   Exposure to the heat of a potter's furnace,  during  the burning of the
kiln, is an excellent mode of performing the  operation.  More commonly the
carbonate is burnt in  an iron pot, which is objectionable, as the heat soon oxi-
dizes  the iron, and the oxide scales off and mixes with  the magnesia, which is
seldom free from iron when prepared  in this way.
   Incineration, as the name expresses, is the operation of burning substances
for the sake of their ashes.   It is performed in obtaining phosphate of lime—
the Cornu Ustum of the London Pharmacopoeia.  The bones are burnt in an
open  fire until all the combustible matter is consumed.
   Reduction is that operation by which certain binary compounds of the metals
are brought to the metallic state, by heating them alone, or with some substance
capable of attracting the combined substance  and setting the metal  at liberty.
Arsenious acid is thus reduced by heating it with charcoal, and oxide of iron,
in powder, by heating it in a current  of hydrogen.   When, in the reduction of
metallic compounds, some third substance interferes with the process, as silica,
a substance capable of combining with this is added called a flux.
   Dispensing of Medicines.  A large portion of the operations of the apo-
thecary is performed in the shop extemporaneously.  In dispensing  medicines
from the counter, he is continually  called upon to put his previous knowledge
in practice, and often to substitute extemporaneous  for the regular officinal
formulas.   There is no part of his  business which requires, for its proper per-
formance, so much ready knowledge and so  accurate a judgment.   A few direc-
tions, suggested by running the eye over the list of preparations of  the Phar-
macopoeia, may be found useful.
   It may sometimes be necessary for the apothecary to make extemporaneously
an aromatic water, not usually kept in the shops. In  this case he is to prepare
it  by  rubbing two drops of essential oil with from  four to six grains of car-
bonate of magnesia for every fluidounee of water,  and filtering. 
PART II.
Dispensing of Medicines.
825
   It is sometimes desirable to apply plasters prepared from herbs.   These may
be made extemporaneously, by mixing the soft extract of the plant with about
twice  its weight of melted adhesive plaster.  The most suitable  material on
which to spread plasters is soft white leather.  A margin of half an inch should
be allowed to remain around the plaster.   The plaster iron or spatula may be
heated over the large spirit lamp, figured in page 816.  A skilful apothecary
will be able to spread the plaster uniformly  and evenly, without overheating it
so as  to corrugate  or penetrate the leather.  A convenient instrument for
determining the size, and preserving a straight
edge, consists of two squares made of tin and
graduated to  inches, as in the annexed figure;
or pieces of  paper may be cut out and pasted
on the leather, so as to enclose a space of  the
required dimensions.   The plaster should first
be melted on  a piece of brown paper, and then
transferred to the leather, in order to  prevent
its being applied at  too great a heat.   For all
the officinal plasters, the apothecary should have
small tin trays open on  one side, on which to
melt them   If  the plaster  to  be spread is a
very large xme, it is better to liquefy the  mate-
rial in a capsule, and add it to different  parts
of the leather as it is wanted, till the whole is covered.  For the description
of an  apparatus for  spreading plasters, see Emplastra.
   Decoctions and infusions are often ordered in  prescriptions in  the quantity
of a few ounces.  A very convenient vessel  for preparing them is  the common
nursery  lamp, which consists of a cylindrical vessel, open at one side to receive
a spirit lamp, and at the top to receive a teapot or tin boiler.  The infusion
mug of  Mr.  Alsop of London (see Infusa),  which consists of a  queensware
vessel, with a perforated diaphragm of the same material resting on a ledge at
one-third of  its height from  the  top, is the best instrument for this  purpose.
The material  to be infused  is placed on the diaphragm  and the boiling water
poured on till it rises over the ingredients.   No stirring is necessary, and the
process is accomplished rapidly.  Infusions  and decoctions may be kept during
hot weather, and for many months by straining them while hot, and pouring
them at once into bottles provided with accurately ground stoppers.  The bottle
must be quite filled;  the stopper being made to displace its  own bulk of the
liquid.  A common bottle with a perforated cork  stopper  may be used, if the
hole be instantly closed, and the cork covered with sealing wax.  The hotter the
liquid  and the frees from air bubbles, the better will the infusion keep.
   Neutral  mixture is known to be  saturated perfectly, when it does not affect
litmus paper either in its blue state, or reddened  by  an acid.  For preparing
the effervescing draught, it is advisable to keep in the shop a solution  of car-
bonate of potassa containing an ounce to  the pint.  The silica which this salt
contains precipitates after a few weeks, and leaves a perfectly 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 preparation of the neu-
tral mixture, combines  at first, without effervescence, with the remaining car-
bonate, and  forms a  bicarbonate.   This circumstance  may  lead, unless  the
solution be tested, to the supposition that the mixture is saturated.
   In preparing extemporaneous mixtures by direction of the physician, it is of
the first  importance  to mix the  ingredients in the manner best calculated to
insure  a smooth  and readily miscible compound, without grittiness or imper-
fectly comminuted portions, when a part  of the constituents may  be insoluble.
u.i 11 ihl il-lil i h'i
i' I'M' MM' iM 
826                    Dispensing of Medicines.                part ii.

Kino and extract of rhatany should be first  dissolved in boiling water, when
admissible.  If an aromatic water is directed, they should be rubbed to powder
mixed with the insoluble ingredients, if any, and the water gradually added, the
whole being triturated till smoothly mixed.  Emulsions of the gum-resins should
be rubbed till all the particles are softened, and then strained, if any extraneous
matter is present.  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 mixture before using it.
Camphor softens the gum-resins, and solid fats and oils, and may be rendered
permanently miscible with water, in considerable quantity, 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 quantity of water must be added
(generally about  twice  their weight) to convert them into  a thick mucilage
before adding the oil, which must then be thoroughly mixed with the mucilage,
and the remaining water added gradually with great care.  Ether is rendered
more soluble in water by trituration with spermaceti.   The mixture should be
filtered to separate the superfluous spermaceti.  If elaterium is to be incorpo-
rated in a mixture, it should be first rubbed with a little alcohol, then with
sugar or syrup, and  lastly with the  other ingredients.   When a few drops of
croton oil are to be suspended in a  mixture, the latter will be more permanent
if a little olive oil be added with the croton oil to increase its quantity.  Mix-
tures that contain the resinous tinctures, should also contain syrup, with which
the tincture should be first mixed, and the water then added very gradually. If
a mixture is  to contain 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.   When a considerable quantity of
sugar is added to a mixture, it is best to  use syrup, employing a fluidrachm
of syrup for each drachm of sugar, and making allowance for the water con-
tained in the syrup,  which equals half its bulk.
   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 softness and
compressibility, as charcoal and magnesia, or rhubarb and magnesia.  In these
cases the mixing should be completed with a spatula  on paper.  In dividing
                     powders into  doses,  it is very desirable to fold the pack-
                     ages neatly and of a uniform size.  The powder folder
    /        /j     represented in the figure  is very useful for this purpose.
   \        ~fl      It may be  made of mahogany or other hard wood.  In-
    \------(/ \    struments  of this kind with a  movable cheek, so as to
   /      \   \   be widened or contracted by a screw, and made of brass,
 /          \/   are used in  some shops.   When vplatile or deliques-
                     cent substances, as camphor and carbonate of potassa,
                     are prescribed in several powders, these  should be enve-
loped separately in tin  foil or waxed paper; and, when the number of doses
is  more than two, they  should be enclosed in a paper box.
   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 crystallization. ■ 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,
or lycopodium powder, which ought to be kept for use in a tin box with a per-
forated 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 
PART II.
Dispensing of Medicines.
827
 syrup, and not with water, as the latter renders the mass difficult to roll.   For
 further remarks relative to the formation of masses for pills,  see Pilulse.
   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
 should be wiped dry immediately after being washed.   Fats and resins are rea-
 dily removed by pearlash, or tow and damp ashes, or sand; red precipitate and
 other metallic substances by a little nitric or muriatic acid;  Prussian  blue by
 means of pearlash.   Bottles may be cleansed from the depositions which  accu-
 mulate on their sides and bottoms 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 a little  strong  nitric acid, after the
 action of which water will thoroughly cleanse them.   Long sticks armed with
 sponge, or dry linen  or cotton cloth, should be  provided for wiping dry the in-
 terior 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.  Wire instruments with  three
 prongs are made specially for this purpose.   In the absence of these, a loop of
 twine will often be found convenient for 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 spatula.   Sometimes a drop or two of
 oil, alcohol, or water, will soften 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 dextrously.  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.   The bottle should be con-
 stantly turned in the hand during the heating process, to avoid unequal ex-
 pansion and fracture.  In the absence of a flame, a piece of twine, turned twice
 around the neck and  drawn back and forward rapidly, will soon heat it suffi-
 ciently, in most instances.  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  spatulas  of  wood, whalebone, 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 mortars
 apart from the clean.   Too much particularity  and order in all the minute de-
 tails of the shop cannot be practised.   The  counters should be cleaned every
 day, and wiped as often as they become dusty.   The scales should be thoroughly
 cleaned every week, and wiped always after using them for dusty substances; and
 the prescription balance should be  kept carefully enclosed in a glass case, and
 the dishes wiped  after  each  time of using.    The beam  should occasionally be
 wiped with a soft cotton or silk cloth.  The mortar stand should pass  through
 the floor and cellar, into the ground, so as not to jar the counter during the con-
 tusion of substances, and thus injure the balance.   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 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 unprovided with a set of troy weights, as without

  * 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 resins by alco-
hol. (Journ. de Chim. Med., 1845, p. 535.)  It  is asserted that the powder of  black
mustard has the same effect. (Ibid., 2e se'r., iii. 727.) 
828
General Officinal Directions.
PART II.
 them he will find it difficult to comply with the officinal directions for the pre-
 paration of his medicines;  and the drawer in which his smaller weights are
 kept should be clean and free from dust, so that the weights may be accurate
 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  parcel or bottle.  Everything 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, Graham's, or Fownes' Elements of Chemistry, Mohr and
 Redwood's Practical Pharmacy, and Faraday's Treatise on Chemical Manipula-
 tion, which may be termed the hand-books of his profession.       D. B. S.

                     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
 tiiis place, in order that the reader may be prepared to understand the precise
 signification of the terms employed.
   The Pharmacopoeias recognised in  this work, excepting that of the Dublin
 College, 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 U. S. Pharmacopoeia has the  following note, to which the atten-
 tion of apothecaries is particularly invited.  "It is highly important that those
 engaged in preparing or dispensing medicines should be provided with Troy
 weights of all denominations;  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 dif-
 ficulty in complying with the officinal directions.  The Dublin College,  in the
 last  edition of their Pharmacopoeia, have abandoned the troy weights, and sub-
 stituted the avoirdupois pound and ounce, in common use, but make a new divi-
 sion of the ounce into drachms and scruples,  which are  different in value from
 any  denomination  of weight hitherto used.  Thus, their ounce is divided into
 eight drachms of 54-68 grains each, and the drachm  into  three scruples of
 18-22 grains each.  The difference in value  of  these weights from others  of
 the  same denomination, and  the fractions of grains contained  in them, are
 likely to lead to much confusion and inconvenience.
  Both in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias, the quantity of fluids
 is generally indicated  by the liquid measure, consisting  of the gallon and  its
 divisions of pints, fluidounces, fluidrachms, and minims.   It is highly necessary
that the apothecary 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 
 PART n.              G-eneral Officinal Directions.                   829

 pint, fluidounce, and fluidrachm.  (See tables of weights and measures in the
 Appendix.)
   All the British Colleges have adopted the Imperial gallon and its divisions,
 instead of the wine gallon which they before employed.  In the United States
 Pharmacopoeia the wine gallon  is still retained.   This discrepancy is very un-
 fortunate, as no one denomination of the imperial measure corresponds exactly
 with the same denomination of  the wine measure; and the formulas,  therefore,
 of the British Colleges, so far as measures are  concerned, when they agree in
 terms with those of the United States Pharmacopoeia, differ from them in reality;
 while in other cases, though differing in terms, they may be quite or very nearly
 identical.  It is very important that the apothecary should bear this distinction
 in mind;-and, when  he has occasion to carry into effect one of the foreign form-
 ulas, 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 state-
 ment, will be enabled to convert the  former into the latter without difficulty.
 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 Pharmacopoeia of the United  States, and in that of the Edinburgh
 College, when the specific gravity of a body is given, it is considered to be at
 the temperature of 60°, of Fahrenheit; in the London Pharmacopoeia, at  62°.
   The United States and London Pharmacopoeias  explain the  term gentle
 heat as signifying a  temperature between 90° and 100°.  Fahrenheit's scale is
 referred to in all the officinal standards.
   The London College directs that, when not otherwise  ordered, glass, porce-
 lain, or stoneware vessels shall be used for preparing and preserving medicines,
 at the same time guarding especially against the employment of earthen vessels
 glazed with lead.   The same College also directs that acid, alkaline, and me-
 tallic preparations, and salts of  every kind, be kept in stopped glass  bottles,
 which, for certain  substances, should be of black or green glass.
   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 ascertained 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 provides that,  when the
 solution of carbonate of soda is  employed to saturate an acid,  all the carbonic
 acid be driven off by heat, before the test is applied.   It directs,  moreover, that
 in making experiments  no other water than the distilled  should be used;'  and
 that, unless otherwise ordered, white bibulous paper should  be  employed both
 for filtering liquids and drying crystals.
   The London College uses Hessian or Cornish crucibles exclusively.  It de-
 fines a water bath to be an arrangement by which anything, contained in its
 own vessel,  is exposed either to  hot water itself, or to the vapour of  boiling
 water; and a sand bath, as consisting of sand to be gradually heated, in which
 anything, contained  in its own vessel, is placed.
  Percolation, or Filtration by Displacement.  In relation to this process, the
 following directions are given in the United States Pharmacopoeia.  "  The kind
 of filtration commonly designated as the process of displacement, which is  era-
 ployed in many of the processes  of this Pharmacopoeia, is to be effected in  the
 following manner, unless otherwise specially directed.   A hollow cylindrical
 instrument, called  a Percolator,  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, 
830
General Officinal Directions.
PART II.
with a transverse partition 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.  [See page 822.]   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 ^maceration of some hours, to be introduced into the instru-
ment, and slightly compressed upon the diaphragm.  Any portion of the macer-
ating 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."
             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 moistened 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 pres-
          sure, varying as to degree with various articles, the remainder of the
          solvent is poured into the upper  part of the cylinder, 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 iii gene-
          ral 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, there-
fore, be resorted to in the fulfilment of officinal directions, when any alternative
is given, unless  by individuals who have acquired the requisite skill by practice.
Hence,  both  the U. S. and  Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, when  directing dis-
placement in any particular case, frequently give another mode of accomplish-
ing the  same object, better adapted to inexperience in the operator.
  The sources of failure in this process are chiefly an improper degree of com-
minution 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 chan- 
 PART ii.              General Officinal Directions.                   831

 nels, and thus to act upon it partially.   A.n improper packing of the material
 occasions similar inconveniences.  If too compact it impedes, if too  loose it in-
 juriously 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. Besides, the uniform progression, by which
 each superadded portion displaces that immediately beneath it, is broken, the
 successive layers become intermingled, and thus one of the peculiar advantages
 of the process is lost,  The following observations may be of  some use in as-
 sisting 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 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 substances 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 instrument,
 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 per-
 colation.   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 mate-
 rial 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 instances 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 compactly, when water is the sol-
 vent. 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  advanta-
 geously 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 
832                  General Officinal Directions.              part ii.

should be made quite level, and then' covered with a circular disk of tin or fil-
tering 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 partial 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 822.
  The fluid which first passes is turbid, unless the diaphragm has been covered
by a close filtering material.  Should it be  turbid, it should be returned into
the instrument, before the addition of any displacing menstruum ; and the same
thing should continue to be done, 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 having
a stop-cock near the lower end for regulating the discharge. In  the absence of
a stop-cock, a soft cork may be used, with a small groove cut lengthwise for a
short distance from its smaller end. By withdrawing the cork until the groove
appears, a passage for the fluid can be opened at will. 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 823.)  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 in-
verting it over the filtering  instrument, with its mouth  beneath 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.   An instrument has been  invented by Mr. C.
A.  Smith, of Cincinnati, by which the menstruum is made to enter the contents
of the percolator in the state of hot vapour, and, being condensed by means
of a  refrigerating vessel surrounding the percolator, passes out in the liquid
form, highly impregnated with the soluble principles of the material operated
on.  (See Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xviii. 98.)
   The first portion of filtered liquid is very strongly impregnated, and the por-
tions which subsequently come away, are  successively less so.   It is sometimes
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
rajght be thus driven out of it or  displaced by the one added,  without any ad-
mixture of  the two.   This, however, has been  ascertained not to be  exactly
true;  and, however carefully the process may be  conducted, some mixture will
teke 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 subjected
to  pereolation 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 circumstances
which require variations in  the process. 
PART II.
Aceta.
833
  Distillation.  In the preface to the last edition of the Edinburgh Pharma-
copoeia, the following remarks are made in relation to this process.   " In the
process of distillation, complete success cannot be easily attained, especially on

                                                       ft
ir^^iA
;e
 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 (be), cut obliquely at its lower end (b),  curved
 above at a somewhat acute angle, and fitted at the other end to a refrigeratory.
 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 interspace, 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."  This is Liebig's distillatory apparatus.   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 allowed 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 suf-
 ficient 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 Dis-
tilled Vinegar, and those preparations usually denominated Medicated Vinegars.
The latter are infusions  or solutions of various medicinal substances  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 solu-
ble, 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 principles which promote  its decom-
position, it should be purified by distillation before being used as a solvent. In-
       53 
834
Aceta.
PART II.
 fusions 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.   At present diluted acetic acid is generally j (referred
 as the menstruum to  distilled vinegar, as being of more uniform strength.  In
 consequence of their liability to change, the medicated vinegars should be made    *,
 in small quantities, and kept but for a short time.                     \y.'
   ACETUM  DESTILLATUM.  U. S., Lond., Ed,  Distilled Vinegar.
   " Take of Yinegar a gallon.   Distil the Yinegar, by means of a sand-bath,
 from a glass retort into a glass receiver.    Discontinue the process when seven
 pints 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 Yinegar (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."
   Yinegar is a very heterogeneous liquid, containing colouring matter, gum,
 sugar, alcohol, &c.;  and the  object of its  distillation is to purify it.  (See Ace-
 tum.)  The first portion  that distils contains alcohol, aldehyd, 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 (one-eighth) is not  distilled; the seven-eighths
 which first come over being alone preserved.  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 residuary 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 London College gives 1 -0065 as the density of dis-
 tilled vinegar.   The Edinburgh  College, assuming that distilled vinegar will
 have the sp. gr. of at least 1-005, directs that its density, when above that num-
 ber,  shall be reduced to it.   The U. S. Pharmacopoeia does not give the density,
 on account of its being an uncertain criterion of strength. The saturating power
 is the proper test of the acid present.   This is given in the  different Pharma-
 copoeias as follows.  A fluidounce is saturated by about 35 grains of crystallized
 bicarbonate of potassa (U. S.); an Imperial fluidounce by 57  grains of crystal-
 lized carbonate of soda (Lond.); and  100  minims by 8 grains of the same car-
 bonate (Ed.). The saturating power, thus given, of the different officinal distilled
 vinegars indicates the following proportions of monohydrated acetic acid per
 cent, assuming  the sp[ gr. of the U. S. distilled vinegar to be  1-005: U. S.
 Pharmacopoeia 4-5, London 5-4, Edinburgh^6.  Considering the ordinaryphar-    A
 maceutical 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 importance.   If, however, precision be attempted, the saturating
 power and not the density must be indicated; and directions should be given
 for bringing a distilled 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 density cannot be depended upon, is that the specific
 gravity is not in proportion to the strength.  If the vinegar contain a good deal
 of alcohol  and pyroacetic spirit, the distilled  product will be light, but not
necessarily weak.   This remark applies particularly to distilled wine vinegar. 
PART II.
Aceta.
835
    The U. S. Pharmacopoeia directs 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.   Empyreuma  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 vola-
  tilized by heat.  It is not a perfectly pure solution of acetic acid in water; but
  contains a small proportion of aldehyd, which rises in the distillation. It is on
  account of the partial decomposition of this impurity that distilled 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  precipitate; and tin  by  a solution of  ter-
  chloride of gold, which causes a purplish appearance.  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 not have an empyreumatic taste or a sulphurous smell.
  As usually prepared, however, it is  somewhat empyreumatic.   British malt
  vinegar is allowed  by law  to contain 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 im-
  purity, the vinegar  will possess the property, by digestion, of  dissolving silver
  which  may be detected afterwards by muriatic acid.
    3Iedical 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 pharmtT-
 ceutical purposes.   Still, distilled vinegar is less pure than the officinal diluted
 acetic acid, which has been substituted for it in a number of preparations.
    Off. Prep.   Acetum  Colchici; Acetum Opii; Acetum Scillas; Ammonias
 Acetatis Aqua; Emplastrum Ammoniaci.                             g

    ACETUM  CANTHARIDIS. (Epispasticum.) Lond. Acetum Can-
 tharidis. Ed., Dub.    Vinegar of Spanish Flies.
    " Take of Spanish Flies, in very fine  powder, two ounces; Acetic Acid a pint
 [Imperial measure].  Macerate the Spanish Flies with the  acid for eight clays
 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 powder
 half an ounce.  Mix the acids, add the  powders, macerate for seven days strain
 and express strongly, and filter the liquor." Ed.                      '
   "Take of Spanish Flies, in fine powder, four ounces; Strong Acetic Acid
four fluidounces; Acetic Acid of Commerce (sp. gr. 1 -044) sixteen fluidounces
 Mix the Acids, and,  having added the Flies, macerate in a close vessel for four'
 teen days; then strain through flannel with expression, and filter so as to  ob-
 tain a clear liquor."  Dub.
  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, 
836
Aceta.
part ii.
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 blistering cerate.
From experiments made by Mr. Redwood, it may be inferred that the prepara-
tion 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.
Journ.  and Trans., Oct.  1841.)  Prof. Procter  finds that, by digestion at a
temperature of 212° F., the active principle of the flies is readily taken up by
officinal acetic acid, though a portion of the cantharidin is deposited upon cool-
ing. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.  xxiv. 299.)  It would seem, therefore, that the
vinegar of Spanish flies would be best prepared with the aid of heat.    W.

   ACETUM  COLCHICI.   U. S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   Vinegar of Col
ehicum.
   " Take of [dried] Colchicum Root, bruised, two ounces; Diluted Acetic Acid
two pints.  Macerate the Colchicum Root with the Diluted Acetic Acid, 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 liquor.
   "Yinegar of Colchicum may also be prepared by macerating the Colchicum
Root, in coarse powder, with a pint of Diluted Acetic Acid for  two days, then
putting the mixture into a percolator, and gradually  pouring upon it Diluted
Acetic Acid until the quantity of filtered liquor equals two pints.
   "In the above  processes, Distilled Yinegar  may be substituted for  Diluted
Acetic Acid."  U.S.
   " Take of dried Colchicum Cormus three drachms and a half; Diluted Acetic
Acid a pint [Imperial measure]; Proof Spirit a fluidounce and a half.  Ma-
cerate the Colchicum with the Acid in  a covered vessel  for three days; then
express, and set apart that the dregs may subside; lastly, add the spirit to  the
filtered  liquor." Lond.
   "Take of Colchicum-bulb, fresh and sliced, one ounce; Distilled Yinegar six-
teen fluidounces; Proof  Spirit one fluidounce.   Macerate the Colchicum in
the Yinegar for three days in a covered glass vessel; strain and express strongly;
filter the liquors, and add the spirit."  Ed.
   "Take  of  Colchicum Bulbs, dried and bruised, one ounce;  Acetic Acid of
Commerce (sp. gr. 1*044) four fluidounces; Distilled Water  twelve ounces
[fluidounces'].  In the  Acid, diluted with the Water, macerate  the Colchicum,
in a close vessel, for seven days ; then strain with expression, and filter." Dub.
   Of these processes the American and Dublin yield the strongest preparation,
and on  this account are  preferable.  They also agree in omitting the spirit,
which, in the London and Edinburgh processes, is intended to retard the spon-
taneous decomposition to which this, like the other medicated vinegars, is liable,
but  is of little use.
   Yinegar 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.
   Medical Uses.   This preparation has been extolled as a diuretic in dropsy,
and may be given in gout, rheumatism, and neuralgia; but the wines of colchi-
cum are usually preferred.  It is  recommended by Scudamore to be given in
connexion with magnesia,  so as to neutralize the acetic acid of the menstruum.
The dose is from thirty  drops to two fluidrachms.                      W.

   ACETUM  OPII.   U.S., Ed., Dub.  Vinegar of Opium.  BlackDrov.
   "Take of Opium, in coarse powder, eight ounces;  Nutmeg, in  coarse powder,
an ounce and a half; Saffron  half an ounce; Sugar twelve ounces;  Diluted
Acetic Acid a sufficient quantity. Digest the Opium, Nutmeg, and Saffron with 
PART II.
Aceta.
837
a pint and a half of the Diluted Acetic Acid, on a sand-bath, with a gentle heat,
for forty-eight hours, and strain.   Digest the residue with an equal quantity of
the  Diluted Acetic Acid, in the  same manner, for twenty-four hours.  Then
put  the whole into a percolator, and return the filtered liquor, as it passes, until
it comes away quite clear.  When the filtration has ceased, pour Diluted Acetic
Acid gradually upon the materials remaining 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, Distilled Yinegar  may be  substituted for Diluted
Acetic Acid." U. S.
   "Take of Opium four ounces; Distilled Yinegar sixteen fluidounces.   Cut
the Opium into small fragments, triturate it  into a pulp with a little of the
Yinegar, add the rest of the Yinegar, macerate in a closed vessel for seven days,
and agitate occasionally.   Then strain and  express* strongly, and  filter  the
liquor." Ed.
   "Take of opium, in coarse powder, one ounce and a half (avoird.); Dilute
Acetic Acid one pint [Imperial measure].  Macerate for seven days in a close
vessel, with occasional agitation; then strain with expression, and filter." Dub.
   The vinegar of opium has been introduced into  the Pharmacopoeias as an  imi-
tation of or substitute for a preparation, which has been long in use under the
name of Lancaster or' Quaker's black drop,  or  simply black drop.  The  for-
mula of the first edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia was so deficient in precision,
and so uncertain in its results, that it was abandoned in the second edition;  but,
as these objections were obviated in a process by Mr. Charles Ellis, published in
the  American Journal  of Pharmacy (vol. ii. page 202),  and as the prepara-
tion continued to enjoy  a considerable degree  of  professional and popular fa-
vour, it was deemed proper to restore it to its officinal rank at the subsequent
revision of the  Pharmacopoeia.   The U. S  formula  above given is essenti-
ally that of Mr. Ellis.   It is, we think, preferable to the Edinburgh and Dub-
lin formulas.  In the former of these  we cannot but suspect that there is some
waste of opium, as it is the same as  the old  Dublin formula;  and Dr. Mont-
gomery, in his observations on the former Dublin Pharmacopoeia, states that
twenty drops of the preparation are equivalent to thirty of the common tincture
of opium,  though, in  making  the latter, somewhat less  than one-third  the
quantity of opium is used.  In the present Dublin process, much less opium is
employed,  and the resulting vinegar is probably of about the same strength as
laudanum.   In  the last U. S. formula, diluted acetic acid was  substituted for
distilled vinegar.   The advantages of the black drop over laudanum are, pro-
bably, that disturbing principles contained in opium and soluble in alcohol  are
left  behind by the aqueous menstruum employed; while the meconate of mor-
phia is converted by the acetic acid into the acetate.   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 following is the formula  given in the first edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
" 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
bottle."   The boiling to a proper consistence, the digestion in the open air until a syrup
is formed, and the addition of a little sugar to each bottle, are all indefinite directions
which must have led to uncertain results.   Independently of this want of  precision, 
838
Aceta.
PART II.
   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 con-
 stitution of the patient, occasions so much headache, nausea, or nervous disor-
 der, as to render its employment inconvenient if not impossible.  It exhibits all
 the anodyne and soporific properties of the narcotic, with less tendency to pro-
 duce these disagreeable effects, at least in many instances.   The U. S. prepara-
 tion is of about double the strength of  laudanum, six and a half minims con-
 taining 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.                                              -\y

   ACETUM SCILLiE.  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.   Vinegar of Squill.
   "Take of Squill, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Acetic Acid two pints. Ma-
 cerate the Squill with the Diluted  Acetic Acid, 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  liquor.
   "Yinegar of Squill may also be prepared by macerating the Squill, in coarse
 powder, with a pint of Diluted Acetic Acid for two days, then putting the mix-
 ture into  a percolator, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Acetic Acid un-
 til the quantity of filtered liquor equals two pints.
   "In the  above  processes, Distilled Yinegar may be substituted for Diluted
 Acetic Acid." U. S.
   The London College directs two ounces and a half of recently dried squill,
 a pint (Imperial measure) of  diluted acetic acid, a fluidounce and a half of
 proof spirit, and maceration with a gentle heat for three days.  The Edinburgh
 College directs five ounces  of dried squill, two pints (Imp. meas.) of distilled
 vinegar, three fluidounces of proof spirit, and maceration for seven days.  The
 Dublin College takes two ounces of dried squill, four fluidounces of acetic
 acid of commerce  (sp. gr. 1-044), and twelve fluidounces of distilled water;
 and macerates for seven days.
  In the United States  process by percolation, the whole of the diluted acid,
employed  in  the maceration, and introduced with the squill into the instrument,
should be allowed to enter the mass, before the fresh portion is added.  The
preparations of the several Pharmacopoeias are so nearly the same that, for all
practical purposes, they may be considered identical.  In the present U. S. and
Dublin processes the alcohol has been omitted.  Its only object is to retard the
decomposition of the vinegar of squill; while its presence is medically injurious
by rendering the preparation too stimulating.  It is best, therefore, to prepare
the vinegar of squill frequently, and in small  quantities,  so as not to require
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 Yogel, 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 usu-
ally 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 other aromatic  liquid calculated to conceal its taste and obviate nausea.
   Off. Prep. Oxymel Scillas; Syrupus Scillas.                         W.

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. 
PART II.
Acida.
839
   ACIDUM ACETICUM  CAMPHORATUM. Ed., Dub.  Campho-
rated Acetic Acid.
   "Take of Camphor one ounce (avoir.) [half an ounce, Ed,] ; Rectified Spirit
one fluidrachm; Strong Acetic Acid ten fluidounces [Acetic Acid six fluid-
ounces and a half, Ed.].  Reduce the camphor to powder by means of the spirit;
then add the  Acid, and dissolve." Dub., Ed.
   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
taken 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 accurately
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
beneficially resorted to in cases of fainting or nervous debility.   It is an officinal
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 aro-
matic volatile oils, and twenty drops of sulphuric acid.  (Pereira's Mat. Med.)
   A preparation called 3Iarseilles vinegar, or thieves' vinegar (vinaigre des
ciuatres voleurs), consisting essentially or 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.  ' Origanum
was afterwards substituted for sage, and thirty fluidounces of acetic acid for the
two pounds of distilled vinegar.   In the last edition of the Pharmacopoeia the
preparation was abandoned.   In  the present state of knowledge, 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 imagina-
tion.                                                               W.

                               ACIDA.

                                 Acids.

   Acids 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 constituents 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
convenient means of detecting acids, applicable in practice to most cases.   The
above explanation of the nature of  an  acid is that usually given; but, accord- 
840
Acida.
PART II.
 ing to strict definition, acids are compounds having a strong electro-negative
 energy, and, therefore, possessing a  powerful affinity for electro-positive com-
 pounds, 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-nega-
 tive 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, con-
 tain both hydrogen and oxygen.
   The number of acids used in medicine is small;  but among these are to be
 found examples of the three kinds above mentioned.                   B.

   ACIDUM ACETICUM DILUTUM. U. S.,  Lond., Dub.  Diluted
 Acetic Acid.
   "Take of Acetic Acid [sp. gr. 1-041] a pint; Distilled Water seven pints
 Mix them." U S.   The sp. gr.  of this acid is 1-004, and 100 grains of it satu-
 rate 7*5 grains of crystallized bicarbonate of potassa.
   "Take of Acetic Acid [sp. gr. 1-048] twenty-three fuidrachms [Imp. meas.],
 Distilled Water a pint [Imp. meas.].    To the Acid add enough of the Water
 to fill accurately the measure of a pint [Imp. meas.], and mix." Lond.  The
 sp. gr. of this acid is 1-008, and an imperial fluidounce of it is saturated by  57
 grains of crystallized carbonate  of soda.
   " Take of Acetic Acid of Commerce (sp.gr. 1-044) one pint; Distilled Water
 seven pints. Mix."  Dub.  The sp.gr.  of this acid is 1-006.
   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 formulas  in
 which nicety is  required.  Distilled vinegar contains  a little 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 is
 employed.   The saturating strength of  the diluted acids of the U. S. and Lon-
 don Pharmacopoeias indicates the same per centage  of monohydrated  acetic
 acid as is contained in  the corresponding distilled vinegars; namely, 4*5 U.S.,
 and 5-4 London.  The Dublin diluted acid, being intermediate in density, may
 be assumed to be intermediate in strength.   While the London distilled vinegar
 and diluted acid have precisely the same  saturating  strength, the former is
 lighter than the latter  in the proportion of 1-0065 to  1-008.   This arises from
 the fact that the acetic acid in distilled vinegar is in part  diluted with alcohol
 and pyroacetic spirit, which are  lighter  than water.
   The acetic acid, diluted in making this preparation, is known in commerce as
 "No. 8."  In all cases in which the apothecary is doubtful as to its  being of
 the officinal strength, it will be his duty to ascertain its saturating power, and,
 if  this should vary from the standard, to vary the .dilution accordingly.  '
   Diluted acetic acid has been employed with advantage  in  scarlatina by Dr.
 I.  B.  Brown, of London, who published a treatise on its use in 1846.   Dr. B.
 F. Schneck, of Lebanon, Pa., has imitated this practice, and with good results.
 (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., July, 1857,  p. 27.)
   Off. Prep.  Acetum  Colchici;  Acetum Opii; Acetum Scillas; Emplastrum
 Ammoniaci; Extractum Colchici Aceticum;  Liquor Ammonias Acetatis; Syr-
 upus Allii;  Unguentum Plumbi  Compositum.                          B.

   ACIDUM BENZOICUM.  U. S., Lond.,  Ed., Dub.  Benzoic Acid.
  "Take of Benzoin, in coarse powder, a pound.   Put the Benzoin into a suit-
able vessel,  and, by means of a  sand-bath,  with  a gradually increasing heat, 
PART II.
Acida.
841
 sublime  until vapours cease to rise.  Free the sublimed matter from  oil by
 pressure in bibulous paper, and again sublime."  U. S.
   The London College has transferred benzoic acid to the Materia Medica list,
 directing, however, that it shall be prepared by sublimation.  The Edinburgh
 College puts a convenient quantity of benzoin into a glass matrass, and oper-
 ates in the manner directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
   " Take of Benzoin any convenient quantity.  Place it in a small cylindric pot
 of sheet iron, furnished with a flange at its mouth; and, having fitted the pot into
 a circular hole in a sheet of pasteboard, interpose between the pasteboard and
 flange a collar of tow, so as to produce a nearly air-tight junction.   Let a cylin-
 der of stiff paper, open at one end, eighteen inches high, and having a diameter
 at  least twice that of the pot, be now placed in an inverted  position on the
 pasteboard, and secured to it by slips of paper  and flour paste.  A couple of
 inches of the lower part of the pot being passed through a hole in a plate of
 sheet tin, which is to be kept from contact with the pasteboard by the interpo-
 sition of a few corks, let  a heat just sufficient to melt the benzoin (that of a
 gas-lamp answers well) be applied, and continued for at least six hours.  Let
 the product thus obtained, if not quite  white, be enveloped in bibulous  paper,
 then subjected to powerful pressure, and again sublimed."  Dub.
    The Pharmacopoeias now unite in procuring benzoic acid by sublimation.  In
 the former U. S. process, the benzoin was mixed with an equal weight of sand;
 but this was omitted  in the last edition of the Pharmacopoeia, as not only
 useless, but probably injurious by favouring the production of empyreumatic
 substances.   The acid, which exists in the benzoin combined with resin, is vola-
 tilized by the heat, and condensed in the upper part of the apparatus.   Unless
 the temperature 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 sub-
 liming benzoic acid may be conducted in a glazed earthen vessel, surmounted
 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 unobjectionable.  ' In  a
 round cast-iron vessel, 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 vessel 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 within the hat in brilliant white flowers, having an agreeable
 odour of benzoin.  (Annul, 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.
  Another mode of separating the acid from  benzoin is by combining it with a
salifiable base, and precipitating with an acid.  Such is the process of Scheele.
It consists in boiling the powdered benzoin with hydrate of lime  and water,
filtering the solution of benzoate of lime thus obtained, and precipitating the
benzoic acid with muriatic acid.   Carbonate of soda or of potassa may be sub- 
842
Acida.
PART II.
 stituted for the lime, and sulphuric for the muriatic 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 1 >y 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 dissipated.  The bleaching effect of the chlorine on the crys-
 tals 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 colour-
 less.  These processes afford a purer product than that obtained by sublimation,
 but not preferable 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 renders 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 preci-
 pitates 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 19*425 per cent.  By the process of Scheele 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 empyreumatic oil,  and about 9 per cent, of the purified acid.  Professor
 Scharling has prepared benzoic acid by means of heated steam, and obtained
 8 per cent. (Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xxiv. 236.)
   A considerable  quantity of benzoic acid has, within a few years, been  im-
 ported into the United  States from Germany, said to have been prepared from
 the urine of  cattle and  horses.  It is white, has a fine lustre, and is said to be
 very pure, but sometimes has a slight urinous  odour indicative of its origin.
 (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvii. 23.)
 _  Properties.   Sublimed benzoic acid is  in white, soft, feathery crystals, of a
 silky lustre, and not pulverulent.   From  solution the acid crystallizes in trans-
 parent prisms.  When quite pure it is inodorous; but, prepared by sublimation
 from the balsam, it has a peculiar agreeable  aromatic odour,  dependent 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  soluble in  200 parts of cold water (Annals of Pharmacy, i.  206), and in
 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 entirely dis-
solved by solutions of potassa, soda, ammonia, and lime, from which it is preci-
pitated by muriatic acid.  Its solution reddens litmus  paper, and it forms salts
with salifiable bases; but its  acid properties are not powerful.   Benzoic acid
consists of benzyl and oxygen, and in the uncombined state usually contains
water.   The anhydrous acid has, however, been isolated by Gerhardt.  (Chem.
 Gaz., x. 237.)   Benzyl consists of fourteen eqs. of carbon 84, five of hydrogen
 5, and two of oxygen 16=105.  The crystallized acid contains one eq. of ben- 
PART II.
Acida.
843
 zyl 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 constituent of the balsams, and has been found in various other
 vegetable, and some animal products.*
    Medical Properties and Uses.  Benzoic acid is irritant to the alimentary mu-
 cous membrane, and stimulant to the system, and has been thought to be expec-
 torant; 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 deposits in the urine, and for the chalk-like concretions, consisting of
 urate of soda, in the joints of gouty individuals.   He supposed it to operate by
 converting the  uric into hippuric acid, and consequently the insoluble urates
 into soluble hippurates.   It  appears, however, from the observations of  Dr.
 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 quan-
 tity of uric acid in the  urine remains undiminished.   In consequence of the
 acid state of  urine  produced by benzoic acid, it has been found useful in  the
 phosphatic variety of gravel;  though its beneficial influence, being purely chemi-
 cal, continues only  during its use.   It is said to have cured nocturnal inconti-
 nence of urine.  Mr. White Cooper has employed it with  supposed advantage
 in a case of rheumatic sclerotitis.  (See Am. Journ.  of 3Ied. Sci., N. S., xxv.
 518.)  A convenient mode of exhibition 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 fumiga-
 tion as a remedy in affections of the skin.   It has also been employed as  a
 local hemostatic, in connexion with alum, with considerable asserted success;
 but there can be little doubt that alum is the more efficient ingredient.
    Off. Prep.  Tinctura Opii Ammoniata; Tinctura Opii Camphorata; Unguen-
 tum Sulphuris Compositum.                                         "vV".

   ACIDUM  GALLICUM.  U. S.,  Lond., Dub.   Gallic Acid.
   "Take of Galls, in powder, three pounds; Distilled Water, Animal Charcoal,
 each, a sufficient quantity.   Mix the Galls with  sufficient Distilled Water to
 form a thin paste, and expose the mixture to the air, in a shallow glass or por-
 celain vessel, in a warm place,  for a month, occasionally stirring it with a glass
 rod,_ and adding from time to time sufficient  Distilled Water to preserve  the
 semi-fluid consistence.   Then  submit the paste to expression, and, rejecting the
 expressed liquor, boil the residue in a gallon of Distilled Water for a few minutes,
 and filter while hot through Animal Charcoal.  Set the hot liquor aside that
 crystals may form, which may be dried on bibulous paper.  If the crystals be  not
 sufficiently free from colour, they may be purified by dissolving them in boiling
 Distilled Water, filtering  through a fresh portion of Animal  Charcoal, and
 crystallizing."  U. S.
   The London  College places Gallic Acid in its  Materia Medica catalogue,
 directing simply that it be in crystals, and prepared from galls.
   The Dublin College gives two processes, of which the first is  essentially the
 same as that of the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  It differs in requiring an exposure

  * Benzyl, which was at  first hypothetical, has been isolated. When benzoate of
copper is cautiously distilled without water, it yields a product  which  crystallizes on
cooling.   This substance has the smellg geranium, melts at 158° F.,  and has a com-
position represented by the formula Cl4H502.  When heated with hydrate of potassa,
it is converted into benzoic acid, with the escape of hydrogen.  It is, therefore, benzyl.
It  was discovered by Ettling, and  afterwards investigated by  Stenhouse.  (Fownes'
 Chemistry, Am. Ed., 1853, p. 401.) 
844
Acida.
PART II.
 of six weeks instead of a month, in not expressing the paste before boiling in
 water, and in expressing the impure acid deposited from the filtered decoction,
 before redissolving it in boiling water.  The second process is as follows.
   "Take of powdered Galls one pound [avoirdupois]; Oil of Yitriol of Com-
 merce twenty-six fluidounces; Water five pints [Imp. meas.] and fourteen
 [fluid]ounces.  Steep the galls for twenty-four hours in one part of the water,
 then transfer them to a glass or porcelain percolator, and pour on a pint and
 a half of the water in successive portions.  Dilute five ounces of the oil of vit-
 riol with an equal bulk of water, and, when the mixture has cooled, add it to
 the infusion obtained by percolation, stirring well, so  as to bring them into,
 perfect contact.  Let the viscid  precipitate which forms be separated by a fil-
 ter, and to the solution which passes through add five ounces  more of the oil
 of vitriol, which will yield an additional  precipitate.  This being added to that
 previously obtained, let both be enveloped in calico, and subjected to powerful
 pressure.  Dissolve the residue in the rest of the oil of vitriol, this latter being
 first diluted with what remains of the water; boil the solution for twenty minutes,
 then allow it to cool, and set it by for a week.  Let the deposit which has formed
 at the end of this period  be pressed, dried, and then dissolved in three times its
 weight of boiling water,  clearing the solution, if necessary, by filtration, and,
 when it has cooled down to  80°, decant the liquid from the crystalline sediment
 which has formed, and wash the latter with three ounces of ice-cold water.  Fin-
 ally, let it be transferred  to blotting paper, and, when deprived by this of ad-
 hering liquid, let it be dried perfectly at a temperature not exceeding 212°. The
 gallic acid obtained may  be  rendered nearly white  by  dissolving it in twenty
 times its weight of boiling distilled water, and causing the solution to traverse
 a stratum of prepared animal charcoal spread upon  a calico filter.   When the
 liquid passes through colourless it should be evaporated to one-sixth of its vol-
 ume, and then  suffered to cool in order to the separation  of  the crystallized
 acid." Dub.
   The U. S. process is founded upon the fact that, when galls  in decoction,  or
 in the state of moistened powder, are exposed to the  air, their tannic acid is
 gradually converted into  gallic acid, with the absorption, as generally believed,
 of oxygen, and the escape of an equivalent quantity of carbonic acid.  The gallic
 acid, being freely soluble in boiling, but very sparingly in cold water, is extracted
 from the altered galls by decoction, and is deposited as the water cools.  A re-
 petition of the solution and  deposition renders the acid more pure; but it can-
 not be obtained wholly colourless  unless by the aid of animal charcoal.  In the
 U. S. Pharmacopoeia it was neglected, no doubt through inadvertence, to direct
 purified animal charcoal. There  are few processes in which it is more necessary
 that this decolorizing agent should be purified.  The presence of the slightest
 quantity of sesquioxide of iron interferes with the bleaching of the acid; and
 it is even advisable to examine the filtering paper employed, lest it may contain
 sufficient of this substance to vitiate the results of the process.   The first crop
 of crystals in the U. S. process retains a very large proportion of water; and it
 will be found convenient  to subject  them to strong expression between folds of
 bibulous paper.*
  Dr. C. Wetherill,  believing that gallic acid differs from the tannic simply in
 containing water, conceived the idea of preparing the former from the latter by
 the fixation of water.   This he effected  through the agency of sulphuric acid.
 Having mixed 13 drachms of tannic acid with 22 fluidounces of sulphuric acid

  * For a process for obtaining gallic acid by F. Steer, upon the same principle with
that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, but differing somewhat in the steps emplov d, see a
paper  in the American Journal of Pharmacy (xxix. 336), published  originally in the
 Journal of the Academy of Sciences at Vienna. 
PART II.
Acida.
845
  and four times that bulk of water, he heated the mixture to the boiling point,
  and then allowed it to stand.   In a few days an abundant precipitate of white
  gallic acid took  place, amounting to 87-4 per cent, of the tannic acid. (Am.
  Journ. of Pharm., xx. 112.)   Upon the  same principle is based  the second
  process of the Dublin College.   Dr. Christison, in his Dispensatory, states
  that the process was originally suggested by Liebig..
    Some interesting views have been advanced in relation  to the formation of
  gallic acid from the tannin of galls.  The elder Robiquet first suggested that
  galls contain a principle capable of converting tannic into gallic acid, with the
  presence of water, and in the absence of atmospheric air.  M. Larocque proved
  that this principle acts as a ferment, and that the change referred to is the re-
  sult of a gallic acid fermentation in the galls.   M. Edmund Robiquet has
  shown that galls  contain pectose and pectase, the  former of which, according
  to the experiments of M. Fremy, is the principle out of which pectin is formed
  in plants, and the latter a peculiar ferment which effects the transformation.  It
  appears that in galls the pectase, aided by a proper temperature and the presence
  of water, changes not only pectose into pectin, but also tannic  into gallic acid.
  Strecker had previously advanced the opinion that tannic acid is a combination
  of gallic acid and sugar, the latter of which is destroyed in the process for pro-
  curing gallic acid, which is thus simply set free from the combination. It would
  seem, if this view is correct, that the pectase acts upon the  saccharine matter
  of thetannic acid, causing  its conversion into carbonic acid and alcohol, and
  liberating the gallic acid, and that the process is in fact an example of the vinous
  fermentation.   M. E. Robiquet admits the occasional transformation of tannic
  acid into gallic acid and sugar, but does not believe that the sugar pre-exists
  as such in the tannin.  (Journ, de Pharm., 3e ser.,  xxiii.  241.)  Wittstein, in
  endeavouring to obtain gallic acid from Chinese galls (seepage 373) by form-
  ing them into a paste with water, found that but a very small proportion of the
 acid was generated at the end  of six weeks.  Thinking that this might have
 resulted from the want of the ferment in the Chinese  galls, he  added  to these
 one-eighth of their weight of common  galls, and, at the end of three weeks,  ob-
 tained an amount of gallic acid nearly equal to one-half the weight of the galls
 employed.  The same result, though more slowly, followed the addition  of yeast
 to the Chinese galls.   Wittstein obtained  both carbonic  acid  and alcohol as
 products of this operation, thus favouring the views of Strecker as to the con-
 stitution of tannic acid.  (See Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xxv. 258.)
   Properties.   Gallic  acid is in delicate, silky, acicular crystals, which, as ordi-  N
 narily found in the shops, are slightly brownish, but when quite pure are colour-
 less.   It is inodorous, and of a sourish astringent taste.  It is soluble, according
 to Braconnot, in 100 parts of cold and 3 of boiling water, is  very'soluble in
 alcohol, and but slightly so in ether.  Mr. Thomas Weaver, of Philadelphia, has
 found that it is soluble  in glycerin in the proportion of 40 grains to the ounce,
 and that the solution maybe diluted to any extent with water without affecting
 its transparency.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 82.)  It reddens litmus, and
 produces a deep bluish-black  colour with solutions  of the  salts of the sesqui-
 oxide of iron, which disappears when the solution is heated.  It does not pre-
 cipitate gelatin, or a solution of sulphate of protoxide of  iron.   On exposure
 to the air, its solution  undergoes spontaneous decomposition ;  but  it is said
that, by the addition of a drop of oil of cloves, it may be kept for a long time
without change.  (Pharm. Journ.  and Trans., xvi. 223.)  The formula of
gallic acid is C7H,05, and its combining number 85.   Heated to 420°  it gives
out carbonic acid,  and is  converted  into pyrogallic acid. (See Part  III.)
Thrown on red hot iron it is entirely dissipated. 
846
Acida.
PART II.
   Medical Properties.  Forming an ingredient in all astringent products con-
 taining gallo-tannic acid, it was at one time supposed to be the active principle
 of the vegetable astringents.   This reputation it afterwards lost when the pro-
 perties of tannic acid became well known.  But it has recently again come into
 notice, and is now thought by many to be a very valuable astringent, havino-
 the property of arresting hemorrhages when taken internally, especially those
 from the uterus and urinary passages.   In  all cases of hemorrhage in which
 the bleeding vessels must be reached through the route of the circulation, it is
 believed by some to be more efficient even  than tannic acid, as  its chemical
 affinities do not afford the same impediment to its absorption as  those of the
 latter, acid.  But in hemorrhage from the alimentary mucous membrane, or
 from any other part with which tannic acid can be brought into direct contact
 this astringent is by far the most effectual.  Gallic acid has been employed also
 with advantage in pyrosis, and the  night-sweats of phthisis.  It  is said not
 to constipate the bowels.   The dose is from five to fifteen grains three or four
 times a day, and may be given in the form of pill or powder.  The acid  has
 been  employed as a gargle in inflammatory affections of the fauces.     W.

   ACIDUM  HYDROCYANICUM DILUTUM.   U. S.,  Lond.,  Dub.
 Acidum Hydrocyanicum.  Ed.   Diluted Hydrocyanic Acid.   Prussia
 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 Diluted Hydrocyanic Acid of  such a strength, that 12-7  grains  of
 nitrate of silver, dissolved in distilled water, may be accurately saturated by
 100 grains of the acid.
   "Diluted Hydrocyanic Acid may also be prepared, when wanted  for imme-
 diate 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 stop-
 ped vial.   When the insoluble  matter has subsided, pour off the  clear liquor,
 and keep it for use.  Diluted Hydrocyanic Acid should be kept in  closely stop-
 ped bottles from which the light is excluded."  U. S.
   The process of the London College for diluted hydrocyanic acid is the same
 as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia;  the latter having been adopted from the
 former.   The following is the Edinburgh formula, Imperial measure being used.
   " Take of Ferrocyanide of Potassium three ounces; Sulphuric Acid two fluid-
 ounces; Water sixteen fluidounces.   Dissolve the salt in 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: con-
 nect the matrass with a proper refrigeratory: distil with a gentle heat, by means
 of a sand-bath or naked gas-flame, till fourteen fluidounces pass over, or till the
 residuum begins to froth up.   Dilute the product with distilled water till it
 measures sixteen fluidounces." Ed.
   The Dublin College, in its Pharmacopoeia of 1850, has abandoned the em-
ployment of cyanuret of mercury and muriatic acid as the source of  this acid,
and adopted the use of ferrocyanuret of potassium and sulphuric acid, in imita-
tion of the other British Pharmacopoeias. 
  part ii.                        Acida.                              847

    Hydrocyanic acid was admitted into  the  French Codex in 1818, into the
  United States Pharmacopoeia in 1820, into the Dublin in 1826, into the London
  in 1836, and into the Edinburgh  in 1839.   It is now made by one  chief pro-
  cess; namely, from the ferrocyanuret of potassium by the action of sulphuric
  acid.  It is also obtained by an extemporaneous process, in the U. S. Pharma-
  copoeia,  by  decomposing cyanuret of silver.  When  ferrocyanuret of potas-
  sium is decomposed by sulphuric acid, the residue in the retort is sulphate of
  potassa, mixed with an insoluble compound of two  eqs. of cyanuret  of iron,
  and one of cyanuret of  potassium (Everitt's salt).   According to  Wittstein,
  the reaction takes place in two steps.   In the first, three eqs. of ferrocyanuret,
  3(FeCy-f 2KCy), react with six eqs. of hydrated sulphuric acid, 6(HO,S03),
  and produce  six eqs. of sulphate of potassa, 6(KO,S03), and  three eqs.  of
  hydroferrocyanic acid, 3(FeCy + 2HCy).  In the  second step,  when heat is
  applied, the three eqs. of hydroferrocyanic acid, 3(FeCy+ 2HCy), react with an
  additional eq. of ferrocyanuret, FeCy-f 2KCy, so  as  to produce  six eqs. of
  hydrocyanic acid, 6HCy, which  distil over, and  two eqs. of Everitt's  salt,
  2(2FeCy+KCy), which  remain in the retort with the sulphate of potassa.
  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,  March, 1856,  p. 429.)  Everitt's salt, so named
  from its discoverer, is a yellowish-white powder.   Like ferrocyanuret of potas-
  sium, it is a double cyanuret of iron and potassium; but the equivalent propor-
  tion of the  two  cyanurets is reversed.
   According to  the late Mr. Phillips, the proportion of sulphuric acid, directed
  by the Edinburgh College, is so large that there is great risk  of the  produc-
  tion of formic acid.  (Observations on the Ed, Pharm., die.)  The acid, instead
  of exceeding the weight of the ferrocyanuret, should form three-fourths only of
  its weight.   In relation to the most convenient method of bringing the hydro-
 cyanic acid to the standard strength, and to some other points in its prepara-
 tion  by the officinal  formula, the reader is referred to a paper by Prof. Procter,
 contained in the American Journal of Pharmacy (xix. 259).
   In the U. S. process for obtaining hydrocyanic acid extemporaneously, 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.)  The
 extemporaneous process  is useful  to  country practitioners ; because the acid
 will not  generally keep.  A portion of hydrocyanic  acid, if purchased by a
 practitioner, may spoil on his hands, before he has occasion to use  it; but if
 he supplies himself with cyanuret of silver, he may readily at any  moment pre-
 pare a small portion of the acid, by following the directions of the formula.
   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 tfaced
 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 horizontally, 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 apparatus being thus arranged
 and the junctures well luted, add the muriatic acid; and, having allowed the ac-
 tion 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.  In this process Gay-Lussac's strong acid is first obtained  in the grad- 
848
Acida.
PAHT II.
 uated tube, and 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.
 Clark, and adopted by Mr. Laming, is by the reaction of tartaric acid on cyanu-
 ret of potassium in solution.   Laming's formula is as follows.  Dissolve twenty-
 two grains of the cyanuret in six fluidrachms of distilled water, and  add fifty
 grains of crystallized tartaric acid, dissolved  in three fluidrachms of rectified
 spirit.  Crystallized bitartrate of potassa precipitates, and each fluidrachm of
 the clear decanted liquor contains one grain of pure hydrocyanic acid.  The re-
 action in this process takes place between two eqs. of tartaric acid, one of cya-
 nuret of potassium, and one of water.  The water is decomposed, and the tar-
 taric acid, potassium, and oxygen unite to form the bitartrate, and the cyanogen
 and hydrogen to form the hydrocyanic acid.  Dr. Pereira considered this process
 to have several  advantages, but very properly objected to it on account of the
 trouble and expense of obtaining the cyanuret of potassium pure, and its liability
 to undergo spontaneous decomposition. (See Potassii Cyanuretum.)
   The processes, thus far  given, are intended to furnish a dilute hydrocyanic
 acid for medicinal purposes.   The methods of obtaining the  anhydrous acid
 are different.  Yauquelin's process for the anhydrous acid is to pass a current
 of hydrosulphuric 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.
 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; the carbonate being  intended to detain the hydrosulphuric acid gas,
 the chloride to separate water.  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 mix-
 ture of cyanuret 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 potas-
 sium 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 the following.  The cyanu-
 ret of potassium selected  is a black cyanuret, formed by fusing together, in a
 covered crucible, 8 parts of dry ferrocyanuret,  3 of ignited cream of tartar, and
 1 of charcoal in fine powder.   The cyanuret,  while still warm, is exhausted by
 6 parts of  water; and the clear solution, placed in a retort, is decomposed by
 cold diluted sulphuric acid,  gradually added.  The hydrocyanic acid is condensed
 firsts a U-tube, containing chloride of calcium, and surrounded with ice-cold
 water, and afterwards in a small bottle, connected with the U-tube by a narrow
 tube,  and immersed up  to the neck in a mixture of ice and  salt.  After the
 acid has been condensed and dehydrated in the U-tube, the cold water surround-
 ing it is withdrawn by a syphon, and  replaced by water at a temperature be-
 tween 85°  and  90°,  whereby the anhydrous  acid is made to distil over into
 the small bottle.
  Properties of the Medicinal Acid.  Diluted hydrocyanic acid, of the proper
medicinal strength,  is a transparent, colourless,  volatile liquid, possessing a
peculiar smell, and a taste  at first cooling and afterwards somewhat irritating.
It imparts  a slight and evanescent red colour to litmus.  If it reddens litmus
strongly and permanently,  the fact shows the presence of some acid impurity. 
PART II.
Acida.
849
 It is not reddened by the iodo-cyanuret of potassium  and mercury.  The non-
 action of this test shows the absence of contaminating acids, which, if present,
 would decompose the test, and give rise to the red iodide of mercury.   It is
 liable to undergo decomposition if  exposed to the light, but is easily kept in  a
 bottle covered with black paint, or black paper.   Its most usual impurities are
 sulphuric and muriatic acids;  the former of which may be detected by chloride
 of barium, which will  produce a precipitate of sulphate of baryta; 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 by rendering uncertain the strength of the medicinal
 acid, as  ascertained by its saturating power.   Indeed, Mr. Barry, of  London,
 was in the habit of adding a small proportion of muriatic acid to all his medi-
 cinal hydrocyanic acid, in order to preserve it.   But the presence  of a mineral
 acidis not necessary for its preservation; for Dr. Christison has known the
 medicinal acid from ferrocyanuret of potassium to keep perfectly well, although
 nitrate of baryta did not produce the slightest muddiness.   If lead be present,
 it may be detected by hydrosulphuric acid gas, which will cause a blackish pre-
 cipitate.  Hydrocyanic acid is  incompatible 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
 gravity,  which is lower in proportion as it is stronger; but this unprecise mode
 of estimate has been generally abandoned.  The Pharmacopoeias now, with the
 exception of the Dublin, rely on the saturating power as an index of the strength.
 According to the United States formula,  100 grains of the acid must accurately
 saturate 12-7 (12-59, Lond.) grains of nitrate of  silver, dissolved in distilled
 water, and produce a precipitate (cyanuret of silver), which, when  washed and
 dried at a temperature not exceeding 212°, shall weigh 10 grains, and be wholly
 soluble in boiling nitric acid.   An acid of this strength contains 2 per cent, of
 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 hydrocyanic 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.   According to Mr.
 Squire, the real strength of the Ed. acid is nearly 3-98 per cent., or about twice
 that of the London acid.  The mode laid down by the College for testing its
 strength by nitrate of silver, admits of variation in this particular; the stronger
 allowable acid being one-tenth stronger than the weaker.  The Dublin acid is
 directed to have the sp. gr. 0-997, and probably contains a little over 2 per cent.
 of anhydrous  acid.  Its saturating strength is not given.  Scheele's medicinal
 hydrocyanic acid contains about 5 per cent,  of anhydrous acid; and, therefore,
 two minims of it are  equal to five of the U. S. acid.   The use of Scheele's acid
 should be discouraged as unnecessary, and as leading to  dangerous mistakes.
   MM. Fordos and Gelis have proposed,  as a test of the strength of the com-
 pounds containing cyanogen, an alcoholic solution of iodine of known strength;
 as, for example, three grains to the fluidounce.  The test solution is added, drop
 by drop, to the cyanogen  compound, until a permanent yellowish tinge is pro-
 duced.  The iodine unites with the cyanogen, and with the  substance in  com-
bination with the cyanogen, in the ratio of their several equivalents; and hence
the cyanogen present is easily calculated from the proportion of iodine expended
in  uniting with  it.   This test is commended  for  its accuracy by Mr. James
Roberton, of Manchester.  (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., Nov. 1853, p.  551.)
       54 
850
Acida.
PART II.
   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, then
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 giddiness- audits
vapour so deleterious that the smallest portion of 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 becomes
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 chemical
relations, and reddens litmus but slightly.   It does not form solid compounds
with metallic oxides, but a cyanuret  of the metal, the elements of water being
exhaled.  According to  Sobero, hydrocyanic acid is generated, in sensible quan-
tities, by the action of weak nitric acid on the volatile oils and resins.  It has
also been formed by the slow action of carbonate of potassa on tincture of hyos-
cyamus, given  together as a medicine. (Dr. J. T. Plummer,  of  Indiana, Am.
Journ. of Pharm. xxv. 513.)   Though a  product of art, it exists  in some
plants.   It is, however,  a matter of doubt, in many cases in which it is extracted
from vegetables, 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
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 1-8157.   It was discovered in  1815 by Gay-Lussac, who
viewed  it as 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 of nitrogen,
condensed into one volume.   Its  ultimate constituents are, therefore, two eqs.
of carbon, one of nitrogen, and one of hydrogen.
   Hydrocyanic  acid, in  a dilute state, was discovered in  1780 by Scheele, who
correctly stated  its elements to be  nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen;  but the
peculiar way in which they are combined was first pointed out by Gay-Lussac,
by whom also the anhydrous acid was first obtained.
   Medical and Toxical Properties.  Hydrocyanic acid is  the most deadly
poison known, proving, in many cases, almost instantaneously fatal.   Accord-
ing to_ Dr. Christison,  a grain and a half of the anhydrous acid is capable of
producing death in the human subject.  One or two drops of the pure acid are
sufficient to kill a vigorous dog in a few seconds.   In the opinion of Dr. Meyer,
it  acts by paralysing the heart,  being conveyed into  the blood, and operating
directly on that organ.  The post-mortem appearances are glistening and sta-
ring expression of the eyes; gorged  state of the venous system with fluid, dark,
or bluish-black blood, especially of the veins of  the brain and spinal marrow;
and sometimes redness  of the internal coat of the stomach.  The lungs are
sometimes natural, at other times turgid with blood.  It is not true, or rarely
true, that the muscles are insensible  to the galvanic current.  Notwithstanding
the tremendous energy of this acid  as a poison, it  has been ventured upon in
a dilute state as a sedative, anodyne, and antispasmodic.  Though  occasion-
ally employed as a remedy prior to 1817, yet it did not attract much attention
until  that year, when Magendie published his observations on its use in dis-
eases  of the chest, and  recommended it to the profession.   When  given  in
medicinal doses gradually increased, it produces the following symptoms  in 
 part ii.                         Acida.                              851

 different cases:—peculiar bitter taste; increased secretion of saliva ; irritation
 of the throat; nausea; disordered respiration; pain in the head;  giddiness;
 faintness; obscure vision; and tendency to sleep./* It appears to have a special
 action on the larynx and trachea.  (Dr. Cogswell.)  The pulse is sometimes
 quickened, at  other times reduced in frequency.   Occasionally salivation and
 ulceration of the mouth are produced.   It has been extensively used in com-
 plaints  of the respiratory  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 proved beneficial
 under such circumstances.  Dr. Joseph Johnson, of Charleston, S. C, found
 it useful in pneumonia.   In phthisis it may be resorted to with advantage as a
 palliative  for the cough.  In various other affections of the chest, 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
 benefit.  In  certain affections of the stomach, characterized by pain and spasm,
 and  sometimes attended with vomiting, but unconnected with inflammation,
 and  in similar painful affections of the bowels, it 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.  Sometimes it is used externally, diluted with water, as a wash  in
 cutaneous diseases.   The late Dr. A.  T.  Thomson  insisted particularly on  its
 efficacy  in allaying the itching of impetiginous affections.
   The dose  of the medicinal hydrocyanic acid of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, is
 from two  to six  drops, dissolved in distilled water,  or mixed with gum water
 or syrup.  It  requires to be  administered with  the greatest caution, on ac-
 count of the minuteness of the dose, and the variable strength  of  the acid as
 found in the shops.   The proper  plan, therefore, is to begin with a small dose,
 two drops, for example, and gradually to increase  the quantity until some obvi-
 ous impression 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 quantity, 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 seldom
 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, though
 this is sometimes absent, smallness of the pulse, swelling of the neck, dilatation,
 immobility, and sometimes  contraction of the pupils, convulsions, &c.   The*
 antidotes and remedies, most to be relied on, are chlorine, ammonia, cold affu-
 sion,  and artificial 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 3Ied, Journal, for Nov., 1835, of poisoning by this acid,
 in which the diluted aromatic spirit of ammonia applied to the mouth, and
 the solid carbonate assiduously held to the nostrils, produced speedy and bene-
 ficial  effects.  Cold affusion was first proposed in 1828 by Herbst, of Gottingen,
 and its utility was  subsequently confirmed by Orfila. Its  efficacy is strongly
 supported by experiments performed in ] 839 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.  A 
 852                             Acida.                         part ii.

 case of poisoning, reported  by Dr. Christison in 1850, in which the patient
 recovered, strongly supports the value as a remedy of a stream of cold water
 poured upon the head from a moderate  height.  In a case which occurred  in
 1854, reported in the Lancet, and in which the largest recorded quantity was
 taken to be followed by recovery (2-4 grains of anhydrous acid), the cold water
 douche was the principal remedy.  (See Am. Journ. of Med.  Sci., July, 1854
 p. 276.)  Messrs. T. & H.  Smith, of Edinburgh, have  recommended as an
 antidote,  a mixture of the sulphates of the protoxide and sesquioxide of iron
 swallowed after a solution of 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 extempo-
 raneously, 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  of water -in
 another vial.   The patient is  made to swallow the  solution of carbonate of
 potassa, and  immediately afterwards  the mixed  ferruginous solution.   The
 quantity of the antidote  mentioned is estimated to be sufficient to render insol-
 uble nearly two grains of the anhydrous  acid.
   Tests.  After death  from suspected  poison, it  is  sometimes  necessary to
 ascertain  whether the event was caused by this acid.  At a period long after
 death,  it  would  be needless to search for so volatile a poison;  but it has
 been recognised three weeks after  death, in a case reported by M. Brame, in
 which about six drachms of acid, containing between eight and nine per cent.
 of anhydrous acid, had been  swallowed.   The best test is that proposed by
 Liebig in  1847, consisting in the conversion of the hydrocyanic acid into sul-
 phocyanate  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 bihydrosulphate of ammonia,
 and heated upon a watch-glass until the mixture is colourless, 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 for-
mation  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 fractional part of a drop of
 which will commonly suffice to produce the characteristic colour.  In case the
acid  is  mixed with organic matters, Mr. Taylor proposes  a modification of T
 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.
  MM. O. Henry, jun., and  E. Humbert have proposed, as a test of hydro-
cyanic acid,  first to convert it into  cyanuret of silver by distilling the suspected
matters into a dilute solution of nitrate of silver, and then to decompose the
cyanuret by  iodine, so as to form iodide of cyanogen.  The dried cyanuret  is
added to  half its estimated weight  of pure iodine, contained in  a test tube.
Upon the application of a gentle heat,  iodide  of cyanogen is formed, and char- 
PART II.
Acida.
853
 acteristic crystals of it are deposited on the cool surface of the tube. (Journ.
 de Pharm. et de Chim., Mars,  1857, p. 173.)                         B.

   ACIDUM MURIATICUM DILUTUM.  U. S., Ed., Dub. Acidum
 Hydrochloricum Dilutum. Lond. Diluted Muriatic Acid.
   "Take of Muriatic Acid four fluidounces; Distilled Water twelve fluid-
 ounces.   Mix them in a glass vessel.  The specific gravity of Diluted Muriatic
 Acid is 1-046."  U S.
   The London and Edinburgh directions are the same as those of the U. S.
 Pharmacopoeia.   The London  College gives the sp.  gr. of the acid  at  1-043,
 and states that a fluidounce of it is saturated by 168 grains of crystallized car-
 bonate of soda.   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 116 (U. S.,
 Lond.).   The Dublin College mixes four fluidounces of pure muriatic  acid
 with thirteen [fluid]ounces of distilled water, and states the density  of the
 acid to be 1-045.
   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 different Pharma-
 copoeias  virtually agree in strength ; the variations being practically insignifi-
 cant.  For an account of the medicinal properties of muriatic acid, see Acidum
 3Iuriaticum.   The  dose  of the diluted acid  is from  twenty to  sixty  drops,
 mixed with water or other convenient vehicle.  The Dublin  College employs
 this acid in the preparation of  Calcis Phosphas Prsecipitatum.         B.

   ACIDUM NITRICUM  DILUTUM.  U.S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.  Di-
 luted Nitric Acid.
   "Take of Nitric Acid [sp. gr. 1-42] a fluidounce;  Distilled Water six fluid-
 ounces.   Mix them in a glass vessel.   The specific  gravity of Diluted  Nitric
 Acid is 1-07 ;  and 100 grains of it saturate 20 grains of crystallized bicarbonate
 of potassa."  U. S.
   "Take of Nitric Acid [sp. gr.  1-42] three fluidounces; Distilled Water  seven-
 teen fluidounces.  Mix.   The sp. gr. is 1-082.  A fluidounce  of  the Acid is
 saturated by 154 grains of crystallized carbonate of  soda." Lond.
   "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 five fluidrachms and a half are required.   The
 density of this diluted acid is 1-077." Ed.
   "Take of Pure Nitric Acid [sp. gr. 1*5] four fluidounces; Distilled Water
 twenty-nine [fluid]ounces.  Mix.   The sp. gr. of this  Acid is 1-092."  Dub.
   All  the Pharmacopoeias embrace Diluted  Nitric  Acid, for convenience in
 prescribing.   The acids of the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias
 are nearly 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 stronger.   In  making this dilute acid, the  apothecary  should be
careful to use  acid of the sp. gr. 1-42 ; or, if the acid used is weaker than this,
to add proportionally less water; otherwise the dilute  acid would be weaker
than it is directed to be in the Pharmacopoeia.
   The medicinal properties of the diluted acid are the same as those of the strong
acid. (See Acidum Nitrieum.)  The dose is from twenty to forty drops three
times a day, sufficiently reduced with water at the time of taking it.  A diluted
nitric acid is used by the Edinburgh College for preparing the red oxide of mer-
cury; but it is directed to have the density of  1-280,  and is, therefore, not the
officinal diluted acid of that College.
   Off. Prep.  Plumbi Nitras.                                         B. 
854
Acida.
part II.
   ACIDUM NITRICUM  PURUM.  Ed., Dub.   Pure Nitric Acid.
  ( "Purify Nitrate of Potash, if necessary, by two or more crystallizations till
 nitrate of silver does not act on its  solution in distilled water.  Put  into a
 glass retort equal weights of this purified Nitrate and of Sulphuric Acid- and
 distil into a cool receiver, with a moderate heat from a sand-bath or naked <ras-
 flame, so long as the fused material continues to give off vapour.  The pale-
 yellow Acid thus obtained may be rendered  colourless,  should this be thought
 necessary, by heating it gently in a retort."  The density of this Acid is 1 -5. Ed.
   In preparing pure nitric acid, the Dublin College distils nitre with nearly an
 equal  weight of sulphuric acid; but,  before the  nitre is  used, it is  dissolved in
 boiling water, and purified from common salt by the addition of nitrate of  sil-
 ver, as long as this produces a precipitate.   The solution is then strained from
 the chloride of silver, and evaporated  to  dryness.  The pure nitric acid  ob-
 tained is directed to have the sp. gr.  1*5.
   The officinal pure nitric acid is colourless  or pale-yellow.   If previously di-
 luted wdth distilled water, it is not affected by solutions of nitrate of silver or
 nitrate of baryta; the non-action of these tests showing the absence of muriatic
 and sulphuric acids.   This acid is considered t'o be a sesquihydrate, consisting
 of one eq. of dry acid 54, and one and a half eqs. of water 13-5=67-5. Strictly
 speaking it is a nitrate  of 'water, diluted with half an#eq. of water (HO, NO,
 + 2HO).  j^ ac-(j 0f this strength is inconveniently strong, and might with
 advantage be replaced by a  pure acid of the  density 1-42.   This  substitution
 was made in the U.  S. and London Pharmacopoeias of  1850 and  1851.
   Nitric  acid has  been fully treated of under Acidum Nitrieum, page 42, to
 which article the reader is referred.
   Pharm. Uses.   Pure nitric acid is used as a chemical  agent in preparing
 Calomelas, Ferri Oxidum Nigrum, Ferri Peroxydum Hydratum, Hydrargyri
 Oxydum  Rubrum, Sublimatus Corrosivus, Tinctura Ferri Acetatis, Tinctura
 Ferri Sesquichloridi.
   Off. Prep. Acidum Nitrieum Dilutum ; Acidum Nitro-muriaticum; Argenti
 Nitras; Bismuthi Subnitras ; Ferri Pernitratis Liquor; Hydrargyri Pernitratis
 Liquor;  Plumbi Nitras; Spiritus  .Etheris  Nitrici;  Unguentum  Hydrargyri
 Nitratis.                                                             j*

   ACIDUM NITROMURIATICUM. U.S.,Dub. NitromuriaticAcid.
   " Take of Nitric Acid [sp. gr.  VIZ] four fluidounces; Muriatic Acid eight
fluidounces.   Mix them in a glass vessel, and, when effervescence has ceased,
 keep the product in a well-stopped, glass bottle, in a cool and dark place."  U. S.
   " Take of Pure Nitric Acid one fluidounce; Pure Muriatic Acid two fluid-
 ounces.   Mix in a green glass bottle,  furnished with an accurately ground stop-
 per, and keep  in a cool place." Dub.
  Nitromuriatic acid is the aqua regia  of the earlier chemists, so called from
 its property of dissolving gold.  Nitric and muriatic acids, wh en mixed together,
 mutually decompose each other.   According to the researches of  Gay-Lussac
 (June  1848), the reaction gives rise to two compounds, in variable proportions,
 of nitric oxide and chlorine (NO,Cl2 and NO^Cl), mixed with free chlorine; the
 former being analogous in constitution to nitrous, the latter to  hyponitrous
 acid.   The power,  however, of nitromuriatic acid to dissolve gold, and similar
 metals having a weak affinity for oxygen, is owing exclusively to the free chlo-
 rine present, and is in nowise dependent on the compounds  above referred to,
 which  remain entirely passive  during the  solution of the metal.  (Journ. de
 Pharm., Aout, 1848.)  Adopting the views  of Gay-Lussac,  the proportion of
 the acids for total mutual decomposition would be two eqs. of nitric and six of
 muriatic acid; and the products would be the two compounds of nitric oxide 
PART II.
Acida.
855
 and chlorine, free chlorine, and water.  Assuming this proportion, it follows
 that a large excess of nitric acid is employed in the U. S. formula.  According
 to the same views, the proportion of  free chlorine must be variable, dependent
 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 precise 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 comp6unds
 and of free  chlorine by effervescence, in consequence of the acids not containing
 sufficient water to hold the gaseous products in solution.   Hence the substitu-
 tion, in  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of  1850, of  nitric acid  of 1*42 for the acid
 of 1-5 is an improvement.   At the same time, as the quantity by measure, of
 the nitric acid is not increased, its excess in the old formula is diminished.
   Properties.  Nitromuriatic acid has a golden-yellow colour, and the odour
 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,
' and to have it  converted, by the action of light, into muriatic acid, through
 the decomposition of  wrater.  On account of its tendency  to decomposition, it
 should not be made by  the  apothecary until called for, and then only in the
 quantity ordered; care being taken not to transfer it to the bottle in which it is
 to be dispensed,  until effervescence  has ceased, lest the pressure within  should
 drive out the cork.   Nitric and muriatic acids, as found in  the shops, are some-
 times so weak that when mixed they  will not readily act on gold-leaf.  In this
 case, their solvent power may be rendered effective by the addition of a little
 sulphuric acid, which,  by its  superior affinity for  water, concentrates the other
 acids, and causes immediate action.*
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Nitromuriatic acid was brought into notice as
 a remedy, in consequence of the favourable report of its efficacy as an external
 remedy in hepatitis,  made by Dr. Scott, formerly of Bombay.  When thus em-
 ployed, it produces a tingling sensation of the skin, thirst, a peculiar taste iii 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 fluidounces 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 afterwards twice or thrice a week; and
the sponging maybe used at the same time.  The bath is said to be effective in
promoting the passage of biliary calculi.  The solution, prepared for a bath, as
above mentioned, may be used for a week, adding  to it daily a pint of water,
acidulated with two fluidrachms of the acid, to  make up for the waste by  eva-
poration.  The bath should have a temperature of about  97°, which may be
attained  by heating  part  of the acid solution, and throwing it back into the
remainder. For some good directions  for the preparation and use of the nitro-
muriatic  acid bath, by Mr. Ranald Martin, the reader is referred to the Phar-
maceutical Journal  and Transactions for July, 1851, p.  38.
  Nitromuriatic acid is also used internally, principally in hepatic and syphilitic

  * In relation to nitromuriatic acid, see a paper in the third volume of the Journal of
the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, by Mr. Daniel B. Smith of this city. 
856
Acida.
part ii.
 affections, and in oxaluria.   The dose is three or four drops, largely diluted
 with water.                                                         B

   ACIDUM PHOSPHORICUM  DILUTUM. Lond.   Diluted Phos-
 phorie Acid.
   "Take of Phosphorus six drachms; Nitric Acid [sp. gr. 1 -42.] four fluid-
 ounces ; Distilled Water eight fluidounces.   Add the Phosphorus to the Acid"
 previously mixed with the Water in a retort placed in a sand-bath; then apply
 heat until six fluidounces are distilled.   Return these into the retort, and again
 distil six fluidounces, which are to be rejected.  Evaporate the remaining liquor
 in a platinum capsule until only two ounces remain.  Lastly, add to the acid
 when it is cold, as much distilled water as may be sufficient to make it accurately
 measure a pint, and mix." Lond.  The  sp. gr. of this acid is 1-064.   An Impe-
 rial fluidounce of it is saturated  by 132  grains of crystallized carbonate of soda
 and nothing is thrown down.  Imperial measure is used in the formula.
   The process for this  officinal  preparation may be thus explained.  Phos-
 phorus,  when added to  strong nitric acid, decomposes it with explosion and
 rapid combustion", but when it is distilled with the diluted acid the action takes
 place slowly, the phosphorus gradually melts and becomes oxidized, and nitric
 oxide is_ evolved.  Before, however, the whole of the phosphorus 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 acidifica-
 tion of the phosphorus.   When this has  been completed, all remains of nitric
 acid are driven off by evaporation in the  platinum capsule; and the residue,
 which contains all the phosphoric acid  that can be generated from six drachms
 of phosphorus, is brought to a standard degree of dilution, by the addition of
 sufficient distilled water  to  make it measure an Imperial pint.  (See Acidum
 Nitrieum and Phosphorus.)
  Phosphoric acid may be obtained  more  economically than by the above pro-
 cess, by decomposing phosphate of lime  (calcined  bones) by  sulphuric acid
 saturating the superphosphate formed with carbonate of ammonia, which gene-
 rates 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 residue will
 be monohydrated phosphoric acid (HO,POs), called also metaphosphoric acid,
Phosphate of water,  and, from its resemblance to ice, glacial phosphoric acid.
 Phosphoric acid in this form is a white, transparent, fusible solid, slowly solu-
 ble in water, and characterized by producing a white precipitate  in a solution
 of albunien.  Forty-five and a half grains of this acid, dissolved in a fluidounce
 of distilled water, form a solution of about the strength of the officinal acid.
  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 corrosive like the other mineral acids.
 Dr  Neubauer found  that the strong acid,  when pure and warm, was capable
 of dissolving oxalate of lime.  According to the late Mr. Phillips, the officinal
 dilute acid .contains 8*7 per cent, of monohydrated phosphoric acid.  (Trans-
 lation of the London Pharm., 1851, p. 71.)  The  officinal acid is not precip-
itated by chloride of barium or nitrate of silver.  If precipitates are produced,
chloride of barium indicates sulphuric  acid or a  sulphate; nitrate of  silver,
muriatic acid or a chloride.  Strips of copper or silver are not affected by the
acid, nor is it coloured by sulphuretted hydrogen.   If carbonate of soda causes
a precipitate phosphate  of lime, or some other phosphate insoluble in water,
is probably held m solution.   The presence of one-tenth of phosphorous acid,
or of a minute quantity of arsenic acid, renders the medicinal acid poisonous. 
PART II.
Acida.
857
 (Weigel and Krug.)   Phosphorous acid may be detected by testing the medi-
 cinal acid with a solution of corrosive sublimate, which will be converted into
 calomel, if this impurity be present. (Pagels, Chem. <7az., Jan.15,1857.)  Phos-
 phoric acid consists of one eq. of phosphorus 32, and five of oxygen  40=72.
   Medical 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.  Yarious properties have been
 ascribed to it, such as allaying pain and spasm, strengthening the sexual organs,
 preventing the morbid secretion of bony matter, and correcting phosphatic de-
 posits in the urine.  The last two properties are supposed to depend upon its
 power of dissolving phosphate  of lime.   It has been recommended in  hysteria,
 in diabetes, and in leucorrhoea  when the  secreted fluid  is thin and acrid.  M.
 Magnus Hus used it with advantage  in  the first stage of abdominal or pete-
 chial typhus.   In diabetes 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 SULPHURICUM  AROMATICUM.   U. S., Ed., Dub.
 Aromatic Sulphuric Acid.   Elixir of Vitriol.
   " Take of Sulphuric Acid three fluidounces and a half; Ginger,  in coarse
 powder, an ounce; Cinnamon,  in coarse powder, an  ounce and a half ; Alcohol
 a sufficient quantity.   Add the Acid gradually to a pint of the Alcohol, and
 allow the liquor to cool.   Mix the Ginger and Cinnamon, and, having  put them
 into  a  percolator, pour Alcohol gradually upon them  until a pint of  filtered
 liquor is obtained.  Lastly, mix the diluted acid and the tincture." 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  the second process of the
 Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and therefore need not be copied.
   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, of Edinburgh, who originally held
 this opinion, satisfied himself that the alcohol and sulphuric acid, in  the pro-
 portions here employed, do not generate a single particle of ether.   It  must,
 therefore, be viewed merely as sulphuric acid diluted with alcohol, and contain-
 ing the essential oils of ginger and cinnamon.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This valuable preparation, commonly called
 elixir of vitriol, is a simplification of Mynsicht's acid  elixir.  It is tonic and
 astringent, and affords the most agreeable form of sulphuric acid for  adminis-
 tration.  It is very much employed in debility with night'sweats, in .loss of
 appetite, 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 the efficacy of which it increases, by promoting  tins solu-
bility of its febrifuge principles.   (See  Infusum Cinchonse Compositum.)  In
hasmoptysis and other  hemorrhages, when not  attended with obvious inflam-
mation,  it  frequently proves useful by stopping the flow of blood.    It has 
858
Acida.
part II,
 been recommended in epidemic dysentery.  (New Jersey 3ted. and Surg. Re-
 porter, ix. 199.)  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 Cinchonas Compositum.                         Tj

   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; and. 100 grains of it saturate 25 grains of
 crystallized bicarbonate of potassa."  U S.
   "Take of Sulphuric Acid fifteen fluidrachms [Imp. meas.] ; Distilled Water
 a pint [Imp.  meas.].   Add the Acid gradually to half a pint of the Water;
 then pour  in sufficient of the remaining Water to fill  accurately the measure of
 a pint, and mix.   The sp. gr. is 1-103 ;  and a fluidounce [Imp. meas.] of the
 Acid is saturated by 216 grains of crystallized carbonate of soda." 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 fluidounce;  Distilled Water thirteen
 \^fluid]ounces.  Mix.   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., Edinburgh, and  Dublin Pharmaco-
 poeias agree in making the strong acid to the water as one to thirteen in
 volume, equivalent  nearly to one to  seven in  weight; but unfortunately the
 formula of the London College gives an acid considerably stronger. The coin-
 cident processes afford an  acid containing about 13 per  cent, of the strong
 liquid  acid; while  the London acid contains 15 per  cent., and has a specific
gravity as high as 1-103.   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 sulphuric acid
 is used, the liquid becomes slightly turbid, and  in the  course of a few days de-
 posits  a grayish-white powder, which is  sulphate of lead, and from which the
 diluted acid should be  poured off.   This noxious salt is thus got rid of;  but
 sulphate of potassa, another impurity in the strong  acid, still  remains.  To
 avoid these impurities, the Dublin College directs the dilution of pure sulphuric
 acid.   The presence of a little sulphate 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 ascertained 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 typhoid fevers,  and often with advantage.  In
tire convalescence from  protracted  fevers, it often acts  beneficially as a tonic,
exciting  the appetite  and promoting  digestion.  As  an astringent, it is  em-
ployed in colliquative sweats, passive hemorrhages, and diarrhoeas dependent
on a relaxed state of the mucous membrane of the  intestines.   In calculous
affections attended with phosphatic sediments  it is the  proper remedy, being
preferable to muriatic acid, as  less apt,  by continued use,  to disorder the sto-
mach.   Externally it is used as  an ingredient in gargles for ulcerated sore-
throat, and for checking excessive ptyalism, and as a wash for cutaneous erup-
tions  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 
PART II.
Acida.
859
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. (See Acidum
Sulphuricum Aromaticum.)   An elegant form for giving it is the compound
infusion of roses.  (See Infusum Posse Compositum.)
   In 1851,  attention was called by Mr. Buxton, of London, to the remarkable
efficacy of diluted sulphuric acid in several forms of diarrhoea, especially chole-
raic diarrhoea.  In October, 1853, Dr.  H. W.  Fuller,  of St.  George's Hos-
pital, published a paper  in the London  Medical Times and Gazette,  in which
he strongly recommends  it in choleraic diarrhoea, from his own experience and
that of his  friends, in more than ninety cases,  without  a single failure.   The
dose  employed was half a fluidrachm, diluted with water, given  every twenty
minutes in  ordinary cases; every quarter  of an hour  in severe  cases.   The
vomiting, purging, and cramps  usually  ceased after  the third or fourth dose.
For bilious diarrhoea the acid is not a suitable remedy.
   Pharm.  Uses.  Diluted sulphuric acid is  used as a chemical agent to prepare
Acidum Citricum, Acidum  Tartaricum, Aconitia,  Antimonii  Sulphuretum
Prascipitatum, and Strychnia.
    Off. Prep. Atropias  Sulphas; Infusum_Rosas Compositum; Morphias Sul-
phas ; Potassas Sulphas ; Quinas Sulphas ; Zinci Sulphas.              B.
    ACIDUM SULPHURICUM  PURUM. Ed., Dub.  Pure Sulphuric
Acid.
   " If Commercial Sulphuric Acid contain  nitrous acid,  heat eight fluidounces
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 impu-
rities 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 retort, by means of a
sand-bath or gas flame,  rejecting the first half ounce."  Ed.
   " Take of Oil of Yitriol of Commerce any convenient quantity.  Introduce
it into a small plain retort, containing a  few slips of platinum foil, and, passing
the beak of the retort  into a Florence flask which is to be used as a receiver,
with the aid of a small charcoal fire  or  gas-lamp, distil  over one-tenth of the
acid.   This being rejected, and a fresh receiver of the same  kind connected
with the retort, let the distillation be resumed, and  continued until no  more
than about  an ounce of liquid remains behind.   The distilled product should
now be transferred to and preserved in  a well-stopped bottle.  The sp. gr. of
this Acid is 1-846."  Dub.
   The object of these processes is the purification of commercial sulphuric acid.
This  acid contains the  sulphates of lead and potassa,  amounting not unfre-
quently 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 distilla-
tion, as directed in the formula.   The manner of conducting the distillation is
explained at page 52, under the head of Acidum Sulphuricum.   The mode
of detecting nitrous acid  is pointed out at page 51. If present  in the commer-
cial acid, the Edinburgh College directs, before distilling it, that it should be
heated with a small proportion of sugar, according  to-  the plan  of Wacken-
roder.   The acid impurity and sugar mutually decompose each other, and the
products are dissipated by the heat.  The sulphuric 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 is decomposed by nitrous acid,
with evolution of chlorine.  Hence the Edinburgh College uses pure sulphuric 
860
Acida.
PART II.
 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 51.     ,
   The following  tests are given by  the Ed. College for pure sulphuric acid.
 "Density 1-845: colourless: dilution causes no muddiness : solution of sulphate
 of iron shows no reddening at the line of contact, when poured over it."  The
 negative indication of the last named test  shows the absence of  nitrous acid.
   It is, perhaps, an advantage  to have  an officinal pure sulphuric acid, to be
 employed in making  the preparations containing this acid;  in order to avoid
 the  danger of introducing lead into the system, through the use of the commer-
 cial acid.  It is true that the commercial acid, upon dilution, lets fall the sul-
 phate of lead;  but can we be certain that the precipitate is always removed
 from the preparations into which the acid  enters ?  When the acid is required
 as a mere chemical 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 Pharmacopoeia. The College 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 com-
 mercial or pure acid;  but we shall  assume  that it  is intended to designate the
 commercial acid.
   According to the views above expressed, 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.  In cases in  which a dilute acid is required as a chemical agent and
 not _ as  a medicine, it  might be  directed, 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 "pure sulphuric acid" in making pre-
 parations into which the acid enters as an  ingredient,  it has, with needless re-
 finement, directed it for preparing Acidum Aceticum and Acidum Muriaticum
 Purum; though in these preparations it acts merely as a chemical agent.
 _ It is very much to be wished that the mineral acids, when  diluted for medi-
 cinal use, should be diluted according to a uniform plan.   Mr. Squire, of Lon-
 don, has proposed that a given  volume of  the diluted acid should always con-
 tain  the same weight of dry acid.   This uniformity may be effected by dissolving,
 m every case,_ an ounce of the dry  acid, or its equivalent weight of hydrated
 acid, in  sufficient water to  make the solution  measure  ten fluidounces.  Thus
 prepared, the diluted mineral acids would contain one grain of dry acid in every
 ten minims of the diluted acid. (Pharm.  Journ. and Trans., xv. 396.)
   Off. Prep.  Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum; Acidum Sulphuricum Dilu-
 tum  ; Potassas Bisulphas.                                             B.

   ACIDUM TANNICUM.  U.  S., Lond., Dub.   Tannic  Acid.
   "Take of  Galls, m powder, 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 Ether
 previously washed with water, 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. 
PART II.
Acida.
861
   "The upper portion of liquid will yield by distillation a quantity of ether,
 which, when washed with water, may be employed in a subsequent operation."
 U.S.
   The London College places Tannic Acid  in  the  catalogue of the Materia
 Medica,  prescribing that it shall be prepared from galls.  The process of the
 Dublin  College is the same  as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  In relation
 to the washing of the ether, it gives the more precise direction, to incorporate
 the  ether and water by agitation in the proportion of 12 parts,  by measure, of
 the  former to 1 of the latter.
   The U. S. process is that of M. Pelouze.   It may be conducted in an ordi-
 nary percolator.  The ether employed should be that of the shops, containing
 a small proportion of water, which has been considered necessary to the  success
 of the operation.  It has therefore been advised,  should the ether contain no
 water, to wash it with that fluid, which  answers the double purpose  of  depriv-
 ing it of alcohol and rendering it sufficiently hydrous.  To obtain  the tannic
 acid quite pure, the lower stratum may be washed with ether after the separation
 of the upper, and evaporated in a vacuum with  sulphuric acid.-  The explana-
 tion first given of the process was  that the water in the ether dissolves the tan-
 nic  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.  But it has been satisfactorily proved that ether  as well
 as water is present in the solution; and the idea was advanced by M. Beral that
 the  tannic acid, ether, and water form a definite compound, which is essentially
 liquid, and is decomposed during the evaporation; the two fluids escaping, and
 the  solid tannic acid being  left behind.  M. E. Robiquet considers  the liquid
 not as a definite compound of these ingredients,  but simply as a "juxtaposition
 of water, tannic acid, and ether"  in various  proportions;  founding his belief
 upon the fact, that at 22° F. the liquid separates into two layers, of which one
 is ether and the other a watery solution  of tannin, while at about 130°  F. it is
 resolved into dry tannin and common sulphuric ether.  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.
   According to Sandrock, the presence  of water in  the ether is unnecessary;
 and  crude ether acts better than the pure, in consequence of the small proportion
 of alcohol contained in it.   If pure ether mixed with one-sixteenth of alcohol
 be employed as the menstruum, equally satisfactory results are obtained.  The
 alcohol is supposed to operate by rendering the  solution of the tannin in ether
 less  viscid, and thereby facilitating its percolation. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
 xxv. 446.)  Professor Procter informs us that his  experience corresponds with
 that of Sandrock, but that the product is apt to contain a little of the  brown
 colouring matter.   Whether obtained  by one or the other of these methods,
 tannin has usually a yellowish tinge, from which, according to F. Kiimmell, it
 may be freed by the percolation, through recently ignited animal charcoal, of
 its solution in a mixture of ether and alcohol.  This end may be accomplished
 by placing a layer of the charcoal above the cotton, in Sandrock's process.
 (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xv. 120, from Archives der Pharm.)
   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. 
862
Acida.
PART II.
 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  pro-
 cess 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 inter-
 fere with the medicinal efficacy of the preparation.
   The term tannin was originally applied to a principle or principles existing in
 many vegetables, having a very astringent teste, and the properties of producing
 a white flocculent precipitate with solution of gelatin,  and a black precipitate
 with the salts of sesquioxide of iron.   As  obtained, however,  from different
 plants, it 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 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 peculiarity 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 publi-
 cation 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, de-
 nominated tannic acid.   The ordinary variety procured  from galls is called, for
 the sake of distinction, by some gallo-tannic  acid, and by others  querci-tannic
 acid.  According to Pettenkoffer, tannic acid, in all its varieties, is found only
 in perennial plants, indicating some  relation to the production of woody fibre.
 (Buchner's Neues Repert iii. 74-76.)
   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 -anhy-
 drous, and insoluble in the fixed and volatile oils.   It may be kept 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.  But, according to M. E. Robiquet,  this change does not always
 take  place, and, when it does happen, is ascribable  to the presence of pectase
 in the tannin.  (See Acidum Gallicum, page 843.)  If the solution of tannic
 acid be boiled for a long time, the pectase loses its  property of acting as a  fer-
 ment, and the solution may be  kept indefinitely without change.  (Journ. de
 Pharm., Avril, 1853, p.  246.)
   Exposed to heat, tannic acid  partly melts, swells up, blackens, takes fire, and
 burns with a brilliant flame.  Thrown on red-hot iron, it is entirely dissipated.
 Its solution reddens litmus, and it combines with most of the salifiable bases.
 It forms with potassa, a compound but slightly soluble, and is, therefore, precip-
 itated 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 combination with soda  is much  more soluble;  and  this alkali affords no
 precipitate, 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 pre-
 sented, 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, 
   part ii.            t*          Acida.                              863

   especially those of lead, copper, silver, uranium, chromium, mercury, teroxide
   of antimony, and protoxide of tin.  With the salts of sesquioxide of iron it
   forms a black precipitate, which is a compound of tannic acid and the sesqui-
   oxide, 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
   abstracting the solvent.
     Tannic acid unites with all the vegetable organic 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 cohipounds
   which tannic acid  forms with other vegetable principles.  On  account of this
   property of tannic acid, it has been employed  as a test of the vegetable alka-
   lies ; and it is so delicate, that it will throw down a precipitate from their so-
   lution,  even when too feeble to be  disturbed by ammonia.
     It has an affinity for several acids, and when in solution affords precipitates
i   with the sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, phosphoric, and arsenic acids, but not with
   the oxalic, tartaric, lactic, acetic, or citric.   The precipitates are considered as
   compounds of tannic acid with the respective acids mentioned, and are soluble
   in pure water, but insoluble in water with an excess of acid.   Hence, in  order
   to insure precipitation, it is necessary to add the acid in excess to the solution
   of tannic acid.  Strecker, however, denies that the precipitates are compounds
   of the tannin, with the acid and maintains that they are merely tannin imbued
   with free acid. (Chem. Gaz., no. 287, p. 370.)
     When tannic acid, iodine, and water are mixed, a reaction takes place, by
   which the water is decomposed; its hydrogen forming with the iodine  hydriod-
   ic acid,  which combines with a 'portion of the tannic acid  and remains in
   solution, while the oxygen of the water combines with another portion of the
   tannic acid, to form a compound, which, being  insoluble, is precipitated.   The
   iodized solution thus obtained is capable of dissolving more iodine, and  hold-
   ing it in permanent solution, however much diluted. (Socquet and Guilliermond,
   Journ.  de Pharm. et de Chim., xxvi. 280.)
     Tannic acid precipitates 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 C18Hs012 or  C18H509+3HO.   Mulder, however,  from
   recent investigations, considers it isomeric with gallic acid, and gives its formula
   C^HgO^-t- HO.  Strecker looks Upon it as a compound of gallic acid and grape
   sugar, the latter of which is destroyed in the spontaneous change that moisten-
   ed galls undergo by time.  (See Acidum Gallicum, page 845.)  He gives as its
  formula C54HlflOal for the anhydrous acid, which, by the addition of 3 eqs. of
  water, becomes the hydrated acid C^H^O,,,,, differing from Liebig's by 2 eqs. of
  water.  (Chem. Gaz.,  no. 287, p. 370.)   M. E. Robiquet denies the complex
  nature  ascribed to  tannic acid by Strecker, and maintains that, when trans-
  formed into gallic acid by the pectic ferment or by sulphuric acid,  it is simply
  by a molecular change, and not by the destruction of  one of its constituents.
  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xxvi. 31.)
    Medical 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 vege-
  table 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 
 864                             Acida:                         PARTIL

 pure astringency without any tonic power.   Such is particularlv the case in the
 active hemorrhages; and tannic acid*, in its separate state, is in these cases pre-
 ferable 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 experience in  1827.  M. Cavalier
 afterwards used it successfully in the same complaint, and found it effectual also
 in a case of bleeding from the rectum.  It is, without doubt, a useful remedy
 in most forms of hemorrhage, after a sufficient reduction of arterial action by
 depletory measures.  In diarrhoea it is probably more beneficial than ordinary
 astringents, as less liable to irritate the stomach and bowels. It has been found
 beneficial in colliquative sweats, in cases of chronic catarrh with excessive and
 debilitating expectoration, in the advanced  stages  of hooping-cough, and in
 cystirrhcea.   The dose for ordinary purposes is from two to five grains, but in
 urgent cases it may be increased to ten grains.  The only disadvantage which
 has been experienced from it, when taken in excess, is obstinate constipation.
 Locally, it may be used for all the purposes to which galls  or  other vegetable
 astringents are applicable;  as for hemorrhages, relaxation of the uvula and
 chronic inflammation of the fauces, toothache, aphthas,  excessive salivation,
 leucorrhoea, gleet, gonorrhoea, flabby and phagedenic ulcers, piles, chilblains, &c.'
 As a wash it may be used in solution, in the proportion of five  grains to a fluid-
 ounce of water.  A Belgian surgeon,  M. Hairion, recommends a  strong solu-
 tion, made in  the proportion of one part of tannic acid to three of distilled
 water, as an application in various ophthalmic affections; as acute and chronic
 inflammation, ulcers and specks on the cornea,  swelling of the  conjunctiva, &c.
 (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xviii. 449.)  An  ointment  may be made from
 it by rubbing two scruples first with twenty minims of water into a paste, and
 then with an ounce  of lard.   A solution in glycerin which  dissolves it  freely,
 has been recommended by Dr. Wm. Bayes, of Brighton, England, as a power-
 ful styptic, and an excellent  local application in diseases of the mucous surfaces
 requiring an astringent impression.
   Given largely to a dog, tannic acid 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.)   Hence it is probable that,
 when absorbed, it undergoes a change  into one or both these acids, and that it
 is through these that it produces its effects on  the system.              W.

                          ACONITIA.  17. &

                                Aconitia.

   "Take of Aconite Root, bruised, two pounds;  Alcohol three gallons; Di-
 luted Sulphuric Acid, Solution of Ammonia, Purified Animal Charcoal, each,
 a sufficient quantity.   Boil the Aconite Root with a gallon of the alcohol, in
 a distillatory apparatus, for an hour.   Pour off the liquor, and boil  the root
 in the same manner, and for the same  length of time, y*rith  another gallon of
 the Alcohol and the portion distilled.   Again pour off the liquor, boil as be-
 fore with the remaining gallon of the Alcohol and the portion distilled, and de-
 cant.  Submit the residue to expression, mix all the liquors, distil off the alco-
 hol, and evaporate, by means of a water-bath, to the consistence of an extract.
 Treat this with distilled water, filter the resulting solution, and evaporate with
 a gentle heat to the  consistence of syrup.   To the  residue  add as much Di-
luted Sulphuric Acid, mixed with distilled water,' as may be sufficient to  dis-
solve the Aconitia.   Precipitate this with Solution of Ammonia, and dissolve
the precipitate in Diluted Sulphuric Acid mixed with distilled water as before. 
PART II.
Aconitia.
865
   Mix the Animal Charcoal with the solution, shake the mixture frequently for
   fifteen minutes, filter, again precipitate the Aconitia with Solution of Ammonia,
   and, lastly, wash it with water, and dry it." U S. •
     Aconitia 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 am-
   monia, which precipitates the aconitia, 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 solution of ammonia, which diminishes the pro-
   duct 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 brownish,
   brittle fiiass. (Soubeiran, Trait, de Pharm., ii. 716.)  It is thought not to be
   crystallizable.   Obtainedby evaporating its alcoholic solution, it is described as
   being in the form of a transparent, colourless mass, having a glassy lustre.  In
   powder, it is white  when quite pure.  It is inodorous, and of a bitter and acrid

     * The following process, recommended by Mr. F. W. Headland, of London, as being
   the most satisfactory and productive  of those tried by himself, is given in the second
   edition of  Royle's Manual of Materia Medica, p. 288.   "Take of the root of Aconitum
  Jerox, coarsely bruised, two pounds, of rectified spirit three gallons.  Boil the Aconite
   with a gallon of the spirit for an  hour, in a retort with a receiver adapted to it.   Pour
   off the spirit.  Boil  the residue with another gallon, and with that which  distilled
   over.  Pour off again, and do the  same a third time.  Press the root, and mix the solu-
   tions.  Filter.  Distil off the spirit from the tincture thus obtained until this is of the
   consistence of thin syrup.  Then pour it out of the retort, and mix with twice its bulk
   of distilled water, and  excels of sulphuric acid.  Filter carefully from the precipitate pro-
   duced, until it is quite clear.  Then again evaporate gently in a water-bath to the con-
  sistence of syrup.   Pour this syrupy liquid, which should not exceed two fluidounces
.  into a stoppered bottle, of which it shall occupy about one-third.   Add then an excess
  of strong solution of ammonia, and shake gently.   To the white mass produced add an
  equal bulk of pure ether.  Insert the stopper tightly, and, holding the bottle in a damp
  cloth, with a finger on the stopper, shake briskly for  a few minutes.   Allow then a
  sufficient time for the  ether to rise above the water, and. when it has completely sepa-
  rated, remove the stopper, and take up carefully the ethereal solution from the surface
  of the water with a pipette or common glass  syringe.   Pour it into an open basin
  Again shake up the watery solution with another equal bulk of ether, and remove this
  in the same manner.   Do the same a third time.   Let the ethereal- solution evaporate
  spontaneously.  The Aconitia is deposited.
    "This process is quick and certain.  It is  not difficult; but great care should be
  taken throughout, on account of the very dangerous na-ture of the product.
    "The Aconitia thus prepared is transparent and vitreous in appearance, and of a
  very light yellow colour, like good gum arabic.  With  the exception of this tinge of
  colouring matter it is  quite pure.  If  required white, it may be again dissolved in a
  small quantity of acid  and water, precipitated by ammonia, and extracted by ether as
  before.  But some of it will be lost by  so doing, and there will be no increase in the
  medicinal  virtue of the product."
  _ According to Mr. Headland, the  process of the former London Pharmacopoeia which
 is the one adopted in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and given in the.text, has generally if
 not invariably proved unsuccessful, even in skilful hands.  The defects of this process
 are mainly the employment of so large  an amount of water, the repeated solutions and
 the use of animal charcoal, which  has the property of absorbing the alkaloids.
   The root  of Aconitum ferox, from the E. Indies, is preferred in consequence of its
 greater yield.  A specimen of this, which we have had the opportunity of examining
 was in single roots, fusiform, from two and a half to three and a half inches long from
 half an inch to an inch and a half thick at the thickest part near the top, gradually
 tapering to a point, unequally wrinkled  from drying, of a dark-brown colour externally,
 yellowish internally, hard, with  a shining wax-like  fracture, and the characteristic
 taste of the aconites in a high degree.— Note to the tenth edition.
        55 
866
Aconitia.
PART n.
taste, producing a benumbing impression on the tongue.   The acrimony, how-
ever, 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 tempera-
ture it is decomposed, with  the escape of ammonia,  and by a continuance of
the heat is 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 neutralizes the acids; but its salts are not crystal-
lizable.   Their solution produces a white precipitate with bichloride of platinum
a yellowish with terchloride of gold, and a yellowish-brown with free iodine!
That it contains nitrogen is proved by the evolution of ammonia, when it is de-
composed by heat.   Dr. A. von Planta gives as  its formula NC6()H4.014.  (Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xxiii.  40, from Liebig's Annalen.)   A spurious substance
has sometimes been sold  under  the same name, which is  nearly or quite inert-
and at best the alkaloid is apt to be of uncertain strength, as found in the shops.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   This vegetable principle exercises a powerful
influence over the animal economy.   One-fiftieth of a  grain dissolved in alcohol
destroyed a sparrow in a few minutes; and  the  same quantity administered 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 symp-
toms 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, laudanum, and nutriment.
(Lond.  Med, Gaz., Jan. 1847.)  Dr. "Van Praag found, in his experiments with
aconitia on the lower animals, that it lessens  cerebral  power, paralyzes the
nerves of voluntary motion, dilates the pupil, retards respiration, is uncertain
in its influence on the pulse, and destroys life either suddenly by asphyxia, or
more slowly by exhaustion.  Aconitia is not used internally as a remedy; but
Dr. Turnbull has advantageously resorted to its external application.  Accord-
ing to this writer, it produces in the skin a sensation of heat and prickling, fol-
lowed by numbness and a feeling of constriction;  and the effect continues, ac-
cording 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.  Dr. Turnbull employed
it with benefit in 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 two grains of the alkali first with six drops of
alcohol, and then with a drachm of lard.   These proportions are sufficiently
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 sensation
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 membrane, for fear
of dangerous constitutional effects.   It is seldom used,  and all its advantages
can be obtained from safer and cheaper preparations of aconite.         W. 
part ii.                       JEtherea.                            867
                             ^ETHEREA.

                                 Ethers.

   Ethers are peculiar, fragrant,  sweetish, very volatile, and inflammable sub-
 stances, generated for the most part by the action of acids on alcohol.   Their
 composition varies with the acid employed in theh^ formation.  Sometimes this
 merely acts as a chemical agent on the alcohol, without entering into the com-
 position of the ether  generated; in which case the ether may be supposed to
 consist of  ethylen (etherine) C4H4, and  water.  In other instances the acid
 employed  unites with  ethylen  and water (the  ether just mentioned), or with
 ethylen only.   On the basis of these differences of composition,  the medicinal
 ethers may be divided into three kinds:  1. those  consisting of ethylen and water;
 2. those consisting of an acid, ethylen,  and water; and 3.  those composed of an
 acid  and ethylen only.   Hydric ether is  the only medicinal ether of the first
 kind, hyponitrous ether is an example  of the second, and muriatic ether of the
 third.  In medicine, the hydric and hyponitrous ethers, and their modifications,
 are  those  most commonly employed;  though  occasionally the muriatic and
 acetic 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.
   .ETHER.   U.S.,  Lond.  ESTHER SULPHURICUS. Ed., Dub.
 Ether.    Sulphuric  Ether.   Hydric  Ether.   Hydrate  of Ethylen.
 Oxide of Ethyl.
   " Take of Alcoho] 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 has passed over, introduce gradually into the retort
 the remainder of the Alcohol, previously mixed with two fluidounces of the Acid,
 taking care that tne mixture shall enter in a continuous  stream, and  in  such
 quantity as shall supply the place, as nearly as possible, of the liquid which dis-
 tils over.  This may be accomplished  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 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 distillation until about three pints  have passed over, or
 until white vapours appear in the retort.  To  the product thus obtained add
 the Potassa, previously dissolved in the Distilled Water, and shake them fre-
 quently.   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 have passed over,  or until the distilled liquid has the specific
 gravity 0-750." U.S.
  " Take of Rectified Spirit fifty fluidounces; Sulphuric Acid ten fluidounces.
Pour twelve fluidounces of the Spirit gently over the Acid contained in an open
vessel, and then stir them together briskly and thoroughly.  Transfer the mixture
immediately into a glass matrass  connected with a refrigeratory,  and raise the
heat quickly to about 280°.  As soon as the ethereal fluid begins to distil over, 
868
JEtherea.
part ii.
 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 mat-
 rass,—and having a stop-cock on the tube to regulate 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 threepints [Imp. meas.]; Oil of Vitriol of Commerce
 eight fluidounces [Imp. meas.] ; Fresh burned  Lime, in fine powder, one ounce
 [avoirdupois].   Mix the Acid in ten  ounces of the Spirit in a glass matrass,
 capable of holding a quart at least, and, without allowing the mixture to cool,
 connect the matrass with a Liebig's condenser, and, applying a sufficient heat to
 maintain the liquid in brisk  ebullition, commence the distillation.  As it pro-
 ceeds, admit  gradually, through a glass tube traversing the cork of the matrass,
 the remainder of the spirit, regulating its influx so that the boiling liquid shall
 maintain a constant level; and, when the entire of it has been introduced, con-
 tinue the application  of the heat until the contents of the matrass become black,
 and show a tendency to froth over.   (The tube through which the  Spirit enters
 should dip by its lower extremity, where its diameter is contracted, at least half
 an inch beneath the surface of the liquid in the matrass;  and the eduction pipe
 of the reservoir for the Spirit, with which the exterior extremity of  the glass
 tube  is connected, should be furnished with a stop-cock, to regulate the descent
' of the Spirit.  This reservoir also should be placed at least three feet aboye the
 level of the boiling liquid.)   The crude Ether thus obtained is to be agitated
 with the pulverized quicklime, and then rectified; the distillation being con-
 tinued as long as the product, on being well shaken, continues to have a specific
 gravity lower than 0-750.   The resulting liquid should be preserved in a cool
 place in accurately stopped bottles.   A fresh receiver being attached to the fur-
 ther end of the condenser, and the distillation resumed, a product will be obtained
 which maybe substituted for Rectified Spirit in a subsequent ether process."  Dub.
   In  the  last sentence  of the above process, a misprint occurs in the Dublin
 Pharmacopoeia  of the word "reservoir" for receiver,  which we have corrected.
   The London College, in its Pharmacopoeia of 1851, has transferred ether to
 the list of the Materia Medica, giving the following explanatory note and  tests.
 " Ether prepared from alcohol by the action of sulphuric acid.   It is free from
 colour, and its sp. gr. does not exceed 0*750.   It wholly evaporates in the air,
 and reddens  litmus slightly or not at all.   A fluidounce requires for its complete
 solution ten  fluidounces of water with which it quickly unites."
   The preparation of ether embraces two stages; its generation, and  its subse-
 quent 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, while  still hot  from  the
 reaction, distilled from a glass retort, by a heat quickly applied, into a refrige-
 rated receiver.   When the distUled 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 continuous stream, the supply being so regulated 
PART II.
JEtherea.
869
  as to equal the amount of the liquid which distils over.   By a complicated reac-
  tion 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 pro-
  ceeds, it would be able to etherize an unlimited quantity of alcohol.  Although
  the acid, before it becomes too dilute, is capable of determining  the decomposi-
  tion 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 of the progress of the distillation, is disappearing by its conversion
  into ether.   As,  however, the acid in the retort has already become 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 ether.
    The  Edinburgh and Dublin processes for the  generation of ether are, in
  their general features, the same with that of the IT. S. Pharmacopoeia.  In the
  Edinburgh process less  than a fourth of the  alcohol is placed in the distilling
  vessel, previously 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 conveniently condensed
 by means of Liebig's excellent refrigeratory, described and figured at page 833.
   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 of them products arising frOm the
 decomposition of  a portion of sulphuric  acid, alcohol, and ether.   Even though
 the process may be stopped in time,  yet the ether obtained is contaminated with
 sulphurous acid, heavy oil of wine,  alcohol, and water; and hence its purifica-
 tion becomes necessary.  This is conducted in various ways, according to the
 different Pharmacopoeias.  The U.  S. Pharmacopoeia directs for this purpose
 an aqueous solution of potassa, the Edinburgh a saturated solution of chloride
 of calcium (muriate of  lime), to which  a portion of recently slaked  lime has
 been added, and the Dublin fresh burned lime.  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 IT. S. formula ;  lime for acid, and a saturated solution
 of chloride of calcium for alcohol and water, in the Edinburgh ; and lime alone
 in the Dublin.   The Edinburgh substances  for  purifying are  stated by Dr.
 Christison  to be convenient,  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  separating the crystals of sulphite of  lime which form on cooling, the
chloride may be recovered for future operations. 
870                            ^Etherea.                       part ii.

   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 apparatus, 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 deliver-
ing end of the  condensing-pipe."  (Manual of Chemistry, edition  of 1848.)
For an account  of the apparatus,  used in  the U. S. Naval Laboratory for ob-
taining ether  by steam on a large  scale, see an article by E. 11, Squibb, M. D.
U. S. Navy, contained in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for Sept.  1856.
  Properties.   Ether is a colourless  very limpid liquid, of a strong and sweet
odour, and hot  pungent taste.  As prepared for medical use, it generally red-
dens litmus slightly, though this is not a property belonging to the pure sub-
stance ; 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 0-713, boils at 95°, and forms a vapour which has the density of 2-586.
It is  not frozen by a cold  of 166°  below zero. (Faraday, Philos. 3Iag. and
Journ. of Sci. for March, 1845.)   The officinal strength of the United States
ether is 0-750 ;  of the London, 0750  or under;  of the Edinburgh, 0*735 or
under ; of the Dublin, under 0-?50. -  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 0-735 ; because, according to that writer, com-
mercial 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. 0T20,
boils at about 98°.  Its extreme volatility causes  it to evaporate speedily in
the open air, with the production of  considerable cold.   When good it evapo-
rates 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 care 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 freely, and sulphur and phospho-
rus sparingly.  The last mentioned substance is generally exhibited in ethereal
solution.  (See Phosphorus.)  Its power to dissolve corrosive-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, caout-
chouc, 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.   When water dissolves  more  than a tenth of its volume, the  ether
is shown to contain an undue quantity of water  or  alcohol,  or both.  Ether
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 
PART II.
.  ^Etherea.
871
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 wdth the alcohol, forming a heavier stratum
after rest,  from which the  ether may be  poured off.   The ether by this treat-
ment dissolves about a tenth of its bulk of water," from which it  may be purified
by agitation  with  fresh burnt lime,  and  subsequent distillation.  An easy
method for detecting and measuring any alcohol present in ether, is given  by
the Edinburgh College; namely, to agitate it, in a minim measure,  with half
its volume of a concentrated solution 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.   Heavy oil of wine may be discovered by the
ether becoming milky upon being mixed with water.
   Composition,  and Theory of its Production.  Ether consists of four  eqs.
of carbon, five of hydrogen, and one  of oxygen, and its empirical formula is
C,H-0.   In  volumes it  consists of four volumes of carbon vapour, five volumes
of hydrogen, and half a volume of oxygen, condensed  into one volume.   Its
proximate constituents may be considered to be one  eq. of ethylen  (etherine)
and one of water; or, in volumes, one volume of ethylen vapour  and one volume
of aqueous vapour, condensed into  one volume.   This view makes it a hydrate
of ethylen (C4H4-f HO).   The sp. gr. of its vapour, calculated on this consti-
tution in  volume, is 2-5817, which is very near 2-586, the number obtained by
experiment.   By  some chemists,  however, the constituents  of the  ethylen,
together with the hydrogen of the alleged water, are supposed to form a pecu-
liar  radical, consisting of C4H-, to which the name of  ethyl has been given.
On  this view, ether is  an oxide of ethyl (C4H5+0).   This view of  its  con-
stitution is confirmed by Dr. E. Frankland,  who has isolated ethyl by acting on
iodide of  ethyl with zinc.   As described by him, ethyl is a colourless, inflam-
mable gas, of the  sp. gr. 2,  incondensible at zero, but condensible, under  a
pressure of 2'25 atmospheres at 37.5°, into a colourless, mobile liquid.  Ether
is generally called  sulphuric  ether, in allusion  to  the  sulphuric acid usually
employed in  its preparation; but it contains no  sulphuric acid,  and an identical
ether may be obtained by the action of  other substances on alcohol.   Hence
the epithet sulphuric is improperly applied to  it;  and,  accordingly, its name
has  been changed from JEther Sulphuricus to Aether in the U. S. and London
Pharmacopoeias of 1850  and 1851.  Those who consider ether to be a com-
pound of ethylen and water, call it hydric ether, or hydrate of  ethylen; but its
more probable constitution is expressed  by  the name, oxide of  ethyl; and this
view of its nature will be adopted in our subsequent remarks.
   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  hy-
drated  oxide of ethyl, and ether,  oxide of ethyl without water.  It  follows,
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. Hennell.   This chemist  found that, when two eqs. of sulphuric
acid and one of  alcohol were merely mixed, the acid lost a portion of its satu-
rating power, and a new acid was  formed, to which he gave the name of sul-
phovinic acid (the etherosulphuric acid of Liebig).   In view of its compo-
sition it may be called a bisulphate of alcohol, or,  whjch 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 compound 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. 
872
xEtherea.  •
PART II.
  If the original proportion of acid and alcohol continued the same throughout
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 di-
minishing, 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 unchanged in amount, it  is easy to un-
derstand why it is advantageous to add alcohol gradually to the distilling ves-
sel  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 dis-
tillation, passes over with the ether.
  The above theory of etherification was called in question, in 1851, by Prof.
Graham, of London, who succeeded in  producing ether without distillation,
or the formation of sulphovinic acid, by using a larger proportion of alcohol
than is ordinarily employed.  The reaction was made to take place in sealed
glass tubes, heated for a  short time to a temperature between 284° and  352°.
The sulphuric acid'appeared to act by mere contact with the alcohol, in  deter-
mining the production of ether, without combining- with anything.   For a new
theory of  etherification see an article  by M. E. Robiquet, in the Journal de
Pharmacie et de Chimie, for Sept. 1854.
  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 inflam-
mation.  In nausea it is given as a  cordial; and in cramp of the stomach
and flatulent colic, it sometimes yields prompt relief.   Given alone,  or mixed
with oil of turpentine, it relieves 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.
In a case of chronic functional vomiting, Dr. Galante, of Arpino, found ether,
given in capsules, of singular efficacy.  When externally applied it may act
either as a stimulant or refrigerant.  Thus, it  operates as  a powerful rubefa-
cient, and may even vesicate, when its evaporation is repressed; but, when this
is allowed to take place freely, it is refrigerant in consequence of the cold  which
it produces.  In the latter  way it has been  employed in strangulated hernia,
dropped on the tumour and allowed to evaporate.  Dr. J. Nunn, of Savannah,
Ga., praises its effect as a local anassthetic in  recent burns, applied, guttatim,
from a bottle, while the part is subjected to a stream of air. (Charleston 3kd.
Journ,, Sept. 1855.)  It sometimes produces  immediate relief when dropped
into the ear in earache.  For external use, the unrectified  ether is sufficiently
pure.  The dose of 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 is conveniently administered in  capsules, each containing four or five
minims of pure ether, according to the plan of M.  Clertan, of Dijon.   These
capsules are made of sugared gum.   (See Capsules of Gelatin in Part III.)
 Capsules of ether, also called pearls of ether, are inodorous,  will keep for a 
  part ii.                       Mtherea.                            873

  year at least without loss, and furnish the means of introducing ether into the
  stomach, without irritating  the  mouth and throat.  In a' few seconds  after
  they arrive in the stomach, they burst  and diffuse their  effects with singular
  rapidity.  Analogous effects are  produced when they are introduced into the
  rectum or vagina.  Ether may be gelatinized  by the process of M. Grimault.
  This consists in briskly shaking,  in a stoppered bottle, four measures of ether,
  free from alcohol and acid, with  one measure of white of  egg.   Gelatinized
  ether is an opaline trembling jelly, which may be spread with the greatest
  facility.   It may be used as a local anassthetic, applied to the seat of pain,
  spread  on linen, and  covered with a piece of cloth or of sheet  caoutchouc.
  Gelatinized ether will not keep, but must be prepared at the time it is wanted.
    Etherization.   Ether may be exhibited by inhalation.  Many years ago, its
  use in this way was proposed by Drs. Beddoes, Pearson, and Thornton, of Eng-
  land, in certain diseases of the  lungs.  As early as 1805, the late Dr. Warren,
  of Boston, employed ethereal inhalation to relieve the distress attending the last
  stage of pulmonary inflammation.  About the year 1812, 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 experiment or diversion; and
  its effects in producing transient intoxication, analogous to that caused by the
  nitrous oxide, were observed.   It was not, however, until October, 1846, that
  attention was particularly drawn  to ethereal inhalation as a remedy for pain.
  In that month, Dr. Warren, of Boston, was applied to by Dr. W.  T. G. Mor-
  ton, dentist of that city, to ascertain by trial whether an agent which he had
  successfully employed  to  render  painless the  extracting of teeth, would be
  equally successful in preventing the pain of 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. C.  T. Jack-
 son,  of Boston, in conversation with Dr. Warren,  claimed to have  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 preven-
 tion and removal of pain, has spread throughout the civilized world.  The effect
 produced, called etherization, probably takes place through the medium  of the
 blood.  It is sometimes partial, suspending sensibility, without abolishing con-
 sciousness; so that the patient, without feeling pain, is aware of everything that
 is passing around him.  At other times, a perfect unconsciousness 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 relaxing  agent is
 usefully brought into play; as in the treatment of strictures of the urethra and
 oesophagus, strangulated  hernia, retention of urine, dislocations, fractures, an-
 chylosis, &c.  In all these cases, the necessary surgical manipulations are very
 much  interfered with by the muscular contractions excited  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, etheriza-
tion may be usefully employed. 
 874                            JEtherea.                       part ii.

   Etherization has been employed for the detection of feigned diseases, by sus-
 pending the operation of the will; in neuralgia, as a palliative; in tetanus, and
 in the spasms produced by an over-dose of strychnia, as an antispasmodic; in
 asthma'and chronic bronchitis, as an expectorant; and in dysmenorrhoea, as
 an anodyne and relaxing remedy.   Dr. Warren found it useful in relieving the
 agoniziug sufferings which often attend the latter complaint.   In vivisections,
 humanity calls for the use of  ether vapour or other anassthetic agent.
   Etherization, employed in midwifery as an anassthetic, is growing in favour
 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 secre-
 tions of the soft parts.
   Ethereal vapour is most conveniently inhaled through a soft sponge, hollowed
 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 ethereal vapour
 is copiously mixed with  air, and  there is no fear of inducing asphyxia.  At
 first a short cough is generally produced, but this soon disappears ; and,  after the
 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.   Should  the  etherization  prove excessive, or convulsions
 supervene, an event which rarely happens, the ether must be immediately with-
 drawn, and cold water freely applied. This is the mode of proceeding  in surgi-
 cal operations; in midwifery cases, partial etherization is often sufficient.  In a
 few cases  persons become unmanageable under the influence of  the ethereal
 vapour; and hence the propriety of a preliminary trial of its effects on a patient,
 before  subjecting  him to a surgical operation.   In a few instances etherization
 has  produced  alarming  remote effects.  Dr.  F. D. Lente has  reported three
 cases of this kind.  (New York Journ. of 3Ied,,  Nov.  1856.)  Sometimes death
 has ensued; but the number of fatal cases has been small, compared  with the
 great number in which  ether has been used in this  way.  (See  Treatise on
 Etherization, by  John C. Warren, M. D., Boston, 1848.)
   Pharm. Uses.  Ether is used as a chemical agent in preparing Acidum Tan-
 nicum, Extractum  Cubebas Fluidum, Extractum Piperis Fluidum, Extractum
 Valerianas Fluidum, Morphias Acetas.
    Off. Prep.  Collodium; Spiritus JEtheris  Compositus; Spiritus iEtheris Sul-
 phuric!; Tinctura Ergotas ^Etherea; Tinctura Lobelias JEtherea.        B.
    OLEUM JETHEREUM.  U.S., Lond.  Ethereal Oil.  Heavy Oil of
  Wine.   Sulphate of Ether and Ethylen.
    "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, and 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 
 part ii.                       Mtherea.                             875

 Oil as soon as it has subsided.   The specific gravity of  Ethereal Oil is
 1-096."  U.S.
    "Take of Rectified Spirit two joints [Imp. meas.]; Sulphuric Acid thirty-six
 fluidounces [Imp. meas.]  ; Solution of Potassa, Distilled Water, each, a fluid-
 ounce [Imp. meas.], or as much as may be sufficient.  Mix the Acid cautiously
 with the Spirit.   Let the liquor distil until a black froth arises;  then imme-
 diately remove the retort from the fire.  Separate the lighter supernatant liquor,
 and expose it  to the air for a day.  Add to this the Solution of Potassa pre-
 viously mixed with the Water, and shake them  together.   Lastly, when suffi-
 ciently washed, separate the Ethereal Oil which  subsides.  The specific gravity
 is  1-05." Lond.
    When alcohol is distilled with a large excess of sulphuric acid, the same pro-
 ducts are generated as those mentioned in  the last  article as being formed to-
 wards the close of the distillation of ether. (See page 869.)  These were stated
 to be sulphurous acid, heavy oil of wine, olefiant gas, and resino-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 generally
 in two layers, a heavier, consisting of water holding sulphurous acid in solution,
 and  a lighter, formed  of  ether  containing the heavy oil  of wine.   Occasion-
 ally there is a thin  oily stratum under the heavier layer.   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 dilute solution
 of potassa to deprive it of all traces of sulphurous 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 ; differing only in not directing a pro-
 longed contact between the alcohol and acid, and  in dispensing with a refrigera-
 ted receiver.  According to  Dr.  Squibb, U. S. N, the troublesome frothing of
 the materials is prevented by separating from the mixture of the acid and alco-
 hol, by decantation, the sulphate of lead, which  is always present in the com-
 mercial acid, and which falls by the repose of the mixture.   At the same time,
 he states that the removal of the sulphate increases  the product of ethereal oil
 one-tliird.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., May, 1857,  p. 197.)
   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 the 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 ethylen, having the formula C4H.O,S03+C4H4,S03.  It
 is conceived to be generated from two eqs. of sulphovinic acid (double sulphate
 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, sulphovinic acid is reproduced, and the separated ethy-
 len floats on the surface as an oily substance, called, when thus isolated, light
 oil of wine.  Light oil  of wine, as thus obtained, is a pale-yellow oil, supposed
 to have the formula C4H4.   As ordinarily procured  in the process  for prepar-
 ing ether, it contains a  portion of that substance.  When the pure light oil of
 wine is kept, it deposits a  stearoptene, isomeric with itself, called concrete oil
 of wine, or oil of wine camphor; after which the oil is changed, and  takes the
 name of  etherole.   Etherole is a pale-yellow oily liquid, having an  aromatic
 odour.  Its sp. gr. is 0-921, boiling point 536°,  and freezing point 31° below
zero.   It communicates a greasy stain to paper.   Concrete oil of wine, some-
times called etherine, crystallizes in long, transparent, brilliant, tasteless prisms, 
876
fEtherea.
PART II.
 soluble in alcohol and ether, insoluble in water, fusible at 230°, boiling at ,r>00°,
 and having the sp. gr. 0-980.
   Properties.  The officinal ethereal oil (heavy oil of wine) is a yellowish,
 neutral liquid, possessing an oleaginous consistency, a  penetrating  aromatic
 odour, and rather sharp and bitter taste.   It boils at 536°.   Its sp. gr. is, ac-
 cording to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, 1-096; according to the London College,
 after Mr. Hennell's results,  1-05.  The density obtained by Dr. Squibb, U. S.
 Navy, by following the formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia exactly, was D129.
 By Dumas and Serulfas its density is  stated to be as high as 1133, which is
 probably the  more correct number for the pure oil.  When dropped into water
 it sinks,  assuming the form  of a globule.   It dissolves sparingly in cold water,
 moderately in hot water, and readily in alcohol and ether.  It is devoid of acid
 reaction, the  sulphuric acid present in it being completely neutralized by the
 ether and ethylen united with it. The sulphuric acid present is not precipitated
 by the  usual reagents for this acid; because they furnish a base, which, replacing
 the ethylen, 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 a 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.
   Composition, dec.  The officinal oil of  wine is essentially the  heavy oil of
 wine, that is, the double sulphate of ether and ethylen; but, as prepared by the
 officinal formula, it  is always mixed with more or less light oil of wine (ethy-
 len), which is additional to that present in the heavy oil as one of its  constitu-
 ents.   This fact accounts for the different densities assigned to the officinal oil.
   The article, sold in our shops  as ethereal oil, is generally a mixture of alcohol
 and ether, containing but a trace of the oil.   Four  samples of so-called ethereal
 oil, as  imported from  England, were examined by  Mr.  E. N. Kent, of New
 York,  and found to have  the  composition above stated. (N.  Y. Journ. of
 Pharm., i. 65.)   According to Dr. Squibb, the pure oil, when made in quan-
 tity and  designed to  be kept, should be diluted with  twice its bulk of  alcohol;
 otherwise it soon decomposes,  and  becomes dark-coloured.   It is much to be
 wished that our manufacturing chemists would make the officinal ethereal oil
 for the apothecaries, who could then  prepare the genuine compound spirit of
 ether (Hoffmann's anodyne) for themselves.
   Off.  Prep.   Spiritus JEtheris  Compositus.                          B.
   SPIRITUS ^ETHERIS   SULPHURICI.  Ed.  Spirit of Sulphuric
 Ether.
   "Take of Sulphuric Ether a  pint;  Rectified Spirit two 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 sweetened  water.
   Off.  Prep.   Tinctura Lobelias iEtherea.                             B.
   SPIRITUS ^THERIS COMPOSITUS.  U. S. Lond.  SPIRITUS
^THEREUS OLEOSUS.  Dub.  Compound Spirit of Ether.  Hoff-
 manns  Anodyne Liquor.
   "Take of Ether  half a pint; Alcohol a pint;  Ethereal Oil three flui-
 drachms.  Mix them." U S.
   "Take of Ether eight fluidounces; Rectified Spirit sixteen fluidounces;
Ethereal  Oil three fluidrachms. Mix them."  Lond. 
  part ii.                       JEtherea.                             877

    "Take of Rectified Spirit one pint and a half [Imp. meas.];  Oil of Vitriol
  of Commerce one pint and a half [Imp. meas.]; Sulphuric Ether five fluid-
  ounces [Imp. meas.].  Mix the Oil of Vitriol with one pint of the  Rectified
  Spirit, in a matrass of glass, and, connecting this with a Liebig's condenser, ap-
  ply heat and distil, till a  black froth begins to rise.  Separate the uppermost
  or lighter stratum of the  distilled liquid, and having exposed it in a capsule for
  twenty-four hours to the  atmosphere, let the residual oil be transferred to a
  moist paper filter, and washed with a little cold water, so as to remove any
  adhering acid.  Let it now be introduced into a bottle, containing the remainder
  of the Spirit mixed with the Ether, and dissolved."  Dub.
   _ This preparation is an alcoholic solution of ether, impregnated with heavy
  oil of wine.  In the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, determinate measures
  of ether, alcohol and oil are taken, the ether having half the volume of the al-
  cohol.  In the Dublin formula, the same relation is preserved between the ether
  and alcohol; but, as the Dublin College has no separate formula for ethereal oil,
  it mixes five fluidounces of ether, and ten fluidounces of alcohol, with all the oil
  produced by the reaction of thirty fluidounces of sulphuric acid on twenty of al-
  cohol.  The objections to  this process, are that the quantity of ethereal oil pro-
  duced is uncertain,  and that washing alone is employed for its purification.
   _ Compound spirit of ether is a colourless, volatile liquid, having a  burning,
  slightly sweetish taste, and the  peculiar odour of  ethereal oil.   If it  have an
  empyreumatic odour, it has  been badly prepared. Its sp. gr. is 0-816, according
  to the IT. S. Pharmacopoeia.  When pure it is wholly volatilized 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 o-ood-
  ness,  as the same property may be given to the spirit of sulphuric ether by the
  addition of various fixed oils.   This sophistication may be detected, according
  to 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 fixed oil, the greasy stain will
 remain; if ethereal oil, the stain will disappear.  When fixed oils are  used to
 adulterate this preparation,  the  milkiness is generally too  great, and not like
 the transparent, leaden milkiness of the  genuine article.  (Dr. Squibb.)
   It is much to be regretted that our manufacturing chemists do not follow the
 Pharmacopoeia in making  Hoffmann's anodyne.  In rectifying crude ether, the
 distillation is continued as long as the ether comes over of the proper specific
 gravity;  after which, the manufacturer has been in.the habit of changing the
 receiver, and obtaining an  additional distillate, consisting of ether and alcohol,
 impregnated with a little ethereal oil.  Now it is this second distillate, variously
 modified by the addition of  alcohol, ether, or water, so as to make it conform
 in taste, smell, opalescence, &c, to a standard  preparation, kept  by the manu-
 facturer, that is sold as Hoffmann's anodyne.  (See  Prof. Procter's paper on
 Hoffmann's  anodyne in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for July, 1852, p, 213.)
 Nothing could be more uncertain in its results than a proceeding like this; and
 we cannot be surprised that the medicine, as-obtained from  different apotheca-
 ries, varies very much in properties, and  often disappoints the expectations of
 the physician.  The chief excuse  for the  departure from the officinal directions
 is the  costliness of the ethereal oil; but it can be shown that the oil,  at nine
 dollars an avoirdupois pound, would increase  the cost of a pint and a  half of
 the preparation only twenty-two cents.
  3Iedical Properties.  This preparation is intended as a substitute for the ano-
dyne liquor of Hoffmann, which  it closely resembles when  properly prepared.
In addition to the stimulating and antispasmodic qualities of the ether which
it contains, it possesses anodyne properties, highly useful in nervous irritation, 
878
JEtherea.
PART II.
and  want of sleep from this cause.   These additional virtues  are  probably
derived from the officinal oil of wine, which is a more important substance than
is generally  supposed.   Air. Brande supposes tliat the only effect of  it,  in the
preparation  under notice, is to alter the flavour of the ether.   In this opinion
he is certainly in  error.   The late Drs. Physick and Dewees of this city found
the officinal  oil of wine, dissolved in alcohol, very efficacious in certain  disturbed
states of the system, as a  tranquillizing and anodyne remedy.   Such indeed
are the generally  admitted  effects of Hoffmann's anodjme, when made with a
due admixture of the ethereal  oil.   This preparation is on many occasions a
useful  adjunct  to  laudanum, to prevent the nausea  which  is excited by  the
latter in certain habits.  The dose is from one to two fluidrachms, given in water
sweetened with sugar.                                                B.
   SPIRITUS ^ETHERIS  NITRICI.  U. S., Lond., Ed.  Spikitus
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 dis-
tilled liquor add the Diluted Alcohol and Carbonate of Potassa, and again dis-
til a gallon."  U.S.
   "Take of Rectified Spirit forty fluidounces ; Nitric Acid [sp.gr. 1-42] three
fluidounces and a half.  Add the Acid gradually to the Spirit and mix  them;
then distil twenty-eight fluidounces." Lond.
   " Take of Rectified Spirit two prints and six fluidounces [Imperialmeasure];
Pure Nitric  Acid (D. 1-500) seven fluidounces [Imp. meas.].   Put fifteen fluid-
ounces 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 cooling 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 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 process is 0-847."  Ed.
   "Take of Rectified Spirit forty-eight fluidounces; Pure Nitric Acid [sp. gr.
1-5] threefluidounces; Water one [fluid]ounce; Solution of Ammoms, a suffi-
cient quantity.  Place six [fluid] ounces of the  Spirit in a glass matrass capable
of holding forty fluidounces, and connect this with a Liebig's condenser, whose
further extremity is fitted loosely by a collar of tow into a thin eight ounce vial.
Add now the Water to  the Nitric Acid,  and, having introduced half of the re-
sulting solution into the matrass, through a safety syphon tube, close the mouth
of this tube with a cork, and apply for a few moments a gentle heat, so as to
cause a commencement  of  ebullition.  When the action (which, shortly after
commencing, proceeds with much violence, and should be moderated  by the ex-
ternal application of cold water) has relaxed, introduce gradually the  remainder 
PART II.
AEtherea.
879
 of the Acid, so as to restore it.  The action having entirely ceased, agitate the
 distilled product with half its bulk of the Solution of Ammonia, allow the mix-
 ture to rest for a few minutes, and, having separated the supernatant ethereal
 liquid, mix four [fluid]ounces*of it with the  rest of the "Spirit, and preserve
 the product in small, strong, and accurately stopped bottles.  In the perform-
 ance of the preceding distillation, the condenser should be fed with ice-cold
 water, and the vial, in which the distilled liquid is received, should be surrounded
 by a mixture of one part of  salt and two of pounded ice; or, when ice cannot
 be procured, with a mixture of eight parts of sulphate of soda in small crystals,
 and five of commercial muriatic acid." 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 with alcohol; and it matters not whether
 the alcohol be mixed with nitric acid directly, or with the materials for gene-
 rating it,  namely, nitre and sulphuric acid.
    The processes of the Pharmacopoeias differ considerably.  The U. S. Pharma-
 copoeia obtains the requisite nitric acid by using the materials for generating it;
 while the British Colleges mix  the acid ready formed with the alcohol.  In the
 U. S. and London  processes, an excess of alcohol is used,  which  distils over
 with  the  hyponitrous ether, to form part of the preparation ;  while, in the
 Edinburgh and Dublin  processes, a concentrated hyponitrous ether  is first
 formed, which is  then diluted with a prescribed 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.    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.  Upon the subsequent increase 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 rec-
 tified 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,  in the retort, and the sulphuric acid afterwards gradually
 added.  Were the alcohol and sulphuric acid previously mixed,  the risk would
 be run of generating ether before their addition to the nitre.  The  retort
 should be capable of holding twice the amount of the materials employed   The
 sweet spirit of nitre,  obtained by the U. S. formula, is estimated to  contain 4
 per cent, in volume of hyponitrous ether.       ,
   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 sul-
 phuric 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 made, 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. 308.)
  In the London process, nitric acid, ready formed, is mixed with the alcohol; 
880
yEtherea.
PART II.
 the proportion of acid to the spirit being as 7 to 80 in volume. The proportion
 of liberated nitric acid to the alcohol in the U. S. formula may be assumed to be
 the same as the proportion  in  the London process;  since the preparation ob-
 tained by the two processes has the same  specific gravity.   The proportion by
 measure of sweet spirit of nitre drawn off to the alcohol employed is seven-tenths
 in the London formula, and more than eight-tenths in that of the U. S. Phar-
 macopoeia.  The strength of the London preparation in hyponitrous ether may
'be estimated at five per cent, in volume.  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.  The impu-
 rities arising from a distillation carried too  far may, according to the late Dr.
 Golding Bird, be entirely avoided by following the directions of the London
 Pharmacopoeia.   Still, though the distillation may not be pushed too far,  if it
 be conducted slowly, the prescribed quantity of distillate, containing scarcely a
 trace of hyponitrous ether, will come  over as alcohol before etherification has
 fairly begun.   The residue of the process, if further distilled, will yield a small
 additional portion of sweet spirit of nitre, nearly pure, and  of a higher specific
 gravity than that of the officinal portion; but, on continuing the process, the
 hyponitrous ether ceases to come over, and about the same time aldehyd appears
 in the distilled product, and oxalic acid in the residue, which acid replaces the
 oxalhydric (saccharic),  formed at an earlier stage of the reaction.  Admitting
 Dr. Bird's results, it follows that the sweet spirit of nitre which comes over in
 the first distillation of the U. S. process will  contain aldehyd; as a larger pro-
 portion of liquid is drawn over than is distilled in  the London process; but this
 impurity would be almost entirely separated,  along 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.)
    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 taken
 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 833.
 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 suc-
 cussions arising from  the sudden liberation  of ethereal vapour.   The impure
 hyponitrous  ether is purified by first agitating it 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 the  purified ether
 is 0-899, which is lower than that of the pure ether.   The last step in the  pro-
 cess is to mix the ether obtained with the prescribed quantity of alcohol, wiiich
 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, 7f fluidounces, and,
 consequently, the sweet spirit of nitre, obtained from  it, 38| fluidounces.   The
 preparation has a yellow colour, and is intended to contain  twenty per cent, of
 its volume of hyponitrous ether,  and,  when freshly made, is probably four or
 five times as strong as  the sweet spirit of nitre of the London and U. S. Phar- 
  part II.                       JEtherea.                            881

  macoposias.  For making this preparation, Dr. Christison prefers the process
  of the Edinburgh College, of diluting the pure hyponitrous ether wdth a deter-
  minate proportion of alcohol, on the ground that it secures a pure and uniform
  medicine.  In point of fact it secures neither purity nor uniformity; for the
  preparation is so strong in ether as to cause it  to decompose soon after it  is
  made.   An ether strength of ten per cent, would form a preparation,  which
  would keep much better.  Another objection to the formula is the use of nitric
  acid of the density 1*5.   Acid of so high a density is not easily obtained in the
  market, and is not necessary to the success of the process.
    The Dublin  process  is based upon the same principle as  the Edinburgh;
  namely, that of  forming hyponitrous ether, and diluting it with alcohol. But
  the dilution is very properly carried to a much greater extent; four fluidounces
  of the ether being mixed with forty-two of alcohol, or in the proportion  of one
  to ten and a half.   This dilution makes it contain 8-7 per cent, of hyponitrous
  ether, or a little more than two-fifths of the quantity in the Edinburgh prepar-
  ation.   The sp. gr. of sweet spirit of nitre  is not given by the Dublin College.
  Ammonia, used by this  College to remove acidity, is found  to answer  better
  than milk  of lime, directed by the Edinburgh.
    The order in which the acid and alcohol are mixed is not a matter of indif-
  ference.  In the London formula, the acid is gradually added to the alcohol;
  but, according to Dr. E. R. Squibb, the alcohol, when the London proportions
  are  used, should be slowly added to  the nitric acid.   The advantage of this
  order is that the reaction of etherification begins immediately, becomes violent
  before an equal measure of alcohol has been added, and continues even after
  its proportion to the acid has reached five to one.
   Methylated spirit (see page 738) is now employed in Great  Britain, instead
  of alcohol, in making  sweet spirit of  nitre.   It is  a mixture, containing,
  in bulk,  nine-tenths of alcohol, and one-tenth  of pyroxylic spirit (methylic
 alcohol), and is said to answer  equally well  with alcohol for making this
 preparation.  It is admitted  that, by the  use of methylated  spirit, the  medi-
 cine will be contaminated with nitrate of oxide of methyl (CaH30,NOs) to the
 extent of one-tenth of its ether  contents; the remainder being hyponitrite of
 oxide of ethyl (C4H50,N03).  If the ether contents of the preparation, thus
 made, be assumed to be ten per cent, (half the strength of the Ed. medicine), it
 will contain one per cent, of the foreign ether; but, as the ether contents of the
 sweet spirit of nitre of our Pharmacopoeia amount to but four per cent., this,
 if made with methylated  spirit, would contain four-tenths only of one per cent,
 of the contaminating ether.  It is contended by some that the presence  of so
 small a proportion of foreign ether would not injure the preparation; especi-
 ally as the physiological action of the two ethers is somewhat similar.   This is
 the opinion of Mr. J. F. Macfarlan, of Edinburgh.  On the other hand, Mr.
 Redwood, of London, thinks  that the British Government  acted unwisely in
 sanctioning  the use of methylated spirit in making sweet spirit of nitre.   Its
 employment for the purpose is not a question for this  country.  Whether it
 would injure the preparation or not, the manufacturing chemist and apothecary
 are bound to use  alcohol. (See the paper of J. F. Macfarlan in the  Pharm.
 Journ. and  Trans., Feb.  1857, p. 409.)
   Theory of the Production of Hyponitrous Ether, dec.   One eq. of nitric
 acid, by reacting with one eq. of alcohol, forms one eq. of hyponitrous acid, one
 eq. of aldehyd (C4H402), and two eqs. of water.  Thus, N05 and C4HBOa=NO.,
 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 sepa-
 ration of one eq. of water.   It has, however, been shown by Dr. Golding  Bird
that, when an excess of alcohol  is used, oxalhydric (saccliaricy acid is  first
      56 
882                            AEtherea.                        part ii.

formed, and that, when the formation  of the  hyponitrous ether has nearly
ceased, aldehyd appears 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 hydrogen,  or by abstracting this element and adding oxygen
at the  same time.
  Properties of Hyponitrous Ether.  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.  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 proportions in alcohol or rectified spirit.   It is highly inflammable,
and burns with a white flame without residue.   The impure ether, as obtained
by the  Edinburgh and Dublin processes  for subsequent dilution to form sweet
spirit of nitre, boils at 70°,  and has the density  of 0*886 at 40°.   The specific
gravity assigned to it by the Edinburgh College is 0-899.   Mixed with an alco-
holic solution of  potassa, it becomes dark-brown, with production of aldehyd
resin,  (See page li.) This discoloration shows the presence of aldehyd. When
kept it becomes acid in a short time, as shown by litmus; and nitric oxide ia
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 preserving  this ether in small,  strong bottles, kept full and in
a cool  place.   Hyponitrous ether consists of one eq. of hyponitrous acid and
one of ether, and its formula is  C4HsO,N03.  It is, therefore, improperly called
nitrous and nitric ether.   Considered as a salt, its proper name is hyponitrite
of ether.   In its  pure and concentrated state it  is never used in medicine.
   Properties of Spirit of Nitric Ether.  This is a pale-yellow, volatile liquid,
of a fragrant ethereal odour, and  pungent, aromatic, sweetish, acidulous taste.
As usually prepared it slightly reddens litmus, but does not effervesce with car-
bonate of soda.  Its officinal sp. gr. is  0-834  U. S., Lond.;  0'847 Ed.  Dr.
Squibb found the sp. gr. of the U. S. preparation, when freshly made, to be
0-840; when kept for various periods between five months and two years, from
0-835  to 0-838.  It keeps well in half-pint bottles, securely stopped with waxed
glass stoppers, and covered  with dark paper; as Dr. Squibb proved by examin-
ing some bottles thus put up, after the lapse of two years.  High density is not
necessarily an index of deficient  strength;  since it may arise, as in the Edin-
burgh  preparation,  from the presence of a large proportion of  hyponitrous
ether.   When heated by means of a water-bath, the U. S. sweet spirit of nitre
begins to boil at 160°.  The boiling point, given by Dr. Squibb, is between
156° and 157°.   Sweet spirit  of nitre 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 is never quite free from aldehyd;
and, if the distillation be too long continued, it is apt to contain a good deal of
this substance, which afterwards becomes  acetic acid by absorbing  oxygen; the
change going on rapidly if the preparation be  insecurely kept. Aldehyd, if in
considerable proportion, may be detected  by imparting  a pungent odour and
acrid flavour, and by the preparation assuming  a brown tint on the addition of
a weak solution  of potassa, owing to the  formation of aldehyd resin.  The po-
tassa  test; with the best specimens, produces a straw-yellow tint within twelve
hours.  Another test for aldehyd, less reliable,  is the  addition of  an equal vol-
ume of sulphuric acid to the sweet spirit of nitre.  If the sample be good, the 
PART II.
^Etherea.
883
 change of colour will be slight, and the mixture will be considerably 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.)   Acetic
 acid, as well as other  acids (usually nitrogen acids) that may happen to be pre-
 sent, may be discovered  by the taste, by their  acting on litmus strongly, and
 by their decomposing  the alkaline carbonates or bicarbonates with effervescence.
 These  acids, especially in the Edinburgh  preparation if not recently made, ope-
 rate injuriously by their  chemical reactions with  other substances, when sweet
 spirit of nitre is prescribed in mixtures.   Thus, they liberate iodine from iodide
 of potassium, gradually decolorize compound infusion of roses, and, in the com-
 pound mixture of iron, hasten the conversion of  protoxide of iron into sesqui-
 oxide.   To obviate these effects, Mr. Harvey,  of Leeds, keeps sweet spirit of
 nitre standing  on crystals of bicarbonate of potassa, and states that, if the pre-
 paration be of full strength, no appreciable portion of the alkali will be dis-
 solved. (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.   A deep-olive colour with sulphate of  prot-
 oxide of iron, shows the presence of a nitrogen oxide or acid; and a blue tint
 with tincfure of guaiac, passing through shades of green, a nitrogen acid.
   According to Mr. Bastick, sweet spirit of nitre contains about one-fifth of one
 per cent, of anhydrous  hydrocyanic acid, when made from  hyponitrous ether,
 formed by impregnating alcohol with hyponitrous acid, evolved by the action of
 starch on nitric acid,  according to the process of Liebig.   The  same contami-
 nating acid has been  detected by M.  Dalpaiz in the preparation made accord-
 ing to the London Pharmacopoeia; but Mr.  Bastick was not able to find it.
 In  making  sweet  spirit of nitre on a  large  scale,  Dr.  Squibb found  that
 hydrocyanic acid vapours were produced,  if the heat happened to rise too high
 and the ether ceased to be formed.   ;
   Alcohol and water are often fraudulently added to sweet spirit of nitre.  When
 in undue proportion,  they may be detected in the Edinburgh preparation, 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 separate; showing
 that the chloride of calcium has taken up eight per cent., together with eighty
 per cent, of alcohol and water.   If less ether separate,  the presence of too much
 alcohol and water will be indicated.  This test is hardly applicable to the U. S.
 London, and Dublin preparations, which are much weaker than the Edinburgh.
 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 the same
 effect will  be  produced by adding hyponitrous ether.  A high density, in con-
 nexion  with deficient  ethereal qualities, would of  course indicate free acids, or
 an excess of water, or  both.  A specific gravity lower than the U. S.  and Lon-
 don standard would show the presence of alcohol, either stronger  than it should
 be, or in too large a proportion.
   The fraudulent dilution of sweet  spirit of nitre with alcohol and water is a
 great evil, considering its extensive use, and valuable remedial properties. Water
 is  injurious, not merely as a diluent,  but as the most efficient promoter of che-
 mical changes.  We have been informed that the  medicine is variously diluted
 with twice, thrice, and  even four times its weight of alcohol and water.  In this
 way its ether strength is often reduced to less than half what it should be.  Dr.
 Squibb examined six samples of sweet spirit of nitre, five of which  were obtained
from respectable, wholesale druggists; and of these one sample contained 3*16
per cent, of hyponitrous ether, four between one and two per cent., and one 
 884                            JEtherea.                        part ii.

 under one per cent.; while a standard preparation, made according to the U.S.
 Pharmacopoeia, contained 4'2 per cent.   In some shops a  strong and a weak
 preparation are kept, to suit the views of customers as to price.  Some driigo-ista
 are said to dilute their sweet spirit of nitre, upon the plea that the physician's
 prescriptions  are written in view of the use of a weak preparation!   AII these
 evils would be corrected, if the manufacturing chemists of the Union would pre-
 pare it by the formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, at the same time adopting
 measures necessary to preserve it from change.   A uniform preparation bein»
 thus furnished to the  druggists, all that would be necessary on their part, would
 be to refrain from weakening it by the admixture  of  alcohol and water.
   3Iedical Properties and Uses. Sweet spirit of nitre is diaphoretic, diuretic
 and antispasmodic.   It is deservedly much esteemed as a  medicine, and is ex-
 tensively employed in febrile affections, either alone, or in conjunction with tar-
 tar 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 conjoined with
 other  diuretics, such  as squill, digitalis, acetate of potassa, nitre, &c, for the
 purpose of promoting their action in dropsical complaints.   Dr. Duncan, of
 Edinburgh, 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, every two
 or three hours,  in a portion of  water.   When used as a diuretic, it should be
 given in larger doses.
   When the vapour of sweet spirit of nitre is inhaled, it  produces, according
 to Mr. D. R. Brown, of  Edinburgh,  among  other symptoms, a  leaden-purple
 colour of the  lips, mouth, hands, &c, and extreme muscular debility, enduring
 for hours.  In  his own  case, these  symptoms were unaccompanied with the
 slightest effect on the brain; but in others the effects were different; headache
 being invariably produced. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans.,Alarch, 1857, p. 456.)
   In relation to sweet spirit of  nitre, the reader is referred to the paper of D.
 R. Brown, of Edinburgh, contained in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans. (March,
 1856, p. 400);  also to an instructive practical paper by Dr. E. R. Squibb, U.
 S. Navy, published in  the Am.  Journ. of Pharm. (July, 1856, p. 289), from
 which we have freely drawn in revising this article.
   Off. Prep.  Mistura Glycyrrhizas Composita.                        B.

   CHLOROFORMUM. U.S.,  Dub.  Chloroformyl.  Lond.  Chloro-
form.   Terchloride of Formyl.
   " Take of Chlorinated Lime ten. pounds; Water three gallons andahalf; Al-
 cohol two pints. Mix the Chlorinated Lime first with the Water, and then with
 the Alcohol, in  a distillatory vessel having the capacity of about six  gallons.
 Distil with a  brisk heat into a refrigerated receiver, and, when the temperature
 approaches to 176°, withdraw the fire, in order that the distillation may proceed
 by the heat derived solely from  the reaction of the materials.  When the dis-
 tillation slackens, hasten it by a  fresh application of heat, and continue to distil
 until the liquid  ceases to cbnie over with a sweet taste.  Separate the heavier
 layer of liquid  in the receiver  from  the lighter by decantation, and, having
 washed it first with water, and then with a weak solution of carbonate of soda,
 agitate it thoroughly with powdered chloride of  calcium,  and distil it off by
 means of a water-bath, stopping the  distillation when eleven-twelfths of'the
 liquid have come over.  The residue, together with the light liquid of the first
 distillation, may be reserved for use in a second operation." U. S.
   " Take of Chlorinated Lime four pounds; Rectified Spirit half a pint [Imp. 
PART II.
JEtherea.
885
meas.]; Water ten pints [Imp. meas.]; Chloride of calcium, broken into pieces,
a drachm.   Put the Chlorinated Lime, previously mixed with the Water, in a
retort, and add the Spirit, the retort being of such a size as to be only one-third
filled.  Heat by means of a sand-bath, and, so soon as ebullition begins, quickly
withdraw the fire, that the retort may not break from a sudden increase of heat.
Distil the liquor into a receiver until nothing comes over, renewing the fire if
necessary. To the distilled liquor add four parts of water, and shake the whole
well together.   Separate carefully the heavier part which subsides, and add to
it the Chloride of Calcium, shaking occasionally during an hour.   Lastly, again
distil the liquor from a glass retort into a glass receiver." Lond,
   "Take of Chlorinated Lime ten pounds [avoirdupois]; Fresh-burned Lime
five pounds [avoird.]; Water:four gallons [Imp. meas.]; Rectified  Spirit
twenty-five  ounces [avoird.];  Peroxide of Manganese, in fine powder,  two
drachms [Dublin Weight].  Slake the lime with two pints [Imp. meas.] of
the water, first raised to the boiling temperature, and, having placed the slaked
Lime and Chlorinated Lime in a sheet iron or copper  still, pour  on the residue
of the Water, first mixed with the Spirit, and raised to the temperature of 100°.
Connect now the still with a condenser, and apply heat, which,  however, must
be withdrawn the moment the distillation commences.  The distilled product,
the bulk of which need not exceed two pints [Imp. meas.], will occur  in  two
distinct strata, the lower of which is the crude chloroform.   Let this  be  agi-
tated, twice in succession, with an equal volume of distilled water, and then,
in a separate bottle, with half its volume of pure sulphuric acid.   Lastly, let
it be shaken in a matrass with the Peroxide of  Manganese, and rectified from
off this at a very gentle heat.   The lighter liquid which  distils  over with the
chloroform,  and the water used in washing the latter, should be  preserved with
the view of  their being introduced, with a new charge, into the still in a  sub-
sequent process.  The specific gravity of Chloroform is 1-496." Dub.
   In these processes, by the reaction of the chlorinated lime with the alcohol,
chloroform is generated under the influence of a moderate heat.  By a calcu-
lation it will be found that, while for ten pounds of chlorinated  lime, the U. S.
formula calls for thirty-two fluidounces of alcohol, the London and Dublin  Col-
leges take about twenty-three and a half fluidounces.   The water varies in the
different formulas from twenty-eight (U.S.) to thirty-two pints  (Dub.).   The
chloroform,  as first distilled, is found as a dense yellow layer, forming the lower
portion of the distillate, and is quite impure.  In order to purify it, the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia directs it to be washed with water to separate alcohol, agitated
with a weak solution of carbonate of soda to remove chlorine, and rectified by
distillation from chloride of calcium to free it from water.  This distillation is
stopped when eleven-twelfths of the liquid have come over, to avoid contami-
nating the product with a chlorinated pyrogenous  oil, the presence of which
interferes with the favourable action of the chloroform when inhaled.  The same
measures of purification, except the use  of carbonate of soda, are directed by
the London  College.  The Dublin College uses slaked lime, mixed with  the
chlorinated lime in the distillation, and purifies the crude chloroform by means
of water, sulphuric  acid,  and deutoxide  of manganese.   The  object of the
slaked lime is probably to lessen the production of the chlorinated pyrogenous
oil, the  amount of which is greater, according  to Soubeiran and  Mialhe, in
proportion to the relative excess of the chlorine  to  the lime employed. ^  The
use of this earth is  stated  by some chemists to give rise to   Dutch  liquid,
C4HlCl2, and to increase the product at  the expense of its purity.   The crude
product, after having been freed  from alcohol by washing with water in  the
usual way, is purified from the  oil by agitation with half its  volume of sul-
phuric acid, which must be pure and colourless, and at least  of the  density 
886
AEtherea.
PART II.
L840.  The oil is charred and destroyed by the acid, which becomes yellow or
reddish-brown, and partially changed into sulphurous acid.   To  remove the
latter acid, agitation with deutoxide of manganese is directed, according to the
plan  of Mr. Alexander  Kemp, of Edinburgh.   The  process  of  the  Dublin
College is the one proposed by Gregory and Kemp,  of Edinburgh.   According
to these chemists chloroform  is effectually purified from the pyrogenous oil by
agitation with strong and pure sulphuric acid.   So long as a ring,  darker than
the rest of the acid, appears,  after rest, at the line of contact between the acid
and the chloroform, the agitation must be repeated ; and the oil is known to
be fully separated, when the acid remains colourless.  The same chemists  deem
it unnecessary to distil the chloroform from deutoxide of manganese to  sepa-
rate sulphurous acid; but consider agitation with the oxide as quite sufficient
for this purpose, to be continued until the odour of the acid is replaced by the
agreeable smell of pure chloroform.  When chloroform is purified by manganese
it is apt to become, after the  lapse of a few weeks,  of  a delicate pink  colour,
which sometimes disappears and then returns.  This coloration depends  upon
the presence of manganese, and forms an objection  to the use of the deutoxide
as a purifier.
  Dr. Gregory strongly recommends the above described process for purifying
commercial chloroform as easily performed, and asserts that all good manufac-
turers purify it by the action of sulphuric acid.  Nevertheless  it has  been
shown that chloroform, thus  purified, though apparently pure at first, will not
keep; but, after the  lapse of  some time, becomes so loaded with chlorine  that
it cannot be inhaled.   Dr. Christison ascertained that  chloroform, purified by
sulphuric acid containing nitrous acid, changes in less than twenty-four hours,
and, even when purified with pure acid, undergoes decomposition in  a few weeks.
Whether chloroform, purified by chemically pure sulphuric acid, would undergo
change, is not, perhaps, fully decided; but, for practical purposes, the purifi-
cation by the use of  sulphuric  acid must  be abandoned.   The manufacturers
in Edinburgh have laid the process aside.   In July, 1850, Mr, John Abraham
pointed out the impurity of chlorine and  muriatic  acid in specimens of Edin-
burgh chloroform, as then made in that city.  These specimens had a suffocat-
ing odour, first reddened and then bleached litmus paper, and deposited on the
inside of the bottle a greenish, oily-looking substance.  Prof.  Procter (in Oct,
1850) obtained some chloroform  from a Philadelphia manufacturer, made by
the sulphuric acid process, which presented similar defects.  Dr. Squibb, of the
Navy, attributes  the fact, that chloroform purified by concentrated sulphuric
acid does not keep  well,  to the very purity attained.  He believes that per-
fectly pure chloroform is prone to decomposition, and is rendered  more stable
by the addition of a small proportion of  alcohol, so  as to reduce its  density
to the officinal standard, 1-49.   This he effects by adding  alcohol, in the pro-
portion of  ten drops to each fluidounce of good chloroform of maximum
density. (See his paper on Chloroform in the New York American Medical
3Ionthly, for July, 1857.)  Dr. Gregory also attributes* the tendency to decom-
position to its purity, and to the action of sunlight;  having found that  those
portions which he had purified with the greatest care, were soonest decomposed
under the influence of light.
   Chloroform  may be made by the action of chlorinated lime on pyroxylic
spirit (wood spirit); but when thus prepared it is largely contaminated with a
chlorinated pyrogenous oil, analogous to that already mentioned as being found
in small proportion in chloroform prepared from  alcohol.  Chloroform, thus
prepared,  called methylic chloroform, is  purified with too much  difficulty to
be advantageously substituted for that made with alcohol, called by Soubeiran,
normal chloroform.   In Great Britain chloroform is now obtained by the use 
PART II.
JEtherea.
887
 of methylated spirit; and the preparation, when properly purified, is stated to
 answer every purpose to which it is applied, equally well with that obtained
 by the use of alcohol. (See page 738.)
   Messrs. Duncan and Flockhart, druggists of Edinburgh, manufacture chlo-
 roform on a large scale,  in a peculiar apparatus, using the proportions of  20
 parts of chlorinated lime, about 3f parts of rectified spirit, and 60 parts of
 water.   They employ  two large wooden barrels as a still,  and  a third as a  re-
 ceiver, and into the former throw steam, which furnishes  both sufficient heat
 and water for the process.   Sixty pounds of chlorinated lime are used by them
 at each distillation; and they are  able to manufacture three hundred ounces of
 chloroform a day.   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 distilling the mixture, when  cool, in a
 leaden retort, from as much carbonate of baryta by weight,  as of acid 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. Though
 sulphuric  acid is used in this long-tried process, it may be presumed that the
 chloroform made by it is not liable to undergo the change which takes place in
 that prepared by Gregory's process.  It will be observed, however, that the pro-
 duct, after the action of the sulphuric acid, is successively distilled from baryta
 and lime.
   Discovery and History.  Chloroform 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 chlorinated lime and two gallons of alcohol of the
 sp. gr. 0-844, and rectifying the product by redistillation, first from  a great ex-
 cess of chlorinated lime, and afterwards from carbonate of potassa. (Silliman's
 Journal, vol. xxL, Jan. 1832, p. 64.)   In a subsequent letter to Professor Sil-
 liman, dated Feb. 15th, 1832, Mr. Guthrie states  that the substance which  he
 had obtained, "distilled off sulphuric "acid, has the specific gravity of 1-486,  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 Air.
 Guthrie  obtained, in a  pure state, the substance 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  preparation of which he be-
 lieved  he had fallen on a cheap and  easy process.   Under this impression,  he
 called  the substance, in his communications, chloric ether, one of the names by
 which the Dutch liquid,  or bichloride of ethylen, is designated.  He was in-
 duced to make the preparation from noticing a passage in Professor  Silliman's
 Elements of Chemistry, which referred to the Dutch liquid as a  grateful diffusi-
 ble stimulant, when properly diluted with alcohol and water.   In relation  to
 the anticipated importance of  this substance as amedicine, Mr. Daniel B. Smith,
 of this city, held 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 commerce.  Its flavour is delicious, and its intoxicating quali-
ties 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. 118.)
  Properties. Chloroform is a limpid, colourless, volatile, neuter liquid, having
a bland ethereal odour, and hot, aromatic, saccharine taste.   It neither reddens
nor bleaches litmus paper.   It is  but slightly soluble in water; one hundred
parts of that liquid taking up but  one part of chloroform.   Its sp.  gr. is 1-49 
 888                            JEtherea.                       part ii.

 U S.,  1-48 London, and  1-496 Dub.   Gregory has obtained  it of the density
 1-5 at  60°.   It boils at 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,  except to cover the surface of the metal with  small bubbles of
 gas. Chloroform is a powerful antiseptic.  It does not, like  creasote, coagulate
 albumen.  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.   It is liable
 to decomposition by sunlight  or even diffused daylight; and hence the propriety
 of keeping it  in bottles, covered with dark paper, in a rather dark place.  Chlo-
 roform has extensive solvent powers, being capable of dissolving caoutchouc
 gutta percha, mastic, elemi,  tolu, benzoin, and  copal.   Amber, sandarac  lac
 and wax  are only partially soluble.   It also dissolves  iodine, bromine, the or-
 ganic alkalies, the fixed and volatile oils, most resins, and fats.  It dissolves sul-
 phur and phosphorus sparingly.   It possesses the power of dissolving a large
 quantity  of camphor, and furnishes the means of administering  that medicine
 in an elegant form.  As  a general solvent, it has the advantage over ether of
 not  being inflammable; the inflammability of the latter being the cause of fre-
 quent accidents.  For  an  extensive list of substances, soluble, insoluble,  and
 partly soluble in  chloroform, see a paper by M.  Lepage, of Gisors, France,
 copied into the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for April, 1852, p. 147.
   Composition.  Chloroform is composed of three eqs. of chlorine and one of
 formyl, and is, therefore, the terchloride of formyl.   As formyl is a bicarburet
 of hydrogen,  the formula of chloroform is C2HC13.  Its composition was first
 accurately determined by Dumas in 1835, by whom it was  called chloroform
 from its relation to formic acid (CaH03), being formic acid with  its three eqs.
 of oxygen replaced by three  of  chlorine.  When first  obtained by Liebig, lie
 supposed it to consist exclusively of chlorine and carbon; and hence the origin
 of the erroneous name, sometimes applied to it, of perchloride of carbon.
   The rationale of the formation of chloroform has not been well made out.  If
 alcohol be considered a bihydrate  of ethylen C4H4-f2HO, it may be presumed
 to be generated by the removal from the ethylen  of two eqs. of carbon, and the
 substitution of three eqs. of chlorine for three of hydrogen.  Thus C.H—CLLj
 4-Cla=C2HCl3.
   Impurities  and Tests.   Chloroform is liable  to contain alcohol and ether,
 both of which lower its specific gravity.   If it have a less density than P38, it
 will  float  instead of sinking in a mixture of equal weights of concentrated sul-
 phuric acid and water, after it has cooled.  M. Mialhe has proposed the follow-
 ing test for the presence of alcohol.  Drop into distilled water a small quantity
 of the chloroform.  If pure,  it will remain transparent at the bottom of  the
 glass; but, if  it contain even a small proportion of alcohol, the  globules will
 acquire a  milky appearance.   Prof. Procter detects alcohol by adding  the sus-
 pected chloroform to an oxidizing mixture of bichromate of potassa and sul-
 phuric acid. (See page 608.)  If alcohol be present, the deep orange colour of
 the chromic mixture will gradually become green; if absent, no change of colour
 will take place.  (Am. Journ,  of Pharm., May, 1856, p. 213.)   The same test
 has  been  proposed by Cottell. (Gmelin, vii. 347.)  Alcohol  is  detected also
by potassium, which colours the chloroform containing this impurity, and gives
rise  to sharp acid fumes.   The most injurious impurities are  the chlorinated
pyrogenous oils, already  alluded  to.   These  are different  as obtained from
methylic or normal chloroform.  The oil, obtained by Soubeiran  and Mialhe 
part ii.                       ^Etherea.                             889

from methylic chloroform, is an oleaginous, yellow liquid, lighter  than water,
and of a peculiar  nauseous empyreumatic odour, perceptible in the methylic:^
chloroform itself.   In commercial chloroform it is sometimes  present to the
amount of six per cent. It is easily set on fire, and burns with a smoky flame,
chlorine being among the products of its combustion.   The oil procured from
normal chloroform, which contains it in the amount of about one-fifth of one
per cent, only, is essentially different from the methylic chloroform oil.   It  is
heavier than water, and has an acrid, penetrating odour, unlike that  of the other
oil. When the vapour of these oils is inspired or even smelt, it causes, accord-
ing to Dr. Gregory, distressing sickness and headache.   These pyrogenous oils
are detected and removed by pure and strong sulphuric acid.   Chloroform, when
pure, upon being mixed with an equal volume of this acid, does not colour it;
but, when contaminated with these oils,  gives the acid a colour, varying from
yellow to reddish-brown, according to the amount of  impurity.  Alcohol  also
is detected and removed by sulphuric acid.  In applying this test, several fluid-
ounces of chloroform should be used; as a slight change  of colour cannot be
easily seen in a test tube.  The discoloration of sulphuric acid by impure chlo-
roform was first noticed by Mr.  Morson, of London, in Nov. 1848.   A still more
delicate test of the oily impurities, according to Dr. Gregory, is the  smell which
they leave.   If chloroform, thus contaminated,  be poured  upon  the hand, it
quickly evaporates, leaving the oily impurities, recognizable by their offensive
odour, now no longer-covered by that of the chloroform.  The pure substance,
rubbed on the skin, quickly evaporates, and scarcely leaves any smell.  Accord-
ing to Mr. Henry Pemberton, of this city, the pyrogenous oils are not derived
from the common whisky ordinarily employed in procuring chloroform; as the
same  oils are present in the crude preparation,  made from pure alcohol of 92
per cent.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., March, 1853, p. 113.)   Chloroform some-
times  contains Dutch liquid, which may be discovered by adding  an alcoholic
solution of potassa, when the  mixture, if this impurity be  present, will heat,
and give off  a permanent gas, which is chloride of acetyl, C4H3C1.  (Geuther.)
(In relation to chloroform, see  the paper of Soubeiran and  Mialhe, Journ. de
Pharm., July,  1849, copied into the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 313;  also
the paper of  Dr. Gregory, Chem.  Gaz.,  May  15, 1850.)
   Medical Properties, &c.  When taken internally, chloroform acts as a seda-
tive narcotic, probably operating through the nervous system, independently
of vascular action or congestion.   It has been  detected by Ragsky in the blood,
and by Dr. Snow,  of London, in different parts of the body after death.*  In
1848 Dr. H. Hartshorne tried its physiological effects in the dose of seventy-five
drops  on himself, and  found it to produce drowsiness, and a general diminution
of sensorial power, without exhilaration, or acceleration of the pulse.   Since
then he has used it internally in a number of cases, and finds it a safe anodyne
and soporific, altogether free from the dangerous effects which sometimes follow
the inhalation of its vapour.  In the dose of a fluidrachm, its soporific effect is
about  equal  to that of thirty-five drops of laudanum.  Dr. Hartshorne has
given it in doses of from fifty to seventy-five drops every half hour for several
hours together.  The vehicle used by him is orgeat syrup, in the-proportion  of
two fluidounces to  each fluidrachm of the chloroform.   When mixed with mu-
cilage  of gum arabic,  the mixture  requires agitation, immediately  before swal-
lowing each dose.y

  * In  relation to the detection of chloroform in the body after death, see the paper
of M. Duroy, of Paris, in the Journ. de Pharm., Avril, 1851.
  t The Society of Pharmacy, of Paris, has given its sanction to the following formula;
the French weights  being  turned into the  nearest English weights and  measures.
Take of chloroform gss to 3J;  sugar giij ;  gum arabic gj to gij; water f ^iijss.  Rub 
890                            JEtherea.                       part ii.

  Chloroform, as prepared by Air. Guthrie, was used internally as early as ] 832
by Professor Ives and Dr. Nathan B. Ives, of New Haven, in asthma, spasmodic
cough, scarlet fever, and atonic quinsy, with  favourable results.  (Silliman's
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  affec-
tions, in 1843; and by M. Guillot, of Paris, in asthma, in 1844.   Antiperiodic
properties  have been attributed to it by Dr.  Delioux, of Rochefort, who pro-
posed it as a remedy in intermittents, given, during the apyrexia, in cases in
which the bark and quinia fail to  effect a cure.  Its powers as an antiperiodic
have been confirmed by Dr. L. Dalton, of Logan, Ohio. Dr.  Aran has employed
it for four years with success in lead colic, administered by the mouth and rec-
tum, and applied to  the abdomen.  In these cases it probably acts by relaxing
the intestinal  spasm.   One of the authors of this work has frequently used it
with advantage for 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.  Chloroform  has been
used internally, with benefit,  by Dr. Osburn, of Dublin, in hypochondriasis, and
by Dr.  Gordon, physician  to the  Hardwicke  Fever Hospital, to allay nervous
irritation and procure sleep.   A disadvantage connected with the internal use
of chloroform is its liability  to sicken the stomach, an effect which may  some-
times arise from the presence of pyrogenous oil..
   Externally, chloroform has been used by Mr. Tuson, in cancer, senile gan-
grene, and sloughing ulcers,  and as an injection and gargle, in discharges from
the uterus, and foul ulcers of the throat, with the effect of relieving pain, destroy-
ing fetor, and promoting the separation of diseased parts.   It has also been em-
ployed externally, with benefit, in a painful wound of the forearm implicating
the radial nerve; by Dr. Legroux in a painful affection of one of the lower ex-
tremities, consequent to a cancerous tumour of the pelvis; by Mr. Higginson in
labour, applied to the perineum when painfully stretched, and in dysmenorrhcea,
brought in contact with the  os uteri by means of a sponge; by Dr. Watson in
swelled  testicle and  acute spinal tenderness; by Dr. Hays and  Dr. Bond in
neuralgia; by the late Dr. I. Parrish in the  supra-orbitar pain of rheumatic
ophthalmia, and in syphilitic ulceration at the root of the nail; by M. Devergie
in papulous eruptions, made  into an ointment in the proportion of a fluidrachm
to ten drachms of lard;  and  by M. Chapell in fissure of the anus.   It has also
been used with success by  Dr. Venat, of Bordeaux, in the form of injection, in
the commencement of acute gonorrhoea, as an abortive treatment.   Dr. Rauch,
of Iowa, has employed chloroform topically with decided benefit  in neuralgia,
colic, and  other painful  affections.   For some purposes he found it useful to
incorporate it with olive oil  and solution of ammonia, which formed a mixture
having  effects less transient than those of the uncombined substance.  As a
wash,  injection, and gargle, Mr.. Tuson prepared chloroform 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 employed undiluted it
should be pure; as, according to M. Mialhe, when it contains absolute alcohol,
it acquires caustic properties.
   .Chloroform maybe gelatinized by agitating it with an equal weight of white
of egg in  the cold.   In three hours it takes the gelatinous form.   A stronger
preparation may be made  by shaking together in  a bottle, four parts  of chloro-
form and one of white of  egg, and placing the mixture in water  at 140°.   In

the chloroform with the sugar  in a mortar, then add the gum, and, lastly, by degrees,
the water.   In this recipe alcohol, which is often inadmissible, is avoided. 
part II.                       ^Etherea.                             891
  four minutes the gelatinization is completed.   Gelatinized chloroform may be
  applied to the skin, spread on linen, or by frictions.                          $p
    Chloroform, in vapour, may be used as a topical application to the rectum. s*
  M. Ehrenreich employed it with success in tenesmus.  A drachm may be vapor-
  ized by the heat of warm water from a bottle, fitted with a flexible tube, inserted
  into the bowel.  It may be applied to the skin in the form of a vapour douche,
  according to the method of Dr. Hardy, of  Dublin.  (See  Banking's Abstract,
  no. 19, 287.)  Prof. Langenbeck, of Berlin, prefers chloroform to tincture of
  iodine, as an  injection for the radical cure of hydrocele.
    A third method of using chloroform is  by inhalation.   The first case we
  have met with in which it was thus employed, 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 effectu-
  ally ^relieved.  (Silliman's 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,  of Edinburgh, after experimenting
  with a number of anassthetic agents in order to discover a substitute for 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
  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 produce 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 .cautiously 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.   Experience has
 shown that the effects,  here described as those of a full dose  of chloroform by
 inhalation, cannot be  induced without danger to life.  Hence all prudent sur-
 geons will be content with an impression short of the abolition of all conscious-
 ness. _ H is generally admitted that, at a certain stage of anassthesia, there is
 insensibility to pain, while consciousness to a certain extent remains; and it is
 this condition that the surgeon should aim to produce.  According to Mr. Skey
 chloroform had been administered up to 1854, in  9000 cases in St. Bartholo-
 mew's Hospital, without a single  accident, a fact which must be taken as proof
 of its careful employment in that institution.  The delicate operation of extract-
 ing the cataract has been facilitated by its use, in the hands of Mr. Bowman, of
 London ; and, in general, the performance of operations on the  eyeball is greatly
 assisted by the insensibility produced, especially in children.  In partial anchy-
 losis, in which the  surgeon proposes to breakup the adhesions by force, chloro-
 form, like ether, takes off the muscular resistance, and renders the manipulations
 painless.   It is asserted to be an advantage  of chloroform in surgical opera-
 tions, that less blood is lost.   If this assertion should prove to be true, there
 will be greater necessity of delaying the dressings until reaction shall have taken
place.  The question whether the  use  of chloroform  in the major operations
of surgery is favourable  or otherwise  to  recovery, has been  examined by an 
892
AEtherea.
part II.
 appeal to statistics.   Dr. Simpson, of Edinburgh, thinks the percentage of
Recoveries has been increased by its use ; while Dr. Arnott, basing his opinions
 on the results of operations in the London hospitals, holds the contrary opinion.
   The advantages  and  disadvantages of  chloroform,  when  compared with
 ether as an  anassthetic in operative surgery,  have not  been satisfactorily de-
 termined ; but on  one point the evidence  appears to be conclusive, namely
 that it is far more dangerous to life than ether.   According to  Dr.  Snow, of
 London, the vapour in the air breathed by the patient  should not exceed six
 per cent.  When thus used, insensibility is  slowly  and safely induced.  Dr.
 Gilman, of New York, thinks that chloroform has a more sudden and power-
 ful effect  than  under  ordinary circumstances, when inhaled immediately after
 bleeding; a  fact which he explains  by the  increased  power of absorption pro-
 duced by the loss of blood.  (N. Y. Med. Times, Oct. 1852.)
   Sometimes chloroform produces unpleasant local and remote effects; such as
 abolition of smell, perversion of taste, and loss of tonicity in the bladder and
 rectum.   Two cases, illustrative of these effects, in which  chloroform was in-
 haled  in excess, are related by Dr. Happoldt in the  Charleston Medical Journal
 for January, 1856.
   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 pain 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  anassthetics.   According to Dr. Atthill, of Dublin, the  use
 of chloroform produces a tendency to post-partum hemorrhage.   Dr. Robert
 Lee, of London, has cited seventeen  cases, in which it was supposed to produce
 various pernicious effects  in labour.  (Lancet, Dec. 24, 1853.)   Notwithstand-
 ing exceptional  cases of injury, it is every year growing in favour as an anass-
 thetic in parturition.   The profession is unanimous  as  to its great  utility in
 instrumental labours.
   The dose of chloroform for inhalation is a fluidrachm, 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, nfter 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, which should be brought on gradually, the inhalation
 should be suspended;  and, if consciousness return too soon, it should be cau-
 tiously renewed.   In all  cases, an experienced assistant should attend to  the
 administration of  the chloroform,  and to nothing  else,  watching  the state
 of the respiration  and pulse.  The moment  there  is the least  snoring,  the
 vapour should be withdrawn.   It is a good rule not  to administer chloroform
 to persons subject to  epilepsy, affected with  organic disease of the  heart, or
 predisposed to cerebral congestion.  For the rules laid  down by M. Baudens
 for the administration of chloroform, see  the Am.  Journ. of Med, Sci. for
 Jan. 1854, p. 208 ; and for  those given by M. Robert, surgeon to  the Hos-
 pital Beaujon, see Ranking's Abstract, no. 19, p. 116.
   Chloroform, as ordinarily prepared, is apt  to produce, when inhaled, headache,
 nausea, and even vomiting.   Perfectly pure  chloroform, according to Soubeiran
 and Mialhe,  does not produce these disagreeable effects, which are  plausibly
 attributed to the presence of the pyrogenous oils.   Dr. Simpson, however, finds
 that the purest chloroform that he uses not unfrequently causes vomiting;  but
 Dr. Gregory attributes this effect, when following the use of the pure substance,
 to its  administration after a full meal, which should always be avoided.
   Chloroform having proved to be a relaxing agent and remedy for pain, when 
  part n.                       Mtherea.                            893

  used by inhalation in surgery and midwifery, it was natural that its effects should^
  be tried in the same way in spasmodic and painful  diseases.   Accordingly, it.  "
  has been inhaled in hiccough, chorea, hooping-cough, hysteria, the  paroxysflN*
  of asthma, angina pectoris, nephritic  colic, tetanus, poisoning from  strychnia,
  hydrophobia, and the paroxysm of tic douloureux, and generally with decided
  advantage.  In Germany it has been praised in bronchitis and pneumonia as
  an expectorant and calming remedy.   It has been employed also with success
  for the reduction of strangulated hernia.  Mr. R. J. Mackenzie, of Edinburgh,
  bears testimony to its good effects, used by inhalation, in spasmodic stricture of
  the urethra, attended  with  retention of urine.  Sometimes the urine is caused
  to flow at once; and, when this is not the case, the  passage of  the catheter is
  facilitated.   Dr. Cain, of Charleston, found it very useful in spasmodic obstruc-
  tion  of  the bowels, promptly relieving pain, and favouring the action of ene-
  mata.   As a soporific it has been given 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 chloroform, and, certainly, many more deaths have been reported from its
  use than from that of ether.  The late  Dr. Warren, of Boston, published, in
  1849, the  details of ten cases, in which death was  caused by chloroform,'all
  occurring  in  little more than a  year, and many other fatal cases have since
  occurred ;^ and he declared 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.   In view of the greater danger from the use of chloroform as an anass-
  thetic, the governors of the Massachusetts General Hospital have prohibited
  the use of  any other agent than ether in surgical operations.
    When the effects of chloroform inhalation proceed too far, the remedies are
  a horizontal posture, cold  air fanned upon  the face, cold  water poured upon
  the head, sinapisms to the feet, frictions and heat to the body and extremities
  and ammonia to the nostrils.  If respiration ceases, the tongue should  be seized
  with the artery-forceps, and pulled forward from off the glottis,  and  artificial
  respiration attempted by blowing into the mouth, and by other appropriate
  measures.  When the  patient can swallow, strong coffee  may be given with
  advantage.   Galvanic  electricity, passed  through needles  inserted in different
  parts of the body, is recommended by M.  Abeille, of Ajaccio, as a  powerful means
  of recalling sensibility; and it is highly probable that the electro-magnetic bat-
 tery would prove useful.  When an over-dose is taken by the mouth  the same
 remedies maybe employed, with the addition of the stomach-pump, when vomit-
 ing cannot be produced by alum or mustard.   A case of poisoning by chloro-
 form, successfully treated, is related in  the London Lancet for Aug.  9  1856
 In a case of suicide by  swallowing chloroform, in which death took  place in
 about thirty-four hours, the  lining membrane of the larynx and trachea was
 found inflamed, the bronchi  were loaded with a dirty-gray purulent fluid the
 lungs were inflamed as in  the first stage of pneumonia, and the brain and its
 membranes congested.   In another fatal case, reported by Dr. J. Williams, of
 the Philadelphia Hospital, Blockley, in which  the patient survived thirty-seven
 hours, no morbid appearances were observed, worthy of note.
  A preparation  for inhalation, composed of one-third pure chloroform and
two-thirds nearly absolute alcohol, was  recommended by Dr. Warren, under
the name of  strong chloric  ether.  Dr.  Snow has since employed a similar
mixture, using equal parts of chloroform and alcohol.  The mixture,  made in
the proportion adopted by Dr. Snow, is commended by M.  Robert as  the best 
   894                             AEtherea.                        part ii.

^anassthetic agent yet proposed.   As the name chloric ether was originally an-
^■jblied by the late Dr.  T. Thomson, of Glasgow, to the Dutch liquid, it would be
* Veil  to abandon the same appellation to designate chloroform, or its mixture
h with alcohol.   A correct  name  for the latter would be alcoholic solution of
   chloroform, or tincture of chloroform.   Dr. AVarren used his preparation in
   fifty  cases with success, and considered it  safer than  chloroform, and  more
   agreeable than ether.  Further  observation is required to determine the  value
   of " strong chloric ether"  as an  anassthetic.   The alcohol may prove useful by
   obviating, through  its  stimulant properties, the depressing influence of the
   chloroform ; and ether has been occasionally mixed with chloroform, with the
   same view.  The preparation, sold in London and elsewhere under the  name
   of "chloric ether," is a weak tincture of chloroform of variable quality, con-
   taining  at most but  16 or 18 per cent, of chloroform, and sometimes not more
   than 5 or 6 per cent.                                                 B.

      COLLODIUM. U.S.  Collodion.  Ethereal Solution of Gun Cotton.
   Maynard's Adhesive Liquid.
      "Take of Cotton, freed from  impurities,  and finely carded, half an ounce;
   Nitrate of Potassa,  in powder, ten ounces;  Sulphuric Acid eight fluidounces
   and a half; Ether two pints and a half; Alcohol a fluidounce.  Add the Sul-
   phuric Acid to the Nitrate of Potassa in a Wedgwood mortar;  and triturate
   them until uniformly mixed ; then add the Cotton, and, by means of the  pestle
   and  a glass rod, imbue it thoroughly with the mixture for four minutes. Trans-
   fer the Cotton to a vessel containing water, and wash it, in successive portions,
   by agitation and pressure, until  the washings cease to have an acid taste, or to
   be precipitated on the addition of chloride of barium.  Having  separated the
   fibres by picking, dry the Cotton with a gentle  heat, dissolve it by agitation in
   the Ether previously mixed with the Alcohol, and strain.   Collodion should be
   kept in closely stopped bottles previously well dried."  U. S.
      Collodion is a solution of freshly prepared gun cotton in ether, assisted by a
   little alcohol.  . Gun cotton was originally obtained from cotton  by steeping it
   in nitric acid,  by the action of which it is converted into an explosive compound.
   (See Gun Cotton in Part III.)   When gun cotton is intended for solution in
   ether, a better preparation for this purpose  is made by the process of Dr. Ellet,
   of South Carolina College, which consists  in steeping cotton in a mixture of
   nitre and sulphuric acid.  This  mixture sets free the necessary  nitric acid for
   effecting the change in the cotton.   Gun cotton, thus  prepared, more readily
   dissolves in ether than that made by direct reaction of nitric acid; and, for that
   reason,  the process of Dr. Ellet  was adopted in  the U. S. formula.  Gun cotton
   thus prepared, if well washed, is not liable  to decomposition, but continues fit
   for solution in ether for a considerable time.  For a new formula for collodion,
   by Prof. Procter, see Am. Journ. of Pharm. for March, 1857, p. 106.  In fol-
   lowing  the U. S. process  it is necessary that the sulphuric acid be of the offi-
   cinal strength.
      Collodion is a transparent, colourless liquid, of a  syrupy consistence, and
   ethereal smell.  WTren applied  to a dry surface, the  ether  quickly evaporates,
   and a transparent film is left, having remarkable adhesiveness and contractility.
   On account of the great volatility of ether, collodion must be kept in bottles well
   stopped.  When insecurely kept, the  liquid  thickens and becomes less fit  for the
   use of the surgeon.  The thickened liquid sometimes contains acicular crystals
   of gun cotton, as was first  observed  by  Mr. Higginson, of London, and after-
   wards by Prof. Leidy, of this city, who examined collodion for crystalline bodies
   with the microscope at the  suggestion of Mr. E. Parrish.
      Collodion was first applied to the purposes of surgery by Mr. J. Parker May- 
PART II.
AEtherea.
895
  nard, student of medicine, of Boston, in January, 1847.  It is employed 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, 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.   The
  strong contractile power of the collodion coating is. an objection to it for some
  purposes.   This property is removed, according to Mr.  C. S. Rand, of Phila-
  delphia,  by dissolving first one part of gun cotton, and then one part of Arenice
  turpentine, in twenty parts of ether.   To give more flexibility  to the film  M
  Sounsseau, of Kaiserberg, adds one part of elemi to twelve of collodion.  'Ac-
  cording  to Mr. Startin, of London, opacity and elasticity may be imparted at the
  same time, by adding from half a drachm to a drachm of lard, or some similar
  fatty matter, previously dissolved in ether, to an ounce of collodion.  The quali-
  ties of softness  and elasticity are given by combining collodion with castor oil
  in the proportion of thirty parts to two, agreeably to the plan of M. Guersant'
  who found it useful, thus modified, in erysipelas.  An elastic collodion, some-
  w.h,at,s!m   r' m Whlch' besides castor oil' Venice terpentine and white wax are
  added, has been proposed by E. Lauras. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans xii 303 )
  A very pliable collodion may be made of thirty parts of collodion,'twelve of
  Venice turpentine, and six of castor  oil.  According to  MM. Cap and Garot
  the most successful way for obtaining an elastic-collodion is to mix two parts of
  glycerin  with one  hundred of collodion.   Glycerized collodion is exceeding
  supple, does not crack and  scale  off from the skin, and accommodates itself to
  the motions of the part.   In order to imitate the colour of the skin, an ethereal
  tincture  of turmeric or saffron may be added, so as to produce the desired tint
  Dr. Meller  has proposed  a solution of shell lac in highly rectified alcohol so as
  to have a gelatinous consistence,  as a succedaneum for collodion
   Collodion has been used with advantage by Dr. J. R. Mitchell, of Dublin and
  I  u    u  n' -°      an artificial covering to ulcers of the os and cervix uteri
  thereby allowing the healing process to go on underneath ; by M. Wetzlar of
  Aix-la-Chapelle, in chilblains; and by Dr. J. W. Freer, of Illinois, in erysipelas
  According  to Dr. Christen, of Prague, collodion is useful in erysipelas from local
  causes only, such as wounds, ulcers, burns, &c, but hurtful in the disease from
 an internal  cause.  The same writer condemns its use to prevent pitting in small-
 pox as positively injurious.   In burns collodion has been found highly useful bv
■ several practitioners.  Its application produces sharp pain at first  It acts by
 affording a  protective covering to the  cutis, and by giving a uniform support to
 the part,  relieving the capillaries from undue distention.  In a case successfully
 treated in a child by M. Coste, the collodion was mixed with castor oil, in the
 proportion  of thirty parts to six.  In  superficial inflammation it probably acts,
 m part, on  the principle  of the contractile power of the  film,  expelling the
 blood from  the inflamed vessels.   The contractile power of collodion has been
 taken advantage of in the treatment of chronic entropium, two cases of which,
 successfully  treated by it,  have been  reported by Mr. William Batten.  (See
Banking's Abstract, no.  23,  p. 134.)   Dr. J. H. Claiborne has used a thick
coating of collodion with decided advantage as a compressing- asxent for the dis-
cussion of buboes.
  Mr. Erasmus Wilson has  used  collodion with decided  advantage in certain
diseases of the skin.  It acts principally by furnishing a substitute for the epi-
dermis, and  in part by local pressure.  In chapped nipples it has an admirable 
896
AEtherea.—Alcohol.
PART II.
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. II.
Tucker found it useful in stopping the bleeding from leech-bites.  jAI. Sourisseau
and Mr. E. H. Durden have used it as a coating for pills, which are thereby de-
prived of taste, but not injured in medical properties.
   Collodion has  been variously medicated, and thus made the vehicle of several
important medicines for external application.  Iodized collodion has been pro-
posed by Dr.  C. Fleming, for the purpose of obtaining the specific effects of iodine
in a rapid manner, especially on tumours.   It is made by dissolving from ten to
twenty grains of  iodine in a fluidounce  of collodion.  M. Aran has proposed a
ferruginous collodion, made of equal parts of collodion and tincture of chloride
of iron, as a  remedy in erysipelas.  A caustic collodion may be prepared by dis-
solving 4 parts of corrosive sublimate in 30 of collodion.  Dr. Macke, of Sorau,
has used this preparation for destroying nasvi materni.  The eschar formed is
one or two lines  in thickness, and separates in from three to six days, leaving
but a trifling cicatrix.   All these  medicated collodions are most conveniently
applied by means of a camel's hair brush.
   Collodion has  become an important agent in various photographic processes.
                                                                     B.

                              ALCOHOL.

                       Preparations of Alcohol.

   ALCOHOL  AMYLICUM. Dub.  Amylic Alcohol. Hydrated Oxide
of Amy I. Fusel Oil.   Grain Oil.  Corn Spirit Oil.  Potato Spirit Oil.
   "Take of the light liquid,  which may be obtained at any large distillery, by
continuing the distillation for some time after the  pure spirit has been drawn off,
any convenient quantity.  Introduce it into a  small still or retort connected
with a condenser, and apply heat  so  as to cause distillation.   As soon as the
oil  begins to come over unmixed with water, the receiver  should be changed,
and the distillation  being resumed and carried  nearly to dryness, the desired
product will  be obtained.   The liquid drawn over during the first part of the
distillation will consist  of an  aqueous  fluid, surmounted by a stratum of the
Fusel Oil.  This latter, though impregnated with a minute quantity of water,
should be separated and preserved, as being sufficiently pure for use."  Dub.
  This oil is always present in the products of  alcoholic fermentation.   It is
an ingredient in  the ardent  spirit obtained from various  grains, but  is most
abundant in that procured from fermented potatoes.   In grain spirit it is pre-
sent in the proportion of about one part in five hundred by measure.   When
grain or potato whisky is  distilled for  the  purpose of obtaining alcohol, the
pure spirit will continue  to come over for a certain time, after which, if the
distillation be continued, a milky liquid will be obtained, which, upon standing,
will be covered with a stratum of  this  peculiar oil.  Subjected to distillation,
the milky liquid will at first boil at a comparatively low temperature, and yield
water and a little of the oil; but after a time the boiling point will rise to 269°,
when the oil will come over pure.   By changing the receiver when the oil be-
gins to distil free from water, the Dublin College collects the oil separate from
the watery part.   In relation to fusel oil, see a paper by Edward N. Kent, in
the N. Y. Journ. of Pharm. (i. 257);  and one  by Dr. Charles M. Wetherill,
copied into the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for Sept.  1853.
  Properties.  Amylic alcohol is an oily, colourless liquid, of a strong, offen-
sive odour, and acrid, burning taste.   As usually prepared it has a pale-yellow
colour.   Its  sp. gr. is 0-818;  that of its vapour 3-15.   It boils at 269°, and 
 part ii.                        Alcohol.                             897

 Congeals at -4°, in the form of crystalline leaves.   It is very sparingly soluble
 in water, but unites  in  all proportions with alcohol and ether.  It dissolves
 iodine, sulphur, and  phosphorus, and forms a good solvent for fats, resins, and
 camphor.  When dropped upon paper it does not leave a greasy stain.  It
 does not take  fire like alcohol by the contact of flame, but  requires  to  be
 heated to a temperature of about 130° before it begins to burn.   According to
 M. Pasteur, there  are two amylic alcohols, chemically the same, but optically
 distinct.   Amylic alcohol consists of ten eqs. of carbon 60, twelve of hydrogen
 12, and two of oxygen 16=88.  It is generally considered to be a hydrated
 oxide of the  compound radical amyl  (CinKn)', and on this view its formula
 will be C10Hu,O+HO.   Heated with  anhydrous phosphoric acid, it loses the
 elements of two  eqs. of water, and forms a carbohydrogen, C10H]0,  homolo-
 gous with ethylen, called amylen  or valeren, now used  as an  anaesthetic. (See
 Amylen in Part III.) When subjected to oxidizing agents, it loses two eqs. of
 hydrogen  and  gains two of oxygen, and becomes C,0Hg,O3-fHO, or amylic
 acid, which is identical with valerianic acid, the acid found in valerian.   This
 acid bears the  same  relation to amylic alcohol that  acetic acid does to ethylic
 alcohol,  and  formic  acid to methylic alcohol.  Amyl has been isolated by Dr.
 E. Frankland.   It is a colourless pellucid liquid, of the sp. gr. 0-7704. (Chem.
 Gaz., March 15, 1850.)  Its hydruret (hydride), C10HU,H, has been receiitly
 discovered to be an  energetic anassthetic by Dr. Simpson, of Edinburgh.
   Crude fusel oil  may be obtained from  the alcohol distillers.  Mr.  Kent, of
 New York, found in it as impurities, water, alcohol,  acetic  and amylic acid,
 oxide of iron, and an amyl compound, analogous to cenanthic ether.  Accord-
 ing  to the Messrs. T. and H. Smith, of Edinburgh, the crude oil is a mixture
 of propylic, butylic,  and amylic alcohols, and of other alcohols much higher in
 the  series.  (Pharm.  Journ. and Trans., June, 1857, p. 606.)
   Fusel  oil was made officinal by the Dublin College, in  its Pharmacopoeia of
 1850, as an artificial source of valerianic acid, to be used in forming valerianate
 of soda, from which,  by double decomposition, three other valerianates, namely,
 those of iron, zinc, and quinia, are directed to be formed by the College.
  Amylic  alcohol, as shown by experiments on inferior animals, is an  active
 irritant poison.
   Off. Prep.  Sodas Yalerianas.                                        B.
   SPIRITUS FORTIOR. Dub.   Stronger Spirit.
   "Take of Rectified Spirit half a gallon [Imp.  meas.]; Carbonate of Potash
 from Pearlash  eight ounces [avoirdupois].   Having dried the Carbonate of
 Potash at a low red  heat,  and rapidly reduced it to powder in a warm mortar,
 let it be shaken occasionally for four hours in  a bottle With the Spirit,  main-
 taining the temperature of the mixture at or about 100°.  After a subsidence
 of twenty minutes' duration, the liquid will form two distinct strata, the upper-
 most of which  (measuring about  seventy-four ounces) should be separated by
 decantation or a syphon, and then  distilled with the aid of a Liebig's condenser,
 and chloride of zinc bath,  until the product amounts to seventy-two ounces.
 The  specific gravity of this spirit is 0-818."  Dub.
  In this newly introduced formula of  the Dublin College, rectified  spirit (sp.
 gr. 0*840) is shaken with hot and  dry carbonate of potassa, to separate water;
 and the  strengthened spirit, floating over the more aqueous portion, which
forms the solvent of the added carbonate, is decanted, and distilled with a heat
regulated by a chloride of  zinc bath, until -fyths have passed over.
  Stronger spirit has the same general  properties as alcohol, described at page
64 as the type of a class, including its varieties of different strengths.  Agree-
ably to the density assigned to it by the Dublin College  (0-818), it contains be-
      57 
898                             Alcohol.                         part ii.

tween eight and nine per cent, of water.  It is used by the Dublin College in pre-
paring several essences, and in making absolute alcohol. (See next article.)
   Off Prep. Alcohol, Dub.;  Essentia Menthas  Piperitas;  Essentia  Menthaj
Viridis; Essentia Myristicas Moschatas.                                 3

   ALCOHOL. Ed., Dub.   Absolute  Alcohol.
   "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 in-
creasing heat distil off seventeen fluidounces [Imp. meas.].  The density of this
alcohol should not exceed  0796; if higher, the distillation must have been
begun before the slaking of the Lime was finished." Ed.
   "Take  of Stronger Spirit one pint [Imp.meas.]; pulverized  fresh-burned
Lime ten ounces [avoirdupois].   Having  introduced the Lime and Spirit into
a matrass, connected in the usual manner with a Liebig's condenser, let heat be
applied until the lime  begins to slake, and, when this process is completed, dis-
til by means of a chloride of zinc bath until the liquid which comes over, toge-
ther with that obtained during the slaking, measures two ounces [Imp. meas.].
This being rejected, the receiver should be changed, and the distillation resumed,
and continued  until a product of nearly  sixteen ounces [Imp. meas.] is  pro-
cured.   The specific gravity  of this product is 0*795."  Dub.
   In these processes an alcoholic liquid of  a given specific gravity is brought to
its highest strength, so as to form absolute alcohol, by the dehydrating action
of lime, and  subsequent distillation.  These processes  are good ones, and, if
carefully followed,  will yield absolute alcohol.   Dr. Christison assures  us, that,
on using pure quicklime, with the precautions mentioned in the Edinburgh for-
mula, 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."
   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 distilling
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 chloride, or 2£
ounces of the lime.  3d. Distil the product of this operation slowly with quick-
lime, in the proportion of 3| ounces to the pint.  The product 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 other-
wise, towards the end  of the distillation, the hydrate of lime formed will yield
up its water to the alcohol, and weaken the distilled product.  Thus it appears
that the Edinburgh and Dublin processes for absolute alcohol are substantially
the same as the shorter process of Soubeiran.
   Properties.  Absolute alcohol is a colourless, volatile liquid, of an agreeable
odour and burning  taste.   It boils at 172°, and is not congealed by a cold of
166° below zero.  Its officinal density is 0*794-6 Ed; 0*795 Dub. Its sp. gr.
is 0*7978 at .68°, according to Regnault;  0-79381 at 60° according to Drink-
water.   The  sp. gr. of its vapour is  1-59.  Its freedom  from water maybe 
PART II.
Alcohol.
899
 ascertained by dropping into it a piece of anhydrous baryta, which will remain
 unchanged if the alcohol be free from water; but otherwise will fall to powder.
 Another method for determining the same point, is to allow alcohol  to stand
 for some time, in a stoppered bottle, on anhydrous sulphate of copper.   If the
 alcohol be anhydrous, the salt will remain white; otherwise it will become blue.
 (Casoria.)   Absolute  alcohol should be free from fusel oil.  In view of this
 impurity, the Edinburgh College gives the following test.   "When mixed with
 a little solution of nitrate of silver and exposed to bright light, it remains un-
 changed, or only a very scanty dark precipitate forms."   According to Mr. E.
 N.  Kent,  of New York, nitrate of silver will not discover  fusel oil.  To detect
 this impurity, he finds  pure sulphuric acid the best test. (See page 66.)
   Absolute alcohol burns with a pale flame without residue, the products being
 carbonic acid  and  water.   Its vapour, passed through a  porcelain tube filled
 with  pumice-stone and heated to redness, yields carbon,  gaseous carbohydro-
 gens, aldehyd, naphthalin, benzin, phenic acid, and various other substances.
 (Berthelot.)  It unites  in all proportions with ether and water.  Its union with
 water is  attended  by  condensation and a rise  of  temperature.   When 51-9
 volumes of alcohol are mixed with 48-1 of water, corresponding with one eq.
 of  the former to six of the latter, the decrease of volume is at the maximum,
 amounting to 3-4  per cent.  The powers of  absolute alcohol as a solvent are
 very much the same as those of  officinal alcohol, noticed at page 65.  s
   Berthelot has announced the formation of alcohol synthetically, by uniting
 olefiant gas with water.  In this discovery he was anticipated by the late Mr.
 Hennel, who published it in 1828.
    Composition.   Absolute 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  of hydrogen, and  one of oxygen,  condensed  into two
 volumes.   Its empirical formula  is, therefore, C4HgOa.  Yiewed  as a hydrated
 oxide of ethyl, its formula is C4Hs,0+HO.
   It has been stated, at page 63, that during the vinous fermentation sugar dis-
 appears, and the sole products  are alcohol and carbonic acid, which,  taken to-
 gether,  are equal in weight to the sugar lost.  Now, the  comparative compo-
 sition of the substances concerned supports the opinion that these are the sole
 products.   Preparatory to the fermentation, the cane sugar is  changed into
 grape sugar, or, according to Mitscheriich and Soubeiran, into uncrystallizable
 sugar.  These two sugars, dried at 212°, consist of C^H^O^.  Supposing one
 eq.  of this fermentable  sugar to be the subject-matter  of the change,  it will be
 found to have a composition which admits of its being broken up into two eqs.
 of alcohol and four of carbonic acid; for C13Hla013=2(C4H803) and 4(C02).
   The reasons are  not obvious which induced the Edinburgh and Dublin Col-
 leges  to include absolute alcohol  in their officinal lists.   It is used in no pre-
' paration of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and  in only two of the Dublin, in
 neither of which is  it necessary.
   Pharm. Use.  In preparing Arsenici et Hydrargyri Hydriodatis Liquor.
   Off. Prep.   Essentia Foeniculi.                                    B.

   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;  Distilled Water a pint.   Mix them.
 The density of the  product should be 0-912."  Ed.
   "Take of Rectified Spirit seven pints; Distilled Water four pints.  Mix.
 The specific gravity of Proof Spirit is 0-920." Dub. 
900
Alcohol.—Alumen.
PART II.
   The London College places diluted alcohol or proof spirit in the list of the
Materia Medica.  The Edinburgh College has ordered the strongest proof spirit,
its density being 0*912, which is 7 over proof.   It contains 52 per cent, of ab-
solute 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°.   The Dublin proof spirit has
the sp. gr. 0*920 also, and, therefore, agrees in strength with the corresponding
spirit of the London College.  The diluted alcohol of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia
has the sp. gr. 0-935, and contains only 42 per cent, of absolute alcohol.  It is,
therefore, the weakest officinal proof spirit.
   Medical and Pharmaceutical  Uses.   The medicinal effects of alcohol, as it
exists in brandy and other ardent spirits, have been detailed under other heads.
(See Alcohol, U.  S., Spiritus Vini Gallici, and Vinum Album.) As a pure
diluted spirit, however, consisting solely of alcohol and water indeterminate pro-
portions, its use is exclusively pharmaceutical.  It is employed as an addition
to the compound infusion of gentian, and 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 plants, preparatory to the formation of
extracts and syrups; and in preparing many of the spirits, and a few of the medi-
cated wines.  But it is in forming the tinctures  that diluted alcohol is chiefly
used.   Many of these are made  with 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, should never substitute  the commercial proof spirit
for diluted alcohol, even though it may be of the same strength, on account of
the impurities in the former; 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 Siccatum.
Dub. Dried Alum.
   " Take of Alum, in coarse powder, a convenient quantity.  Melt it in a shal-
low iron or earthen vessel, and maintain it at a moderate heat until ebullition
ceases, and it becomes dry;  then rub it into powder."  U.S.
   " Take of Alum a pound.  Melt it over the fire; then increase the heat until
ebullition has ceased." Lond.
   The Edinburgh and Dublin  processes agree  substantially  with that of the
U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  When alum is heated, it quickly dissolves in its water
of crystallization, which, if the heat be continued, is gradually evaporated; the
salt swelling exceedingly, so as to make it expedient to use a vessel, the capa-
city of which is equal to at least three times the bulk of the alum.  When the
intumescence has ceased, it is a  sign that all the water has been expelled.
   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 
PART II.
Alumen.—Ammonia.
901
  the crystallized salt.  Before pulverization, it is a light, white, opaque, porous
  mass. During the exsiccation, alum loses from 41 to 46 per cent, of its weight
  in dissipated water.   If the heat be strongly urged, some of the acid is driven
  off, and the loss becomes  still greater.   Dried alum resists 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.
     3Iedical Properties and Uses.  Dried alum has been given in obstinate con-
  stipation, with the effect of gently moving the bowels, and affording great relief
  from pain.  (See Alumen.)  The dose  is from five to ten grains or more.   Its
  principal  medical use is as an escharotic for destroying fungous flesh.    B.

     LIQUOR ALUMINIS  COMPOSITUS. Lond.  Compound Solution
  of Alum.
     "Take of Alum,  Sulphate of Zinc, each, an  ounce;  Distilled Water  three
  pints [Imp. meas.].  Rub the Alum  and Sulphate together, and dissolve in
  the Water; then strain."  Lond.
     This was formerly callect 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 some-
  times employed as a collyrium in ophthalmia after depletion; but when used in
  this way it  must be diluted.   A convenient formula is half a  fluidounce of the
  solution, mixed with six and  a half fluidounces of rose water.            B.

                             AMMONIA.

                      Preparations of Ammonia.

    AMMONLE  CARBONAS.  U.  S., Ed.   Ammonijh  Sesquicarbo-
  Nas. Lond., Dub.  Carbonate of Ammonia.  Sesquicarbonate of Ammo-
  nia.  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 gra-
  dually increasing heat."  U.S.
    The Edinburgh  process is  the same as that  of  the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia,
*  The Bondon and Dublin Colleges have placed this salt in the list of the Materia
  Medica.
    In the above process, by the reciprocal action of the salts employed, the car-
 bonic acid unites with the ammonia, generating carbonate of ammonia, and,the
 muriatic acid with the lime, forming water and chloride of  calcium.   The car-
 bonate and water sublime together as a hydrated carbonate of ammonia, and the
 residue is chloride of calcium.  In conducting the process, the retort should be
 of earthenware, and have a wide cylindrical neck; and the receiver should  be
 cylindrical, to facilitate the extraction of the sublimate.   The  relative quanti-
 ties of chalk  and muriate of ammonia, for mutual decomposition, are 50 of the
 former, and 53*5 of the latter, or one  eq. of  each.   In  the formula a great
 excess of ehalk is taken. An excess is desirable to ensure the perfect decompo-
 sition of the muriate of  ammonia,  any redundancy of which  would sublime
along with the' carbonate and render it impure.
   Carbonate  of ammonia is usually obtained, on the large scale, 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.  This double decomposition between sulphate of am-
monia and carbonate of lime takes place in the dry way only, that is,  by subli- 
902
Ammonia.
part n.
mation.   In the wet way, the double decomposition is reversed; carbonate of
ammonia and sulphate of lime reacting so as to form sulphate of ammonia and
carbonate of lime. (See page 90.) Large quantities of this carbonate are manu-
factured indirectly from coal-gas liquor and bone spirit; the ammoniacal pro-
ducts in these liquors being converted successively into sulphate, muriate  and
carbonate of ammonia. (See Ammonise  Murias.)  The salt as first obtained
has a slight odour of tar, and leaves a blackish carbonaceous matter when dis-
solved in acids.  Hence it requires to be purified, which is effected in iron pots
surmounted with leaden  heads.
  Properties.  Carbonate (sesquicarbonate) of ammonia, recently prepared is
in white, moderately hard, translucent masses, of a fibrous and crystalline ap-
pearance, a pungent ammoniacal smell, and a sharp penetrating taste.  It pos-
sesses 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 insecurely kept,  it gradually passes into the  state of bicarbonate, be-
coming  opaque and friable, and falling into  powder.   It is soluble without
residue in about four times its weight of cold water* but is decomposed by boil-
ing water into two eqs. of monocarbonate which  dissolve, and one eq. of car-
bonic acid, which escapes with effervescence.   According to Dr. Barker (Ob-
servations on the Dublin Pharmacopoeia), it dissolves  abundantly in diluted
alcohol, as also in heated alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-836, with effervescence of car-
bonic acid.  When heated on a piece of  glass, it should evaporate without re-
sidue, and, if turmeric paper held over it undergoes no change, it  has passed
into bicarbonate.  As  now prepared  from coal-gas liquor, it  usually contains
traces of tarry matter, which gives a dark colour to its solution in acids.  When
it is saturated with nitric acid, neither chloride of barium nor nitrate of silver
causes "a precipitate. The non-action of  these tests shows the absence of sul-
phate 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.  The salt consists  of three eqs. of carbonic acid 66, two of am-
monia 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 per-'
feet, a sesquicarbonate, as it is called by the London and Dublin Colleges.  On
the ammonium theory, the two eqs. of water disappear, and the salt becomes a
sesquicarbonate of oxide of ammonium.  Dalton and Scanlan have rendered it
probable  that it  really consists of  the two salts above  mentioned;  for, when
treated with  a small quantity of cold water, monocarbonate  is dissolved and
bicarbonate left.  When converted into bicarbonate by exposure 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 sesquicarbonate.   The way in
which the latter salt is formed may be thus explained.  By the mutual decom-
position of three eqs. of muriate of ammonia and three of chalk, three eqs. of
monocarbonate of ammonia, three  of  water, and three of chloride of calcium
are  generated.  During  the operation, however, one eq. of ammonia, and one
of water, forming together oxide of ammonium, 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 constituents in the proper proportion for forming the
hydrated  sesquicarbonate of ammonia, or sesquicarbonate of oxide of ammo- 
, part ii.                       Ammonia.                            903

  nium.  When the salt is re-sublimed in the process of purification, two eqs. are
  said to lose one eq. of carbonic acid, and  to become  one eq. of 5-4 carbonate.
  Accordingly, the medicinal carbonate, after having been submitted to a second
  sublimation, is not a perfect sesquicarbonate.
    Medical Properties and Uses.  Carbonate of ammonia is stimulant, diapho-
  retic, 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 the excretion of the  sputa by increasing the muscular
  power.   As a stimulant, it is  exhibited principally in  typhus fever, and very
  frequently in connexion with wine whey.  Its principal  advantage, in this dis-
  ease, is its power to increase the action of the heart and arteries without un-
  duly 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 gastric derangement
  supervening on  habits of irregularity and  debauchery. As a diaphoretic, it
  is resorted to in  gout and chronic rheumatism, particularly the latter, in con-
  junction 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 circu-
  lation and dry skin, it is  said to produce  excellent effects.   It is very seldom
  used as an emetic; but is supposed to act  with advantage, in this way, in some
  cases of paralysis.   In psoriasis and lepra vulgaris, Cazenave has used it  with
  remarkable success.  Two cases  of glanders, successfully treated chiefly with
  five-grain  doses  of carbonate of  ammonia, repeated every hour or two hours,
  are reported by Dr. Mackenzie, of Lond. (Ranking's Abstract, no. 18, p. 230).
  As an external application, it is rubefacient, and  may be employed in several
  ways.  Reduced to fine 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 hys-
  teria.*  The ordinary dose is five grains, every two, three, or four hours, given
  in the form of pill or mixture.   The dose as an emetic is  thirty grains, 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 with some vegetable
  extract, as of gentian, and should be dispensed in a wide-mouthed vial, and not
  in a box.  Carbonate of ammonia is sometimes directed to be made into pills
  with sulphate of  quinia.   According to Mr. J. M. Maisch, these salts are in-
  compatible ; and, unless the physician  wish to  give sulphate of  ammonia and
  free quinia, they should not be  ordered together.   If so ordered, Mr. Maisch
  suggests that they should be rubbed up with a little strong alcohol, in order
  that the whole of the carbonic acid  may be evolved, before they are made  into
  pills.  If this be not done, each pill will swell and burst from the gradual ex-
  trication of the acid.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 309.)
    Carbonate of ammonia  is used as a chemical agent in  preparing Zinci  Oxi-
  dum and Ferrum Tartarizatum.   It is sometimes employed to make effervescent
  draughts, 20 grains of the salt requiring for this purpose 6 fluidrachms of lemon
 juice, and 24 grains of citric  acid,  or 25 £ grains of tartaric acid.
   Off. Prep, Ammonias Bicarbonas; Cuprum Ammoniatum; Liquor Ammonias

   * In Mounsey's recipe for the English preparation, called Preston salts, the essence
• to be added to the carbonate is made as follows. Take of oil of cloves gss ; oil of laven-
 der ""-j; oil of bergamot .^iiss ; stronger solution of ammonia (sp. gr. 0-880) fgx.  Mix.
 The bottles are to be filled with carbonate of  ammonia, half with the salt coarsely
 bruised, and the remainder with it in fine  powder; and then as much of the above es-
 sence as  the salt will absorb is to be added. (PJiarm. Journ. and  Trans., xiii. 628.) 
904
Ammonia.
part ii.
 Acetatis; Liquor Ammonias Citratis; Liquor Ammonias Sesquicarbonatis- Po-
 tassas Bicarbonas; Potassas Carbonas Purum.                          »

    AMMONLE BICARBONAS.  Dub. Bicarbonate of Ammonia.
    "Take of Commercial Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia any convenient quantity
 Reduce it to a fine powder, and having spread it on a sheet of paper, expose
 it to the air for twenty-four hours.  Let it be now enclosed in a well stopped
 bottle." Dub.                                                      ll
   , This salt is officinal only in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia.  The sesquicarbonate
 by exposure to the air, loses monocarbonate by evaporation, and is converted
 into bicarbonate.   This salt is an opaque white powder, having a faint am-
 moniacal taste and smell.  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 same medical properties as the sesquicarbonate
 and furnishes, according to Dr. Barker, of Dublin, the means of prescribing
 ammonia in a convenient and palatable form.   The  dose is from six to twenty-
 four grains, dissolved in cold water, as hot water decomposes the salt.
   Bicarbonate of ammonia may be used to form effervescing powders with tar-
 taric acid.  Fourteen parts of the salt are necessary to saturate fifteen of the
 acid, in order to form the neutral tartrate  of ammonia.  (Maisch, Proceedings
 of the American Pharmaceutical Association, 1856, p. 54.)
   The curious fact has been ascertained by Mr. L. Thompson, of Newcastle on
 Tyne, that bicarbonate of ammonia is exhaled from the lungs in the amount of
 about three grains in twenty-four hours. (Philos. Mag. for Feb.  1847.)  B.

   LIQUOR AMMONLE SESQUICARBONATIS. Lond. Ammonuj
 Carbonatis Aqua. Ed.  Solution of Sesquicarbonate  of Ammonia. Wa-
 ter of Carbonate of Ammonia.
   "Take of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia four ounces; Distilled Water a pint
 [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve and strain." Lond.
   The Edinburgh solution is of the same  strength as the London.
   This preparation may be  viewed as a saturated aqueous solution of carbonate
 of ammonia.  It is very properly omitted in the United States Pharmacopoeia;
 as it is liable to change by  keeping, and the solution of the salt may be readily
 ordered of any desired strength  in prescription.  The dose is from half a flui-
 drachm to a fluidrachm, given in any bland liquid.
   Off. Prep. Linimentum  Ammoniae  Sesquicarbonatis;  Pilulas Cupri Am-
 moniati.                                                           -Q

   AMMONLE HYDRO-SULPHURETUM.  Dub.   Hydrosulphuret
 of Ammonia.   Solution  of Bihydrosulphate of Ammonia.
   "Take of Solution of Ammonia four fluidounces  [Imp. meas.]; Sulphuret
 of Iron one  ounce and a half [avoirdupois]; Oil of  Vitriol of Commerce one
fluidounce  and a half [Imp meas.]; Water fifteen ounces [avoird.]; Dis-
tilled Water two ounces [avoird.].  Place  the  Sulphuret  of Iron and Water
in a two-necked bottle, and, adding the Oil of Vitriol by degrees through a
safety funnel, conduct by suitable tubes the sulphuretted hydrogen which is
disengaged,  first through the Distilled Water placed in a small intermediate
vial, and then to the bottom of a bottle containing the Ammonia, the  neck of
the latter, through which the glass tube conveying the gas passes, being loosely
plugged with tow.   If, when the development of gas has ceased, a drop of the
ammoniacal  liquid, added to a saturated solution of sulphate of magnesia, gives
no precipitate,  the preparation is  completed; but, should a precipitate occur,
the hydrosulphuret still contains free ammonia, and  must, therefore, be again
subjected to  the action of a  stream of sulphuretted hydrogen.   The Hydrosul- 
part ii.                      Ammonia.                           905

phuret of Ammonia must be kept in a green glass bottle, furnished with an ac-
curately ground stopper.  The specific gravity of this solution is 0'999." Dub.
  This preparation is a solution of bihydrosulphate of ammonia in water, and
is formed by passing a stream of hydrosulphuric acid gas (sulphuretted hydro-
gen) through water of ammonia, contained  in a Wolfe's  bottle.   Considered
as a bihydrosulphate its formula is NH3,2HS;  but it is probably a sulphosalt,
with the formula NH4S,HS.  The hydrosulphuric acid is obtained by acting
with dilute sulphuric 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 hydro-
sulphuric acid.
  Properties. Hydrosulphuret of  ammonia is a  liquid of a greenish-yellow
colour, very fetid smell, and acrid, disagreeable taste.  It is characterized  by
giving coloured precipitates with  neutral metallic solutions, for which it  is
much used as a  test.  It is decomposed by acids, which cause  the escape  of
hydrosulphuric acid with effervescence, and the deposition of sulphur.
   3Iedical Properties. This preparation is sedative, lessening  the action  of
the heart in a remarkable degree, and producing,  when given in large  doses,
nausea, vomiting, vertigo, and drowsiness.   It was proposed as a remedy  in
diabetes mellitus, by Dr.  Cruickshank, for the purpose of lessening the morbid
appetite in that disease, and has been  employed by Dr. Rollo and others.  The
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.              B.
   LIQUOR AMMONLE.  U.S. Ammonite Liquor.  Lond.,Dub.  Am-
monite  Aqua. Ed.  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.  Mix this
thoroughly with  the  Muriate of Ammonia  in a  mortar, and immediately in-
troduce 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  0-960.  Keep the Solution in  small bottles
well stopped.   Solution  of Ammonia may also  be prepared  by mixing one
part, by measure, of Stronger Solution of Ammonia with  two parts of Dis-
tilled Water."  U.S.
   "Take of 'Sal Ammoniac,  in fine  power, fresh-burned Lime, each  eight
ounces [avoirdupois]; Water four ounces [avoird. ]; Distilled Water sixteen
ounces [avoird.].  Pour  on the Lime the four ounces of Water, and,  when
the slaked lime has cooled, mix it well with the Sal Ammoniac by trituration
in a mortar.   Introduce  the mixture  into a matrass of glass, or, if such can
be had, an iron bottle, and, having closed this by means  of a cork perforated
by a suitable tube for  conveying off the  gas, apply, with  the intervention of
sand, a gentle heat, which  must be gradually augmented, and cause the amr
monia, as it is evolved, to pass first through a small Wolfe's bottle furnished
with a syphon safety-tube containing mercury, and thence to the  bottom of  an
[Imperial] pint bottle containing the Distilled Water.  The temperature of 
906                           Ammonia.                       part ii.

the latter must be prevented from rising as the absorption of the gas proceeds,
by surrounding the bottle which contains it with cold water, which should be
frequently renewed.  The specific gravity of this solution is 0-950." Dub.
  The London College now places Liquor Ammonias in the Materia Medica
list, directing it to have the specific gravity 0-960.
  The Edinburgh process includes the formation of Liquor Ammonias Fortior
and this preparation at one operation.  The process has been quoted at length
and explained  under another head.  (See Liquor  Ammonise Fortior.)  The
solution of ammonia 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 lime is
slaked to render it  pulverulent, in  which  state it acts more readily on  the
muriate  of ammonia.   The Wolfe's bottle is intended to retain any water
holding in solution undecomposed muriate, or the  oily matter  sometimes con-
tained in the 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 fill it, on account of the
increase in the bulk of the water during the absorption of the gas.  The tube
should extend 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 intermediate vessel, the latter should be furnished with a Welter's safety
tube,  as directed by the Dublin College.  Large bottles are improper for keeping
the water of ammonia; as, when they are partially empty, the  atmospheric air
within them may furnish  a little carbonic acid to the ammonia.
  In  preparing solution of ammonia, the Pharmacopoeias now agree in using
equal  weights  of muriate of ammonia and lime for  generating  the gaseous
ammonia.   This proportion gives a great excess  of lime, compared with the
quantity required if determined by the equivalents.  But in practice it is found
advantageous to have  an  excess, as well to insure the full decomposition of the
muriate of ammonia,  as to make up for accidental impurities in the lime.
   The U. S., London,  and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias give directions for dilu-
ting Liquor Ammonise Fortior, so as to reduce it to the  strength of Liquor
Ammonise.   This is effected by mixing  one measure of the stronger prepara-
tion 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. 0-960; the Edinburgh solution requiring more
water, because more concentrated.
   Properties.  The properties of Liquor Ammonise Fortior have already been
given.  (See page 88.)  Those of the officinal solution of ammonia, described
in this place, are the same in kind, but weaker in degree.   Its specific gravity
in the U. S., London,  and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias is the  same, 0960; in
the Dublin, 0-950.  When of the density 0-960, 100 grains of it saturate 30
grains of officinal sulphuric acid, and contain  nearly 10 grains  of ammonia. It
is incompatible with acids, and with acidulous and  most earthy and metallic
salts; but it  does not decompose  the  salts of lime, baryta,  or  strontia, and
only  partially decomposes those  of  "magnesia.  If precipitated by lime-water,
the ammonia is partly carbonated. When saturated with nitric acid, it should
give no precipitate with carbonate of ammonia, nitrate of silver, or chloride of
barium.  A precipitate with the first indicates earthy matter;  with the second,
muriatic acid or a chloride;  with the third, sulphuric acid or a sulphate.  Com-
mercial  solution of ammonia sometimes  contains pyrrol, naphthalin, and other
soluble impurities.  These may be detected by the solution being reddened  by 
PART II.
Ammonia.
907
nitric acid, and, after having been supersaturated with muriatic acid, by its
tinging a slip of fir wood of a rich purple colour, characteristic of pyrrol.
(Maclagan.)  The source of these impurities is coal-gas liquor, from which the
ammoniacal compounds are largely obtained.
   Composition.  Water is capable of absorbing 670 times its volume of ammo-
niacal 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 densities.
Specific	Ammonia	Specific	Ammonia	Specific	Ammonia
Gravity.	per cent.	Gravity.	per cent.	Gravity.	per cent.
0-8750	32-50	0-9326	17-52	0-9545	11-56
- 0-8875	29-25	0-9385	15-88	0-9573 .	10-82
0-9000	26-00	0-9435	14-53	0-9597	10-17
0-9054	25-37	0-9476	13-46	0-9619	9-60
0-9166	22-07	0-9513	12-40	0-9692	9-50
0-9255	19-54				
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Solution of ammonia is stimulant, sudorific,
 antacid, and rubefacient.  It stimulates more particularly the heart and arteries,
 without unduly exciting the brain.  As a stimulant it is occasionally employed
 in paralysis, hysteria,  syncope, asphyxia, and similar affections.  In the same
 complaints it is often applied 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 gastric acidity.  In these cases it acts usefully also by stimulating  the sto-
 mach.  In the bites of poisonous serpents, it has  long been deemed a powerful
 antidote.   A case, caused by the  bite of a cobra de capello, was successfully
 treated by Dr. W. Chalmers, formerly of Bengal, in which solution of ammonia
 was chiefly relied on.  A dose of this solution, given in drunkenness, is said to
 remove the intoxication in a  short time.   It has  been  recommended by Dr.
 Guerard as an  application to burns, attended with  rubefaction or vesication^
 in order to relieve the pain and  hasten the cure. (Journ. de Pharm., Jan!
 1849.) As a rubefacient it is employed united with  oils in the form of volatile
 liniment. (See Linimentum Ammonise.)  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 inflam-
 mation must be treated on general principles.
   Pharm  Uses.   To prepare Aconitia, Calcis Phosphas Prascipitatum,  Ferri
 Oxidum Hydratum, Morphia,  Morphias Acetas,  Pulvis  Antimonialis, Dub.,
 fepintus ^Ethereus Nitrosus, Strychnia, Veratria.
   Off Prep.  Ammonias Liquor Fortior, Dub.; Ammonias Hydro-sulphuretum;
fern Ammonio-citras;  Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum; Linimentum Ammonias;
Lmimentum Hydrargyri.                                             B

   LIQUOR AMMONIA ACETATIS.  U.S., Lond.  Ammonia Ace-
tatis Aqua.  Ed. Ammonia Acetatis Liquor. Dub.  Spiritus Min-
DEReri.  Solution of Acetate of Ammonia.   Spirit of Mindererus.
  "Take of Diluted Acetic Acid two pints; Carbonate of Ammonia, in  pow- 
908
Ammonia.
part ii.
der, a sufficient quantity.  Add the Carbonate of Ammonia gradually to the
Acid, until it is saturated."  U. S.
   The London and Dublin processes are substantially the same as the above.
   "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 Vine-
gar should be 1-005,  and that  of the Aqua Acetatis Ammonias 1-011." Ed.
   This preparation is an aqueous solution of acetate of ammonia. The process
by which it is formed constitutes a case of  single elective affinity.   The acetic
acid combines with the ammonia of the carbonate, forming the acetate of am-
monia, and disengages the carbonic acid with effervescence.   The Edinburgh
is now the only British Pharmacopoeia that  uses distilled  vinegar in forming
this preparation; the London and Dublin Colleges having followed, in their re-
cent Pharmacopoeias, the U. S. process, which takes the officinal diluted acetic
acid instead of distilled vinegar for saturating the carbonate.  (See Acidum Ace-
ticum Dilutum.)   The use of  diluted acetic acid  is preferable  to that of dis-
tilled  vinegar;  for, besides furnishing  a  solution of the  acetate of uniform
strength, a result which cannot be attained by the employment of distilled viue-
gar, 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 di-
luted acetic acid of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, contains about  six per cent, of
acetate of ammonia.    It is more convenient to add the salt to the acid than
the  acid to the salt;  as the point of saturation is thus more  easily attained.
In  ascertaining this point by test-paper, the alkaline reaction  will  begin,
though a portion of free acetic acid may- still remain; a little of it being insuffi-
cient to overcome the natural alkaline reaction of the salt.  (See page 21.)  A
complication is caused  by the presence of free carbonic acid, which may be ex-
pelled from the liquid towards  the end of the saturation by warming it. Sup-
posing the carbonic acid  got rid of, the best  rule, perhaps, is to cease adding
the carbonate of ammonia, upon the occurrence of the least sign of alkalinity.
   Properties.   Solution of acetate of ammonia, when made of pure materials,
is a limpid  and colourless liquid without smell.   Its  taste is saline, and re-
sembles that of a mixture of nitre  and sugar.  When it contains an excess of
alkali, its taste is bitterish.  It  should be freshly prepared  at  short intervals;
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 chloride of
barium.   Nitrate of silver precipitates crystals of acetate of silver, soluble in
water, and especially in nitric acid.   An insoluble precipitate with this test is
chloride of silver, and shows the presence of muriatic acid.  Potassa disengages
ammonia; sulphuric acid, acetous vapours.   When evaporated to dryness, the
residue is wholly dissipated by heat, with the smell of ammonia.  It is incom-
patible 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 
PART II.
Ammonia.
909
  employed.  Acetate of ammonia itself is a salt of difficult crystallization, and
  very deliquescent.  When perfect it probably has an alkaline reaction, like the
  acetates of potassa and soda.   It may be obtained by sublimation from a mix-
  ture of equal parts  of dry acetate of potassa or of lime, and muriate of am-
  monia.  It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, and one of ammonia 17 = 68.
  When crystallized it contains  seven  eqs. of water 63.   It may be viewed as
  acetate of oxide of ammonium, containing six eqs. of water.
    Medical Properties and Uses.  Solution of acetate of ammonia is a valu-
  able diaphoretic, much employed in febrile and inflammatory diseases.  Accord-
  ing to the indications to be answered by its use, it is variously combined with
  nitre and antimonials,  camphor and  laudanum.  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 ex-
  ternally as a discutient.  Mr. Brande speaks of it as very useful 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.  Mixed in  the quantity of a fluidounce with seven
  fluidounces of rosewater, and two fluidrachms of laudanum, it forms a useful
  collyrium in chronic ophthalmia.  The late Dr. A. T. Thomson  used it as a
  lotion  with good effect in porrigo affecting the scalp.  The dose  is from half
  a fluidounce to a fluidounce  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.

    LIQUOR AMMONIA   CITRATIS. Lond.  Solution  of Citrate
  of Ammonia.
    "Take of  Citric  Acid three ounces;  Distilled Water a  pint [Imperial
  measure]; Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia  two ounces and a half, or a suffi-
  cient quantity.  Dissolve the Acid in the Water,  and  add the  Sesquicarbo-
  nate to saturation."  Lond.
   In consequence of the want of correspondence between the London measures
 and those in use with us, it will be more convenient to make this preparation in
 accordance with the U. S. process for Solution of Citrate of Potassa   The result
 will not be materially different.  All that is required is to saturate lemon or lime
 juice, or an equivalent solution of citric acid, with carbonate of ammonia  Such
 a solution may be made by rubbing half an ounce of citric acid first with two
 minims of oil  of  lemons, and then with half a pint of water till it is dissolved
   A more elegant mode of exhibition is that of an extemporaneous effervescing
 draught.   To half a fluidounce of lemon juice mixed with an equal measure of
 water, or to a  fluidounce of a solution of citric acid containing 17  grains of the
 acid, is  to be added half a fluidounce of a solution containing 13 grains of car
 bonate  of ammonia, and the mixture is to be administered while effervescing
   The solution of citrate of ammonia is given as a  refrigerant diaphoretic in
 febrile complaints, and is especially applicable to typhoid fevers, with a hot
 and dry skin.  A tablespoonful of the saturated solution, or the  whole quantitv
 above mentioned of the  effervescing preparation, may be repeated every hour
 two, or three hours.                                                 W   '

   SPIRITUS AMMONLZE.  U.S., Ed. Spirit of Ammonia.
  "Take of Muriate of Ammonia, in fine powder, Lime, each, a pound; Alco-
 hol twenty fluidounces; Water nine fluidounces.  Slake the  Lime with the
Water, mix it with the Muriate of Ammonia, and proceed in  the manner di-
rected for  solution of Ammonia,  the Alcohol being  introduced into the quart
botjle instead.of Distilled Water.  When all the ammonia has come over  re-
move the liquor contained in the  quart bottle, and keep it in small bottles well
stopped."  U. S. 
910
Ammonia.
PART II.
   "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.
   Spirit of ammonia is now officinal in the U. S.  and Edinburgh  Pharmaco-
poeias only; the London and Dublin Colleges having  dismissed the preparation
under the same name.  It is a solution of caustic ammonia in rectified spirit.
The proportions of the ingredients of the U. S. 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.  Accord-
ingly it agrees, as it was intended it should, in ammoniacal strength, with the
U. S. Liquor Ammonise.  Its sp.gr. is 0*831, or thereabouts.   The  density
of  the Edinburgh spirit is "about 0-845."  As rectified spirit becomes  lighter
by the absorption of ammoniacal gas, it is evident that the alcoholic menstruum
in the Edinburgh  preparation, gains water as well as ammonia in the distilla-
tion.  This addition of water to the product is prevented by the intermediate
receiver used in the U. S.  process, and consequently the spirit of ammonia ob-
tained has a less specific  gravity than that of rectified spirit.
   Properties.  The U. S.  spirit of ammonia, formerly called ammoniated alco-
hol, 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 Ammonias.
The Edinburgh preparation agrees in nature with the U. S. spirit, but  is only
one-third its strength.  This is shown by the fact, that the ammonia extricated
from the same  quantity of muriate of ammonia, is passed into three times as
much rectified spirit.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Spirit of ammonia is stimulant and antispas-
modic, and is given in hysteria, flatulent colic, and nervous debility.  It is, how-
ever, 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 from thirty drops to
a fluidrachm.  Spirit of ammonia dissolves resins, gum-resins, camphor, and the
volatile oils.  The Edinburgh College uses its spirit for making the aromatic
and fetid spirits of ammonia, and the ammoniated tinctures, as is seen by the
subjoined list.   The U. S. spirit enters into no officinal  preparation.
   Off. Prep. Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus, Ed.;  Spiritus Ammonias Foeti-
dus, Ed.;  Tinctura  Castorei  Ammoniata;  Tinct. Guaiaci Ammoniata, Ed.;
Tinct. Opii Ammoniata;  Tinct. Valerianas Ammoniata, Ed.           B.

   SPIRITUS AMMONLE AROMATICUS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dul.
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.
   "Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Ammonia six ounces; Carbonate of Po-
tassa ten ounces; Cinnamon, bruised, Cloves, bruised, each, two drachms and a 
PART II.
Ammonia.
911
 half; Lemon Peel five ounces; Rectified Spirit, Water, each, four pints [Impe-
 rial measure].  Mix, and distil six pints [Imp. meas.]." Lond. Sp. gr. 0-918.
   "Take of Spirit of Ammonia eight fluidounces; Volatile Oil of Lemon Peei
 a fluidrachm; Volatile Oil of Rosemary a fluidrachm and a half  Dissolve
 the Oils in  the Spirit by agitation." Ed.
   "Take of Rectified Spirit three pints; Stronger Solution of Ammonia six
 fluidounces; Oil of Lemon half a fluidounce; Oil ofNutmeg two fluidrachms;
 Oil of Cinnamon half a fluidrachm.  Dissolve the Oils in the Spirit, and add
 the Solution of Ammonia.  Mix with agitation and filter.  The specific gravity
 of this solution is 0-852."  Dub.  The measures used are Imperial.
   The London and U. S. aromatic spirit of ammonia is made by impregnating
 the menstruum with monocarbonate of ammonia, formed by double decomposi-
 tion between muriate of ammonia and  carbonate of potassa.  Thus the pro-
 duct is a spirituous solution of the monocarbonate, impregnated with aromatics.
 The U. S. formula was copied from that of the London Pharmacopoeia of 1836,
 which was  abandoned in the same work of 1851, and the one quoted  substi-
 tuted.  The change in the London formula consists in making the preparation
 one-fifth stronger in ammonia than before;  as the muriate of ammonia is in-
 creased from five to six ounces, while the amount of the menstruum and of the
 distillate remains unchanged.   The aromatic spirit of the Edinburgh College
 is a mere solution of certain volatile  oils in the  caustic  simple spirit of that
 College.  The Dublin College, in its  revised Pharmacopoeia of 1850, impreg-
 nates rectified spirit with  certain volatile oils, and then  ammoniates the pro-
 duct with stronger solution of ammonia.
   The U. S. and London  aromatic spirits  are both solutions of carbonated
 ammonia in weak alcohol.   They are alike in ingredients, but different in am-
 moniacal strength; the London preparation being one-fifth  stronger.   They
 are colourless liquids, having a pungent smell and acrid taste.   The Edinburgh
 and Dublin preparations are similar, but much stronger; being rectified spirit
 highly impregnated with caustic ammonia.  The density of the Edinburgh pre-
 paration is not given, that  of the Dublin is 0-852.
   3Iedical 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 of  the U. S. and London spirit is from
 thirty drops to a fluidrachm, sufficiently diluted with water; that of the Edin-
 burgh and Dublin, about  one-third as much.   Aromatic spirit of ammonia 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; Tinct. Guaiaci Ammoniata, U. S.,
 Lond.; Tinct. Valerianas Ammoniata,  U. S., Lond.                    B.

   SPIRITUS AMMONLE   F03TIDUS. 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 prints [Imperial
 measure]; Assafetida five ounces.   Mix them; then with a  slow fire distil
 three pints [Imp.  meas.]."  Lond.  Sp. gr. 0-861.
  "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 Assafetida one ounce and a half [avoirdupois]; Rectified 'Spirit
one pint and a half [Imperial measure]; Stronger Solution of Ammonia three 
912                   Ammonia.—Antimonium.               part ii.

fluidounces.  Break the Assafetida into small pieces, and macerate it in the
Spirit for twenty-four hours;  then distil off the entire of the  Spirit, and  mix
the products with the Solution of Ammonia.   The sp. gr. of this preparation
is 0-849."  Dub.
   Of these preparations that of the London College is mainly an alcoholic solu-
tion of carbonate of ammonia; those of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges a
similar solution of caustic ammonia. ' The small proportion of the volatile oil of
assafetida can have little other effect  than to impart a disagreeable odour and
taste.  The spirit 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  TERCHLORIDI  LIQUOR. Dub. Solution of Ter-
chloride of Antimony I
   "Take of Prepared Sulphuret of Antimony one pound [avoirdupois]; Mu-
riatic Acid of Commerce four pints  [Imp.  meas.].  Upon the  Sulphuret,
placed in a porcelain capsule, pour the Acid, and, constantly stirring, apply
to the mixture, beneath  a  flue with a  good  draught, a gentle heat, which
must be gradually augmented as the development of gas begins to slacken, and
finally carried  to  ebullition, and  maintained  at this temperature  for fifteen
minutes.   The vessel being now removed from the fire, let its liquid contents
be separated by filtration through calico, returning what passes through first,
in order that a perfectly clear solution may be obtained.   Transfer the liquid
to another capsule, and having boiled it  down to the bulk of one quart [Imp.
meas.], allow it to cool, and preserve it in a bottle, furnished with a well-ground
glass stopper.  The specific gravity of this solution is 1-470."  Dub,
   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 and hydrosulphuric acid (sulphuretted hydrogen), which gives rise
to effervescence.  As this gas is exceedingly  offensive and deleterious, the  ma-
terials, during the reaction,  are directed to be placed under a flue with  a good
draught.   After the reaction is over, the resulting aqueous solution of terchlo-
ride of antimony, after having been strained, is boiled down to a determinate
volume.
   Properties.  Solution of terchloride of antimony is a transparent, pale-yellow,
dense liquid, possessing caustic properties.   When of a deep-red colour, it is
impure from the presence of iron.  Its sp.  gr., concentrated to the extent directed
by the Dublin College, is 1-470.   When it is distilled,  water, the excess of
muriatic  acid, and any tersulphuret of arsenic that may happen to be present,
are first expelled, and afterwards the terchloride volatilizes.  The pure terchlo-
ride may be obtained by changing the receiver, as soon as the distilled product
concretes on cooling.  Pure terchloride of antimony, called by the earlier chem-
ists butter of antimony, is a white, readily fusible solid, of the consistence of
butter, deliquescent and powerfully caustic, and volatilizable undsr an  obscure
red heat.   It was formerly used in medicine as  a caustic.   It usually acts with-
out causing much pain or inflammation, and, after the separation of the eschar,
forms a clean, healthy ulcer.
   Solution of terchloride of antimony is  a new officinal of the Dublin Pharma-
copoeia of 1850, and was probably introduced not as a therapeutic  agent, but
as a  source of the officinal oxide of antimony.
   Off. Prep.   Antimonii Oxydum.                                   B. 
PART II.
Antimonium.
913
     ANTIMONII OXIDUM. Ed.  Antimonii Oxydum.  Dub.  Oxide
   of Antimony.  Teroxide of Antimony.
     "Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder, four ounces; Muriatic Acid
   (commercial) a pint [Imp. meas.] ; Water fixe 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 carbonate of soda,
   and again with cold water till the water ceases to affect reddened litmus paper.
   Dry the powder over the vapour,bath." Ed,
     "Take of Solution of Terchloride of Antimony sixteen fluidounces [Imp.
   meas.]; Water two gallons [Imp. meas.]; Solution of Caustic Potash one pint
   [Imp. meas. ]; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity.  Pour the Antimonial Solu-
   tion into the Water, and, having stirred  the mixture well, set  it by until the
   white precipitate which forms has subsided.   Draw  off the supernatant liquid
   by decantation, or the syphon, and, having agitated the sediment with a gallon
   of Distilled Water, allow the whole to stand  until the Oxide has fallen to the
   bottom.  Decant again, and,  having placed the sediment on a calico filter, wash
   it  with Distilled Water  until the liquid which trickles  through reddens blue
   litmus paper only in a very slight degree.  The precipitate is now to be shaken
   occasionally for half an hour with  the Solution of  Caustic Potash,  and  then
  washed on a filter with boiling Distilled Water, until the washings ce'ase to give
  a precipitate on being dropped into an acid solution of nitrate of silver. Lastly
  let the product be.dried at a  heat not exceeding 120°." Dub,
    In these  processes the teroxide of antimony is obtained from the solution of
  the terchloride, formed by a step of the Edinburgh formula, but by a separate
  formula of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia.  By dissolving tersulphuret of antimony
  in  muriatic  acid, the Edinburgh College forms the Dublin solution of terchloride
  of  antimony, though the College does  not give it a distinct name.  Though
  an  aqueous  solution, it cannot be diluted beyond a certain degree without de-
  composition. Hence, if largely diluted, as when poured into an excess of water
  decomposition takes place, and a white powder is precipitated, formerly called
 powder of Algaroih (see Part III), which is an oxychloride, having usually
  the formula 2Sb03,SbCl34-HO.   The terchloride is in part decomposed by the
  water,  the elements of which  convert it into muriatic acid and teroxide.   The
  muriatic acid remains in solution, while two eqs. of teroxide fall  in union with
  one eq. of terchloride, forming the oxychloride of the above formula.  The com-
  position of the powder, however, is  not uniform; it contains more teroxide
 the  greater the proportion of water used in the decomposition. (E. Baudrimont'
 Journ. de Pharm., Juin, 1856, p. 438.)  The  oxychloride is first washed with
 abundance of water to separate adhering muriatic acid, and afterwards  acted
 upon by a solution  of alkali (carbonate of soda, Ed., caustic potassa, Dub ) to
 decompose the terchloride, with the effect of adding to the amount of teroxide-
 when the teroxide only requires to be washed with water in order to render it
 pure.  The last washing separates the chloride of sodium or of potassium, re-
 sulting from the decomposition of the terchloride; and the water of this washing
 is tested, in the Dublin formula,by nitrate of silver, until the  presence of a chlo-
 ride  ceases to be indicated.  In making this oxide, the apothecary should give
 the preference to the Dublin formula, as more precise in its  directions.
   Properties. Teroxide of antimony is a  heavy, snow-white powder, perma-
nent  in the air, insoluble in water, but  readily soluble in  muriatic or  tartaric
acid,  or in a boiling solution of bitartrate of potassa. 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 ma'ss.
Heated in open vessels, it suddenly becomes red-hot, and, by the absorption of
      Do 
914
Antimonium.
part ii.
oxygen, changes into antimonious acid, which differs from the teroxide in be-
ing insoluble in muriatic acid, less fusible, and not volatile.  This oxide is the
active ingredient of all the medicinal preparations of antimony.  It is frequently
impure from the presence of antimonious acid, in which case it is not entirely
soluble in muriatic acid.   If  it contain terchloride, which it is apt to do from
the imperfect action of the alkaline solutions employed in its  purification, its
solution in tartaric acid will be precipitated by nitrate of silver.   When anti-
monious acid is substituted for it, the fraud may be detected by the  spurious
preparation being entirely insoluble in muriatic acid.  Teroxide of antimony
consists of one eq. of antimony 129, and three of oxygen 24=153.
   3Iedical Properties.   This oxide, which  must not be confounded  with the
powder of Algaroth, has the  general therapeutic properties of the antimonials.
It deserves more attention than has been paid to it; and its effects, compara-
tively with those of tartar emetic, should be carefully studied.  It is probable that
its sedative operation would be found to be the same, with less nausea and dis-
turbance of the stomach.  Like  antimonial powder, it is unequal in its effects,
sometimes vomiting,  at other  times being apparently inert.   This inequality of
action is plausibly explained by the state  of the stomach as to acidity, the pre-
sence of  acids giving the medicine activity;  and this  explanation is confirmed
by the experiments of Dr. Osborne, of Dublin,  with the Dublin oxide.  As to
the French Codex oxide, prepared by boiling the oxychloride with a solution of
bicarbonate  of potassa, the inequality is attributed by M. Durand, of Caen, to
the presence of more or less terchloride, which is separated with difficulty. Ob-
jecting to the Codex oxide, M. Durand proposes to prepare the teroxide by pre-
cipitating tartar emetic with ammonia in excess. Thus obtained, it contains no
terchloride, and does not vomit.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., ii. 364.)  The dose
of teroxide of antimony is three  grains, every two or three hours,  given in pow-
der, with syrup or molasses, or in pill made with confection of roses or other
suitable excipient.  Three grains of the Dublin oxide  are equivalent to five
grains of the Dublin antimonial powder.  (Osborne.)
   Off. Prep. Antimonium Tartarizatum. '                            B.
   ANTIMONII ET  POTASSA  TARTRAS. U. S. Antimonii Po-
tassio-tartras. Lond. Antimonium Tartarizatum.  Ed., Dub.  Tar-
trate 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 in a glass vessel, add by degrees the Sulphuret  of Antimony,
and digest  the  mixture,  with  a gradually increasing heat, till effervescence
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 half;
Distilled Water eighteen fluidounces.  Boil the Water in a glass vessel;  then
add the powders previously mixed, and boil for an hour; 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 crystals, which should be puri-
fied 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 litmus pa-
per; dry the precipitate over the vapour-bath.   Take of this precipitate three 
 part II.                     Antimonium.                          915

 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, re-
 quiring a second crystallization." Ed,
    " Take of Oxide of Antimony five ounces [avoirdupois] ; white Bitartrate of
 Potash six ounces [avoird.] ; Distilled Wrater one quart [Imp. meas.].   Rub
 the Bitartrate to a fine powder, and, having  carefully mixed it with the Oxide
 of Antimony, add a  little WTater, so as to  convert the mixture into a thick
 paste, which should be set by for twenty-four hours.  Pour on this the re-
 mainder of the Water, previously raised to  the temperature of 212°, and, having
 boiled for fifteen minutes, with repeated stirring, in a glass or porcelain vessel,
 filter through  calico, returning the slightly turbid liquor which  first passes
 through, so as to obtain a clear solution.   After twelve hours let the solution
 be decanted from the crystals which will have formed,  and boiled down to one-
 third, when, on  cooling, an additional product will  be obtained.  The salt, after
 being dried upon blotting paper without the application of heat, should  be
 preserved in a bottle."  Dub.
    "Take of Tersulphuret of Antimony, in very fine powder, a pound;  Sulphuric
 Acid fitteen fluidounces [Imp. meas ] ; Bitartrate of Potassa ten ounces; Dis-
 tilled Water five prints [Imp. meas.].   Mix the Tersulphuret with the Acid in
 an iron vessel, and expose the mixture, under a chimney, to  a gentle heat, oc-
 casionally stirring with an  iron spatula.   Then increase the heat  until, the
 flame of burning sulphur having gone out, nothing remains but a whitish pul-
 verulent mass.   Wash this, when cold,  with  water, until all  acid is  removed,
 and dry  it.   Mix thoroughly nine ounces of this salt with the Bitartrate, and
 boil in the Water for half an hour.   Strain the liquor while still hot, and set
 it aside to form  crystals.  Having poured off the liquor, dry these, and again
 evaporate that crystals may form." Lond.
   This preparation is a double salt, consisting  of  tartrate of potassa, united
 with tartrate of teroxide of antimony.  The principle of its formation is ex-
 ceedingly simple, being merely the saturation  of the excess of acid in the bitar-
 trate (cream of tartar) with the teroxide.   The officinal processes all consist
 in boiling a mixture of cream of tartar and some form of the teroxide with wa-
 ter.  The U.S.  and Ed. Pharmacopoeias agree in using the  form of  teroxide,
 called oxychloride of antimony, or powder of Algaroth, which is not officinal
 under a distinct  name, but is formed in the first step of the tartar emetic pro-
 cesses of those works.  The Dublin College, in its Pharmacopoeia of 1850, sub-
 stituted pure teroxide of antimony for the oxychloride, which, not being  now
 used in any officinal preparation, is expunged from its catalogue.   The London
 College has abandoned  the  use of the crocus  of  antimony, and employs at
 present the form  of teroxide, obtained by  boiling sulphuric acid with the ter-
 sulphuret to dryness, and washing the product.
   The U S. and Ed. Pharmacopoeias agree in the same general plan  for mak-
 ing the oxychloride.   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. formula, but without this acid  in  the Edinburgh.  The solution is
 poured 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,  for from half an hour to an 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  evapora-
tion the mother-liquor may be made to yield a second crop of crystals, which, 
916
Antimonium.
part ii.
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  accordine
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  third crop of the anti-
monial salt, after which the liquor is entirely exhausted.  (Journ. de Pharm'
xxvi. 136, from Annul, der Pharm.)   The  oxychloride, as its name imports'
contains a portion of terchloride.   This is decomposed during the boiling  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 contaminate the
crystals.  Accordingly, it is asserted 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.   If this  statement should be confirmed the
Dublin  College has injudiciously  substituted the pure teroxide  for the oxy-
chloride in its last formula for tartar emetic.
  In the London formula, the teroxide is formed in the following manner  By
gently heating  sulphuric acid with the tersulphuret of antimony, the metal is
teroxidized at the expense of part of the acid, sulphurous acid is evolved and
sulphur set free.  By gradually increasing the heat until dryness is  produced
the whole of the sulphurous acid is driven  off, the free sulphur is burnt out'
and nothing  remains but the teroxide, united with sulphuric acid, in the form
of tersulphate of the teroxide of antimony.   This, by continued washing, is con-
verted into the anhydrous disulphate of the teroxide (2Sb03,S03). (Phillips.)
The disulphate  is  then mixed with cream of tartar in  the proportion of nine
parts by weight to ten, and the mixture boiled with water in the usual manner.
  The use of disulphate of antimony, in making tartar emetic, originated with
the late  Mr. Phillips  as early as  1811.  He recommended it to be prepared
by boding antimony with twice its weight  of sulphuric acid to dryness, and
washing the product with water.   This method was  much cheapened  by the
substitution  of the tersulphuret for metallic antimony, as suggested by the
late  Dr.  Babington.   The disulphate, made in this way, has been long used in
England for  preparing tartar emetic, and was adopted for this purpose by the
London  College on the last  revision of its Pharmacopoeia.   The disulphate
process is an eligible one, and has the merit of being economical.  According
to Mr. Phillips, it affords "a very pure and beautiful salt."
  Having given a sketch of the several officinal formulas, it may be useful to
present them in a table.   The form of teroxide selected is reduced to the same
quantity, and the measures of water are converted into the nearest correspond-
ing weights.
AUTHORITY.
London Pharmacopoeia.
Dublin      do.
U. S.        do.
Edinburgh,   do.
 Form of
 Teroxide
employed.
Disulphate.
Teroxide, pure.
Oxychloride.
    Do.
Proportion
    of
Teroxide.
Proportion
of Cream of
  Tartar.
4-4
4-8
5
5-7
Proportion
   of
 Water.
444
32
34
33
   It is seen by the table that for a given amount of teroxide, the London Col-
lege .orders the least W£am of tartar, and the Edinburgh the most.   The pro- 
PART II.
Antimonium.
917
portion of water is  not very different  in the Dublin, U. S., and Edinburgh
processes, but is considerably greater in the London.
   In judging of the relative eligibility of these processes, several circumstances
should 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.   To
avoid such a result it is better  to have a slight excess of antimonial oxide.
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
hot filtration, directed in the U.  S. and  London Pharmacopoeias,  may be con-
veniently  performed  by  means of the tin apparatus,  devised by Dr. Hare for
filtering liquids at the  point-of ebullition. (See page 813.)   The U. S. and
Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias boil  for an hour; the London, for half and hour;
the Dublin,' for fifteen minutes.   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.
   It is not easy to decide as to the relative eligibility of the different forms of
antimonial oxide used for preparing tartar emetic.   The  preference, however,
was given  to  the oxychloride (powder of Algaroth) by Berzelius;  and M.
Henry, an  eminent pharmaceutist of Paris, after a careful comparison of the
different processes, declared also in its favour. This testimony in favour of the
oxychloride induced the revisers of our national Pharmacopoeia, in 1830, to
adopt it for making tartar emetic; and the Edinburgh College judiciously sub-
stituted it for the crocus of antimony in its revision of 1839.
   M. Henry has given a  process for preparing tartar emetic with the  oxy-
chloride on a large scale; and, as  his formula may be useful to the manufacturing
chemist, we subjoin it, turning the French weights into  the nearest apothecaries'
weights and measures.   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
sulphuret 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
mixture 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 liquor,  and, in order
to procure the portion of liquid  which  may be retained by the  moist residue,
add  to this a small portion of muriatic acid, and again decant.  Mix the de-
canted 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 pre-
cipitated; taking care, during their addition, to stir  constantly in order that
the precipitated powder may be  more minutely divided, to facilitate its subse-
quent washing.  To determine whether the water has  been sufficient to decom-
pose 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 product of oxychloride.   The precipitation being
completely effected, wash the powder repeatedly with water, until this no longer
affects  litmus, and 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 
918
Antimonium.
PART II.
the moist state, or two pounds nine ounces when dry.   Assuming it to be this
quantity,  mix it with  three  pounds  elfeyen 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.  Put
these crystals are somewhat coloured, and must be purified by recrystallization.
   In relation to the above process, it may be observed that  the proportion of
oxychloride and cream of tartar  must be adjusted  according to  the numbers
given, on the assumption that the former 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,  provided the crys-
tals  of the antimonial salt are carefully purified. In an extensive manufactory
in London, antimony ash (see page 109) is employed for boiling with the cream
of tartar, and it is stated to form the cheapest material for making tartar emetic.
(Pereira, 31at Med.)  Mohr prefers  the use of a moist oxide, prepared by add-
ing  gradually an intimate mixture of one part, each, of tersulphuret of anti-
mony and nitrate of potassa, to a  boiling mixture of one part of sulphuric acid
and  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 ser., iii.  327.
   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 powder,
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 Vinum 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  decompo-
sition by keeping.   If the water has added to it one-fifth of its bulk of alcohol,
the decomposition  is prevented.   It is incompatible with acids, alkalies and
their carbonates, some of the earths and metals, chloride of calcium, and ace-
tate and subacetate of lead.   It is incompatible also with astringent infusions
and decoctions, as of  rhubarb, cinchona, catechu,  galls, &c.;  but these sub-
stances, 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 hydro-
sulphuric acid, will be  covered with an orange-coloured deposit of tersulphuret 
PART II.
Antimonium..
919
 of antimony.   One hundred grains of the salt, dissolved in water, yield forty-
 nine grains of tersulphuret with this test. (Lond. Pharm., 1851.) Entire solu-
 bility 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 yet be wholly soluble in the proper proportion
 of water.  (Phillips.)   This  being the case,  the character, given in the U. S.
 and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, of entire solubility in twenty parts of Avater,
 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, containing one part of  the salt 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. Phar-
 macopoeia 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. The acidu-
 lated acetate is said to be capable of detecting one per cent, of this  impurity
 in tartar emetic; but Dr.  Christison finds difficulties in  using this test which
 render it too  precarious for practice.   Mr. Henuell's method of detecting un-
 combined bitartrate, is to add a few drops of a solution of carbonate of soda
 to a boiling solution of the antimonial salt.   If the precipitate 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, sulphates, and
 chlorides.  The mode of  detecting cream of  tartar has been indicated 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 crystals of tartar emetic in
 crystalline tufts, which are easily brushed off.   Iron  is sometimes present, espe-
 cially 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 tartar 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 antimonial 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 Arsen-
 iosum.  Tartar emetic is  sometimes sold  in  powder to  conceal  its imperfec-
 tions. It should always be bought by the apothecary in good crystals, in which
 state the salt is pure, or  very nearly so, and entirely free from arsenic.   Its
 powder is perfectly white; and, when  it is yellowish-white, iron is  probably
 present.   It is said that some druggists ignorantly prefer a tartar emetic 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 sulphuric acids,
 added to a solution of the antimonial salt, not too dilute, throw down  a white
 precipitate of terchloride 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 
920
,  Antimonium.
PART II.
not very distinctive.  When caustic potassa 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 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, consisting of the mixed tartrates of lime and antimony.  Car-
bonate 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 to the fluidounce.  Ammonia, both pure and carbonated,  precipitates
a solution of tartar emetic, throwing down  the pure teroxide.   Dr. Barker, of
Dublin, has proposed carbonate of ammonia as a precipitant for obtaining the
oxide, when wanted as a medicine.  (Seepage 914.)  To these reagents maybe
added infusion of galls, which, when fresh and  strong, causes a dirty, yellowish-
white precipitate of tannate of teroxide of antimony.
   Composition.  Tartar emetic consists of two eqs.  of tartaric acid 132, one of
potassa 47*2,  one of teroxide of antimony 153, and three of water 27=359-2.
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 on that view it is a double salt, composed of tartrate of po-
tassa, united with tartrate  of teroxide of antimony.   The  name of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia assumes it to be a double salt.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Tartrate of antimony and potassa is the most
important of the antimonials, and is  capable of fulfilling numerous indications
in disease.   Its general action is that of a  sedative to  the  circulation; 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 with a view to its alterative effects, and  has  been  found
useful in diseases of the skin.   In such doses  it has been given with alleged
benefit in various chronic pulmonary affections, but especially in phthisis.  In
phthisical cases it was prescribed in this way,  in 1818, by Lanthois, of Mont-
pellier,  and sometimes with  advantage; and afterwards, with  encouraging re-
sults, by M. Giovanni deVittis, of Mantua, M.  Bricheteau, of Paris, and others.
In the beginning of phthisis, the remedy, in these minute doses, may have ex-
ercised a meliorating effect by its influence on the bronchial inflammation which
so  constantly attends  this  disease.   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 perspiration, which is often freely induced, especially if the remedy
gives rise to 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.  It also 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 is characterized by certainty, strength, and
permanency of operation.  It remains longer in the stomach than ipecacuanha,
produces more frequent and longer continued efforts to vomit, and exerts a more
powerful impression on the system generally.  The nausea and attendant pros-
tration are often very considerable.   As an emetic, its use is indicated where
the object is not merely to evacuate the stomach, but to agitate and compress
the liver and other abdominal viscera.  By the Pxtension of its action to the duo-
denum, it often causes copious discharges of bile, and may thus prove useful in
diseases attended with a morbid excess of that secretion.   It is employed as 
PART II.
Antimonium.
921
 an emetic at 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 advantage of, in order to facilitate  the operation.   Tartar
 emetic often incidentally produces purging.   Taking advantage of this tend-
 ency, practitioners are in the habit of adding it to purgatives, the operation of
 which it promotes in a remarkable degree.  It is  contra-indicated in diseases
 of great debility, in the advanced stages of febrile affections, and in fevers at-
 tended with irritability of stomach.
    Of late  years, on the continent  of  Europe, and to some 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 terrae'd, 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 pneumonia, pleurisy,  bronchitis, acute rheumatism, especially of the
 joints, articular dropsies, chorea, hydrocephalus, and apoplexy.  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 produces vomiting, an effect
 which the author of the practice wished to avoid.  The power of the system to
 bearlarge doses of tartar emetic, during the existence of acute  disease, was
 considered by Rasori to depend upon the coexistent high morbid excitement, and
 the capability of bearing them  was  expressed by the term tolerance.   It is in
 pneumonia 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 decided.  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. _  In croup the remedy proves efficacious  not merely by the free vomiting
 which' it produces, but, if given in large  doses, on the controstimulant principle.
 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.  The med-
 icine was gradually increased from four  grains to sixteen or twenty daily, and,
 generally, the tolerance was established  on the first day.   The effusion was ab!
 sorbed in a space of time varying from eight to sixteen days.  Tartar emetic has
 been used with  success in delirium tremens.   This practice originated  with the
 late Dr. Joseph Klapp, of this city, and has been followed by Dr. Graves, of Ire-
 land, and Dr. Peddie, of Scotland ; the antimonial being sometimes given alone,
 at other  times associated with opium or laudanum.
   Tartar emetic, in  the  form of enema, has been used with great benefit, in
rigidity of the os uteri, by Dr. James, Young, and by Dr. H. R. Storer, of Bos-
ton.  The formula employed by Dr.*Young was one grain of the antimonial
salt to six fluidounces of warm water.
  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 burning 
922
Antimonium.
PART II.
 sensation, accompanied by a peculiar and painful pustular eruption.  This mode
 of producing counter-irritation is serviceable in a number of diseases; but par-
 ticularly in deep-seated pains, spinal irritation, hooping-cough, and chronic in-
 flammation of the chest threatening consumption.  Care must be taken, when
 the salt is applied by means of a plaster, that the pustular inflammation does
 not proceed too far; as, in that event, it produces deep and very painful ulcera-
 tions, difficult to heal.  According to M. Guerin, inflamed parts exhibit a con-
 dition of tolerance to the local effects of tartar emetic,  evinced by the absence
 of pustulation. In support of this view, he asserts that he has treated hundreds
 of cases of acute arthralgia with tartar emetic ointment with the best effects
 mostly without the production of any eruption;  and, when the pustules were
 produced, the  benefit accrued before they appeared.   When no pustulation fol-
 lows, M. Guerin supposes that the*antimony acts by absorption.
   Tartar emetic is generally given in solution, and in an amount which varies
 with the object in view in its administration.  Its dose as an alterative is from
 the thirty-second to the sixteenth of a grain; as  a diaphoretic or expectorant,
 from the twelfth to  the sixth of a grain; and as a nauseating  sudorific, from a
 quarter to half a grain; repeated, according to circumstances,  every hour, two,
 or four hours.   With a view to its alterative effect, a pint of water, containing
 from one-quarter to half a grain, may be taken daily as drink.  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 the dose of a grain, dissolved in a tablespoonful of water,
 repeated every ten or fifteen minutes till it  vomits; the operation being aided
 by warm water or chamomile tea.  It is often conjoined with ipecacuanha, in
 the proportion of one or two grains to twenty of  that emetic.  For convenient
 administration in small doses, the Pharmacopoeias direct 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.   In
 all cases it should  be used with caution; as it sometimes  acts even in small
 doses with unexpected violence.
   Effects as a Poison.   The symptoms of acute poisoning by tartar  emetic
 are an austere  metallic taste; nausea; copious vomiting; frequent hiccough;
 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 movements; very painful
 cramps in the  legs; prostration, and death.   Ten grains is the smallest dose
 reported to have proved fatal.  To the above effects is  sometimes added diffi-
 culty of deglutition.   Occasionally vomiting and purging do not take place;
 and, when they are absent, the  other symptoms are aggravated.   Sometimes
 a pustular eruption is produced, like that caused by the external application
 of the antimonial;  as in  a case  reported by Dr.  J. T. Gleaves, of Tennessee.
 These are the effects, observed in different cases, on the  healthy economy; but
 doses which, taken in health, would prove fatal, are sometimes borne with safe-
 ty in certain  morbid states of the system, attended with acute  inflammation.
   The effects of slow poisoning by  tartar emetic on  inferior animals have been
 carefully studied by Dr. B. W. Richardson, of London, and  Dr. Nevens,  of
 Liverpool.  All the surfaces absorb the solution  of the salt, and the metal is
found in all  the tissues after death, except  that of  the brain;  but most abun-
dantly in that  of the liver.   The elimination of  the  poison is effected by all
the secreting organs, but especially by the kidneys.  The tolerance of antimony
is attributed by Dr. Richardson to the eliminating action of these glands. The
pathological  appearances are general congestion,  marked fluidity of the blood,
and intense vascularity of the stomach, and sometimes of the rectum, but with- 
PART II.
Antimonium.
923
  out ulceration. No other pulmonary lesion occurs but simple congestion.  (See
  Am. Journ.  of Med. Sci., Jan. 1857, p. 266.)  The general results obtained
  by Dr. Richardson are confirmed by the experiments of Dr. Nevens.  (Pharm.
  Journ.  and Trans., Feb. 1857, p. 415.)
     In treating a case of poisoning by tartar emetic, if it is found that the patient
  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 vomit-
  ing is excessive and distressing; and here it is necessary to use remedies calculated
  to decompose the poison, and to allay the pain  and irritation.   To  effect the
  former object, astringent decoctions and infusions,  such  as  of Peruvian bark
  and common  tea, are recommended as antidotes.  These, however, act but im-
  perfectly, according to 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. Clutterbuck. (Pereira.)  The decoction of
  galls acts  more decidedly; but M. Toulmouche accords the preference to the
  galls, given in substance.   A case of accidental poisoning with half an ounce of
  tartar emetic, successfully treated with copious draughts of green tea and large
  doses of tannin, is reported by Dr. S. A. McCreery, of their. S. Navy. (Am.
  Journ, of  Med.  Sci., Jan. 1853, p. 131.)  Galls no doubt act by the tannin
  they contain, which forms, with the antimonial part of the salt,  the  insoluble
  and probably inert  tannate of antimony.   To  stop  the vomiting and relieve
  pain, laudanum should be given,  either by the  mouth or by 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 contents of  the stomach should be di-
  gested in water, acidulated with muriatic and tartaric acids.   The  former acid
  will serve to coagulate organic matter;  the latter to give  complete solubility
  to the antimony.   The solution  obtained, after having been filtered, should be
  subjected to a  stream  of sulphuretted hydrogen, which, if tartar emetic be pre-
  sent', will throw down the orange-red tersulphuret of antimony, distinguished
  from tersulphuret of arsenic, and all other  precipitates, by forming with  hot
  muriatic acid a solution, from which, when added to water, a white curdy preci-
  pitate of oxychloride of antimony (powder of Algaroth) is thrown down.  Sul-
  phuretted hydrogen 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.   W7hen 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
 little nitric acid, to filter the liquor, and introduce it into Marsh's  apparatus
 Antimomuretted 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 form-
 ing,  with hot muriatic acid, a solution which affords a white precipitate of oxy-
 chloride of antimony when added to water.
  Reinsch's process is a good one for separating antimony from the tissues, and
 was first used for this purpose by Dr. Alfred Taylor, of London. (See page 33.)
 The  tissues are boiled in muriatic acid, and a bright slip of copper is immersed
in the hot solution.  The metallic film, deposited on the copper, must be proved
to be antimony. This is done by Dr. Odling by first boiling the coated copper
in a solution  of hypermanganate of potassa, with  a little excess of potassa, for
a few minutes, whereby the antimony becomes oxidized and dissolved, and then 
924
Antimonium.
PART II.
 passing  sulphuretted hydrogen  through the filtered and acidulated solution
 The characteristic orange-red precipitate of tersulphuret of antimony is pro-
 duced, which  may be  tested for antimony as  above mentioned.  Mr. II. R
 Watson  has simplified Dr. Odling's process by dispensing with the use of the
 hypermanganate of  potassa.  He  subjects the  coated  copper slip, in a tube
 to a boiling very dilute solution  of caustic potassa, the metal being alternately
 drawn out of  and immersed in the  solution by the aid of a copper wire until
 the whole of the coating is oxidized and dissolved.  The solution is then treated
 as directed by Dr. Odling.  (Med, Times and Gaz., July, 1857, p. 613.)
   Off. Prep.   Pulvis Antimonialis, Dub.;  Syrupus  Scillas Composites- Un-
 guentum Antimonii; Vinum Antimonii.                              g

   YINUM ANTIMONII.  U. S.  Vinum Antimoniale. Ed.  Vinum
 Antimonii Potassio-tartratis. Lond.  Antimonii Tartarizati Li-
 quor. Dub.   Antimonial Wine.
   "Take of Tartrate of Antimony and  Potassa a scruple;  White Wine
 [Sherry] ten fluidounces.  Dissolve the Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa in
 the Wine."  U.S.
   The London and Edinburgh Colleges direct two scruples of the salt [crys-
 tals, Lond.] to be dissolved in a pint [Imperial measure] of Sherry Wine. The
 Dublin College dissolves a drachm  [54-68  grains] of the salt in a pint [Imp.
 meas.] of distilled water, and adds seven 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 propor-
 tion directed by the British Colleges, the highly important  object was accom-
 plished, of uniformity in the strength of this very popular preparation.  The
 seeming  discrepancy between the London and Edinburgh formulas, 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 nomenclature of several other metallic preparations, such
 as Emplastrum Ferri, 3Iistura Ferri Composita, &c.
   Difficulty is  often experienced in effecting a solution of tartar emetic in wine;
 and precipitation is apt to  occur after  the  solution has been effected.  These
 results are attributable either to impurity in  the antimonial salt, which fre-
 quently contains  bitartrate of potassa and various insoluble substances, or to
 inferiority in the character of the wine, which holds in solution vegetable prin-
 ciples that  form insoluble compounds with the  teroxide 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 wine; for,  even allowing that the
 solution may be accomplished, the same ingredients are  present, and their mu-
tual  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 decomposi-
tion, the  Dublin College directs water and rectified spirit in  about the propor-
tion  in which these exist in the wines just  mentioned.  The only objection to
this menstruum is the want of colour, which renders  the preparation liable to
be confounded with less active liquids.
  The advantages of antimonial wine are, that it affords the  means of adminis-
tering minute doses of tartar emetic, and is more permanent than an aqueous 
PART II.
Antimonium.
925
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.  When 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 fre-
quently ; as an emetic for children, from thirty drops to a fluidrachm, repeated
every fifteen minutes till  it operates.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Glycyrrhizas Composita.                       W.
   ANTIMONII  SULPHURETUM PRtEPARATUM.  Dub.   Pre-
pared Sulphuret of Antimony.
   "Take of Sulphuret of Antimony of Commerce any convenient quantity.
Let this be reduced to powder, and,  the finer particles having been separated
from the coarser by the method explained in the formula for Creta Prseparata,
let them be dried, and preserved for use."  Dub.
   Sulphuret of antimony in  mass is placed  in the Materia Medica list  of all
the Pharmacopoeias noticed in this work.   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
is not included in the U. S.,  London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias.
   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 the  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  Anti-
monii Sulphuretum.)
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This preparation is very uncertain in its ope-
ration ; being sometimes without effect, at other  times, if it meet with acid in
 the  stomach, acting with extreme violence by vomiting and purging.   The
 effects attributed to it are those of a diaphoretic and alterative; and the prin-
cipal diseases in which it has been 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 confined to veterinary prac-
 tice.  The dose is from ten to thirty grains, given in powder or bolus.
   Off. Prep. Antimonii Sulphuretum Praecipitatum; Antimonii  Terchloridi
 Liquor.                                                            B.

   ANTIMONII SULPHURETUM PR^CIPITATUM.  U. S.,  Dub.
 Antimonii Oxysulphuretum.  Lond.  Antimonii Sulphuretum Au-
 reum. Ed.   Precipitated Sulphuret of Antimony.   Oxysulphuret of  •
 Antimony.
   "Take of Sulphuret  of Antimony, in fine powder, six ounces;  Solution of
 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 two 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 Tersulphuret of Antimony, powdered, seven ounces;  Solution of
 Soda four pints [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water two gallons [Imp. meas.]; Dilu-
 ted  Sulphuric Acid a sufficient quantity.  Mix the Tersulphuret and Soda with
 the  Water, and boil with a slow fire  for two hours, frequently stirring, Distilled 
926
Antimonium.
PART II.
  Water being often added, so that the mixture may fill about the same measure
  Strain the liquor, and gradually drop  into it as much of the Acid as may be
  sufficient to throw down the Oxysulphuret of Antimony; then wash away the
  sulphate of soda 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 [Imp. meas.]; 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 on a calico filter, wash it thoroughly
  with water, and dry it with a gentle heat."  Ed.
    "Take of Prepared Sulphuret of Antimony five ounces [avoirdupois] ; Car-
  bonate of Potash from Pearlash, first dried at a low red  heat, and reduced to
  powder, four ounces [avoird.]; Water one gallon [Imp. meas]; Pure Sulphuric
  Acid two fluidounces [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water one quart [Imp. meas.].
  Mix the Sulphuret of Antimony and Carbonate of Potash in a mortar, and heat
  the mixture in a Hessian crucible, first cautiously until effervescence ceases, and
  then to low redness, so as to produce liquefaction.  Pour out the melted mass'on a
  clean flag, and, when it has concreted and cooled, rub it to a fine powder in a por-
  celain mortar.  Add this, in successive portions, to the gallon of Water while
 boiling in an iron vessel, and, having maintained the ebullition for twenty min-
 utes, transfer the whole to  a calico filter, and cause the solution which passes
 to drop into  the Distilled Water, previously mixed with  the  Sulphuric Acid.
 Let the precipitate which forms be collected on a calico filter, and let warm dis-
 tilled water be repeatedly poured upon it, until the liquid which passes through
 ceases to give a precipitate when dropped into a solution of nitrate of barytes.
 Finally, dry the product on porous bricks, placed in a  warm atmosphere." Dub.
   As the theory of the formation of the precipitated sulphuret of antimony is
 intimately connected with that of 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.
   Hermes mineral, according  to Thenard, may be  obtained  by treating  the
 tersulphuret of antimony in three ways; 1st with a boiling solution of the car-
 bonated 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 pow-
 ders, which vary in their shade of colour, and which, though usually considered
 as identical, differ in composition.   The kermes obtained by means of the car-
 bonated alkalies in solution is an oxysulphuret, that is, a compound of hydrated
 tersulphuret of antimony with the teroxide; 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 hand-
 somer 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  de-
 posited.  It is then collected on a filter, washed with boiled water cooled with-
 out 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, 
PART II.
Antimonium.
927
 into caustic soda and sesquicarbonate  By a double decomposition taking place
 between a part of the tersulphuret of antimony and the caustic soda, sulphuret
 of sodium and teroxide of antimony are formed.   The undecomposed portion
 of the tersulphuret then dissolves in the solution of sulphuret of sodium, and
 the teroxide in that of the remaining carbonate of soda. The tersulphuret and
 teroxide, being both more soluble in these menstrua hot than cold, precipitate
 together as the liquid cools, and constitute this variety of kermes.  Thus ob-
 tained, it is light, velvety, of a dark reddish-purple colour,  brilliant in the sun,
 and of a crystalline appearance.  It consists, according to M. Henry, jun., of
 tersulphuret of antimony 62*5, teroxide 27*4, water 10, and soda a trace: pro-
 portions which correspond most nearly with two eqs. of tersulphuret, one of ter-
 oxide, and six of water.   From the presence of so large a proportion of ter-
 oxide of antimony in this variety of kermes, it must be far more  active than
 the other kinds, and ought, therefore, to  be preferred for medical use.
   Kermes, when obtained by means of the  caustic alkalies, may be formed by
 the use of either potassa or soda.   When the former alkali is selected, it may
 be prepared 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 precipitates.  In this process,  one  portion of  the  tersulphuret, by re-
 acting with a portion of the potassa,.gives rise to teroxide of antimony and sul-
 phuret of potassium.  A second portion dissolves in the solution of sulphuret
 of potassium formed, and a third forms an  insoluble compound with a part of
 the teroxide.   The  remainder  of the teroxide unites with the undecomposed
 potassa, forming a  compound, which, being but sparingly soluble, is only in
 part dissolved.   The hot filtered liquor, therefore, contains  this compound dis-
 solved in water, and tersulphuret of antimony dissolved in  the solution of sul-
 phuret of potassium.  By refrigeration, the tersulphuret in  a hydrated state
 falls down, free or nearly  free  from  teroxide, this latter being  still held in solu-
 tion by. means of the caustic alkali with which it is united.
   Kermes may be obtained by the third method, that is, in the dry way, by the
 use of the carbonated alkalies at a  red heat.  If carbonate  of potassa is se-
 lected, the process is as follows. Rub together two parts of tersulphuret of anti-
 mony  and one of carbonate of potassa, fuse the mixture in a crucible by a red
 heat, reduce the fused mass to powder, boil  it with water, and strain.   As the
 strained 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 po-
 tassa, and 30  of washed sulphur, reducing the fused mass to powder, and boil-
 ing it with 10,000 parts  of water.   The  liquor, upon  cooling, lets falls  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 is  sometimes adulterated with sesquioxide of iron.  In
 Paris, in 1849, a number  of the shops contained a spurious kermes of very
 handsome appearance,  which was little else than this oxide.   Kermes mineral
 first came into use as a remedy in France about the beginning of the last cen-
 tury.   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 govern-
 ment and made public.
   Golden sulphur is formed by the addition of an acid to the liquor which
remains after the precipitation of the kermes.  According to  the directions of 
928
Antimonium.
PART ii.
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 potassium
gradually converted into potassa, and thus passes to a higher state of sulphura-
tion; and, consequently, the addition of an acid, while it throws down the ter-
sulphuret and teroxide of antimony with disengagement of sulphuretted hydro-
gen, 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
mixture of 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 maybe
worth while  to mention that the so called 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.
   From the explanations  above given, the reader is prepared to understand
that the method of preparing precipitated sulphuret of antimony of the U. S.,
London,  and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, combines the process for  forming
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 the variety of kermes, which contains little or no antimo-
nial 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 kermes liquor which  has been  kept for
some time.   From the explanations above given  in relation to golden  sulphur,
it may be inferred as probable that the precipitate by acids, if thrown down im-
mediately, while the solution  is hot, as directed  by the Pharmacopoeias, and be-
fore the air has had time to act, would consist  exclusively of tersulphuret and
teroxide;  but, if thrown down from kermes liquor which had been kept, would
contain more or less  free sulphur,  according to the length of time which had
elapsed.   If these views be admitted, it  follows that the so-called  golden sul-
phur  must be variable as to the free sulphur it contains, according to the
greater or less change which the kermes liquor may have undergone by time,
before being  used for furnishing the precipitate.
   Formerly,  all the Pharmacopoeias noticed in this work used a solution of
caustic potassa in preparing precipitated sulphuret of antimony; but at present
the London College employs a solution of caustic soda, and the Dublin, car-
bonate of potassa in the dry way.   These changes were made in the recently
revised Pharmacopoeias of those Colleges.   The use of soda does not  alter the
theory of the process.    The Dublin College, in the use of carbonate of potassa,
proceeds,  at first,  precisely as if kermes by the third method was to be  obtained
(see page 927); but, instead of collecting the strained liquor in an empty ves-
sel to let  it deposit  kermes  by cooling, allows it  to drop  into  water, acidu-
lated with sulphuric acid,  with the effect of producing  a separate precipitate,
which becomes intermingled with the kermes.
   Properties of the Precipitated  Sulphuret of Antimony.   This substance is
a reddish-brown insoluble powder, tasteless when pure, but having usually a
slightly styptic taste.   When treated with twelve times its weight of  muriatic
acid of the sp. gr. 1-16, with the  aid of heat,  it is nearly  all dissolved, with
effervescence of sulphuretted hydrogen.   The residue burns with the characters
of sulphur, and leaves a scanty ash.  The solution obtained, when added to wa-
ter, is decomposed, giving rise to a white powder of oxychloride of antimony
(powder of Algaroth).  The solution, filtered from the powder, yields an orange-
■rr 
PART II.
Antimonium.
929
red precipitate with bihydrosulphate of ammonia, proving the presence of  a
portion of antimony, not thrown down by the water. A dark-coloured precipi-
tate, produced by this test, shows the presence of contaminating  metals, pro-
bably lead and copper.  Water in which this  preparation has been  boiled,
should not yield a white precipitate with chloride of barium or oxalate of am-
monia.   The non-action of these tests shows the absence of sulphuric acid and
lime.   When pure, precipitated sulphuret of antimony is completely soluble in
a hot solution of potassa, but as it is found in the shops, a white matter is usu-
ally left undissolved.  When boiled with a solution of cream of tartar, about
12  per cent, of teroxide is dissolved; but, according to H. Rose, this method
of  determining the proportion of the teroxide cannot be relied on.   Exposed
to heat it takes fire, and burns with a greenish-blue flame,  giving off sulphur-
ous acid; while the metal remains behind in the state of a grayish oxide.
   The London precipitated sulphuret of antimony, as analyzed by Mr. Phillips,
consists, in the  100 parts, of tersulphuret 76-5, teroxide 12, and water 11-5;
proportions corresponding nearly with five eqs. of tersulphuret, one of teroxide,
and fifteen of water.   It usually contains a portion of free sulphur, as shown
by  the action  of muriatic acid.   Its active ingredient is the teroxide;  and, in
reference to its presence, the London College calls the preparation oxysulphuret
of antimony.  The Edinburgh College names it incorrectly golden sulphuret
of antimony; this name being properly applicable to the precipitate produced
by the sole action  of acids, and not to that obtained by the action of acids and
refrigeration conjointly.
   Medical Properties.   Precipitated sulphuret of antimony is  alterative,
diaphoretic, and emetic.   It is, however, an uncertain  medicine, as well from
the want of uniformity in its composition, as from its  liability to vary in its
action with the state of the stomach.   It is seldom given alone, but generally
in combination with calomel and guaiac, in  the form of Plummer's pill, as an
alterative in secondary syphilis  and cutaneous eruptions, or with henbane  or
hemlock in chronic rheumatism.  (See Pilulse Calomelanos Compositse.)  Dur-
ing its use the patient should abstain from  acidulous drinks.   Its dose as an
alterative is from one to two grains twice a day, in the form of pill; as an
emetic, from five grains to a scruple.
  Kermes mineral, when prepared by means of the carbonated alkalies in the
moist way, as it contains between two and three times as much teroxide as the
precipitated sulphuret, is  a more active preparation, and  must be used in  a
smaller dose.   It is sometimes given in large doses as an antiphlogistic remedy
in peripneumony and  other  inflammations of the chest.  Prof. Meigs  recom-
mends it as an invaluable medicine in childbed fevers, to promote diaphoresis,
and to reduce the force of the circulation.
  Golden sulphur acts like kermes mineral, but  is much weaker, and must be
given in  a larger dose.
  Off. Prep. Pilulse Calomelanos Compositae.                         B.

  PULVIS  ANTIMONIALIS. Ed., Dub.  Pulvis  Antimonii Com-
positus. Lond.  Antimonial Powder.  Compound Powder of Antimony.
  "Take of Tersulphuret of Antimony, powdered,  a pound;  Horn  shavings
two pounds.   Mix, and throw them into a red-hot crucible, and stir constantly
until vapour ceases to arise.  Rub the residue to  powder, and put it into a cru-
cible.   Then apply heat, and raise it gradually to redness,  and keep it so for
two hours.  Rub the remaining powder until it is as fine as possible."  Lond,
  " Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in coarse powder, Hartshorn shavings,
equal weigMs.   Mix them, put them into a red-hot iron pot, and stir constantly
till they acquire an ash-gray colour, and vapours no longer arise.   Pulverize
       59 
930
Antimonium.
PART II.
the product, put it into a crucible with a perforated cover, and expose this to a
gradually increasing heat till a white heat is produced, which is to be maintained
for two hours.   Reduce the product, when cold, to fine powder." Ed.
   " Take of Tartarized Antimony, Phosphate of Soda, each, four ounces [avoir-
dupois] ; Chloride of Calcium two ounces [avoird.]; Solution of Ammonia/ow
fluidounces [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water one gallon and a half\\mr). meas.],
or a sufficient quantity. Dissolve the Tartarized Antimony in half a gallon, and
the Phosphate of Soda and Chloride of Calcium, each, in a quart of the Water.
Mix the solutions of the Tartarized Antimony and Phosphate of Soda when
cold, and then pour in the solution of Chloride of Calcium, having first added to
the latter the Water of Ammonia.   Boil now for twenty minutes, and, having
collected the precipitate, which will have then formed,  on a calico filter, wash
it with hot distilled water until the liquid which passes through ceases to give
a precipitate with a dilute solution of nitrate of silver.   Finally, dry the pro-
duct by a steam or  water heat, and reduce it to a fine powder." Dub.
   This preparation, made according to the London and Edinburgh formulae,
consists mainly of bone-phosphate of lime, or calcined bone, mixed with antimo-
nious acid,  and is intended to furnish a substitute for the celebrated nostrum of
Dr. James, an English physician who died in 1776,  and after whom the original
preparation was called James's powder.  Dr. Pearson, of  London,  found the
genuine powder, on analysis, to consist of phosphate of lime and  oxidized anti-
mony, and, guided  by his results, devised the formula adopted by the London ■
and Edinburgh Colleges.   By burning the materials directed by these Colleges,
the sulphur is expelled in the form of sulphurous acid, and  the antimony oxi-
dized ; while the  horn, which  is of the nature of bone, has its animal  matter
converted into charcoal.   By the subsequent calcination, the charcoal is dissi-
pated, leaving  only the phosphate of lime mixed with  the  oxidized  antimony.
This  mixture constitutes  the antimonial powder.   The only material difference
between the processes is that the London College uses two parts of horn shav-
ings to one of  sulphuret; while the Edinburgh employs  equal weights, which
are also the proportions  adopted in the French Codex.   The use of the larger
proportion of horn is said to obviate the inconvenience, caused by the vitrifica-
tion of part of the antimony; but the late Dr. Duncan  alleged that the pro-
duct  thus obtained  does not correspond so well with James's powder  as ana-
lyzed by Dr. Pearson,  as when the smaller proportion  is employed.
   The third formula quoted is a new one of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of 1850,
and is an  improvement  on  the process of  Mr. Chenevix,  proposed in 1801,
for obtaining  antimonial powder  in  the humid way.   By  this formula  the
liquid, resulting from mixing  aqueous solutions of tartar emetic and  phosphate
of soda, is precipitated by a solution of chloride of  calcium, previously mixed
with water of ammonia.  The water of ammonia throws down teroxide of
antimony from the tartar emetic;  and the chloride of calcium, phosphate of
lime  from  the phosphate of soda; and the mixed  precipitate, washed, dried,
and reduced to fine powder, constitutes the new Dublin antimonial powder.
   Properties, Composition, and Tests.  The antimonial powder of the London
 and Edinburgh Colleges is a tasteless, inodorous, gritty powder, of a dull-white
 colour.  As often  prepared it is insoluble in water; but usually a  small por-
tion, consisting of  antimonite and superphosphate of lime, dissolves in boiling
 distilled water.  Its composition varies exceedingly, a circumstance which forms
 a strong objection to it as  a medicine.  When,  entirely insoluble in  boiling
 water, it probably contains nothing but antimonious acid and  phosphate of
 lime; for, when  its soluble constituents are absent, the teroxide is absent also.
 The  best samples, as stated by the Edinburgh College, are formed  of  "a mix-
 ture chiefly of antimonious acid and phosphate of Ume, with some sesquioxide
 
PART II.
Antimonium.
931
  [teroxide] of antimony, and a little antimonite of lime." To these ingredients
  may be added superphosphate of lime, which was found in small quantity by
  Dr. D. Maclagan, of Edinburgh.   This writer obtained  in his experiments
  about 50 per cent, of antimonious acid,  45 of phosphate of lime, nearly 4 of
  teroxide, and not quite  1 of antimonite and  superphosphate  of lime.   The
  antimonial powder, sold by the representatives of Dr.  James, is more active,
  and more uniform in its effects, than the imitation powder of the" Pharmaco-
  poeias; its greater activity being explained by the presence of  a greater pro-
  portion of teroxide, which Dr.  Maclagan found to vary from four  to* ten per
  cent.  In analyzing the London and Edinburgh antimonial powder, the first
  step is to act on it with  boiling distilled water.  If  any antimonite should be
  dissolved, the solution will form with sulphuretted hydrogen an orange-coloured
  precipitate of quadrisulphuret of antimony; if superphosphate be present, nitrate
  of silver will throw down phosphate of silver.  What remains of the powder,
  unacted on by the distilled water, is next digested with muriatic acid, which will
  dissolve the phosphate of lime, and also teroxide of antimony if present, and
  leave  a residue which is the antimonious acid.   If teroxide be present iii the
  muriatic solution, it will be precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen, as  an orange-
  coloured tersulphuret, and from the filtered solution, water of  ammonia will
  throw down  the phosphate of lime.   In this way all the ingredients of  anti-
  monial powder may be detected and separated.  It might be supposed that the
  muriatic solution would be more readily tested  for teroxide by means of water,
  which causes a white precipitate of oxychloride in this solution; but there leems
  to be some ambiguity in relation to the action of water.   The Edinburgh  Col-
  lege,  in its formula of tests, states that the muriatic solution of the residue,
  left after the exhaustion  by water, does not become turbid by dilution;  but'
  according to Dr. Barker  and Dr. Pereira, this effect sometimes takes place.'
  These  different results may be explained by the different  qualities of the prepa-
  ration.   A small quantity of teroxide may be in the muriatic solution, and yet
 not be precipitated by water as  oxychloride; while  a larger quantity will be
 so precipitated.  On the other hand a precipitate may be produced with water,
 without proving the presence of teroxide; for, unless the  antimonial powder be
 most carefully exhausted  by the  distilled  water before being  subjected to the
 acid, the muriatic solution may contain antimonite of lime, which, like the ter-
 oxide, gives it the property of becoming turbid with water.
   The  Dublin antimonial powder is quite a different preparation from  that
 above described; inasmuch as all the antimony present is in the state of teroxide.
 It should not have been called antimonial powder, but designated by a distinct
 name.  The process by which sit is obtained certainly forms a great improve-
 ment on that  usually followed.  It is doubtful whether the phosphate of lime
 adds anything to its efficacy; and, if not, the preparation is equivalent to ter-
 oxide of antimony, used in a smaller dose.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   This preparation is stated to be alterative
 diaphoretic, purgative,  or emetic, according to the dose  in which it  is given'
 Until within a few years it was often prescribed  in febrile diseases, with a view
 to its diaphoretic  effect.  According to Dr.  A. T. Thomson,  it is advan-
 tageously given in  acute  rheumatism, conjoined with camphor,  calomel,  and
 opium,  and with calomel and guaiac in several cutaneous  affections.   The esti-
 mation  in which this preparation is held is very various.   The late Dr. Duncan
characterized it as one of the best antimonials we possess; yet he acknowledged
that  its effects are very unequal, either from idiosyncrasy in the patient, or
variations in its composition.  Dr. Thomson found it sometimes to answer'his
expectations, but as often to disappoint them.   Mr. Brande admits its activity
sometimes, and entire inertness at others;  which he attributes to the presence
# 
932
Antimonium.—Aqua.
PART II.
 or absence of teroxide of antimony.   Upon the whole it appears that, what-
 ever may be  the  occasional efficacy of this medicine, it  is too variable  in its
 composition, from circumstances in its preparation scarcely within the control
 of the pharmaceutical chemist, to make it a safe remedy.  No therapeutical
 effect can be expected from it, which may not be more certainly and safely pro-
 duced by tartar emetic.  Considerations of this kind caused it to be omitted
 from the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, upon  the revision of 1830.
   The dose of, the London  and Edinburgh  antimonial  powder, as  a diapho-
 retic, is from three to eight grains every third or fourth hour, given in the form
 of pill.   In larger doses it is purgative and emetic.   It is impossible, however,
 to give precise directions as to the dose; as it  sometimes proves violently emetic
 in .moderatetdoses, and at other times produces no obvious effect, even in  doses
 of one hundred grains.
   The Dublin antimonial powder has been tried therapeutically in twenty cases
 of disease, chiefly rheumatism, pneumonia,  and bronchitis, by Dr.  Jonathan
 Osborne, of Dublin.  In five grain doses, given evening and night, it  produced,
 variously, nausea, vomiting, and perspiration.  In half the cases it acted gently
 on the bowels. . Practitioners who may wish  to prescribe this preparation,
 should add (Dub. Pharm.)  to its name.   The teroxide, given separately in
 three grain doses, evening and  night, produced  similar  effects. (See Pharm.
 Journ, and Trans., Jan. 1855, p. 331.)  See Antimonii  Oxidum.       B.

                                AQUA.

                                 Water.

  AQUA DESTILLATA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Distilled Water.
   " Take of Water ten gallons.  First distil two pints, and throw them away;
 then distil eight gallons.   Keep the Distilled Water in glass bottles."  U.S.
   "Take  any convenient quantity of  Spring Water; distil it from  a proper
 vessel, rejecting the first twentieth  part, and preserving  the first half of the
 remainder." Ed.
   " Take of Spring or River Water any convenient quantity.   Having intro-
 duced it into a copper still, connected with a block-tin worm, or a Liebig's con-
 denser, draw over  about one-fortieth  by distillation; this being rejected, con-
 tinue the process until only one-fifth  of the original volume of the Water re-
 mains in the still.  Let the Distilled Water be preserved in well stopped bot-
 tles." Dub.
  The London College has placed distilled water in the Materia Medica list.
  No natural water  is sufficiently pure for  certain pharmaceutical  purposes;
 and  hence the necessity of the above processes for its distillation.  It is best
 to reject  the first portion which comes over, as this may contain carbonic acid
 and other volatile impurities; and the last portion of  the water ought not to
 be distilled, lest it should  pass over  with  an empyreumatic taste.  The dis-
 tillation  is usually performed with  the ordinary still and worm, and such  an
 apparatus is evidently contemplated in the United States formula.  Mr.  Brande
 states that distilled water often derives from the still a foreign flavour, which it
 is difficult to avoid.   He, therefore, recommends that a still  and condenser be
 kept-exclusively for distilling water; or where this cannot be done, that steam
be driven through the worm  for half  an hour,  for the purpose of washing it
 out before it is used, the worm-tub having been previously  emptied.  Mr.
Mackay,  of Edinburgh, cautions against distilling water in a still with a leaden
head, or leaden worm, for fear of contaminating the water with lead.  A worm
of pure tin is unexceptionable.
i& 
  part II.                Aqua.—Aquae Medicatae.                    933

     Properties, dec.   Distilled water, as usually obtained, has a vapid and dis-
  agreeable taste, and is not perfectly pure;  w*ater, to be rendered so, requiring
  to be distilled in silver vessels.   The  properties of pure water have already
  been given under the head of Aqua.  Distilled water should undergo no change
  by sulphuretted hydrogen, or on the addition of tincture of soap, subacetate of
  lead, chloride of barium, oxalate of ammonia,  nitrate of silvfer, or lime-water,
  and should evaporate without residue. It is uselessly employed in some formulas,
  but is essential in others.   As a general rule, when  small quantities of  active
  medicines are to be given in solution, and in the preparation of collyria, distilled
  water should be directed.  The following list contains the chief substances which
  require distilled water as a solvent:  tartar  emetic, corrosive sublimate, nitrate
  of silver, the chlorides of barium and calcium,  acetate and subacetate of lead,
  the sulphates of iron and zinc, sulphate of quinia, and the sulphate, muriate,
  and acetate of morphia.  Distilled water is used in preparing the officinal diluted
  acids, for absorbing  gaseous ammonia, and for forming nearly all the officinal
  aqueous solutions.                                                   B.

                     AQU^E MEDICATE.  U. S.

                           Medicated Waters.

    Under this head are included, in the United States Pharmacopoeia, all those
  preparations, consisting of water impregnated with some medicinal substance,
  which are not arranged in any other class.  Among  them are  the "Waters"
  and "Distilled Waters" of the British Pharmacopoeias, which therefore require
  some notice in the present place.

    Aqu^i.  Lond.   Waters. Dub.   Distilled Waters. Ed.
    "Distilled waters may be prepared from fresh, and generally also from  dried
  vegetables.  In the latter case only half the weight of material should be  used.
  They may also be prepared, for the most part, by agitating the volatile oils of
  the plants with water, and filtering the solution.  But distilled waters obtained
  in this way have seldom so fine a flavour as those obtained from the plants
  themselves." Ed.
   Many vegetables impart to water distilled from them their peculiar flavour,
 and more or less of their medical properties.   The distilled waters chiefly used
 are those prepared from aromatic  plants, the volatile oil of which rises with the
 aqueous vapour, and is condensed  with it in the receiver. But, as water is capa-
 ble of holding but a small proportion of the  oil in solution, these preparations
 are generally feeble, and are employed chiefly as pleasant vehicles or corrigents
 of other medicines.
   In the  preparation of the distilled waters, dried plants are sometimes used,
 because the fresh  are not to be had at all seasons; but the latter, at least in the
 instance of herbs and flowers, should be preferred if attainable.  Flowers which
 lose their odour by desiccation may be preserved by incorporating them inti-
 mately with  one-third of their weight of common salt, and in this state afford
 distilled waters  of  delicate flavour.  Indeed, some pharmaceutists prefer the
 salted  Howers in certain instances, believing  that the waters distilled from
 them keep better than when prepared from the fresh flowers.
  It is necessary to observe certain practical  rules in conducting the process of
 distillation.   When the substance employed is dry, hard, and fibrous, it should
 be mechanically divided, and macerated in water for a short time previously to
 the operation. The quantity of materials should not bear too large a proportion
 to the capacity of the alembic, as the water might otherwise boil over into the
receiver.   The water should be brought quickly to the state of ebullition, and 
934
Aquae Medicatse.
PART II.
continued in that state till the end of the  process.  Care should be taken to
leave sufficient water undistilled to cover the whole of the vegetable matter; lest
a portion of the latter, coming in contact with'the sides of the vessel, might be
decomposed by the heat, and yield empyreumatic products.  Besides, when the
operation is urged too vigorously, or carried too far, a slimymatter is apt to form,
which adheres to the sides of the  alembic above the water, and is thus exposed
to igneous decomposition.   To obviate these disadvantages, the heat may be
applied by means of an oil-bath regulated by a thermometer, or of a bath of
solution of chloride of calcium, by which any temperature may be obtained be-
tween 212° and 270°, according  to the strength  of the solution; or, when the
process is conducted upon a  large scale, by means of steam introduced under
pressure into a space around the still.  A convenient mode of applying heat by
steam, is by means of a coil of leaden tube placed  in 'the bottom of  the still,
having one end connected with a boiler, and the other passing out beneath or at
the side, and furnished with a  stop-cock, by which the pressure may be increased,
or the condensed water drawn off at will.  If any volatile oil float upon the sur-
face of the distilled water, it should be separated.*
   But, however carefully the  process may be conducted, the distilled waters pre-
pared from plants always have at first an unpleasant smoky odour.  They may
be freed from this by exposure for a short time to the air, before being enclosed
in well stopped bottles, in which  they should be preserved.  When long kept,
they are apt to form a viscid ropy matter, and to become sour.  This result has
been ascribed to other principles, which rise with the oil  in distillation, and pro-
mote its decomposition.  To prevent this decomposition, the Edinburgh Col-
lege orders  rectified spirit to be added  to the water employed in the process of
distillation.   But this addition is inadequate to  the intended object,  and is in
fact injurious, as  the alcohol  by long exposure to the air appears to undergo
the acetous fermentation.  The London College, which formerly directed a spirit-
uous addition, has abandoned it.  Abetter  plan is to redistil the waters. When
thus purified, it is said that they may be kept for several years  unchanged.
   Robiquet considers the mucosity which forms in distilled waters as the result
 of a vegetative process, to which the presence of air is essential.  He has found
 that,  so long as the water is covered with  a  layer of essential oil, it undergoes
 no change;  but that the oil is gradually altered by exposure to the air, and, as
 soon as it disappears, the water begins to be decomposed.  He states that cam-
 phor exercises the same preservative influence over the distilled waters by resist-
 ing the vegetation, and that those in which the odour of camphor is developed
 keep better on that account.   Finally, he has observed that the more distilled
'water is charged with volatile oil, the more abundant is the mucosity when it
 has begun to form. Robiquet unites with Henry and Guibourt, and with Virey,
 in recommending that all these waters, when intended to be kept for a consider-
 able time, should be introduced, immediately after distillation, into bottles of a
 size proportionate to the probable consumption of the water when brought into
 use;  and that the bottles should be  quite filled, and,then sealed or otherwise
 well stopped, so as entirely to exclude the air. Thus treated, they may be pre-
 served without change for many years.  (Journ.  de  Pharm.,  xxi. 402.)

   * This direction is generally given;  but, in  a communication  to the Pharmaceu-
 tical Society of England, Mr.  Haselden recommends the excess of oil to be well shaken
 with the water, and  the whole  to be transferred to the stock vessel, where it may be
 allowed to rest, and the oil to separate.  He thinks the water keeps better when thus
 treated; and the full strength is always insured. The stock vessel he prefers made of
 stone-ware, and furnished with a tap placed two inches from the bottom, whereby the
 water may  be drawn off clear when  wanted for the ordinary  shop bottles ; the oil
 either rising to the top, or sinking to the bottom of the vessel, according to its specific
 gravity. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xvi. 14, 15.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART II.
Aquae Medicatae.
935
    Another mode of preparing the distilled waters is to substitute the volatile
 oil, previously separated from the plant, for the plant itself in the process.  This
 mode was directed  in  former  editions of the London and Dublin Pharmaco-
 poeias, in several instances, but has been omitted in the last editions. It is said
 to afford a more permanent product than the preceding; but does  not always
 preserve the flavour of the plant.
    In relation to most  of the aromatics, the United  States Pharmacopoeia dis-
 cards altogether the process by distillation, and directs that  water should  be
 impregnated with the volatile oil by trituration with carbonate  of magnesia, and
 subsequently filtered.  This is by far the most simple and easy process.  The
 resulting solution is pure and  permanent, and is perfectly transparent,  the car-
 bonate of magnesia being separated by the filtration.  Carbonate of magnesia
 is preferable to the  pure earth; as the latter sometimes gives a brownish colour
 to the liquid, and requires to be used in larger proportion.  But both these sub-
 stances are dissolved in minute quantities, and are apt to occasion a slight floc-
 culent precipitate.   They may also possibly prove  injurious  by decomposing
 certain substances given in very small doses, as sulphate of morphia, bichloride
 of mercury, and nitrate of silver.   The object of the magnesia or its carbonate
 is simply to enable  the oil to be brought to a state of minute division, and thus
 presented with a larger surface to  the action of the solvent.  According to Mr.
 Robert Warington, this object may be better accomplished by porcelain clay,
 finely powdered glass, or pumice stone, which are wholly insoluble (Chem. Gaz.,
 March, 1845,  p. 113);  and the London College now employs finely powdered
 silica for the purpose. (See Silex Contritus.)  Chalk  and sugar answer the same
 end; but  the  latter, by being  dissolved with the- oil, renders  the preparation
 impure.  The Dublin College prepares its waters by agitating an alcoholic solu-
 tion of the oil with distilled water and filtering.  They consequently  contain
 alcohol, and. are liable to the objection already mentioned, against the medicated
 waters thus impregnated.   They are besides feeble  in the properties of their
 respective oils.  In the preparation of the aromatic waters by these processes, it
 is very important that the water should be pure.  The presence of  a sulphate
 causes a decomposition of the  oil, resulting in the production  of  sulphuretted
 hydrogen and a carbonate; and the aromatic properties are quite lost.  (See Am.
 Journ. of Pharm., xix. 303.)  Hence the propriety of the officinal direction to
 employ distilled water.*                                              ^r

   AQUA ACIDI CARBONICI.  U.S.  Carbonic Acid Water.   Arti-
ficial Seltzer  Water.
   "By means of a forcing  pump, throw into a suitable  receiver, nearly filled
 with Water, a quantity of carbonic acid  equal to five times the bulk of the
Water.   Carbonic acid is obtained from Marble by means of dilute sulphuric
acid." U.S.
   This preparation, which is peculiar to the United States Pharmacopoeia, con-
sists of water highly charged with carbonic acid. Water is found to take up its
volume of this acid under the pressure of the atmosphere; and Dr. Henry ascer-
tained that precisely the same volume of the compressed gas is absorbed under
a higher pressure.   From this  law, the bulk taken up is constant, the quantity
being different in proportion as there is more or less driven into a  given space.

  * Mr. Haselden prefers the process of distillation from the aromatic itself in the in-
stances of dill, caraway, fennel, cinnamon, and pimento, which are not apt  to afford to
the distilled water such matter as may cause it to become sour ; but he thinks that pep-
permint, spearmint, and pennyroyal waters may be advantageously prepared by tritura-
tion.  He advises, however, that these waters should not be filtered,  but prepared in
quantity, allowed to settle, and drawn off as wanted. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans, xvi.
14, 15.)—Note to the eleventh edition.
P 
936
Aquae Medicaids.
PART n.
As the space occupied by a gas is inversely as the compressing force, it follows
that the quantity of the acid forced into the water  will be directly as the pres-
sure.   A double pressure will force a double quantity into a given space, and
therefore, cause a double quantity to be absorbed; a treble pressure will drive a
treble quantity into the same space, and  cause  its  absorption; and so on for
higher pressures, the bulk of the compressed gas absorbed always remaining the
same.   From the principles above laid down, it  follows that, to saturate water
with five times its volume of carbonic acid, as directed in the formula, it must
be subjected to a pressure of five atmospheres.
   Carbonic acid water is familiarly called  in this country "mineral water," and
"soda water;" the latter name, originally applied  to the preparation when it
contained a small portion of carbonate of soda, being from habit continued since
the alkali has been omitted.   As it is largely consumed both as an agreeable
beverage and as a medicine, it may be proper to give a sketch of an approved
apparatus employed in this city for its  preparation.   This consists of a strong
egg-shaped copper vessel, tinned on the inside, about eighteen inches long, called
a generator, fixed upright in a wooden frame, and surmounted by another up-
right vessel of similar shape, about nine inches  long, communicating with the
generator by a short neck, and intended to contain the sulphuric acid.   Con-
nected with the generator by a copper tube, and placed by its side, is a strong
cylindrical  vessel for washing the gas,  about fifteen inches long  and three and
a half in diameter, two-thirds filled with water, and to near the bottom of which
the connecting tube passes.   Severally communicating with the washing vessel
are a mercurial gauge to indicate the pressure, and a strong vessel, called the
reservoir or fountain, of about the capacity of eighteen gallons, three-fourths
filled with  water, the connexion of the latter being by a  lead or  gutta percha
tube, commanded by a stop-cock.   The charge of whiting or marble dust, say
eight pounds, and the requisite water are added through an opening in the gene-
rator, in front of the sulphuric acid vessel, and closed by a screw stopper.   The
communication between the acid vessel and generator is commanded by a ver-
tical square rod, reaching within the vessel to about two-thirds of its height,
and terminating at its lower end in a screw.  This rod, when unscrewed, opens
a communication between the acid vessel and the generator.  The requisite sul-
phuric acid is added  to the acid vessel through an opening  at its top, capable
of being closed by  a screw stopper.  Through the axis of this stopper, and re-
volving within it, but without having any  vertical motion, passes the key, in the
lower end of which there is a square hole, to fit  on the square rod.  When the
acid vessel  is  to be closed, the screw stopper, with its key,  is placed over the
opening, in which situation the lower end of the key reaches down a sufficient
distance to embrace loosely the square  rod. The  stopper is now screwed in, and
the key, without revolving with the stopper, descends so as duly to embrace the
square rod.  By turning the handle of the key in the proper direction, the rod
is partially unscrewed, the passage to  the generator opened, and the acid gra-
dually flows in. From time to time, when  the acid is allowed to enter the gene-
rator, its contents are briskly mixed by means of an agitator, attached to a hori-
zontal axis, passing air-tight through the short diameter of the generator, and
turned by a crank.   The stop-cock between the washing vessel and fountain is
now partially opened, and the impregnation of the water with the gas begins.
As it proceeds, the sulphuric acid is gradually allowed to enter the generator
until it is expended, and the stop-cock is  from time to time turned, until it is
entirely opened.   Finally, after  the water is fully  charged with  gas, and the
whiting wholly decomposed, the fountain  is detached, and the generator freed
from the pulpy sulphate of lime by the  assistance of water and the agitator, and
its contents allowed to escape through an opening in its most depending part. 
, PART II.
Aquas Medicaids.
937
 In the apparatus of the size above described, a single fountain only is charged
 by one operation, and the carbonic acid water formed contains between nine and
 ten times its volume of the gas.   In this mode of making carbonic acid water,
 it is perceived that the requisite pressure is obtained by generating the carbonic
 acid in a confined space, instead of by a forcing pump.
   Numerous other forms of apparatus have been invented for making carbonic
 acid water.  That of Bernhard is figured in the Am. Journ. of Pharmacy for
 Jan.,  1856; the  figure being taken from Parrish's Pharmacy.   In this appa-
 ratus, the generators and washing vessels are of thickly tinned copper, and the
 fountains, of  cast iron,  lined with enamel.  These fountains are free from ob-
 jection except for their weight; as also are the stone-ware fountains,  strength-
 ened with iron bands, which are used in Boston.   A less costly apparatus  than
 the above is Nichol's patent combination fountain, figured in the same Journal
 for March, 1856.  In this, bicarbonate of soda is used instead of whiting, and
 the salt is added to the acid, instead of the acid to the salt.  For an account of
 the small apparatus of Air. R.  Knight, of London, which is  made of tin and
 silver exclusively, see Pharm. Journ. and Trans, for May, 1857.
   Carbonic acid water is dispensed in many of  the  apothecary shops in this
 country.   The fountain is usually placed in the cellar, and the tube proceeding
 from the fountain is made ,to pass through the floor and counter of the shop, and
 to terminate in a stop-cock, by means of which the carbonic acid water may be
 drawn off at pleasure.   In order to have the liquid cool in summer, the tube
 from the cellar  generally terminates in a strong metallic vessel of convenient
 shape, placed under the counter and surrounded with ice, and  from this vessel
 a separate tube penetrating the counter proceeds.
   Properties.  Carbonic acid water is a sparkling liquid, possessing an agree-
 able, pungent, acidulous taste.  It reddens litmus deeply from its state of con-
 centration, and is precipitated by lime-water. Being impregnated with a large
 quantity of the acid gas under the influence of  pressure, it effervesces strongly
 when  freed from restraint.  Hence,  to preserve its briskness, it should be  kept
 in strong well-corked bottles, placed inverted in a cool place.   Several natural
 waters are of a similar nature; such as those of Seltzer, Spa, and Pyrmont; but
 the artificial water has the advantage of a stronger impregnation with the acid
 gas.   Carbonic acid water should be made with every precaution to avoid me-
 tallic  impurity.    Hence the necessity of  having the fountain well tinned on
 the inner surface.  Even with this precaution,  a slight  metallic impregnation
 is not  always  avoided, especially in  the winter season, when the water  is less
 consumed as a drink, and, therefore,  allowed to remain longer in the tubes and
 stop-cocks.  Glass fountains are sometimes used with advantage at this season;
 and  a  patent has been taken out for a stoneware fountain, enclosed  in tinned
 copper, which is said to answer a good purpose.  When leaden tubes are em-
 ployed to convey the water, it is  liable to be contaminated with this metal,
 which  renders  it deleterious.   A case of colica pictonum was treated by one of
 the authors, arising from the daily use of the  first draught of carbonic  acid
 water from a fountain furnished with tubes of lead. Tubes of pure tin,  enclosed
 in lead ones to give them strength, are free from objection.
   Copper fountains, well tinned, are liable to the  objections that the tin lining
 wears away by use, and that there is no convenient means of  inspecting their
interior, owing to the solder joint, which permanently unites the two sections of
the fountain.  To remove the latter objection, the improvement has been proposed
by Dr.  R. 0. Doremus, of New York, to have the two sections with flanges, se-
curely bolted together, with intervening gutta percha packing, in order to fur-
nish  facilities for  examining the interior, to determine whether  re-tinning is ne-
cessary. Sometimes drops of solder, and chips of copper are carelessly left in the 
938
Aquae Medicaids.
part n.
 fountain, and form an additional source of danger.  There can be no doubt that
 carbonic acid water is not unfrequently rendered poisonous by metallic impreg-
 nation.  Dr.  Doremus  has proved, by a chemical examination, that lead and
 copper art  sometimes present.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., Sept. 1854, p. 422
 from the Am. 3Ied.  Monthly.)   Dr.  John  T.  Plummer, of Richmond, Ind'
 has found lead.  The latter metal is detected by sulphuretted hydrogen/which
 gives with it a black  precipitate;  and copper, by ferrocyanuret of potassium
 which causes a brown precipitate.   In  testing for copper, a few drops of the
 reagent should be added to a glass of the  suspected water, placed on a sheet
 of white paper;  when, if even  a minute proportion of copper be  present  a
 brownish discoloration will be seen, upon looking down through the liquid.'
   Carbonic acid,  formerly called fixed air, is a colourless gas, of a slightly
 pungent odour and acid teste.  It reddens litmus feebly, and combines with sali-
 fiable bases, forming salts  called carbonates, from which it is expelled by all
 the strong acids.   It extinguishes flame, and is quickly fatal to animals when
 respired.  All kinds of fermented liquors which are brisk or sparkling, such as
 champagne, cider, porter, &c, owe  these properties to its presence. Its sp. gr.
 is 1 -52.  In 1823 it was liquefied by Faraday by a pressure of 36 atmospheres]
 and in 1836 solidified by Thilorier, by taking advantage of the cold generated
 by the sudden gasefaction of the liquid acid, when freed from  pressure.  It is
 composed of one  eq. of carbon 6, and two of oxygen 16=22.
  3Iedical Properties and Uses. Carbonic acid water is diaphoretic, diuretic,
 and anti-emetic.  It forms a grateful drink to febrile patients, allaying thirst]
 lessening nausea and gastric distress, and promoting the  secretion of urine!
 The quantity taken need only be regulated by the reasonable wishes of the pa-
 tient.   It also forms  a very convenient vehicle for the administration of mag-
 nesia, the carbonated alkalies, sulphate of magnesia, and the saline cathartics
 generally;  rendering  these medicines  less unpleasant to the  palate,  and, in
 irritable states of the stomach, increasing the chances of their being retained.
 When used  for this purpose,  six or eight fluidounces will be sufficient.
  Carbonic acid gas was observed to act as a local anassthetic in ulcerated can-
 cer, so early as 1794, by Dr. John  Evart, of Bath.  In 1834 it was first used
 by Prof Mojon, of Geneva, in dysmenorrhcea, and with the most soothing ef-
 fect.   Since then it has been employed with good effect,  in certain painful
 affections  of the  uterus, by Prof.  Simpson, of Edinburgh,  and M.  Follin, of
 Paris.  M.  Follin,  M. Demarquay, and M. Monod  have found it particularly
 useful in relieving the pain in cancer of the uterus and vagina. The first effect
 of the gas is a sensation of pricking and heat.   Another application of car-
 bonic acid by injection is for  the production of premature  labour.   For this
 purpose it has been successfully employed by Prof. Scanzoni, of Wurzburg, and
Prof.  Simpson, of Edinburgh.   According  to Prof. Simpson, the gas is most
conveniently generated, by mixing in a bottle, six drachms of  crystallized tar-
taric acid, with eight drachms of bicarbonate of soda, dissolved in six fluid-
 ounces of water.                                                      j*.

  AQUA AMYGDALiE  AMARiE. U. S.  Bitter Almond Water.
  "Take of oil of  Bitter Almonds  sixteen minims; Carbonate of Magnesia
a drachm;  Water two pints.   Proceed in the manner  directed for Cinnamon
 Water."  U.S.
  This preparation has the effects of hydrocyanic acid on the  system, and may
be used as a vehicle of other medicines in nervous coughs, and various spasmodic
affections.   It is, however, liable to spontaneous change, and  is  consequently
 more or less uncertain. A drop of sulphuric acid added to a pint of it will con-
 tribute to its preservation;  as will also complete exclusion from the light and air. 
PART II.
Aquae Medicaids.
939
But the better plan is to prepare it in small quantities, as wanted for use.  The
dose of it, to begin with, when of full strength, should not exceed half a fluid-
ounce. Under the same name, a preparation has been considerably used on the
continent of  Europe, prepared by distilling bitter almonds with water.  This
when fresh is much stronger than the preparation of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,
containing, according to an analysis of Geiger, in  1000 parts, l-2 parts of an-
hydrous  hydrocyanic acid.  It has been prescribed with fatal effects; and  the
greatest caution, therefore, should be observed by the apothecary not to put up
the distilled water instead of the officinal.                            W.

   AQUA ANETHI. Lond., Ed. Dill Water.
   "Take of Dill [fruit], bruised, a pound and a half; Water two gallons [Im-
perial measure].  Distil a gallon."  Or, " Take of Oil of Dill two fluidrachms;
Pulverized Silex two drachms; Distilled Water a  gallon [Imp. meas.].  Rub
the Oil diligently, first with the Silex, afterwards with the Water, and filter the
solution."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh College takes the same  quantity of dill and  of water, with
tlvree fluidounces of rectified spirit,  mixes, and distils a gallon.
   This is seldom if ever used in the  United States.                    W.
   AQUA ANISI. Dub.  Anise  Water.
   •'Take of Essence of Anise  one fluidourice; Distilled  Water half a gallon
[Imperial measure].  Alix  with agitation, and filter through paper." Dub.
   This preparation is seldom used in the United States.               W.

   AQUA  CAMPHORiE.  U.S.  Mistura  Camphors.  Lond., Ed.,
Dub.   Camphor Water.
   "Take of Camphor two drachms; Alcohol forty minims; Carbonate of Mag-
nesia four drachms; Distilled Water two pints.  Rub the Camphor first with
the Alcohol, afterwards with the  Carbonate of Magnesia, and  lastly with  the
Water gradually  added; then filter through paper."  U.  S.
   The London College takes half a drachm of camphor, ten minims of rectified
spirit, and a pint [Imperial measure] of distilled water; rubs the camphor first
with the spirit, and then with the water gradually added; and strains through
linen.  The Edinburgh Collie directs a scruple of camphor and half an ounce
of sugar, well rubbed together, to be beat, with half an ounce of blanched sweet
almonds, into a smooth pulp;  a pint  [Imp.  meas.]  of water to be  gradually
added, and the mixture to be strained.  The Dublin College takes a fluidounce
of tincture of camphor, and three pints [Imp. meas.] of water; shakes the tinc-
ture and  water together in a bottle, and, after the mixture has stood twenty-
four hours, filters through paper.
  In all these processes the object is to effect a solution of  the camphor. Water
is capable of dissolving but a small proportion of this principle; but the quan-
tity varies with the method employed.   The London and Dublin preparations
are very feeble.  Made according to the Edinburgh process, one pint of  the
water contains less than twenty grains of camphor; while our own officinal pre-
paration  contains about fifty grains to the pint, or more than three grains to  the
fluidounce.  (Journ. of the Phil. Col.  of Pharm., iv. 13.)   The difference is
attributable, at least in part, to the minute division effected in the camphor by
trituration with the carbonate of  magnesia, which is  afterwards separated by
filtration. The use of the alcohol is  simply to break down the cohesion of  the
camphor, and enable it to be more easily pulverized.  The process of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia is much preferable to the others, as it  affords a permanent solu-
tion, of sufficient strength to be employed with a view to the influence of  the
camphor  on the system; while the British preparations have little more than 
940
Aquas Medicaids.
PART II.
 the flavour of the narcotic, and are fit only for vehicles of other medicines." The
 camphor is separated by a solution of pure potassa, and, according to Dr. Paris
 by sulphate of magnesia and several other salts.  Sir J. Murray proposes a
 solution of camphor and bicarbonate of magnesia, which contains three grains
 of the former and six grains of the latter in,each fluidounce.
   Camphor water is chiefly employed in low fevers  and typhoid diseases  at-
 tended with restlessness, slight delirium, or other symptoms of nervous derange-
 ment or debility.  It is used also to allay uterine after-pains.  It has this advan-
 tage over camphor in substance, that the latter is with difficulty dissolved by
 the liquors of the stomach;  but it is not  applicable  to cases  where very large
 doses of the medicine are required.   It is usually given in the dose  of one or
 two tablespoonfuls repeated every hour or two hours.                 yy
   AQUA CARUI. Lond., Dub.  Caraway Water.
   The London College prepares this in the same manner as Dill Water. (See
 Aqua Anethi.)  The Dublin College takes a fluidounce of the essence of cara-
 way, and half a gallon [Imperial measure] of distilled water, mixes with agita-
 tion, and filters through paper.
   Caraway water has the flavour and pungency of the  seeds, but is not used
 in this country.                                                   yy

   AQUA  CASSIA.  Ed.  Water of Cassia.
 ^ "Take of Cassia-bark, bruised, eighteen ounces; Water, two gallons [Impe-
 rial  measure] ; Rectified Spirit three fluidounces.   Mix them together, and
 distil off one gallon."  Ed.
   The distinction between cassia and cinnamon is not recognised in our Phar-
 macopoeia ; so that this preparation would rank as a variety of cinnamon water.
 (See Aqua Cinnamomi.)                                          ^y

   AQUA CINNAMOMI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Cinnamon Water.
   "Take of Oil of Cinnamon half a fluidrachm; Carbonate of Magnesia a
 drachm;  Distilled Water two pints.  Rub the Oil of Cinnamon first with the
 Carbonate of Magnesia, then with the Water gradually added, and filter through
 paper."  U.S.
   The London College prepares this in the same manner as Dill Water; the
 Edinburgh, as the Water of Cassia.   The Dublin College takes a fluidounce
 of essence of cinnamon, and half a gallon [Imperial measure] of distilled water,
 mixes with agitation, and filters through paper.
  Of these processes, we prefer that of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia or the second
 London process, as easier than the others, or affording a better product.  Cin-
 namon water is much used as a vehicle for other  less  agreeable medicines; but
 should be given cautiously in inflammatory affections.  For ordinary purposes
 it is  sufficiently strong when diluted with an  equal measure of water.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Cretas; Mistura Guaiaci; Mistura Spiritus Vini Gallici.
                                                                  W.
  AQUA FUNICULI.  U.S., Ed.,  Dub.   Fennel Water.
  The U. S. Pharmacopoeia directs  this to be prepared from  oil of fennel, in
the same manner  as cinnamon water.  (See Aqua Cinnamomi.)
  The Edinburgh College prepares it in the  same manner as  dill water. (See
Aqua Anethi).  The Dublin College takes a fluidounce of the essence of fennel,
and half a gallon [Imperial measure] of distilled water, mixes with agitation,
and filters through paper.
  Fennel water is an agreeable vehicle for other  medicines, and useful when a
mdd aromatic is indicated.                                          W. 
part II.          •       Aquas Medicaids.
941
    AQUA LAURO-CERASI.  Ed., Dub.   Cherry-laurel Water.
    "Take of Fresh Leaves of Cherry-laurel, a pound;  Water two pints and a
 half [Imperial measure];  Compound Spirit of Lavender an ounce.  Chop down
 the Leaves, mix them with the Water, distil off one pint [Imp. meas.], agitate
 the distilled liquid well, filter it if any milkiness remain after a few seconds of
 rest, and then add the Lavender Spirit." Ed.
    "Take of Fresh Leaves  of the Common Laurel, one pound; Water two pints
 and a half [Imperial Measure].   Upon the Leaves, chopped, and crushed in
 a mortar, macerate the Water for twenty-four hours, and then draw over a pint
 of liquid by distillation, using a Liebig's condenser, and chloride of zinc bath.
 Filter the product through paper, and preserve it in a well-stopped bottle." Dub.
   The leaves yield a larger product of hydrocyanic acid when cut and bruised
 than when distilled whole. According to M. Garot, the proportion of the acid
 in cherry-laurel water depends upon the time of year at which the distillation is
 performed; the leaves yielding not more than half as much in April, as in the
 middle of July.  (Annuaire de Therap., 1843, p. 45.)  The use of compound
 spirit of lavender, in the Edinburgh formula, instead of alcohol, is in order to
 impart colour to the preparation, and thus prevent it from being mistaken for
 common water.  The proportion of hydrocyanic acid  in the water diminishes
 with time.   It has been ascertained  by M. Deschamps, that if a drop of  sul-
 phuric acid be added to a  pint of the preparation, it will keep unchanged for at
 least a year.  It is best preserved by the entire exclusion of air and light.  M.
 Lepage  found that,  preserved in full and perfectly air-tight bottles, both this
 and bitter almond water  remained unchanged at' the end of a year; while, if
 freely exposed to the air, they lost all their hydrocyanic acid and essential oil in
 two or three months. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., xvi. 346.)  Cherry-laurel
 water is employed in Europe as a sedative narcotic, identical in its properties
 with a dilute solution of hydrocyanic acid; but it is of  uncertain strength, and
 should not be allowed to  supersede the  more definite  preparation of the acid
 now in use.  The dose is from thirty minims to a fluidrachm.           W.

   AQUA MENTHA PIPERITA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Pepper-
 mint  Water.
   This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from the oil of pep-
 permint, in  the manner directed for cinnamon water. (See Aqua Cinnamomi.)
   "Take of Peppermint, dried, two pounds; Water two gallons [Imperial mea-
 sure].  Distil a gallon.  Wnen the fresh herb is used the quantity should be
 doubled.   This Water may be more quickly prepared from  the Oil of Pepper-
 mint in the  same  manner as Dill Water." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College  mixes four pounds of fresh or two of dry peppermint,
 two gallons [Imp. meas.] of water, and three fluidounces of rectified spirit, and
 distils a gallon.   The Dublin College mixes, with agitation, a fluidounce of
 essence of peppermint with half a gallon [Imp. meas.] of distilled water, and
 filters through paper. .                                        -      "v\r-

   AQUA MENTHiE YIRIDIS.   U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Spearmint
 Water.
   This is prepared, according to the U S. Pharmacopoeia, from the oil of spear-
 mint, in the manner directed for cinnamon water.  (See Aqua Cinnamomi.)
   By the British  Colleges  it is  prepared in the manner directed by them for
peppermint water.
   The two mint waters are among the most grateful and most employed of this
class of preparations.  Together with cinnamon water, they are used in this
country, almost to the exclusion of all others, as the vehicle  of medicines given
in  the form of mixture.  They serve not only to conceal or qualify the taste of 
942
Aquas Medicaids.
part ii.
other medicines, but also to counteract their nauseating properties.  Peppermint
water is generally thought to have a more agreeable flavour than that of spear-
mint, but  some prefer the latter.   Their effects are the same.           W.
   AQUA  PIMENTJE. Lond., Ed., Dub.  Pimento Water.
   "Take of Pimento, bruised, a pound; Water two gallons [Imperial measure].
Distil a gallon.  This Water may be more quickly prepared from Oil of Pimento
in the same manner as Dill Water."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh College mixes a pound of bruised pimento,  two gallons
[Imp. meas.] of  water, and three fluidounces of rectified spirit, and distils a
gallon.  The Dublin College agitates  a fluidounce of essence of pimento with
half a gallon [Imp.  meas.]  of distilled water,  and filters through paper.
   Pimento water is brownish  when first  distilled, and upon standing deposits
a brown resinous sediment.  It is used as a carminative in the dose  of one or
two fluidounces.                                                    W.

   AQUA  PULEGII.  Lond., Ed.   Aqua Mentha  Pulegii.  Dub.
Pennyroyal Water.
   This is  prepared from European pennyroyal or its oil, precisely in the man-
ner directed by the British Colleges for peppermint water.  It is not used in
this country, as we have not the plant.  A  water prepared from Hedeoma pu-
legioides,  or American pennyroyal, might be substituted.
   Pennyroyal water is employed for the same purposes as those of peppermint
and spearmint.                                                     W.
   AQUA ROS^E.  U.  S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.   Pose Water.
   "Take  of  Fresh Hundred-leaved Roses eight pounds; Water two gallons.
Mix them and distil a gallon."  U. S.
   The London College takes  ten pounds of roses and two gallons  [Imperial
measure]  of  water, and distils a  gallon.  The Edinburgh College  mixes ten
pounds of roses, two gallons- [Imp. meas.] of water, and three fluidounces of
rectified spirit, and distils off  a gallon;  adding  the following notice.   "The
petals should be  preferred when fresh; but it  also  answers well to  use those
which have been preserved by beating them with twice their weight of muriate
of soda."    The Dublin  College  agitates twenty minims of oil of roses with
half a gallon [Imp. meas.]  of distilled water,  and filters through paper.
   It should be observed that, in the nomenclature of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,
the term "Roses" implies only the petals of the flower.  These are directed in
the recent state; but it is said  that, when preserved by being incorporated with
one-third  of their weight of common salt, they retain their odour, and afford a
water equally fragrant with  that prepared from the fresh flower.   Indeed, Mr.
Haselden  prefers the salted roses, believing  that the water prepared from them
is  less mucilaginous, less  apt to become  sour, and preserves  its odour better
than that  prepared from the fresh flowers.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans, xvi.
15.)  It is not uncommon to employ the  whole flower including the calyx;
but the  product is less fragrant than when  the petals only are used, as offici-
nally directed.  Rose water is sometimes made by distilling together water and
the oil of  roses.
   When properly prepared,  it has the delightful perfume of the rose in great
perfection.  It is most successfully made on a large scale.  Like the other dis-
tilled waters it is liable to spoil when kept;  and the alcohol which is sometimes
added to preserve it is incompatible with some of the  purposes to  which the
water is applied, and is even said to render it sour  through acetous fermenta-
tion.  It is best, therefore, to avoid this addition, and to substitute a  second
distillation.   This distilled water is chiefly  employed, on account of its agree- 
PART II.
Aquas Medicaids.
943
able odour, in collyria and other lotions.   It is wholly destitute of irritating
properties, unless when it contains alcohol.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Rosas;  Mistura Ferri Composita; Unguentum Aquas
Rosas.                                                             W.

   AQUA SAMBUCI. Lond., Ed. Elder Water.
   "Take of Elder Flowers ten pounds; Water two gallons [Imperial measure].
Distil a gallon."  Lond.
   The Edinburgh College  mixes ten pounds of the fresh flowers, two gallons
[Imp. meas.] of water, and three fluidounces of rectified  spirit, and distils a
gallon.
   Elder  flowers yield very little oil upon distillation; and if the water be need-
ed, it may be best prepared from the flowers.   Mr. Haselden prefers the salted
flowers to the fresh, for the reason stated above under Rose Water.  The pre-
paration is little  used in  this country.                                W.

   CIILORINII LIQUOR. Dub.  Chlorinei Aqua.  Ed.  Solution of
 Chlorine. Chlorine Water.
   "Take of Peroxide of Manganese, in fine powder, half an ounce [avoirdu-
pois];- Muriatic Acid of Commerce three fluidounces [Imp. meas.]; Distilled
Water twenty-four ounces  [avoird.].  Introduce the  Peroxide of Manganese
into a gas bottle,  and, having poured upon it the Muriatic Acid diluted with two
ounces of [the] Water, apply a  gentle heat, and, by suitable tubes, cause the
gas, as it is developed, to bubble through two additional ounces of the Water
placed in an intermediate small vial, and then to pass to the bottom of an [Im-
perial]  three-pint bottle, containing the remainder of the Water,  and whose
mouth is loosely  plugged with tow.  When the air has been  entirely displaced
by the chlorine, let the bottle be  disconnected from  the apparatus in which the
gas is generated,  corked loosely,  and shaken until the chlorine is  absorbed. It
should be now transferred to an [Imperial] pint bottle with a well-ground glass
stopper,  and preserved in a cool  and dark place." Dub.
   " Take of Muriate of Soda [chloride of sodium] sixty grains; Sulphuric Acid
(commercial) two fluidrachms [Imp. meas.]; Red Oxide of Lead three hun-
dred and fifty grains; Water eight fluidounces [Imp. meas.].  Triturate the
Muriate of Soda and Oxide together; put them into the Water contained in a
bottle with a glass  stopper;  add the Acid; agitate occasionally till the Red
Oxide becomes almost all white.   Allow the insoluble matter to subside before
using the liquid." Ed.
   In  order to  understand the Dublin process for making chlorine water, it is
necessary to recollect that twenty-four avoirdupois ounces of water are equal to
twenty-four  Imperial fluidounces, and that the Imperial pint contains twenty
fluidounces.   The three-pint bottle used, therefore, has the  capacity of sixty
fluidounces.   Four fluidounces of the water are expended in diluting the  acid
and in absorbing  impurities in the intermediate vial.  The  remaining twenty
fluidounces, or an  Imperial pint, is placed in the three-pint bottle, which it only
one-third fills.   The chlorine gas is  extricated from the muriatic acid by the
deutoxide of manganese separating the hydrogen, and is passed into the three-
pint bottle, loosely stopped, until the vacant part, having the capacity of two
pints, is filled with it to the exclusion of atmospheric air.   The  bottle, being
then corked, is shaken, so as to cause the absorption of the gas by the water.
The  product is an Imperial pint of chlorine water, which is  transferred to a
bottle just sufficient in capacity to contain it.
  By the Edinburgh process the solution is formed in the  liquid way.   The
red oxide of lead, acting on the  chloride of sodium, oxidizes the  sodium, con-
verting it into soda, ,and is  itself  reduced to  the state of protoxide.  The chio- 
  944                  Aquas Medicatas.—Argentum.            part ii.

  rine set free is dissolved by the water, and the sulphuric acid forms with the
  soda, sulphate of  soda which remains in solution, and with the protoxide of
  lead, sulphate of protoxide of lead which  is precipitated.   The action is com-
  pleted in the course of a few hours, and the sulphate of lead having subsided
  the supernatant liquid forms an aqueous solution of chlorine, containing a lit-
  tle sulphate of soda, which does not interfere with its medicinal properties.
    Properties.  The Dublin chlorine water has a pale yellowish-green colour, an
  astringent taste, and the peculiar odour of the gas.   Like  gaseous chlorine it
  destroys vegetable colours.  When cooled  to about the freezing point, it forms
  deep-yellow crystalline plates, consisting of hydrate of chlorine.  It is intended
  by the Dublin College to contain twice its volume of the gas. It is decomposed
  by light,  with  the production of muriatic acid, and the evolution of oxygen,
  and  hence must be kept  in a dark place.  According to  MM. Riegel and
  Waltz, chlorine water, containing two and a half volumes  of  the gas  at 54°,
  keeps best.   The Edinburgh chlorine water is not an eligible preparation.  It
  is apt to  contain impurities, derived from the oxide of  lead, as pointed out by
  Dr. E. Stierson, of Alleghany County, Pa.
    Chlorine is an elementary gaseous fluid, of a  greenish-yellow colour, and
  characteristic smell and taste.   It is  a  supporter  of combustion.   Its specific
  gravity is 2'47, and equivalent number 35-5.   When the attempt  is made to
  breathe it, even much diluted, it excites cough  and a sense of suffocation, and
  causes a discharge from the mucous  membrane of the nostrils and bronchial
  tubes.  Breathed in considerable quantities, it produces spitting of blood, vio-
  lent  pains, and sometimes death.
    Medical Properties and Uses.   Chlorine water is stimulant and antiseptic.
  Internally it has been used in typhus, and chronic affections of the liver; but
  the diseases in which it has been most extolled are scarlatina and malignant
  sorethroat.   Externally it is employed, duly diluted, as a gargle in smallpox,
  scarlatina, and putrid sorethroat, as a wash for ill-conditioned  ulcers and can-
  cerous sores, and as a local bath in diseases of the liver.   It  has been used with
  advantage as an application to buboes and large abscesses, to promote the ab-
  sorption of the matter.   As it depends upon chlorine for its activity, its medi-
  cal properties coincide  with those  of chlorinated lime, chlorinated soda, and
  nitromuriatic acid, under which heads they are more  particularly given.  The
  dose of chlorine water is from one  to four fluidrachms, properly diluted.
    Gaseous chlorine has been recommended by Gannal in chronic bronchitis and
  pulmonary consumption, exhibited  by inhalation, in minute quantities, four or
  six times a dayv Its first effect is to produce some dryness  of the fauces, with
  increased expectoration for a time,  followed ultimately with diminution of the
  sputa and amendment.  Dr. Christison states that he has repeatedly observed
  these results in chronic catarrh; and both  he and Dr. Elliotson have obtained,
  in consumption, a more decided improvement  of the  symptoms by the use of
  chlorine  inhalations, than by any other means.   The liquid  in the inhaler may
  be formed either of water containing from ten to thirty  drops of chlorine water,
  or of chlorinated lime dissolved in forty parts of water, to which a drop or two
  of sulphuric acid must be added, each time the inhalation  is practised.  The
  inhaler should be placed in water, heated to about 100°.                B.

                             ARGENTUM.

                        Preparations of Silver.

    ARGENTI CYANURETUM. U.S. Cyanuret of Silver.  Cyanide
-  of Silver.
    "Take of Nitrate of Silver, Ferrocyanuret of Potassium, each, two  ounces; 
PART II.
Argentum.
945
  Sulphuric Acid an ounce and  a half; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity.
  Dissolve the Nitrate of Silver  in a pint of Distilled Water, and pour the solu-
  tion into a tubulated glass.receiver.   Dissolve the Ferrocyanuret of Potassium
  in ten fluidounces of Distilled Water,  and pour the solution into a tubulated
  retort, previously adapted to the receiver.   Having mixed the Sulphuric Acid
  with four fluidounces of Distilled Water, add the mixture to the solution in the
  retort, and distil, by means of a sand-bath, with a moderate heat, until six fluid-
  ounces pass over, or until the liquid that passes produces no longer a precipi-
  tate in the receiver.  Finally, wash the precipitate with  Distilled Water, and
  dry it."  U.S.      .  -   •
    This preparation was introduced into the  U. S. Pharmacopoeia for the pur-
  pose of being used in  the extemporaneous preparation of diluted  hydrocyan-
  ic acid. (See page 846.)  By the formula adopted in the.Pharmacopoeia  of
  1840, the officinal hydrocyanic acid was added to a solution of nitrate of silver.
  The expenditure in this way of. the officinal acid, which  is very weak,-and  at
  the same time nicely adjusted to  a given  strength, was injudiciously directed;
  and, accordingly, that formula was abandoned, and a  new process adopted
  in. the Pharmacopoeia of  1850, in which  all the  silver contained  in a given
  weight of nitrate of silver, placed in a receiver in solution, is converted into
  cyanuret  by hydrocyanic  acid, extricated  from  ferrocyanuret of potassium  by
  the action of sulphuric acid.   By a double decomposition between the oxide of
  silver of the nitrate and the hydrocyanic acid, water and cyanuret of silver are
  formed in the receiver, the latter of which precipitates.   The  materials in the
  retort are sufficient to  produce  a  little  more hydrocyanic acid than is necessary
  to convert the whole of the  silver in  the receiver into cyanuret;  so that the
  complete decomposition of the nitrate of  silver is insured.
   According to Messrs. Glassford and Napier,  the best way of obtaining cya-
  nuret of silver 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 hydro-
 cyanic acid.   It is not  soluble in potassa or soda,  but readily so In ammonia.
 Its best solvent is cyanuret of potassium.  When heated it is decomposed, cya-
 nogen being evolved, and metallic silver left.   It consists of one eq. of cyanogen
 26, and one of silver 108 = 134.  It has no medical uses.
   Off. Prep.  Acidum Hydrocyanicum  Dilutum.                        jj

   ARGENTI  NITRAS.  U.S. Nitrate of Silver. Nitrate of Silver in
 Crystals.
   "Take of Silver, in small pieces, an ounce; Nitric Acid  [sp.gr. 1-42] seven
fluidrachms; Distilled Water two fluidounces.  Mix the Aeid with the Water,
and dissolve the  Silver in the mixture, on a sand-bath, with a gentle heat.  Pour-
off the clear solution into a porcelain capsule, and, having evaporated it to one-
half, allow it to  cool that crystals may form.   Pour off the supernatant liquid,
and, after due evaporation, put it aside for the formation of fresh crystals.  Again
pour off the liquid, and evaporate for a third crop of crystals.  Lastly, place the
crystals in a glass funnel,  in order  that they may drain, and, when they are
dry, put them into a bottle, which is to be well stopped, and protected from the
light.  The silver remaining in the mother water of the last crystallization may
be obtained by introducing into  it a plate of copper, which will precipitate the
Whole of the silver in  the form of a gray powder, which, when washed with
water, will be perfectly  pure."  U. S.
  During the solution of silver in nitric acid, part of the.acid is decomposed into
       60 
946
Argentum.
part n.
nitric oxide which is given off and becomes red fumes by contact with the atmo-
sphere, 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
which, by clue evaporation, furnishes crystals of the salt.  The silver should hi
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 sulphuric acids, should
never be used in this process.   The muriatic acid  gives  rise to  an insoluble
chloride, and'the  sfilphuric, to the sparingly soluble sulphate of silver.
  Properties.  Nitrate of silver is in colourless transparent crystals, having the
form of rhomboidal plates,  sometimes of considerable size.  Its taste is bitter and
intensely metallic.  It is soluble in its own weight of Cold water,  and  in four
parts of boiling alcohol.   When perfectly pure, it  is  wholly soluble in distilled
water.  The solution stains the skin  of  an indelible  black  colour,  and is itself
discoloured by the most  minute portion  of organic matter, of which it forms a
delicate.test.   The  affinity of this salt for animal matter is  evinced by its form-
ing definite compounds with albumen and fibrin.   The solution also stains linen
and  muslin in a similar manner; and hence its use in making the  so-called in-
delible ink.   To  remove these  stains, Mr. W. B.  Herapath  advises to let fall
on the moistened 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 hypo-
sulphite of soda, made with half a drachm to a fluidounce of water, or by a mod-
erately dilute solution of caustic  potassa, and the spots are washed out with
warm water.   They are taken out also by a solution of two and a half drachms
of cyanuret of potassium, and  fifteen grains .of iodine, in three fluidounces of
water.   Stains on  the skin may be remowed by the same reagents.  Nitrate of
silver melts at 426°,  and on concreting forms the  fused nitrate, which is offici-
nal under the name of Argenti Nitras Fusus.  At about 600° it is  decomposed,
with evolution of  oxygen and  nitrous  acid, and  the metal  is revived.  This
explains the necessity of guarding against 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 a little 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 astrin-
gent infusions.   It is sometimes improperly prescribed in pill with tannic acid,
by which it is decomposed.   Nitrate of silver is an  anhydrous salt, consisting
of  one eq. of nitric acid 54,  and one of protoxide of silver 116 = 170.
   Impurities and Tests.   A solution of chloride of  sodium, added in excess to
one of nitrate of silver, 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  so, the insoluble part is probably chloride of lead.
If the supernatant liquid,  after the removal of the precipitate, be discoloured or
precipitated by sulphuretted  hydrogen,  the fact  shows the  presence of  metallic
matter, which is probably copper or some remains of lead, or both.  After all,
the best sign of  the purity of nitrate of silver is the characteristic appearance
 of the crystals.  For other tests, see Argenti Nitras Fusus.
   3Iedical Properties.  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 particu-
 larly applicable,  and its  modus operandi are not understood.  It is said to pro-
 duce most good in this disease when  it acts upon the bowels.   Dr. James John- 
PART II.
Argentum.
947
  son and other practitioners have found  it useful, as a palliative and sedative,
  in chronic disease of the stomach attended with pain and vomiting.   Dr. J. F.
  Peebles, of Petersburgh, Ya., bears testimony to its  efficacy in  jaundice  con-
  nected with gastric  irritation, given preferably on an empty stomach.  (Am.
  Journ. of the 3Ied. Sciences, July 1849.)  Dr. Boudin, of Marseilles, has em-
  ployed 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  fluidounces of water.   The  injections prove  use-
  ful by promoting  the cicatrization of  the -intestinal ulcers, and  were found
  to extend their operation as high as to the small intestines.  M. Delioux, of
  Rochefort, has proposed albuminous injections of nitrate of silver in  diarrhoea,
  formed of half a pint of water, containing the white of one egg, from two to four
  grains of the nitrate, and an equal weight of common  salt.  Nitrate of silver is
  soluble in an excess of an albuminous solution, and when  thus prepared is more
  readily absorbed than when dissolved in  water.   The common salt promotes its
  solution  without decomposing  it. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 149.)  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.
  It has also been used with supposed advantage in cholera infantum, in doses
  varying from one-sixteenth to one-fourth of a grain, at intervals of two, four,
  or six hours.   Whatever may be  the remedial  value of this salt internally ad-
  ministered, its  occasional effect of producing a slate-coloured discoloration of
  the skin, which is seldom  removed,  is a great objection to its use.  This effect
  proves the  absorption of the medicine, and is stated 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 occasionally employed in solution as a stimu-
  lant and escharotic; but the fused nitrate, which is not so pure as the officinal
  nitrate (pure  salt in crystals), is generally selected for making solutions.   In
  cases requiring nicety, the officinal nitrate (crystals) should be  directed to be
  dissolved, and distilled water should be  selected  as the  solvent.   A solution,
  made in the proportion of half  a  grain  of the crystals to a fluidounce of  dis-
  tilled water, forms a good mouth  wash for healing ulcers  produced by mercu-
  ry.  In the inflammation of the mouth from mercurial salivation, M. Boucha-
  court found a, concentrated solution  of the salt, applied to the gums, base of
  the tongue,  &c. with a camel's hair brush, very useful.  A solution, containing
  from two to ten grains of the crystals to a fluidounce of  distilled water, is an
  excellent  application in ophthalmia with ulcers  of the  cornea, in fetid  dis-
  charges from the ear, aphthous affections of the mouth, and spongy gums.
    The dose of nitrate of silver (crystals) is the fourth  of a grain, gradually in-
  creased to four or five grains, three times a day.  For internal exhibition, the
  physician should always prescribe  the crystals, which  are meant by the name
  Argenti Nitras in the revised nomenclature of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia of 1850,
 and never direct the fused nitrate (Argenti Nitras Fusus), which is often impure.
 Nitrate of silver 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 physician recommends the exhibition at first
 of grain doses, to be gradually increased  to six grains, three times a day.   Its 
948
Argentum.
PART II.
effects vary very much, owing no doubt to the salt being more or less decom-
posed by the substances used in preparing it in pill, or with which it conies, in
contact in the stomach.  It should not be made up into pill with crumb of bread,
as this contains common salt, but with some  vegetable powder and mucilage.
In view of the fact that chloride of sodium is used with 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 ques-
tion 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 cases of epilepsy, but without advantage.
   According to  Mialhe, nitrate of silver upon entering  the stomach is imme-
diately changed  into the chloride, and this is  quickly converted into a soluble
and readily absorbable double chloride, by combining with the chloride of so-
dium  or potassium.
  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.   Argenti Oxidum.               B.

   ARGENTI  NITRAS  FUSUS.  U.S.  Argenti Nitras Fusum.
Dub.   Argenti Nitras. Lond., Ed.  Lapis Infernalis,*  Fused Ni-
trate  of Silver.   Lunar  Caustic.
   "Take of Silver, in small pieces, an ounce; Nitric Acid [sp.gr.  1-42] seven
fluidrachms; Distilled Water two fluidounces.  Mix the Acid with the Water,
and dissolve the Silver in the mixture, on a sand-bath, with a gentle heat; then
gradually increase the  heat, and evaporate to  dryness.  Melt the resulting salt ,
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 pure Silver an ounce and a half; Pure  Nitric Acid [sp.gr. I'd]
one fluidounce [Imp.  meas.]; Distilled Water two fluidounces [Imp. meas.].
Mix the Acid and Water, 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.
   "Take of Refined Silver three ounces [avoirdupois]; Pure Nitric Acid [sp. gr.
1-5]  two fluidounces [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water five ounces [avoird.].
Place the Silver in a flask, and, having poured upon it the Acid and Water, ap-
ply a  gentle heat until the metal is dissolved.   Transfer the solution to a porce-
lain capsule, decanting it off a heavy black powder which  appears at the bottom
of the flask, and, having evaporated it to dryness, raise the heat (in a dark room)
until liquefaction is produced.  Pour the melted Nitrate of Silver into a brass
mould, furnished with cylindric cavities of the size of a goose quill, and which
admits of being opened by a hinge, and, when  the salt has concreted, remove it,
and preserve it in well stopped vessels, rendered impervious to light."  Dub.
   The London College places fused nitrate of silver in the list of  the Materia
Medica.
   The first step in the process for making fused nitrate of silver is the same as

  * This name is sometimes applied to caustic potassa, but belongs rroperly to fused
nitrate of silver. 
PART II.
Argentum.
949
  that for preparing the crystallized nitrate, namely, the solution of silver in nitric
  acid; but the solution, instead of being concentrated so that crystals may form,
  is at once evaporated to dryness, and the dry mass fused, and cast in cylindfical
  moulds.  As the salt sinks into a common crucible, the fusion should be per-
  formed 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 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 fur-
  nishes organic matter which partially decomposes the fused salt.
    Properties.   Fused nitrate of silver, as prepared by the above processes, is in
  the form of hard brittle sticks, of the size of a goose quill, at first white, but
  becoming gray or 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, however,  does not de-
  pend on the sole action of light has been proved by Mr. Scanlan, who finds that
  nitrate of silver, in a clean glass tube hermetically sealed, undergoes no change
  by exposure to light.  The sticks often become dark-coloured and nearly black
  on the  surface, and,  when broken across, exhibit a crystalline fracture with  a
  radiated surface.  Fused nitrate of silver, when pure, is wholly soluble in dis-
  tilled  water;  but even fair  samples of the fused salt will not totally dissolve, a
  very scanty black powder being left of reduced silver, arising probably from the
  salt having been exposed to too high a heat in fusion.
    Impurities and Tests.   Fused 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.)  The mode of detecting lead and copper is explained under nitrate
 of silver. (See Argenti Nitras.)   In order to detect nitre, a solution of the sus-
 pected salt should be treated with muriatic acid in excess, to remove silver, and
 with sulphuretted hydrogen, to throw down other metals if they happen to be
 present. The filtered liquid, if the salt be pure, will entirely evaporate by heat;
 if it contain nitre, this Will  be left, easily known by its properties as a nitrate.'
 This impurity sometimes exists in fused nitrate of silver in large amount, vary-
 ing, 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 mode is given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia for testing fused nitrate of
 silver for impurity, 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 pre- •
 cipitate it, the supernatant liquid will be precipitable by more of the test.  Now
 this will not be the case with the impure salt.   In applying this test, the Edin-
 burgh College directs that 29 grains of the salt should be dissolved in a fluidounce
 of distilled water acidulated with nitric acid, precipitated with a solution of 9
 grains  of muriate of ammonia,  briskly agitated for a few seconds, and then al-
 lowed to rest.    If the salt be impure, it will not be precipitated on the addition
of more of the test.   The similar test of  the London Pharmacopoeia of 1851
proceeds on the principle that a given weight of chloride of sodium is fully pre-
cipitated by an equivalent weight of the pure nitrate, and, consequently, that an 
950
Argentum.
PART n.
equivalent weight of impure nitrate is not competent to produce a full  precipi-
tation.   With this explanation, the following details of the test will be under-
stood.  A solution of six grains of chloride of sodium, after having been pre-
cipitated by seventeen grains of nitrate of silver and filtered, furnishes a solu-
tion which is not precipitated by more of the nitrate.  The chief test of the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia is  founded on the quantity of chloride of silver which  a given
weight of the pure nitrate should furnish,  when fully decomposed by chloride of
sodium.   Thus, it is stated that a  solution, containing twenty-five grains of
fused nitrate of silver, yields with chloride of sodium about twenty-one grains
of a white precipitate, totally soluble in ammonia.
   3Iedical Properties.   Fused nitrate of silver should be restricted to external
use.   The medical properties of the salt, as an internal remedy, are given under
the head of the crystallized nitrate. (See Argenti Nitras.)  Externally applied
the fused nitrate  acts variously as  a stimulant, vesicant, and  escharotic, and
may be employed  either dissolved in water, or in the solid state.   Dissolved to
the extent of from one to five grains in a fluidounce  of water, it is used for the
purpose  of stimulating indolent ulcers, and as  an injection for fistulous sores.
A drachm of the fused salt, dissolved in a fluidounce of water, forms an escha-
rotic  solution, which may often be resorted to with advantage.   When used in
solution it is most conveniently applied by means of a camel's hair brush.   But
fused 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 recom-
mended 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 sealing wax with a penknife, to a
suitable  extent from one end.  Another way to strengthen the stick is to cast
it around a platinum wire, as  recommended by M. Chassaignac; or around a
wick  of cotton,  according to the plan of M. Blatin.  By the latter plan, when
the stick is broken, the fragments remain attached.  If the fused nitrate be
rubbed  gently over the  moistened skin until this becomes gray, it generally
vesicates, causing usually less pain than is produced by cantharides.  The fused
nitrate is also employed to destroy strictures of the urethra, warts and excre-
scences, 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  expediting their cicatrization.  He alleges
that, if  an adherent eschar be formed, the parts underneath heal before it falls
off.   It has also been used  with good effect, in the solid state, by Dr. Jewell
in leucorrhoea, and by Ricord, Hannay, and others  in the gonorrhoea of women.
In these cases the pain produced is much  less than would be expected.   Lunar
caustic is frequently used.in aqueous solution as a topical remedy in various low
forms of inflammation, but particularly in erysipelas, applied both to the in-
flamed and to the surrounding healthy parts.   In some cases it is sufficient to
blacken the cuticle; in others  it is  best to produce vesication.  In the treat-
ment of these inflammations,  Mr. Ward, of London, finds an ethereal solution,
formed by dissolving eight  grains of the salt in a fluidounce of common nitric
ether, much  more convenient and manageable than an aqueous solution.  The
ethereal solution  is  readily applied, and  quickly  dries.   Dr. J. Wiltbank, of
this city, uses an aqueous  solution of nitrate of  silver (from  twenty to forty
grains to the fluidounce), in the treatment of superficial burns and scalds, ap-
plied with a camel's hair brush  over  the whole surface, first wiped dry, after
opening the  vesications.  The advantages claimed for the application  are that 
PART II.
Argentum.
951
 it protects the surface,  relieves  pain, and promotes a speedy  cure.  If the
 burn be deep, the entire surface of the ulcer should be touched with the stick.
 (3Ied Exam., March, 1856, p. 144.)  In cases of prolapsus ani, Mr. Lloyd, of
 London, smears the whole surface of the protruded bowel with the solid caustic,
 and then returns it.  Three or four applications, at intervals of a week or fort-
 night, are generally sufficient to  effect a cure.   Mr. Lloyd has pursued  this
 practice for many years with  success, and never  knew it  to be  attended with
 bad consequences.   Prof. Parker, of New York, uses nitrate of silver for the
 radical cure of hydrocele.   After drawing off the fluid,  he introduces, through
 the  cannula, a common probe, the end of which  is coated, for half an inch or
 more, with the caustic.  The probe  is then carried lightly over the serous sur-
 face of the tunica vaginalis, and withdrawn. In smallpox  it has been proposed
 by Bretonneau and Serres to  cauterize each pustule, after its top has been re-
 moved, on the first or second day of  the eruption, in order  to arrest its develop-
 ment, and prevent pitting.  The fused nitrate also forms an efficacious applica-
 tion  to certain ulcerations of  the throat, to different forms of porrigo of the
 scalp and other skin diseases, to  punctured and  poisoned  wounds, and to chil-
 blains, slowly rubbed over the moistened part.   If, unexpectedly, the pain pro-
 duced by its external use should be excessive, it may be immediately allayed by
 washing the parts with a solution of common salt,  which  acts by decomposing
 the caustic.  In the form of ointment, made by mixing one part of the caustic,
 in powder, with thirty of  lard, it has been used in ozasna; a piece of lint,
 smeared with the ointment, being introduced into the nasal fossa.
 *  Nitrate of silver, in impalpable  powder, mixed  with  an equal weight of
 lycopodium, and used by inhalation, has been found beneficial in ulcerated sore-
 throat, laryngitis, bronchitis,  and incipient phthisis, by  Dr. W. M.  Cornell, of
 Boston. (Boston Med, and Surg. Journ., Sept. 25, 1850.)   The salt, used in
 this  way, has since been successfully employed  in  the treatment  of chronic
 laryngitis, by M. Trousseau^  of  Paris, Prof.  Burow, of  Konigsberg, and M.
 Ebert.   The  mixture employed by these physicians consisted of three grains
 of the nitrate and a drachm of sugar of milk, intimately mixed in fine powder,
 of which as much as would fill the barrel of a steel pen was inhaled daily.  The
 steel  pen, charged with the powder,  and attached to the  barrel of a quill, is
 placed on  the root  of the tongue, and the patient compresses his lips around
 the quill.  Then holding his nose, he makes a deep inspiration, which draws
 the powder into the larynx.  (See Am. Journ. ofi3Ied. Sci., Oct, 1855, p. 515.)
 This  plan  of applying nitrate of silver to the larynx is much more sure and
 safe than that of introducing the solution by injection, or by means of a sponge.
   Pharm. Use. Fused nitrate of silyer is employed  by the Dublin  College as
 a chemical agent for preparing Acidum Nitrieum Purum.
 ■  Off. Prep.  Argenti Oxydum.                                      B.

   ARGENTI OXIDUM.  U.S.   Argenti Oxydum. Dub.   Oxide of
 Silver.
 _ " Take of Nitrate of Silver four ounces; Distilled Water half a pint;  Solu-
 tion of Potassa a pint and a half, or a sufficient quantity.  Dissolve the Ni-
 trate  of Silver in  the Water, and to the solution add the Solution of Potassa,
 as long as it produces a  precipitate.  Wash the precipitate repeatedly with
 water until the washings  are nearly  tasteless.   Lastly,  dry the powder, and
 keep it in a well stopped bottle, protected from the light." If. S.
  "Take of [fused] Nitrate of  Silver half an ounce [avoirdupois]; Lime-water
 half a gallon [Imp. meas.], or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water half a
pint [Imp. meas.].   Dissolve  the Nitrate of Silver in four ounces of the Dis-
tilled Water, and, having poured the solution into a bottle containing the Lime- 
  952                           Argentum.                       part ii.

  water, shake the mixture well, and then  set it by till  the  sediment subsides
- The supernatant solution being drawn off, let  the sediment be placed upon a
  filter, and,  when washed with the remainder of the Distilled Water, let it be
  dried at a heat not exceeding 212°, and preserved in a bottle." Dub.
     Oxide of .silver is a new officinal of  the U.  S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias.
  In the processes for making  it, nitrate of  oxide of silver is decomposed by
  potassa or lime, the oxide being precipitated, and nitrate of potassa or nitrate
  of lime, as the case may be, remaining in solution.   When thus obtained the
  oxide is an olive-brown powder.  If the potassa used be not wholly free from
  carbonic acid, the precipitated oxide will be  contaminated with some carbonate
  of silver.   According to Mr. Borland, of London,- the carbonate is sometimes
  sold for the oxide.  A third process for obtaining this oxide  is that of Gregory,
  which consists in boiling the moist, recently prepared chloride of silver with a
  very strong solution of caustic potassa (sp. gr.  125 to D30).   In this case, by
  double decomposition,  oxide  of silver and chloride of potassium  are formed.
  When thus prepared it is a very dense pure-black powder.   Oxide of silver is
  very slightly  soluble in water.  Exposed to heat it gives out oxygen, and is
  wholly converted into metallic  silver.  It  should  not  effervesce  with acids.
  When its solution in nitric acid is precipitated  by chloride of sodium in excess,
  the supernatant liquid is not discoloured by bihydrosulphate of ammonia.  The
  non-action of this  test  shows the  absence of  most foreign metals, especially
  copper and lead.   Oxide of silver consists of one eq.  of silver 108, and one of
  oxygen 8 = 116.
    Medical  Properties.  This oxide has been proposed as a substitute for nitrate*
  of silver, as having the  general  therapeutic virtues of the latter, without, its
  escharotic effect, and objectionable power of discolouring the skin.   It was first
  tried as a medicine by Van Mons and Sementini.  In  1840 it was employed by
  Dr. Butler Lane, who considered it to act as a  sedative.  In 1845 the late Sir
  James Eyre strongly recommended it in his work, on exhausting diseases.   Dr.
  Lane used it with more  or less  success in nausea, cardialgia, pyrosis,  various
  painful  affections of the stomach without organic lesion, dysentery, diarrhoea,
  night sweats  without other obvious  affection, dysmenorrhcea, menorrhagia,
  leucorrhoea, chronic enlargements of  the  uterus, attended  with flooding, &c.
  The oxide  appeared to exert a peculiar control over  uterine fluxes.   Some of
 . the cases treated required the use of tonics,  after the curative influence of the
  oxide had been exerted.   The late Dr. Golding Bird also obtained favourable
  effects from the use of the oxide of silver, and confirmed to a certain extent the
  results of Dr. Lane, especially as to its valuable powers in menorrhagia. Thus
  far no case of cutaneous discoloration is known to have occurred, though Dr.
  Lane gave  the oxide repeatedly for two months,  and Dr. Bird-in more than a
  hundred cases;  in one for four months.  Dr. Lane  observed one case in which
  repeated salivation occurred,  and Dr. Bird several in  which the  gums were
  affected.  But, in order to  draw any inference from these results, the prescriber
  should be certain that the medicine is not contaminated with black oxide of
  mercury.   In  stomach disease, characterized by  a  glairy instead of a watery
  discharge, Dr. Bird derived not the slightest benefit from the oxide, though he
  used it in .thirty cases.   In epilepsy it is supposed by some  that the oxide will
  accomplish all that can be expected from the nitrate,  with less risk to the sto-
  mach, and without incurring the danger of discolouring the skin.  In tasnia it
  has been used successfully in two cases by  Mr. Whittel.   The dose of oxide of
  silver is a grain, twice or thrice a day, given in pill.   In no case did Dr. Lane
  carry the dose beyond six grains in the twenty-four hours.  Oxide of silver 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. urethral mem-
  brane in gonorrhoea, smeared on a bougie.       ,                     B. 
part 11.               Argentum.—Arsenicum.                    953
                            ARSENICUM.

                       Preparations of Arsenic.

    ACIDUM ARSENIOSUM PURUM. Dub.  Pure Arsenious Acid.
    " Take of Commercial White Oxide of Arsenic any convenient quantity.
 Place it in a Florence flask, the neck of which is made to pass into that of a
 second flask of larger size, and applying to the former a regulated heat, by sus-
 pending it beneath a  semi-cylindric  hood of sheet iron, a few inches above a
 small charcoal fire, cause the Arsenic to sublime into the latter.  This sublima-
 tion should be conducted under a flue with a good draught, so as to protect the
 operator from inhaling any vapours which may escape being condensed." Dub.
    The Dublin College, deeming the commercial white oxide of arsenic (Acidum
 Arseniosum, U. S., Lond.) not sufficiently pure for medicinal employment, has
 given the above formula for its  purification.   But, as the commercial oxid% itself
 has undergone a second sublimation, this process is superfluous.  The only pre-
 caution 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 are given under the head of  Acidum Arseniosum.
    Off. Prep.  Liquor Arsenicalis.                                    B.

    LIQUOR ARSENICI CHLORIDI.  Lond.   Solution of Chloride of
 Arsenic.  De Valangins Arsenical Solution.
    " Take of Arsenious Acid, broken into small pieces, half a drachm; Hydro-
 chloric Acid a fluidrachm and a half [Imp. meas.]*; Distilled Water a pint
 [Imp. meas.]  Boil the Arsenious Acid with the Hydrochloric Acid, mixed with
 a fluidounce  [Imp. meas.] of the Water, until it is dissolved; then  add sufficient
 Water to make the solution accurately fill the measure of a pint [Imp. meas]."
 Lond.
   This new officinal of the London Pharmacopoeia of 1851 is an imitation of
 De Valangin's arsenical solution, called by the inventor, who was a practitioner
 in London, solutio solventis mineralis.  It  was originally made by subliming
 three parts of  arsenious acid with eight of  common salt, and dissolving the
 product in a determinate quantity of diluted muriatic acid.  The sublimation
 directed by De Valangin with common salt, had no effect on the arsenious acid';
 and, accordingly, his preparation may be considered to have been a solution of
 arsenious acid in muriatic acid,  becoming terchloride of arsenic by the  mutual
 decomposition of the acids.
   In the London formula thirty grains of arsenious acid are dissolved in twenty
 Imperial fluidounces of the  menstruum, that being the measure to which  the
 preparation is ultimately brought.  Hence each fluidounce contains a quantity
 of terchloride, equivalent to a grain and a half of arsenious acid. -
   Terchloride of  arsenic is  a colourless anhydrous liquid of  the sp. gr. 2-18.
 It is strongly acid to litmus, completely soluble in  alcohol and ether, and pos-
 sesses the  power of dissolving  a considerable proportion of arsenious acid.
 (Dr. Penny.and Mr. W. Wallace, Philos. 3Iag., xii. 365.)
   Medical Properties.  This arsenical  solution has considerable reputation in
 London as an alterative.  It is chiefly employed in  the treatment of chorea and
 lepra vulgaris.  Dr. Farre, of London, states, as the result of his  observation,
 that it effectually cures the worst forms of  chorea.   (Pereira, Mat  Med., 3d
 ed., p. 670.)  The late Dr. Pereira, who used this solution on  numerous occa-
sions, found it efficacious in  the treatment of chorea and lepra, but was not
convinced of its superiority to Fowler's solution.   It is said to be less apt to 
954                          Arsenicum.                      part ii.

disturb the stomach ; but it must be recollected that De Yalangin's solution is
only three-eighths as strong as that of Fowler, and yet is not given in a larger
dose.  The  average  dose is five drops three times a day.   Dr. Farre  begins
with three drops three times a day, increasing one drop each day, until the dose
reaches ten drops three times daily. Whenever the stomach becomes disordered,
the medicine should be suspended ; and when renewed, it must be  given in the
original dose.
  Dr. Fuller, of London, praises this solution as a remedy in rheumatic gout,
if the urine be clear and of low sp. gr.  In such cases he gives the solution in
the large dose of from ten to twenty drops, either alone or combined with cin-
chona.  If mineral acids are indicated, muriatic acid is added.            B.
  ARSENICI IODIDUM.  U. S.  Iodide of Arsenic.
  "Take of Arsenica drachm;  Iodine five drachms.  Rub the  Arsenic In a
mortar until reduced to  a very fine powder, free from metallic lustre; then add
the IflTdine, and rub them together till they are thoroughly mixed.  Put the
mixture into a small flask or a test-tube, loosely stopped, and heat it very gently
until liquefaction occurs. Then incline the vessel in different directions, in order
that any portion of the Iodine, which  may have condensed  on its inner surface,
may be.returned into the fused mass.   Lastly, pour the melted Iodide on a por-
celain slab, and, when it is cold, break it into pieces, and put it into a bottle,
which is to be well stopped."  U S.
  This iodide was introduced into the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia for the purpose of
being used in preparing  the solution of iodide of arsenic and mercury, described
in the next article.  It is made by the  direct combination of its elementary con-
stituents by the aid of a gentle heat.
  Properties,  &c.   Iodide of arsenic is an orange-red, crystalline solid, entirely
soluble in water, and wholly volatilized by  heat.  In composition it is con-
sidered to be a teriodide, consisting of one eq. of arsenic 75, and three of iodine
378-9—453/9.  It has been used by Biett as an external application in corrod-
ing tubercular skin diseases.  By the  late Dr. A. T.  Thomson it was  given in-
ternally with advantage in lepra, impetigo, and diseases resembling cancer,
Dr. F. C.  Crane cured a case  of what he considered cancer of the breast by its
use for nearly eight  months.   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.         '■
   Off. Prep. Liquor Arsenici et  Hydrargyri Iodidi.                    B-  ..i

   LIQUOR  ARSENICI ET  HYDRARGYRI  IODIDI.  U.  S.  Ar-,
senici et Hydrargyri Hydriodatis  Liquor.  Dub.    Solution of
Iodide of Arsenic  and  Mercury.   Solution of  Hydriodate of  Arsenic
and Mercury.   Donovan's  Solution.
   " Take of Iodide of Arsenic, Red Iodide of Mercury, each, thirty-five grains;
Distilled Water half a  pint   Rub the Iodides with half a fluidounce of the
Water, and, when they have dissolved, add the remainder of the Water, heat to
the boiling point, and filter."  U.  S.
   "Take of Pure Arsenic, in fine powder, six  grains;  Pure Mercury  sixteen
grains ; Pure  Iodine^?/ grains and a half;  Alcohol [sp. gr. 0*795] half a
fluidrachm [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water nine ounces [avoirdupois], or a suf-
ficient quantity.   Rub  together the Arsenic, Mercury, Iodine, and Spirit, until
a dry mass is obtained,  and, having triturated »eight  ounces of the Water with
this in successive portions, let the whole be transferred to a flask, and heated
until it begins to boil.   When cooled and filtered, let as much Distilled AVater
be added to it as will make the bulk of the  solution exactly eight fluidounces
and six drachms [Imp.  meas.]."  Dub. 
PART II.
Arsenicum.
955
   This solution 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, and has been adopted as an officinal preparation in the
 U. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias of 1850.  The formula of the U. S. Pharma-
 copoeia is the simplified one of Prof. Procter, which consists essentially in dis-
 solving equal weights of  the teriodide of arsenic and biniodide (red iodide) of
 mercury in a measured quantity  of distilled  water.  The proportion of equal
 weights corresponds nearly to single equivalents of the component iodides.  The
 Dublin formula is more complicated.  In  it the proper quantities of arsenic,
 mercury,  and iodine  are  caused  to  unite  by first rubbing them together with
 alcohol, and then boiling the  product with distilled water, which is. afterwards
 added, so as to give the whole a  determinate bulk.  The iodides of arsenic and
 mercury,  formed by the trituration, are assumed by Mr. Donovan to become, by
 solution, hydriodates severally of arsenious  acid (white oxide of arsenic), and
 of deutoxide of mercury (red precipitate);  and the Dublin  College name is
 formed on the supposition of this change.
   Properties.  This solution has a  pale-yellow colour, and a slightly styptic
 taste.  It is incompatible with  laudanum, and the soluble  salts of  morphia.
 On  the supposition that it is an aqueous solution of  iodides, it will contain
 them in the proportion of one eq. of teriodide of arsenic 453"9 to one, of bini-
 odide of mercury 452-6, which are nearly equal weights.  On the*theory of their
 conversion into hydriodates by solution, five eqs. of water 45 would be requir-
 ed,  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
 216, 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-sixth
 times as much deutoxide  of mercury as of arsenious acid.
   Aledical Properties.   This preparation has been found decidedly useful as
 an alterative in various diseases of the skin, such as the  different forms of pso-
 riasis, 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, who have com-
 municated to him the results of their experience.  The  disease in some of the
 cases cured had existed for several 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 lupus, rupia,
 psoriasis, and secondary venereal.   In two cases of uterine disease, character-
 ized by patency of the os  uteri and vascular turgescence of the cervix, and at-
 tended with lumbar and pelvic pains, Dr. Kirby, of Dublin, afforded relief by the
 use of the solution.   The  dose is from five to twenty drops three times a day,
 given preferably in distilled water.  The latter dose contains the twenty-fourth
 of a grain of arsenious acid, a little over the  twelfth of a grain of deutoxide of
 mercury, and about a quarter of a grain of iodine.   Dr.  Taylor never exceeded
 five  drops, 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 admin-
 istered.  After an interval varying from ten days to three weeks, it may be re-
 sumed, but in a smaller dose.  The treatment must often be  persevered in for
 several months.   Sometimes the medicine produces moderate salivation.  The
solution,  diluted with  an equal bulk of water, has sometimes been used with
advantage as an application to the  ulcers or  eruptions,  at the same time that
it was given internally. (See three papers  by Mr. Donovan,  contained in the
Dublin Journal of Med. Science, for Nov. 1839, Sept. 1840, and Nov. 1842.)
                                                                     B. 
956
Arsenicum.
part n.
   LIQUOR  POTASSES  ARSENITIS.  U. S.', Lond. * Liquor  Ar-
senicalis.  Ed., Dub.  Solution of Arsenite of  Potassa.  Arsmieal
Solution.  Fowlers Solution.
   "Take of Arsenious Acid,tin small fragments, Pure  Carbonate  of Potassa,
each, sixty-four grains;  Distilled Water a  sufficient quantity; Compound
Spirit of Lavender half a fluidounce. Boil the Arsenious Acid and Carbonate
of Potassa, in a glass vessel, with twelve fluidounces of Distilled AVater, till the
Acid is entirely dissolved.   To the solution, when cold, add the Spirit of La-
vender, and afterwards sufficient Distilled Water to make it fill exactly the
measure of a pint."  U. S.
   "Take of Arsenious Acid, broken  into small pieces,  Carbonate  of Potassa
each eighty grains; Compound Tincture of Lavender, five fluidrachms [Imp.
meas.]; Distilled Water a pint  [Imp. meas.].  Boil the Arsenious Acid and
Carbonate of Potassa with half a pint of the Water, until they are dissolved.
Add the Tincture to the cooled  liquor,  and,  lastly, sufficient Distilled AVater,
that it may accurately fill a pint [Imp. meas.]." 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.
   "Take of Pure Arsenious Acid; Pure Carbonate of Potash, each, eighty-two
grains; Compound Tincture of Lavender, half a fluidounce [Imp. meas.];
Distilled Water as much as is sufficient.   Introduce the Arsenious Acid and
Carbonate of Potash into a flask containing half a pint of Water, and boil until
a perfect solution is obtained.  When this has cooled, add to  it the Compound
Tincture of Lavender, and as much Water as will make the bulk of the entire
one pint [Imp. meas.].  The specific gravity of this Solution is P013." Dub.
   This preparation originated with the late Dr.  Fowler, of Stafford, England,
and was intended as a substitute for  the celebrated 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 carbonate, the carbonic acid being evolved.  According to M. H. Buignet,
ebullition disengages the carbonic acid slowly; so that, after  four hours' boil-
ing, the solution still retains about one-sixth of this acid. (Journ. de Pharm.,
Dec. 1856, p. 440.)   The name by which the preparation is designated in the
U. S.  and London Pharmacopoeias, is the most correct.  The spirit of lavender
is  added to give it taste, and prevent its being mistaken for water.  The U. S.
preparation is of  about the same strength as those of the London and Edirv
burgh 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 Imperial pint is nearly one-fourth larger than the wine  pint.   The solu-
tion, according to the Dublin formula of 1850, is one-fortieth stronger, by rea-
son of the  injudicious direction to take - eighty-two  grains instead of eighty,
for solution in the Imperial pint of twenty fluidounces.  This formula is an amend-
ed one, and it is to be regretted that the Dublin College did not perceive the pro-
priety of making the strength of its arsenical  solution conform with that estab-
lished for this preparation, of four grains of arsenious  acid to the fluidounce.
   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  pieces  instead of
in powder.   Sulphate  of lime is  a common impurity in the powdered acid, and
if  present will remain undissolved, and cause the solution to  be weaker than it
should be.  Another insoluble impurity in the powdered acid is arsenite of lime,
which is sometimes present to the amount of twenty-five per cent.  (Buignet.)
Hence, if the arsenious acid does not entirely dissolve, the solution must  be re-
jected. 
PART II.
Arsenicum.
957
   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 in-
 compatible with infusions and  decoctions of cinchona.  Before  sulphuretted
 hydrogen  will act,  the solution  must be acidulated with some acid, as the mu-
 riatic or acetic.   If very long  kept in flint glass, it is apt to suffer partial de-
 composition, exhaling a  garlicky odour, and giving the inner surface  of  the
 bottle a metallic lustre, owing to the lead of the glass being revived. (Canayan,
 N Y. Journ, of Pharm., i. 131.)  According to Dr. R. Fresenius, solutions
 of alkaline arsenites, by keeping, absorb oxygen from the air, and are in part
 converted  into  arseniates.   Hence the propriety of keeping this solution in
 small bottles quite filled; so that the contents  of one' bottle only may be ex-
 posed to the air in dispensing.   According  to Mohr, the alkaline reaction .of
 the officinal  solution delays the change.
    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 has been much  employed in intermittent fever.   Prof.
 Thomas D.  Mitchell, of Jefferson Medical College, has given the result of his
 experience, as to its efficacy and  safety in this  disease, when exhibited in  the
 large dose of fifteen or  twenty  drops three times a day.  It is a  valuable re-
 source  in the intermittents of children, who are with  difficulty induced to swal-
 low bark or even sulphate of quinia.  The late Dr. Dewees related 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 is useful in,many diseases.   It  has been employed with
 great success in lepra and other inveterate cutaneous affections.   Theylate Dr.
 S.  Calhoun published an account of five cases of nodes, successfully treated by
 it; and Dr. Baer, of Baltimore, and the late Dr.  Eberle afterwards  gave it a
 trial  in this affection, and obtained satisfactory results.   Several cases of cho-
 rea, cured  by it, are reported by Mr. Martin, Mr. Slater, and Dr. Gregory, in
 the Aledico-Chirurgical  Transactions of London.   Two interesting cures of
 periodical  headache, performed  by the  solution,  were related by the late Dr.
 Otto, of Philadelphia, in the North American Med. and Surg. Journal (vols.
 iv. and v.).  Mr. H. Hunt found it useful in menorrhagia, but prefers arsenious
 acid,  as less apt to  produce unpleasant  effects.  (See page 24.)   Dr. Fuller, of
 London, praises its effects in rheumatic gout, attended with turbid urine, in
 the dose of from eight to fifteen minims, conjoined with solution of potassa,
 or acetate  of potassa.   For an account of the successful use of Fowler's solu-
 tion in five cases of snake bite,  see page 25.  A diluted solution, in the pro-
 portion of  a  fluidrachm to the fluidounce of  water, has been used with advan-
 tage as  a topical application 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 pecu-
 liar effects which it  produces in common with the other arsenical preparations,
 the reader is  referred to the article Arsenious Acid.
  Duflos's  antidote to the poisonous effects of Fowler's solution, and of the salts
 of the acids of arsenic generally, is the acetate of the sesquioxide  of iron with
excess of base, made by dissolving freshly precipitated sesquioxide in acetic acid
to saturation, adding an equal quantity of the oxide to  the solution, and dilut-
ing the whole with  water to  the consistence of cream. (See page 30.)     B. 
958                      Atropia.^-Barium,                   part ii.
                              ATROPIA.

                       Preparation of Atropia.

   ATROPINE SULPHAS. Lond.  Sulphate of fltropia.
   "Take of Diluted Sulphuric Acid two fluidrachms; Atropia seven scruples
and a half, or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water half a fluidounce.   To
the acid, previously mixed with the Water, add  gradually the Atropia to satu-
ration.  Filter the solution,  and evaporate with a  gentle heat so that crystals
may form." Lond.
   The London  College prepares this salt exclusively for external use.   Its
properties and uses are those of its alkaline base, and are described under Bel-
ladonna.*                                                           w.

                              BARIUM.

                       Preparations of Barium.

   BARII CHLORIDUM.  U.S.,Dub.  Baryta Murias. Ed. Chloride
of Barium. Muriate of Baryta.
   "Take of Carbonate of Baryta, in small fragments, a pound; Muriatic Acid
twelve fluidrachms; Water three pints.   Mix the Acid with the AVater, and
gradually add the  Carbonate  of Baryta.   Towards the  close of the  efferves-
cence  apply a gentle heat, and, when the  action has  ceased,  filter  the liquor,
and evaporate so that crystals  may form when it cools."  U. S.
   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
ounces; Pure Muriatic Acid a sufficiency.  Heat the Sulphate to redness, re-
duce it to fine powder, mix the Charcoal with it thoroughly,  heat the mixture
in a covered crucible for three  hours at a low white heat.  Pulverize the pro-
duct/put it gradually into five pints [Imp.  meas.]  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
                                                            *
  * From the great facility with which atropia undergoes change, much caution is ne-
cessary in  preparing its salts.  M. Ch.  Maitre  recommends the following process for
the sulphate.—Dissolve 10 grammes  (154-3 grs.) of atropia in sufficient pure ether of
66° Baume; mix one gramme (15-43 grs.) of pure sulphuric acid with 10 grammes of  '
alcohol of 40° B. ; and add this mixture drop by drop to the ethereal  solution of atropia.
The liquid becomes milky, and deposits on the sides of the vessel a copious precipitate
of a viscid appearance.  When the deposition ceases,  decant the  supernatant ether,
and put the vessel in a drying room.  The sulphate of  atropia soon dries, m the form
of a white powder, quite neutral, very soluble iri water, and capable of precipitating
chloride of barium freely.   To  succeed with this process, it is  necessary that the
liquids employed should be^ carefully freed from water,  the sulphuric acid being mono-
hydrated, and that the temperature should be kept  as low as  possible.  There should
be no  excess of acid ; and, if such an excess should be found upon applying the test of
litmus paper, the  solution should  be  neutralized by a portion of reserved solution of  j
atropia.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxviii. 361, 'from Repert.  de Pharm.)—Note to the ele-
venth edition.                                                 * 
PART II.
Barium.
959
 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 also obtains chloride of barium severally from the na-
 tive carbonate and native sulphate, and by processes which are in principle the
 same as those above quoted.
   When carbonate of baryta is employed for obtaining chloride of barium, the
 reactions are very simple. The muriatic acid  displaces the carbonic acid with
 effervescence;  and, by reacting with  the baryta, forms chloride of barium and
 water.   The solution  of chloride of barium thus obtained, yields  crystals of
 the  chloride by concentration* and cooling.   The reactions in the  process in
 which the sulphate is used are  more complicated.  The ignition with  carbonace-
 ous  matter deoxidizes its constituents,  converting it into sulphuret of barium,
 the oxygen escaping in combination with the carbon as carbonic oxide and acid;
 The sulphuret of barium, after having been dissolved in water, is decomposed on
 the addition of muriatic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen being evolved, 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 get  rid of the deleterious gas.
   Of the officinal processes, that in which the native carbonate is used is the
 simplest and most convenient; but the carbonate is comparatively a rare mine-
 ral; and, as the  sulphate in fine powder is  a cheap article of commerce, being
 extensively employed for mixing with  white lead, it is almost always used for
 obtaining chloride of barium and the other barium compounds.
   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.  Alco-
 hol, impregnated with it, burn's 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 phos-
 phates,  borates, and carbonates;  also  by nitrate of silver, acetate and  phos-
 phate 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 sulphuretted hydrogen, which shows that neither cop-
 per 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.  Lime  may be separated by the
 process  of Dr. Wolcott Gibbs, which consists in adding to the solution of the
'chloride a small portion of the solution of hydrate of baryta, and then passing
 through it a current of carbonic acid,  when the whole of the lime will be thrown
 down as a carbonate.  (Wurtz, N. Y. Journ. of Pharm., i. 164.)  If strontia
 be present, an alcoholic solution of the salt will burn with a red flame.  Like
 all.the soluble salts of  barium it is poisonous.   It consists of one eq. of chlo-
 rine 35-5, one of barium 68-7, and  two of water 18 = 122-2.   It  is used in
 medicine only in  solution.
   Off. Prep. Liquor Barii Chloridi; Quinas Murias.                   B.

   LIQUOR BARII CHLORIDI.  U.S.   Solutio Baryta Muriatis.
 Ed. Barii Chloridi Liquor. Dub.  Solution of Chloride of Barium.
 Solution of Muriate  of Baryta.
   " Take of Chloride of Barium an ounce;  Distilled Water three fluidounces.
Dissolve the Chloride of Barium in the Water, and filter."   U S. 
960
Barium.
part ii.
   " Take of Muriate of Baryta one drachm ; Distilled Water one fluidounce
[Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the Salt in the Water." Ed.
   The Dublin College dissolves the chloride in eight  times its weight of dis-
tilled water, forming a  solution having  the  sp. gr.  1-088, which is  a little
weaker than that of the Edinburgh College.
   Chloride of barium, not being used  in  the solid state, is  here dissolved for
convenience in prescribing.  The U. S. solution is nearly a saturated one, and
is probably too strong for ponvenient use.  The Edinburgh and  Dublin pre-
parations are much weaker.   The solution should be limpid and colourless;
and, to make it so, the salt in.crystals, and not in powder, should be employed.
   Medical 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 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 commence-
ment of scrofulous phthisis, he views it as one of the best remedies  to which we
can have recourse.  It is also  employed 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 pro-
duces nausea, or some other sensible impression.   When taken in am 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 weal-
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 in-
duced by tickling the fauces, or by the administration of an  emetic. A case of
poisoning by three drachms of the  solid salt, taken by mistake for sulphate of
magnesia, was successfully treated with dilute sulphuric acid and castor oil, by
Dr. C. Wolf, a German  physician.  The chief symptoms  were tormina and
vomiting, weak and irregular pulse, cold extremities, weak voice, want of mus-
cular power in the hands and feet, and paralysis of the left eyelid.       B.


                           BISMUTHUM.

                      Preparation of Bismuth.

   BISMUTHI  SUBNITRAS. U.S., Dub.  Bismuthi Nitras.  Lond.
Bismuthum Album. Ed. Subnitrate of Bismuth. Nitrate of Bismuth.
 White Bismuth.  Trisnitrate of Bismuth.  White Oxide of Bismuth.
   "Take of Bismuth, in  fragments, an ounce; Nitric Acid [sp. gr. l-42] two
fluidounces; 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
Water, and set the mixture by, that the powder may subside.   Lastly, having
poured off the supernatant liquid, wash the Subnitrate of Bismuth with Distilled
Water, wrap it in' bibulous paper, and dry it with a gentle heat."  U. S.
   " Take of Bismuth an ounce; Nitric Acid [sp. gr. D42] a fluidounce and a
half [Imp. meas. ]; Distilled Water three pints [Imp. meas.].  Mix  a fluidounce
of the Water with the Acid, and, having added the Bismuth, apply heat until
it is dissolved.  Add the solution to the rest of the Water, and  strain the mix-
ture through a cloth, in order to separate the powder.  Wash this with distilled
water, and dry it  with a gentle heat." Lond. 
PART II.
Bismuthum.
961
    "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 crystals 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 small fragments, two ounces [avoirdupois]; Pure Nitric
  Acid three fluidounces [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water one gallon [Imp. meas.].
  Into the Acid, first diluted with three ounces of the WTater, introduce the Bismuth
  in successive portions ;  and having,  when  the spontaneous action has ceased,
  applied for ten minutes a heat approaching that of ebullition, decant the solution
  off any particles of metal which may remain undissolved.  Evaporate the solu-
  tion at a gentle heat until it is reduced to two fluidounces, and then pour it into
  half a gallon of the Water.  When the precipitate which forms has subsided,
  decant the supernatant liquid, and agitate  the sediment with the remainder  of
  the Water.  After twelve hours again decant, and, haying placed the precipitate
  on a, filter, dry it at  a temperature of 212°, and reduce it to powder."  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 ternitrate of teroxide
  of bismuth. It is unnecessary to have the metal in powder;  as it dissolves with
  great facility when added to the acid in fragments.  Wmen the solution  is com-
  pleted, the liquor should be added to the water, and not the water to the solu-
  tion.  Immediately on the contact of the solution with the water, four eqs. of the
  ternitrate are resolved into three eqs. of neutral nitrate of bismuth (subnitrate)
  which precipitates,   and one eq. of the  9-nitrate which  remains in solution
  4(Bi03,3N03)=3(Bi03,NOs) and Bi03,9N05.  In order to have a smooth light
  powder, which is most esteemed, the precipitate should be well washed to  remove
 every trace of free nitric acid, 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 dissolve
 it sparingly, and ammonia more readily.  It is darkened by hydrosulphuric 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 effer-
 vescence, it contains no carbonate, and, if the nitric solution is  not precipitated
 by dilute sulphuric acid, it  is free from lead.   It  sometimes contains arsenic
 which may be detected by acting  on  it with pure sulphuric acid, evaporating
 to dryness, dissolving in hot distilled water, and testing a part of the solution
 by Marsh's  apparatus.  By this method M. Lassaigne  detected one-sixth of
 one per cent, of arsenic in a sample of subnitrate sold in Paris.  The same chem-
 ist has found as much as twenty-seven per cent, of chloride of bismuth in this
 preparation, when obtained  by precipitating, with water, a solution of bismuth
 in a mixture of  nitric and muriatic acids.   The same impurity is introduced
 to a  small extent, by using common water,  containing chlorides ; and subsul-
 phate of bismuth renders the preparation  impure, when the water used contains
 sulphate of lime.  (Journ. de Chim.  Med,,  Mai,  1855, p. 21Q.)   These facts
 show the necessity of using  distilled water.  Subnitrate of bismuth was called
 by the earlier chemists, magistery of bismuth.  It consists of one eq. of nitric
 acid  54, one of teroxide of bismuth 237, and one of water 9=300.
  3Iedical Properties.  Subnitrate  of bismuth is antispasmodic, absorbent
and slightly sedative and astringent.  WTien its use is too long  continued it,
produces scorbutic  symptoms, a proof that it is absorbed.  It was first used'as
       61 
962
Bismuthum.—Calx.
PART II.
a medicine by Dr.  Odier, of Geneva.   It is principally employed  in  painful
affections of the stomach, such as cardialgia, pyrosis, and gastrodynia; in spas-
modic diseases; and in dysentery and diarrhoea.  Rayer employed it with ad-
vantage in  the diarrhoea of  phthisis and typhus,  and Aran recommended it in
the obstinate form of the complaint which sometimes follows typhoid fever.  M.
Monneret particularly insists upon the remarkable efficacy of the medicine, given
in very large doses, in chronic gastro-intestinal affections, attended with diar-
rhoea ; a plan of treatment which  has been  followed by several practitioners
with advantage.  M. Trousseau has successfully employed subnitrate of bismuth
in the diarrhoea of children, in  the form of enema, in the dose of two scruples,
mixed with thick flaxseed tea.  M. Monneret uses it thus in much larger doses.
He thinks  that in diarrhoea its action is entirely local; but this view is com-
bated by Dr. Lussanna, who believes that a part of the medicine enters  the
circulation, though it never  passes into the urine.  Its use always blackens the
stools.   The dose of subnitrate of bismuth, usually prescribed, is five grains,
gradually increased to fifteen, twice or thrice a day, given in pill, or mixed with
sweetened water.  Upon the plan of large doses recommended by M. Monneret,
from half an ounce to an ounce isgiven daily, in divided doses, in the diarrhoea
of adults; from half a drachm to a drachm in that of infants; and from a drachm
to two drachms in painful affections of the stomach.   In these large doses the
medicine is said to be perfectly safe;  and yet Orfila mentions, as resulting from
an over-dose, gastric distress, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation, colic,
heat in the breast, slight rigors, vertigo, and drowsiness.   These effects are to
lie combated by mucilaginous drinks, enemata, and emollient fomentations, and,
in case of inflammation, by bleeding, both general and local.  The contradictory
statements as to  the safety of  the preparation can be explained only on  the
supposition, that it is sometimes rendered poisonous by the presence of arsenic,
chloride  of bismuth, or free  nitric acid; and, this explanation being accepted, a
strong motive is furnished to the apothecary to prepare the medicine with the
greatest care.
   M. Monneret  recommends the external use of  subnitrate of bismuth as a
drying application.   In the treatment  of ulcers,  especially  scrofulous ones,
provided no risk would  be incurred by stopping the discharge, he sprinkles the
powder over the whole ulcerated surface.   M. E. Caby has used it as a topical
application in leucorrhoea, gonorrhoea, and gleet.   When used in leucorrhoea,
the entire surface of the vagina is dusted with the  powder.  The injection for
gonorrhoea or gleet is made by mixing with water as much of the subnitrate as
can be conveniently suspended.  A portion of the mixture is injected thrice daily,
and, each time, retained five  minutes.  The external use of subnitrate of bismuth
is attended with no pain. (Banking's Abstract, xx.  188.)             B.

                                 CALX.

                        Preparations of Lime.

   LIQUOR CALCIS. U.S., Lond., Dub.   Aqua  Calcis. Ed.   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 themtogether; 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 wanted for use.  Water free
from saline or other obvious impurity, though not distilled, may be employed
in this process." U. S. 
PART II.
Calx.
963
    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 liquid when it  is wanted, replacing it with more water,
 and agitating briskly as before." Ed.
    " Take of Fresh-burned Lime  two  ounces [avoirdupois] ; Distilled Water
 half a gallon [Imperial measure].  Having slaked the  Lime with a [fluid]
 ounce and a half of the Water, introduce it into a well-stopped bottle contain-
 ing the remainder of the Water, and shake well for the space of five minutes.
 After twelve hours the excess of Lime will have subsided, and the clear Lime-
 water may be drawn  off with a syphon as  it may be required.   When the
 entire of the solution has been withdrawn, it may be renewed by shaking the
 sediment at the bottom of the bottle with another half gallon of Water;  and,
 if the Lime be pure, and the bottle  be  accurately stopped, this process may be
 successfully repeated three Or four times." Dub.
    A solution of lime in water is the result of these processes.  By the slaking
 of the lime it is reduced to powder, and rendered more easily diffusible through
 the water.   According to all the Pharmacopoeias, the solution is to be kept in
 bottles with a portion of undissolved lime, which  causes it always to be satu-
 rated,, 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 absorption of carbonic acid, the lime
 is gradually converted into  the carbonate, and thus rendered insoluble.   The
 employment of distilled water  as the solvent  may seem a  useless  refinement •
 and H 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 frequent uses 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. Pharm.) at 212°  dissolves 5-6 grains of lime, at 60°, 9-7
 grains,and at  32°, 1U0 grains.  When a cold saturated solution is heated, a
 deposition of lime takes place.
   Properties.  Lime water is colourless, inodorous, and of a disagreeable alka-
 line 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 re-
 placed 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.
  Medical 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 almost 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 
964
Calx.
PART II.
be useful by dissolving the intestinal mucus in cases of worms, and in other com-
plaints connected with an excess of thi§ secretion.  Externally it is employed
as a wash in tinea capitis and scabies, as an application to foul and "-an "Tenons
ulcers, as an injection in leucorrhoea 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 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.   Lime-water
is used by"the Dublin  College in the preparation  of Oxide of Silver.*
   Off. Prep.  Linimentum Calcis.                                    A\r

   CALCIS  CARBONAS  PRAECIPITATUS.  U.S.  Calcis Carbo-
nas Pr^ecipitatum. Dub.   Precipitated  Carbonate of Lime.
   "Take of Solution of  Chloride of Calcium five  pints and a half; Carbonate
of Soda six pounds; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity.  'Dissolve the Car-
bonate of Soda in six pints of Distilled Water.  Heat this solution and the Solu-
tion of Chloride of Calcium, separately, to the boiling point, and mix them.
After the precipitate has subsided, pour off the supernatant liquid, wash the pre-
cipitate repeatedly  with  Distilled Water, and dry it on bibulous paper."  U. S.
   "Take of Chloride of Calcium five ounces [avoirdupois]; Crystals of Com-
mercial Carbonate of Soda thirteen ounces [avoirdupois]; Boiling Water two
quarts [half a gallon, Imperial measure].  Dissolve each salt in a quart of the
Water,  mix the two solutions, and, when the precipitate has subsided, draw off
the supernatant liquor.   Transfer the sediment to a  calico filter, and wash it
with boiling hot  distilled water, until the washings cease to give a precipitate
with nitrate of silver.  Finally, dry the product  at a temperature not exceed-
ing 212°." Dub.
   These processes do not essentially differ.   In each 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.  Any peculiar
advantage of the preparation must depend on the minute division of  its parti-
cles.   According to Dr. Bridges, this effect is best obtained by employing the
solutions at the  boiling  temperature, a precaution which is observed in both
the  present officinal processes. (Am.  Journ. of Pharm.,  xvi. 163.)  When
properly made, it is a very pure carbonate of lime, in the form of a very fine
white powder, free from grittiness, insoluble in water,  but wholly soluble in
dilute muriatic acid with copious effervescence.   These properties serve to dis-
tinguish it from  sulphate of lime, with which it is sometimes adulterated, and
which has even  been sold for  it.   For  ordinary  use,  it  probably has no such
superiority over prepared chalk as to counterbalance its greater expensiveness.
It is preferred by some to chalk in the preparation of tooth-powders.  It is fre-
quently sold in the shops under the name of creta prsecipitata.         W.

  *  Syrup of Lime.—Saccharate of Lime.   Under the latter name a preparation has
been introduced into notice, made by saturating pure syrup with lime, and filtering.
The sugar forms a soluble compound with the lime, large quantities of which are dis-
solved by the syrup.  The syrup remains perfectly transparent, and  is in  no degree
disturbed by dilution with water. It has a decidedly alkaline and even caustic taste,
and should always be largely diluted when administered.  It was first prepared by
M. Beral; and its practical use was originally suggested  by Dr. Capitaine, of Paris.
Trousseau has employed it in the chronic diarrhoea of infants, and recommends it as
an addition, in very small proportion, to the milk employed as a diet for children lia-
ble to this complaint.   For this purpose he adds about eight grains  of the syrup to
the quart of milk.   He gives  the saturated syrup of lime to a child in the quantity of
fifteen or thirty grains in the course of the day ;  to an adnlt, in five times the quan-
tity.  (Trait, de Thtrap., 4e ed., i. 317, and 321.)— Note to the tenth edition. 
PART II.
Calx.
965
   CRETA PRiEPARATA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Prepared Chalk.
   " Take of Chalk a convenient quantity.  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 places this preparation in the Materia Medica catalogue.
 The process of  the Edinburgh College  is  essentially  the same as  that of the
 United States Pharmacopoeia.  The College directs the chalk to be powdered
 in a mortar, and orders it, after having been prepared, to be dried on a filter
 of linen or calico.
   " Take of Chalk one pound; Water a sufficient quantity. Reduce the Chalk
 to a fine  powder, and, having triturated this  in a large  mortar with as much
 water as  will give it the consistence of cream, fill the mortar'with water, and
 stir well,  giving the whole a circular motion.  Allow the mixture to stand for
 fifteen seconds, and then decant the milky liquid into a large vessel.   Triturate
 what remains in the mortar, adding as much water  as was previously  used,
 and, after allowing it to settle for fifteen  seconds, again decant, and let this
 process be repeated several times.   Let the fine  sediment which  subsides from
 the decanted liquids be transferred to a calico filter, and dried  at a temperature
 not exceeding 212°."  Dub.
   The object of these processes is to reduce chalk to a very fine powder.   The
 mineral, previously pulverized, is rubbed with a little water upon a porphyry slab,
 by means of a muller 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
 elutriation.  The soft mass which remains after the decanting of the clear liquor,
 is made tofall upon an absorbent surface in small  portions, which  when dried
 have a conical shape.  Practically, prepared chalk is generally made on the large
 scale from whitinghy the manufacturer.  For the particulars of the  process the
 reader is referred to the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, (viii. 416).
   Medical 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 sometimes used in
 acidity of stomach attending dyspepsia and gout, when a laxative 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 sometimes do good by forming solu-
 ble salts with acid in the primas vias, 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 pre-
 vents it from irritating the diseased surface, or the sound  skin.   It is given
 internally in the form of powder, 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.
  Pharm. Uses.  Prepared chalk  is used by one or another of  the  Pharma-
copoeias in the  preparation of Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Chloride of Zinc,
 Solution of Chloride of Zinc, and Sulphate of Zinc.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Aromatica; Hydrargyrum cum Creta; Mistura Cretas;
Pulvis Cretas Compositus; Trochisci Cretas; Unguentum Plumbi Compositum.
                                                                   W. 
966                              Calx.
PART II.
   TESTA  PRiEPARATA.  U. S.   Prepared Oyster-shell.
   "Take of  Oyster-shell a convenient quantity.  Free it from extraneous mat-
ter, wash it with boiling water, and reduce it to powder; then prepare it in the
manner directed for Chalk." U. S.
   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.                                             \y

   LIQUOR CALCII  CHLORIDI.   U  S.  Dub.   Calcis Muriatis
Solutio. Ed.  Solution of Chloride  of Calcium.  Solution of Muriate
of  Lime.
   "Take of Marble, in fragments, nine ounces; Muriatic Acid a pint; Distilled
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  residue  in its weight and  a half  of
Distilled W7ater, and filter."  U. S.
   The Edinburgh  College dissolves eight ounces of muriate of lime (chloride
of calcium) in twelve fluidounces (Imp. meas.) of water.  The Dublin College
dissolves three ounces (avoirdupois) of the salt in twelve fluidounces of distil-
led water, filters, and states the sp. gr. of the solution at 1-225.
  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.  That of the Dublin College is
only half as  strong, containing 1 part of the  chloride in 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.
  3Iedical 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  in
favour with some physicians, but  is less employed than formerly.   It has been
especially recommended in tabes mesenterica.  Cazenave has employed it advan-
tageously in chronic eczema and impetigo, connected with a lymphatic temper-
ament.   When too largely taken it sometimes occasions 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 Prascipitatus.                           W. 
PART II.
Calx.
967
   CALCIS  CHLORINATE  LIQUOR.  Dub.   Solution of Chlori-
 nated Lime.
   " Take of Chlorinated Lime half a pound [avoirdupois]; Water half a gallon,
 [Imperial measure].  Blend well the Water and Chlorinated Lime by tritura-
 tion in a large mortar, and, having  transferred the mixture to a stoppered bot-
 tle, let it be well shaken several times for the space of three hours.  Pour out
 now the contents of the  bottle on  a  calico filter, and let the solution which
 passes through be preserved in a well-stopped bottle.   The sp. gr. of this liquid
 is 1-035."  Dub.
   For the properties and uses of this preparation see Calx Chlorinata, page 161.
 Its strength  must vary, according to the quality of the chlorinated lime  em-
 ployed.  It is one of the best antidotes for hydrosulphuric acid, hydrosulphate
 of ammonia, sulphuret of potassium,  and hydrocyanic  acid.   The dose for in-
 ternal use is from twenty minims to a fluidrachm.  For external application
 the solution may be diluted with twice its bulk of water, or may be used of the
 full strength in some cutaneous affections.
   The Dublin College uses it in the preparation of Acetate of Zinc and Solution
 of Chloride of Zinc.                                                W.

   CALCIS  PHOSPHAS  PRiECIPITATUM.  Dub.   Precipitated
 Phosphate of Lime.
   "Take of Ox-bones, burned to whiteness in a clear fire, four ounces [avoirdu-
 pois] ;  Pure Muriatic Acid six fluidounces; Distilled Water one quart [two
 pints, Imperial measure]; Solution of Ammonia eleven fluidounces, or as much
 as may be sufficient.  Reduce the  Calcined Bones to a fine powder,  and digest
 upon  this the Acid,  diluted  with a pint  of the Water, until  it  is  dissolved.
 To the solution, first cleared  (if necessary) by filtration, add the remainder of
 the Water, and then the Solution of Ammonia,  until the mixture acquires an
 alkaline reaction, and, having collected the precipitate upon a  calico filter, let
 it be washed with  boiling distilled  water as long as the liquid which passes
 through gives rise to  a precipitate,  when permitted to drop into a solution of
 nitrate of silver acidulated with nitric acid.   The washed product should now
 be dried by exposing it for some days on porous bricks to a warm atmosphere."
 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 in-
 tended to free it from adhering muriate of ammonia.  The salt thus obtained is,
 for the sake of distinction, called bone-phosphate of lime. It is a white powder,
 without taste or smell, insoluble in water, but very soluble in nitric, muriatic,
 and acetic acids, from which it is precipitated unchanged by ammonia.  By an
 intense heat it is fused, but is not otherwise changed.  It consists, according to
 Mitscheriich, of one equivalent of phosphoric acid and three of lime.
 ^  The chemical characteristics of bone-phosphate of lime, besides those men-
 tioned, are that with its solution in  dilute nitric acid, oxalate of ammonia pro-
 duces 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.)
   3Iedical Uses.   In  the form of burnt hartshorn, phosphate of lime formerly
enjoyed a brief popularity in  the  treatment of rickets and mollifies  ossium, in
which its use seemed to be indicated upon  obvious chemical grounds.  It has
recently been again brought into notice, in  consequence of the suggestion by
Benecke (London Lancet,  July, 1851),  that, as  it is  essential in animals as 
 968                     Calx.—Carlo Animalis.                part ii.

 well  as  plants to the formation of cells, it might be found useful  in certain
 pathological states of the system characterized by defective  nutrition, such as
 the scrofulous affections.  Upon considerations of this kind, the  late Dr. W
 Stone, of New Orleans, was induced to employ it in cases of scrofulous  ulcer-
 ation, phthisis, &c, and with considerable supposed advantage. (Sec St, Louis
 3fed. and Surg. Journ., x. 38.)  Subsequently, it has been used by other prac-
 titioners, and, in connexion with other phosphates, as those  of iron, soda and
 potassa, has acquired no  little reputation in different forms of  scrofula and
 phthisis.  When, however, it is considered that, in ordinary food,  there is more
 of the phosphates than  the  system  has need of, so  that  they are constantly
 escaping with the stools; and that in  those very disorders  in which they are
 supposed to be indicated they are not unfrequently in excess in the blood and
 urine, in  consequence probably of the rapid disintegration of the tissues, it
 would seem doubtful whether the want, in scrofulous cases, is so much that of
 materials for  cells as of due power to  appropriate  those materials.  In the
 reported cases, the phosphate of  lime has generally been administered in con-
 nexion with cod-liver oil or other tonics; to which, there is  reason to believe
 any benefit experienced is more truly ascribable than to the phosphate.  In two
 of Dr. Stone's cases the good effects began to be experienced at the period when
 they might have been expected from the oil alone. Phosphate of lime is thought
 to have proved useful by hastening the union of fractured bones; and M. A\-
 phonse Milne-Edwards is said to have shown, by experiments upon dogs and
 rabbits, that, in these animals, the callus in fractured bones forms more quickly
 under its use than without it,  (Med. Times and Gaz., May, 1856, p. 489.)
 Its use in curvature  of the spine and rickety affections in general has also been
 revived by M. Piorry and others.   Though insoluble in water, it is  probably
 in general dissolved by the gastric liquids, in consequence of the  acid present
 in them; and, if  desirable, it may readily be administered in solution by the
 addition of one of the acids mentioned in the  above account of  its chemical
 properties.   The dose is from ten to thirty grains.*                   W.

                        CARBO  ANIMALIS.

                  Preparation  of  Animal  Charcoal.

   CARBO ANIMALIS PURIFICATUS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Purified
 Animal Charcoal.
   "Take of Animal Charcoal a pound; Muriatic Acid, Water, each twelve
fluidounces.  Pour the Muriatic Acid, previously mixed with the Water, gradu-
 ally upon the Charcoal, and  digest with a gentle heat for two days, occasionally
 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 dry it."  U. S.
   The Edinburgh formula is essentially the  same  as that of the U. S. Phar-
 macopoeia.
   "Take of Ivory Black five pounds [avoirdupois]; Muriatic Acid of Com-
 merce three pints [Imp. meas.];  Water three gallons and three  pints [Imp.
 meas.];  Distilled Water as much as is necessary.   To the  Acid, diluted with

   * Syrup of Phosphate of Lime. Mr. T. S. Wiegand has proposed a syrup of phosphate
of lime, to be made in the  following manner.  Take of the precipitated phosphate £j,
muriatic acid f^ss, water f.^vij, sugar, q. s.  Mix  the phosphate with a fluidounce of
the water ; add the  acid ; filter the resulting solution ; then add the remainder of the
water, and enough  sugar to make twelve fluidounces of syrup ;  and finally, strain.
(Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxvi. 297.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART II.
Carbo Animalis.
969
 three pints of Water, gradually add the Ivory Black, and digest, with repeated
 stirring, at a gentle heat, for twenty-four hours.  Pour on now a gallon of Water,
 and when, after the mixture has been well agitated, the insoluble matters have
 subsided, remove the clear solution by decantation, or the syphon.   Let this be
 done a second and a third time.  Place now the black sediment on a calico filter,
 and wash it with Distilled Water, until the washings cease to give a precipitate
 with nitrate of silver.  Finally, let the product be dried in a stove, or oven, a
 gentle heat being at first applied, which must be finally raised to between 300°
 and 400°."  Dub.
   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 may be
 dissolved or decomposed, and thus become a  source of impurity.   It is on this
 account that animal charcoal requires to be purified from its calcareous salts ;
 and this is accomplished by dilute muriatic acid, which dissolves the phosphate
 and decomposes the carbonate.  According to Dr. Stenhouse, aluminized vege-
 table charcoal  may be  substituted for purified animal charcoal, and is equally
 efficacious as a decolorizer. (Seepage 187.)
   Purified animal charcoal is a dark brownish-black powder.  If it contain car-
 bonate of lime, muriatic acid will cause effervescence, and the solution obtained
 will give a precipitate with  carbonate of ammonia; and if  phosphate of lime
 be present, the acid will dissolve this salt, and yield it as a precipitate on the
 addition of ammonia.  The Edinburgh College directs purified 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. Robert Warington  that bitter vegetable  sub-
 stances, including the organic alkalies, are removed  from solution by passing
 through purified animal charcoal, especially when the action is assisted by heat.
 M. Weppen finds that a similar  effect is produced by it in removing resins from
 tinctures, tannic acid and bitter principles from astringent and bitter infusions,
 and certain metallic salts from their solutions.   Purified animal charcoal, thus
 employed,  has been resorted to by M. Lebourdais as an agent for obtaining 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, after having
 been washed and dried, is treated with  boiling alcohol, which dissolves the
 principles taken up.   Finally, the alcohol is distilled off, and the principles are
 obtained in a separate state.  In  this way digitalin, ilicin, scillitin, colombin,
 colocynthin, arnicina, strychnia, quinia, and other principles have been  obtained
 by M. Lebourdais. (Chem. Gaz., Nov. 15,  1848.)  In relation to the method of
 M. Lebourdais, see a paper by Mr. J. S. Cobb, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm.
 for July 1851, from  the Pharm. Journ. and Trans.   Dr.  A. B.  Garrod has
 proposed purified animal charcoal as an antidote to vegetable and  animal poi-
 sons, with which it appears to combine. According to his experiments,  common
 bone-black has not one-fifth of the power, possessed by the purified substance;
 and vegetable charcoal and lampblack are nearly or quite useless.  The amount
 of the antidote proposed  by Dr. Garrod is half  an ounce for each grain of a
 vegetable organic alkali.  Dr. Alfred Taylor  deems the results of  Dr. Garrod
 inconclusive. Prof. B. H. Rand, of this city, has made some interesting observa-
 tions in relation to the  antidotal powers of purified animal  charcoal, and has
proved that poisonous doses of the strongest vegetable poisons may be swallowed
with impunity, if mixed with that substance.  (Med, Exam., Sept. 1848.)
  Pharm.  Uses.  It is employed as a decolorizing agent in preparing Aconitia,
Morphia,  Morphias  Hydrochloras,  Quinas Sulphas, Strychnia, and Yeratria. 
 970                Carbo Animalis.—Cataplasmata.           part ii.

 When used for this purpose, its power of absorbing the vegetable organic base?
 Bhould not be overlooked; as it may be a source of considerable loss.   R


                        CATAPLASMATA.

                             Cataplasms.

   Cataplasms or poultices are moist substances intended for external applica-
 tion, 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 neigh-
 bouring parts, or so tenacious as  to adhere firmly to the skin.  As they are in
 this country seldom made by the apothecary, they were not deemed by the com-
 pilers of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia proper objects for officinal direction.   W.

   CATAPLASMA  CARBONIS. Lond.   Charcoal Cataplasm.
   " Take of boiling Water ten fluidounces;  Bread two ounces; powdered Flax-
 seed ten drachms; powdered Charcoal three drachms.  Macerate the Bread with
 the Water for a little while near the fire; then mix, and gradually add the Flax-
 seed, stirring so as to make a soft Cataplasm.  With this mix two drachms of
 the Charcoal, and sprinkle the rest upon the surface." Lond.
   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.                                                  \y.

   CATAPLASMA  CONII. Lond.  Hemlock Cataplasm.
•  "Take of boiling Water ten fluidounces; powdered Flaxseed/ow ounces and
 a half or a sufficient quantity; Extract of  Hemlock an ounce.  To the Water
 gradually add the Flaxseed, constantly stirring,  so as to make  a  Cataplasm.
 Upon this spread the Extract previously softened with water." Lond,
   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  FERMENTI. Lond.   Yeast Cataplasm.
   "Take of  Yeast, Water heated  to 100°, each, five fluidounces; Wheat
 Flour a pound..  Mix the* Yeast with the Water, and  add the Flour, stirring
 so as to make a Cataplasm.   Place  this near the fire  until it begins to swell
 up." Lond:
  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 stimu-
lant, and is sometimes applied with  benefit  to foul and gangrenous ulcers,  the
fetor of which it corrects, while it is supposed to hasten the separation  of the
slough.  The carbonic  acid may also act as an anassthetic agent.       W.
   CATAPLASMA  LINI.  Lond.   Flaxseed Cataplasm.
   "Take of boiling Water ten fluidounces; Flaxseed, powdered, four ounces
and a half  or a sufficient quantity.  Add gradually the Flaxseed to the Water,
constantly stirring, so as to make  a  Cataplasm." Lond.
  The flaxseed meal which remains after the expression of the oil is sometime?
employed ;  but that which has not been submitted to pressure  is decidedly
preferable, and answers an excellent purpose when mixed with  boiling  water,
without other addition, as in the London cataplasm.   Fresh lard  or olive oil, 
PART II.
Cataplasmata.—Cerata.
971
 spread upon the surface of the poultice, serves to prevent its adhesion to the
 skin, and to preserve its softness.
    The use of this and  other emollient cataplasms  is to  relieve  inflammation,
 or to promote suppuration.  They act mainly by the sedative influence of their
 moisture, and by excluding the air.   The one most extensively employed, per-
 haps 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.  Mustard Cataplasm.
    "Take of boiling Water ten fluidounces; Flaxseed, Mustard [seed], each in
 powder,  two ounces and a half or a sufficient quantity.  Add  the  powders,
 previously mixed together, gradually to the Water, stirring so as to make  a
 cataplasm." Lond.
    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.  Yinegar never increases
 its  efficiency, and, in the case of the black mustard seed, has been ascertained
 by AIM.  Trousseau and Blanc to diminish its  rubefacient power.  A boiling
 temperature is also injurious by interfering with the development of the volatile
 oil or acrid principle.  (See Sinapis.)
   These  poultices are frequently called sinapisms.  They are powerfully rube-
 facient, exciting a sense of warmth in a few minutes, and usually becoming in-
 supportably painful in less than an  hour.   WThen  removed, they  leave the
 surface intensely red and burning; and the inflammation  frequently terminates
 in desquamation,  or even blistering, if the  application be too long continued.
 Obstinate ulcers and gangrene also sometimes result 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 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  take place upon the occurrence of  reaction.  In
 children 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.

   CATAPLASMA  SODM CHLORINATE. Lond.   Cataplasm of
 Chlorinated Soda.
   "Take  of boiling Water  six fluidounces; Flaxseed, in  powder, four ounces
 and a half; Solution of Chlorinated Soda two fluidounces.   Add the Flax-
 seed gradually to the Water, constantly stirring;  then mix in the Chlorinated
 Soda." Lond.
   This is  an excellent application to sloughing and other fetid ulcers, to correct
 the smell,  and afford a moderate stimulation.                          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 
972
Cerata.
PART II.
consistence, which is intermediate between that of ointments and of plasters it-
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 stirred, 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 quantity 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.                       yy

   CERATUM  CALAMINE.  U.S., Lond., Ed.   Calamine  Cerate.
Turner's Cerate.
  " Take of Prepared Calamine, Yellow Wax, each, three ounces; Lard a pound.
Melt the Wax and Lard together, and, when upon cooling they begin to thicken,
add the Calamine, and stir the mixture constantly until cool."   U. S.
  The London College orders of prepared calamine and wax, each, seven ounces
and a half, and of olive oil a pint [Imperial measure]; the Edinburgh, one part
of prepared calamine, and five parts of simple cerate (Ceratum Cetacei,V. S.).
  This is the Ceratum Zinci Carbonatis of the former U. S.  Pharmacopoeia,
and is  an imitation of the cerate recommended by Turner.   It  is mildly astrin-
gent, and is used in  excoriations  and superficial  ulcerations, produced by the
chafing of the skin, irritating secretions, burns, or other causes.       W.

  CERATUM CANTHARIDIS.*  U.S.  Emplastrum  Cantharidis.
Lond., Ed., Dub.   Emplastrum Epispasticum.   Cerate of Spanish
Flies.    Blistering  Plaster.
  "Take of Spanish Flies, in very fine powder, a pound; Yellow Wax, Resin,
each, seven ounces; Lard ten ounces.   To the Wax, Resin, and Lard, previously
melted together and  strained, add the Spanish Flies, and, by means of a water-
bath, keep the mixture in a fluid state for half an hour, stirring occasionally;
then remove it from  the bath, and stir it constantly until cool."  U. S.
  The London College orders of  Spanish flies, in very fine powder, a pound;
wax, suet, each, seven ounces and  a half; resin three ounces, aud lard sir-
ounces;  adds to the  wax, suet, and lard, melted together,  the  resin previously
melted ; then removes from the fire, and a little before cooling,  sprinkles in the
flies,  and mixes.   The  Edinburgh College orders  two ounces, each, of flies,
resin, yellow wax, and suet; the Dublin, six ounces of flies, and four ounces,
each, of yellow wax,  resin,  and prepared 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., London, and Dublin preparations have the same proportion of flies, but
are stronger than that of the Edinburgh College.   One of the former, therefore,
is preferable.    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  other ingredients, until immediately before these
begin to  stiffen, after having been removed from the fire.  But from the experi-
ments of  Mr. Donovan (Dublin Med. Press, Aug. 1840), and those of Professor

  * This  is a different  preparation from the London  Ceratum Cantharidis, for an ao-
count of which see Unguentum Cantharidis, Ed. 
PART II.
Cerata.
973
Procter (Am. Journ, of Pharm., xiii. 302, and xxiv. 296), 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 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, usually existing 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 conse-
quence 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 mixture before it solid-
ifies.   Care should be taken that the  temperature be not so high as to decom-
pose  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.   Violent 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.)  From an experiment, however, of Prof. Procter,
it appears that, though cantharides begin to  volatilize slightly at 250°, and
rapidly rise in vapour, and  sublime at from  402° to  412°,  yet they are not
decomposed unless by increasing the heat considerably above the last mentioned
point. (Am.  Journ. of Pharm.,  xxiv. 296 and 298.)  It is desirable that the
flies should be very finely pulverized.  Powdered euphorbium is said to be some^
times fraudulently added.
  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 ad-
hered ; but, if the flies  originally employed were good, this addition is  super-
fluous.  Prof. Procter is in the habit of applying over the surface with a brush
an ethereal tincture of cantharides, which leaves a thin coating of extract, and
renders the preparation more certain.
  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 adults, when the full action of the flies is desired,
and the object is to produce a permanent effect, the application should be con-
tinued for twelve hours, and on the scalp for twenty-four hours.   In very deli-
cate 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 remain no longer than is necessary for the pro- 
974
Cerata.
PART II.
 duction 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 blister 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 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 wished  that the blistered surface
 should heal as soon as possible, and with the least inconvenience to the patient,
 Dr. Maclagan recommends a dressing 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, 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 cu-
 ticle spontaneously  separates.   The effects of an issue may be obtained by em-
 ploying savine ointment, or the  ointment of Spanish flies, as a dressing.  If
 much inflammation take place in  the blistered surface,  it may be relieved by
 emollient poultices, or weak lead-water.   Where there is an obstinate indispo-
 sition to heal, we have found nothing so effectual  as the cerate of subacetate
 of lead, mixed with an equal weight of simple cerate.  When deep and exten-
 sive ulceration occurs in  consequence of general debility, bark or  sulphate of
 quinia  should be used,  with nutritious aliment.
   Yarious preparations of cantharides have been proposed and employed as sub-
 stitutes 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, blis-
 tering paper,  vesicating  taffetas, dec,  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

  * The late Dr. M. B. Smith, of Philadelphia, informed us that he had frequently em-
 ployed 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 Uvse Ursi) every
hour, commencing two hours after the application of the blister.  Camphor is  some-
times incorporated with the blistering cerate to prevent strangury, though with doubt-
ful 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., de se'r., viii. 68.)   The  late Dr. Joseph Hartshorne, of Philadelphia,
was in the habit, in cases where he  apprehended strangury, of directing four grains of
opium and twenty of  camphor to be mixed with the cerate of a blister of large size,
and experienced the happiest effects from the addition. 
PART II.
Cerata.
975
 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  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 moderate heat.   A preparation  which received the favour-
 able report of a committee of the Society of Pharmacy, at Paris, is the follow-
 ing, proposed by M. Dubuison.  Four parts of a hydro-alcoholic extract of the
 flies, made by maceration, 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-alcoholic extract is pre-
 ferred to  the alcoholic, because it contains less  of the green oil, which does  not
 readily mix with the other ingredients.   The committee, however, preferred the
 aqueous extract, as cheaper and more active.   This taffeta has been tried, and
 found to  raise blisters in four hours.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., viii. 67.)   A
 strong decoction of the flies in olive oil, applied  by means  of paper, would
 probably answer a  similar  purpose with these more elaborate preparations;
 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 sometimes  employed.
 (See Acetum Cantharidis.)
   A preparation, called cantharidal collodion, has recently been introduced
 into use.   It was originally proposed by M. Ilisch, of St. Petersburgh, Russia,
 and is made in the following manner.   Exhaust,  by percolation, a pound of
 cantharides,  with a mixture consisting of a pound of  ether and three ounces
 of  acetic  ether ;  and  in two ounces of  this liquid dissolve 25 grains   of
 gun cotton.   Professor Procter states that it has  been found more advanta-
 geous to  exhaust the flies with  ether, distil off the ether, and mix the oily re-
 sidue with collodion already prepared of the proper  consistence. (Am. Journ.
 of Pharm.,  xxiv. 303.)  Mr. Charles S. Rand, in a communication to  the
 American Journal of  Pharmacy (xxii. 18), states that Ilisch's  preparation
 made with double the proportion of ether vesicates equally well, and proposes
 the addition  of about one per cent, of Yenice turpentine, which he has found to
 prevent the disagreeable, and sometimes painful contraction of the preparation
 upon drying,  the  preparation may be  kept indefinitely in a  glass-stoppered
 bottle without change.  It may be applied to the surface  by means of a camel's
 hair brush, and, after the evaporation of the  ether, which takes place in less
 than a minute, may be reapplied if the surface should not be well covered.   It
 produces a blister in about the same time  as the ordinary cerate, and has  the
 advantage that it is applied with greater facility, is better adapted to cover un-
 even surfaces, and retains its place  more  certainly.   According  to Mr. Rand,
 if the evaporation of the ether  be restrained by a piece of oiled silk immediately
 after its application, it will act much more speedily.
  It is said that the flies, by ebullitiou 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 manner,
and never knew it to  produce strangury in more than two or three  instances.
(Journ. of the Phil.  Col. of Pharm., iv. 185.)  In a letter addressed to one of 
976
Cerata.
PART II.
the authors by Dr. James Couper, of Newcastle, Delaware, a similar method of
preparing the flies is recommended as an expedient against strangury, both from
his own experience, and that of the late Dr. Groom, of Elkton, Maryland, from
whom  he derived his knowledge of the plan.   Yet there can  be no doubt that
boiling water extracts cantharidin from the flies; and the cerate made as here
recommended must be weaker in the blistering principle than the officinal.
   Off. Prep. Emplastrum Picis cum Cantharide.                     ^y,

   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 pecu-
liar 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 ; Ceratum Calaminae.             W.

   CERATUM HYDRARGYRI COMPOSITUM. Lond.   Compound
Cerate, of Mercury.
   " Take of Mercurial Ointment, Compound Soap Cerate, each,  six ounces;
Camphor an ounce and a half'.  Rub them together."  Lond,
   This cerate is used as a discutient application to indolent tumours.   W.
   CERATUM PLUMBI SUBACETATIS.  U. S.  Ceratum  Plumbi
Compositum. Lond.  Cerate of Subacetate of Lead.  Goulard's 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  WTax, previously melted, with eight  fluidounces of the Oil; then re-
move the mixture from the fire, and, when it begins to thicken, gradually pour
iu the Solution  of  Subacetate  of  Lead, stirring  constantly with  a wooden
spatula till it becomes cool.  Lastly, add the Camphor  dissolved in the re-
mainder of the Oil, and mix." U. S.
   The London College takes six fluidounces of the solution of subacetate of
lead, eight ounces of wax,  a pint [Imperial measure] of olive oil, and a drachm
of camphor, and proceeds in the manner above directed.
   This cerate becomes so  speedily rancid that but little should be prepared at
once.   It received the name by which it is commonly known from M. Goulard,
by whom it was employed and recommended.  It is used chiefly in excoria-
tions,  burns, scalds,  and  chilblains, and in cutaneous eruptions.  We have
found  it  more effectual than any other application to blistered surfaces indis-
posed to  heal; and, on the recommendation 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,  powdered opium, each, a drachm;  mix them.   The
same preparation, without the opium, was a favorite remedy with the late Dr.
Wistar iu similar complaints.                                       W. 
PART II.
Cerata.
977
   CERATUM  RESIDE.  U S., Lond.   Unguentum  Resinosum.
 Ed.   Unguentum Resin^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, fifteen ounces, and of olive oil
 a pint [Imperial measure].  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 half a pound [avoirdupois] of resin, in coarse powder, four
 ounces [avoird. ] of yellow wax, and a ^ownc^avoird. ] of prepared lard, are melted,
 strained while hot through flannel, and stirred constantly till they concrete.
   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 disposing the
 ulcers which follow burns to heal.
   Off.  Prep. Ceratum Sabinas; Linimentum Terebinthinae; Unguentum Can-
 tharidis ; Unguentum JEruginis.                                    W.

   CERATUM  RESINJB 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 linen, and stir
 them constantly until cool." U. S.
   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.  It  should  be kept well protected from  the air, in consequence of its
 liability when exposed  to acquire a tough consistence.                 W.

   CERATUM SABINE. U. S, Ed.    Unguentum  Sabine.  Lond.
 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 half a pound of fresh savine, bruised, to be mixed
 with three ounces of white wax and a pound of lard previously melted toge-
 ther, and the whole to be strained through linen.  The Ed. College directs the
 same ingredients,  in the same proportions, to be  boiled together till the leaves
 become friable, and then strained.  The Dub.  College rubs intimately together a
 drachm of savine,  in fine powder, and seven drachms of ointment of white wax.
  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 di-
 rected 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 some-
 times substituted for that of savine, but is less efficient.
  Prepared according to the processes of the London and Edinburgh Colleges,
 savine cerate has  a  fine deep-green colour, and  the odour of the  leaves.  It
 should be kept in closely covered vessels.
  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  produce
    '  62 
978
Cerata.
part II.
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 increasing the dis-
charge,                                                            -yy

   CERATUM SAPONIS.  U.S.  Ceratum  Saponis Compositum.
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] •
Yinegar a gallon [Imp.  meas.].  Boil the Yinegar  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 (viii. 27), and was substituted, in the U. S. Pharma-
copoeia of 1840, for the London formula, which  had been adopted in the pre-
vious editions.   It has the advantages of being more precise in the directions,
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 is decomposed by 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 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 used in scrofulous
swellings and other instances of chronic external inflammation.  It was for-
merly 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.                     W.

   CERATUM SIMPLEX. U.S.   Ceratum. Lond. Simple Cerate.
   " Take of Lard eight ounces; White Wax four ounces.  Melt them together,
and stir them constantly until cool." U. S.
   The London College directs that a pint [Imperial measure] of olive oil  be
mixed  with twenty ounces of wax previously melted.
   We prefer the U. S. formula.   Lard is preferable to  olive oil, as it may always
be had perfectly sweet, and is the mildest application 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 perfect blandness.  To avoid change,
it  should be put up in small jars, and covered closely with tin foil so as to ex-
clude the air.  It is used for dressing blisters,  wounds, &c, in all cases in which
the object is to prevent the contact of air and  preserve the moisture of the part,
and at the same time to avoid all irritation.   It is sometimes improperly em-
ployed as the vehicle of substances to be applied by inunction.  For this pur-
pose lard should be used  in winter, and simple ointment in summer; the cerate
having too firm a consistence.   •                                    W. 
PART II.
Cerata.—Confectiones.
979
    CERATUM ZINCI  CARBONATIS. U. S.  Cerate of Carbonate of
  Zinc.
    "Take of Precipitated  Carbonate of Zinc two drachms;  Simple  Ointment
  ten drachms.   Mix them."  U. S.
    This cerate was  intended as a substitute for the former Ceratum Zinci Car-
  bonatis of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, now Ceratum Calaminas, as being more to
  be depended on, in consequence of the frequent falsification of calamine.   For
  its uses,  see Ceratum Calaminse.                                    W.


                  CONFECTIONES.  U.S., Lond.

                               Confections.

    Confections. Dub.  Conserves and Electuaries.  Ed.
    Under the general title  of Confections, the Pharmacopoeias of the  United
  States, London, and Dublin, 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 convenient
  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 considera-
  tion 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 enabled 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 unplea-
 sant to the taste, and more convenient for internal use.  They are usually pre-
 pared  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 sub-
 stances require different proportions of syrup.  Light vegetable powders usually
 require twice their weight, gum-resins two-thirds of their weight, resins some-
 what 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 reactiom of  its  constituents,
 more syrup should be added, so as to give it the requisite consistence.  If the
dryness result from the mere evaporation 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  ' 
9$0                         Confectiones.     -                part ii.

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  AMYGDALA.  Lond.   Conserva Amtgdalarum.
Ed. Almond Confection.
  "Take of [sweet] Almonds eight  ounces; Gum Arabic,  in powder, one
ounce; Sugar four ounces. Having macerated the Almonds in cold water, and
deprived  them  of their external coat, bruise  them,' and rub them through a
fine metallic sieve;  then,  having added the other ingredients, beat all together
till they are thoroughly incorporated.   The Confection may be kept longer, if
the  Almonds, previously denuded, dried, and rubbed to a fine powder,  should
be mixed with the Gum Arabic and Sugar separately powdered, and the mixed
powder preserved in a stopped bottle." Lond.
  The directions of the  Edinburgh College are essentially the same  as the
above, except that this College does not admit the alternative of having the in-
gredients separately rubbed, and afterwards mixed.
  This preparation is intended to afford a speedy method of preparing the al-
mond mixture, which, when made immediately from the almonds, requires much
time, and which cannot be kept ready made in the  shops.  But, from  its lia-
bility to be injured by keeping, it was  omitted from  our Pharmacopoeia, which
directs the almond mixture to be made immediately  from the ingredients.
  Mistura Amygdalas.                                            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 the whole together until thoroughly mixed." U S.
  "Take of  Cinnamon, Nutmegs, each, two ounces; Cloves an ounce;  Carda-
mom half an ounce; Saffron two ounces; Prepared Chalk sixteen ounces; Sugar
two pounds; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity.  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, to  every ounce of the powder add two fluidrachms
of the Water, and mix all together until incorporated."  Lond.
  The Dublin  College rubs five ounces [avoirdupois] of aromatic powder with
half an ounce of saffron in powder ; then adds five fluidounces of simple syrup,
and two ounces [avoirdupois]  of clarified honey, and beats them  together till
thoroughly mixed;  and lastly adds half a fluidrachm of oil  of cloves.  The
Edinburgh College directs one part of its aromatic powder,  and two parts of
syrup of  orange peel to be mixed, and triturated into a uniform pulp.
  The preparation of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia contains cinnamon, ginger, car-
damom, and nutmeg, without prepared  chalk, which appears to  us to be an
unnecessary if not improper ingredient; as it is not always indicated in cases
which call for the use of the confection, and may be added extemporaneously
when required.   The aromatic confection affords a convenient method of ad-
ministering 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.  Pilulas Digitalis et Scillas.                             W.

  CONFECTIO  AURANTII CORTICIS.  U.S.   Confectio Auran-
tii.  L-tnd.   Conserva Aurantii. Ed.   Confection of  Orange Peel.
  " Take of Orange Peel, recently separated from the fruit by grating, a pound; 
PART II.
Confectiones.
981
 Sugar [refined] three pounds.  Beat the Orange Peel with the Sugar gradually
 added, till they are thoroughly mixed." U. S.
   The directions of the London 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  CASSLE. Lond.   Confection of Cassia.
   "Take of Prepared Cassia  half a pound; Manna two ounces; Prepared
 Tamarinds an ounce;  Syrup of Roses eight fluidounces.  Bruise the Manna,
 and dissolve it in the Syrup; then mix in the Cassia and Tamarinds, and evapo-
 rate to the proper consistence." Lond.
   The confection of cassia is slightly laxative ; but is seldom if ever prepared
 in this country, and might very properly be  expunged from the catalogue of
 preparations, as it is both feeble and expensive.                      W.

   CONFECTIO  CATECHU  COMPOSITA.  Dub.   Electuarium
 Catechu. Ed.  Compound Confection of Catechu.
   "Take of Compound Powder of Catechu five ounces [avoirdupois]; Simple
 Syrup five fluidounces. Add the Syrup gradually to the Powder, and mix them
 well together." Dub.
   Take of Catechu and Kino, of  each, four ounces; Cinnamon and Nutmeg,
 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.
   The Edinburgh Confection is 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.  It may be taken in the form of bolus,
 or diffused in water. The Dublin Confection contains no opium, but is similar
 in other respects.                                                 y\r

   CONFECTIO OPII.  U.S., Lond.   Electuarium  Opii. Ed.  Con-
fection 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 the whole together until thoroughly
 mixed." U.S.
   "Take of Opium, in powder, six drachms; Long Pepper an ounce'; Ginger,
 in powder,  two ounces; Caraway three ounces; Tragacanth, in powder, two
 drachms;  Syrup sixteen fluidounces [Imperial measure].  Rub the dry ingre-
 dients together to a very fine powder, and keep' it  in  a covered vessel.   But
 when  the Confection is  to be used, add the powder gradually to the Syrup pre-
 viously heated, and mix." Lond.
   "Take of Aromatic Powder six ounces; Senega, in fine powder,4hree 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. 
982
Confectiones.
part ii.
 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 other diseases requir-
 ing the use of a stimulant narcotic.   Added to Peruvian bark or sulphate of
 quinia, it increases the efficacy of this remedy in obstinate cases of intermittent
 fever.   One grain of  opium is  contained in  about thirty-six grains of  the
 US. and London confections; and in forty-three of the Edinburgh.     W.
    CONFECTIO PIPERIS.  Lond.   Confectio Piperis Nigri. 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
 together into a very fine powder, and keep them in a covered vessel.   But when-
 ever the Confection is to be used, add the powder gradually to the Honey, and
 beat them until thoroughly incorporated."  Lond.
    "Take of Black Pepper, Liquorice Root, in powder, each, a pound; Fennel
 three pounds; Honey,  White Sugar, each,  two pounds.  Triturate the solids
 together into a very fine powder; add the  Honey; and beat the whole into a
 uniform mass." Ed.
    "Take of Black Pepper, in fine powder, Liquorice Root, in powder,  each,
 half an ounce [avoirdupois]; Refined Sugar one ounce [avoird.];  Oil of Fen-
 nel half a fluidrachm;  Clarified Honey two ounces [avoird.].  Rub the dry
 substances together into a very fine powder, then add the Honey and Oil, and
 beat them into a uniform mass." Dub.
    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.,  Lond., Dub.   Conserva Rosje. Ed.
 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 heated to 150°; then  gradually add the
 Sugar and Honey, and beat the whole together until thoroughly mixed."  U.S.
    "Take of fresh Red Roses a pound; Sugar [refined] three pounds.  Beat
 the Roses in a marble mortar; then  add the Sugar, and beat again until they
 are incorporated." Lond.
    The Edinburgh College directs the petals to be beaten into a pulp with the
 gradual addition of twice their weight of white sugar.   The Dublin College,
 using the avoirdupois weights, macerates an ounce of the dried roses in two fluid-
 ounces of rose water for two hours, adds gradually eight ounces of refined sugar,
 and beats them into a uniform mass; or, it prepares the confection in the same
 manner as the London College, using three parts of petals to eight of sugar.
   In the London process, 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 two edi-
 tions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, dried roses have been substituted for  the
 fresh, as the latter are  not brought to our market.   The process is very similar
 to  that of the French Codex.  We have been informed, however, that much of
 the confection.of roses made in Philadelphia is prepared from the fresh petals
 of  the hundred-leaved rose and others, by beating them into  a pulp with sugar, 
PART II.
Confectiones.
983
as in the London process.  An excuse for this deviation from the officinal for-
mula is, that the confection thus made has greater adhesiveness than the officinal,
and is therefore better fitted for the formation of pills.
   This confection is slightly astringent, but is almost exclusively used as a ve-
hicle of other medicines, or to impart consistence to the pilular mass.   The
Edinburgh College  employs it in most of its officinal pills.
   Off.  Prep.  Pilulas Hydrargyri.                                  W.

 ^CONFECTIO  ROS^E  CANINE.  Lond.   Conserva Rosjs Fruc-
tus. Ed.   Confection of Dog Rose.
   "Take of Dog Rose, enucleated, a pound; Sugar [refined], in powder, twenty
ounces.  Rub the Rose with the Sugar gradually added, until they are incor-
porated."  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.              W.

   CONFECTIO RUT^E.  Lond.   Confection  of Rue.
   "Take of Rue, recently powdered,  Caraway,  Laurel [fruit], each, an ounce
and a half; Prepared Sagapenum half an ounce; Black Pepper two drachms;
Honey [clarified]  sixteen ounces.  Rub the dry ingredients together to a very
fine powder;  then, the Sagapenum having been liquefied over a slow fire with
the Water and Honey, gradually add the powder, and mix all together." Lond.
   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 coun-
try 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., Dub. Confection of Scammony.
   "Take of Scammony an ounce and a half; Cloves, bruised, Ginger, in pow-
der, 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 in a closed vessel; 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, employing avoirdupois weights, beats three ounces of
powdered scammony, and an ounce and a half of finely powdered ginger, with
three fluidounces of simple syrup, and an ounce and a half of clarified honey;
then adds half a fluidrachm, each, of oil of cloves and oil of caraway, and
mixes all together.
   This confection is actively cathartic in the dose of half a drachm or a drachm;
but is very little used.   The proportion of scammony in the  London prepara-
tion is uncertain, from the indefinite quantity of syrup employed.      W.

   CONFECTIO SENNiE. U.S., Lond.,Dub.  Electuarium SennA
Ed.   Confection of Senna.  Lenitive Electuary.
   " Take of Senna eight ounces; Coriander [seed] four ounces; Liquorice R,oot,
bruised, three ounces; Figs a pound; Pulp of Prunes, Pulp of Tamarinds, 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 Liquorice Root
and Figs, 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 
984
Confectiones.
PART II.
 gradually added,  and, having thrown in the sifted powder, beat all together
 until thoroughly  mixed." U. S.
   The London process corresponds with the above.   The Edinburgh Colleqe
 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 Colle<ie
 using avoirdupois weights, takes of finely powdered senna two ounces, finely
 powdered coriander an ounce, oil of caraway half a fluidrachm, pulp of prunes
 five ounces, pulp of tamarinds two ounces, brown sugar eight ounces, and water
 two fluidounces; dissolves the sugar in the water, and beats the pulps to a uni-
 form consistence; then, having stirred in  the powders and oil, mixes all well
 together, and heats the mass thoroughly in a water-bath for ten minutes.
   The confection of senna, when properly made, is an  elegant preparation.
 Directions may be found under Pulpse for preparing the  several pulps referred
 to in the U. S. formula; but the  apothecary will find it most convenient to pre-
 pare them in connexion with this process; and, by following the directions given
 below,  he will approximate very closely to the result  aimed at in the officinal
 directions.   Take sixteen ounces of cassia fistula, ten ounces of tamarinds, and
 seven ounces of prunes;  bruise and slice  them;  digest with sufficient boiling
 water thoroughly to soften the pulps; remove as far as convenient the fragments
 of the  cassia pods, and the seeds and  fibres of the prunes and tamarinds; and
 then separate the pulp by rubbing through a hair sieve.   The crude substances
 will, in the quantities mentioned, each yield on the  average half a pound of
 pulp.   It is common to omit the cassia pulp in the preparation of the confec-
 tion, as the pods are not always to be found in the market.  But as this is next
 to senna the most active  ingredient, the 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 af-
 fected with piles.   It is also very useful in the constipation which is apt to at-
 tend convalescence from fevers and other acute diseases.   The mean dose is two
 drachms,  to be taken at bed-time.               ,                    W.

   CONFECTIO SULPHURIS.  Dub.   Confection of Sulphur.
   "Take of  Sublimed Sulphur two ounces; Bitartrate of Potassa one ounce;
 Clarified Honey, by weight, one ounce; Syrup of Ginger, Syrup of Saffron, of
 each, half a fluidounce.   Triturate all the ingredients in a mortar, until they
 are intimately mixed."  Dub.   The weights here employed are avoirdupois.
   This is merely a mode of administering  the two laxatives sulphur and bitar-
 trate of potassa; and the  relative proportion of the latter  is  so  small that it can
 have little effect.  The dose is from two to four drachms  or more.      W.

   CONFECTIO TEREBINTHINSE. Dub.  Confection of Turpentine.
   "Take of Oil of Turpentine one fluidounce; Liquorice  Root, in powder, one
 ounce; Clarified honey, by weight, two ounces.  Rub the Oil of Turpentine
 with the Liquorice Powder, then add the Honey, and  beat  them all  together
 into a uniform consistence." Dub.   The weights employed are avoirdupois.

  * Senna has been variously prepared to obtain the effects  of the confection, in a
 more agreeable, or  less complex form.  Thus, under the name  of  medicated prunes
 a confection is prepared by mixing  prunes with concentrated  infusion *f senna, and
 evaporating with  a  gentle heat to the proper consistence, a little sugar being added
to improve the flavour; senna figs appear to be made by slitting figs, and impregna-
ting the interior parts with extract or powder of senna; and senna paste consists of figa
 and powdered senna, beaten thoroughly together to the consistence of a confection,
and then covered with granulated sugar—Yore to the eleventh edition. 
PART II.
Confectiones.— Cuprum.
985
    Confections might be multiplied indefinitely upon the principle which appears
 to have been adopted here, that, namely, of giving a convenient formula for the
 administration of medicines.  The effects of this confection are those only of the
 oil of turpentine.  The dose may be from a scruple to a drachm.       W.


                              CUPRUM.

                       Preparations  of Copper.

    CUPRI SUB ACETAS  PR^PARATUM. Dub.  Prepared Suba-
 cetate of  Copper.
    "Take of Subacetate of Copper a convenient quantity.   Reduce it to powder
 by careful trituration in a porcelain mortar, and separate the finer parts for use
 by means of a sieve." Dub.
    By the process of the former Dublin Pharmacopceia, in  which levigation and
 elutriation were employed, a chemical change was effected, which was not ori-
 ginally contemplated ; the object being merely to reduce verdigris to the state
 of very fine powder.  This object is accomplished by the present process.  The
 preparation is used only as an escharotic and stimulant application to unhealthy
 ulcers and obstinate cutaneous eruptions.
    Off. Prep. Unguentum Cupri Subacetatis.                         W.

    CUPRUM AMMONIATUM.  U.S., Ed.  Cupri Ammonio-sulphas.
 Lond,, Dub.   Ammoniated Copper.
    "Take of Sulphate of  Copper half an ounee; 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 product
 should be first dried in folds of blotting paper,  and afterwards by exposure for
 a short time to the  air;  and the Dublin orders  the ingredients to be triturated
 in a porcelain mortar, and the drying to be effected in bibulous paper on  a
 porous brick.
   When the two  salts above mentioned are rubbed together, a  reaction takes
 place between them, attended with the extrication  of the water of crystallization
 of the sulphate of copper,  which renders the mass moist, and with the  simulta-
 neous escape of carbonic acicl gas from the carbonate (sesquicarbonate) of ammo-
 nia, 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 pre-
 cisely 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 either mixed to-
 gether, or chemically united in the form of a double salt, the sulphate of cop-
 per and ammonia.   According to Phillips, the  sulphuric acid of the sulphate
 of copper unites with the ammonia  of  a portion  of  the  sesquicarbonate of
 ammonia; while the carbonic  acid of the decomposed sesquicarbonate partly
 escapes, and partly combines with the oxide of  copper; so that  the resulting
 preparation consists of sulphate of ammonia, carbonate of copper, and  unde-
composed sesquicarbonate  of ammonia.   It is  highly  probable that Cuprum
Ammoniatum,  independently of the excess  of sesquicarbonate of ammonia
which it may contain, is  identical with the crystallized  salt obtained by drop- 
986                            Cuprum.                       part ii.

ping a solution of pure ammonia into  a solution of sulphate of copper till
the subsalt first thrown down is dissolved, then concentrating, 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 am-
monia, 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 eq.
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 (Nil,,
S03+NH,,CuO-j-HO).  But as half an ounce of sulphate of copper would
require for such a result somewhat less than the  same weight of sesquicarbo-
nate 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 excess of sesqui-
carbonate 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 I
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 dissipated, except the oxide of
copper.  Arsenious acid precipitates a green arsenite of copper from its solu-
tion.   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 antispasmodic.
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 gonor-
rhoea and leucorrhoea.   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 increased  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 Solutio; Pilulas Cupri Ammoniati.     W.
   CUPRI AMMONIATI SOLUTIO.  Ed.   Liquor Cupri Ammonio-
SULphatis.  Lond.   Solution of Ammoniated Copper.
   "Take of Ammonio-sulphate of Copper  a drachm; Distilled Water a pint
[Imperial measure]. 'Dissolve and filter." Lond.
   The Edinburgh formula is the same as the London.
   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 ul-
cers, 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 purposes
to a solution of sulphate of copper.                                  W. 
PART II.
Cuprum.—Decocta.
987
   CUPRI SULPHAS. Lond.   Sulphate of Copper.
   "Take of Commercial Sulphate of Copper four pounds; Boiling Distilled
 Water four pints [Imperial measure].   Pour the Water upon the Sulphate,
 and apply heat, occasionally stirring until it is dissolved.  "Filter the solution
 while hot, and set  it aside that crystals may form.   Evaporate  the decanted
 liquor, that it may again crystallize.  Dry all the crystals." Lond,
   This is merely a method of purifying commercial sulphate of copper.   For
 the properties and uses of the purified salt the reader is referred to Cupri Sul-
 phas in the first part of this  work.   The London College gives as tests of its
 purity, that it is [wholly]  soluble in water, and that whatever ammonia throws
 down from the solution is redissolved by the ammonia in excess.
   Off. Prep.  Cupri Ammonio-sulphas.                               W.


                              DECOCTA.

                               Decoctions.

   Decoctions are solutions of vegetable principles, obtained by boiling the sub-
 stances containing these principles in water.   Yegetables 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 ex-
 erts an injurious  agency upon the  active principle.  The boiling, moreover,
 should not, as a general rule, be long continued; as the ingredients of the vege-
 table 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
 present an extensive surface to the action of the solvent; and  previous mace-
 ration for some time in water is occasionally useful by overcoming the cohesion
 of the vegetable fibre.   Should  the physician not  happen to prescribe  this
 preliminary comminution, the apothecary should nevertheless not omit it.
   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 wa-
 ter, 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, 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, maybe mixed again
 with the fluid by agitation at the time of administering the remedy.
   In compound decoctions, the ingredients  may be  advantageously added at
 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 vola-
tile 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 
988                            Decocta.                       part ii.

thus becomes contaminated.   Yessels of clean cast-iron or common tin, or of
block tin, are preferable to those of copper, brass, or zinc; but iron pots should
not be used when astringent y-egetables 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 wea-
ther, for a longer period than forty-eight hours.                      'W.

   DECOCTUM ALOES  COMPOSITUM. Lond., Dub.  Decoctum
Aloes.  Ed.  Compound Decoction of Aloes.
   "Take of Extract of Liquorice seven drachms; Carbonate of Potassa a
drachm;  Extract of Aloes, Myrrh, in powder, Saffron, each, a drachm and a
half; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]; Compound Tinc-
ture of Cardamom seven fluidounces.  Boil the Liquorice, Carbonate, Aloes
Myrrh, and Saffron with the Water to a pint [Imp. meas.], and  strain; then
add the Tincture."  Lond.
   "Take of Socotrine or Hepatic Aloes, Powder of Myrrh, and Saffron, each,
one drachm; Extract of Liquorice half an ounce; Carbonate of Potash two
scruples; Compound Tincture of Cardamom four fluidounees; Water sixteen
fluidounces.  Mix the Aloes, Myrrh, Saffron, Liquorice, and Carbonate of Pot-
ash with the Water; boil down to twelve \_fluid~]ounces; filter, and add the
Compound Tincture of Cardamom."  Ed.
   "Take of Hepatic Aloes, in powder,  a drachm and a half; Myrrh, in pow-
der, Saffron, chopped fine, of each, one drachm; Pure Carbonate of Potash two
scruples; Extract of Liquorice half an ounce; Water fourteen [fluid^ounces;
Compound Tincture of Cardamom as much as is sufficient.   Rub the Aloes,
Myrrh, and Carbonate of Potash together, then add the Saffron and Extract
of Liquorice, and boil for ten minutes in a covered vessel; cool, strain through
flannel, and add of Compound Tincture of Cardamom as much as will make
sixteen fluidounces."  Dub.   The weights here employed are avoirdupois.
   There  is no essential difference between these processes.
   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 Perzelius) 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 pre-
venting spontaneous decomposition.  This decoction is said not to filter clear
when first made; but, if kept for sometime, to dep*osit insoluble matter, and then
to become bright and clear on filtering. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xiv. 491.)
   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 decoc-
tion, therefore, is milder as a cathartic than aloes itself, and not so liable to pro-
duce or aggravate hemorrhoidal disease. At the same time it is more tonic and
cordial from  the presence of the myrrh, saffron, and cardamom, and derives
antacid properties from the carbonate of potassa.  It is given as a gentle ca-
thartic, tonic, and emmenagogue; and is especially useful in dyspepsia, habitual
constipation, and those complicated cases in which suppressed or retained men-
struation is connected with enfeebled digestion and a languid state of bowels.
The dose is from half  a fluidounce to two fluidounces.  The decoction should
not be combined in prescription with acids, acidulous salts, or other saline bo-
dies which are incompatible with the alkaline carbonate.               W. 
PART II.
Decocta.
989
   DECOCTUM  CETRARIA.  U.S., Lond.  Decoctum  Liciienis
 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 measure is
 used in the process, the proportion is in fact equivalent to about half an ounce
 to the apothecaries' pint.  The Dublin College orders an ounce (avoirdupois)
 of the moss to be washed in cold water to purify it, then to be boiled for ten
 minutes in  a pint and a half of water (Imp. meas.), and 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 prepar-
 ing the decoction, is inadmissible; as the  peculiar virtues which distinguish the
 medicine from the ordinary demulcents are thus entirely lost. (See Cetraria.)
 A pint of the decoction may be taken during the twenty-four hours.   W.

   DECOCTUM CHIMAPHILA. U. S., Lond.  Decoctum Pyrola.
 Dub.   Decoction of Pipsissewa.   Decoction of Winter  G-reen.
   " 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 /^{/"[Impe-
 rial measure].  Boil to a pint, and  strain." Lond.
   "Take of Leaves  of Winter-green, dried, half an  ounce [avoirdupois];
 Water half a pint [Imp. meas.].   Boil  for ten minutes, in  a covered vessel,
 and strain.   The product should measure about eight [fluid]ounces."  Dub.
   The medical properties  and uses of pipsissewa have been detailed under the
 head of Chimaphila.  One pint of the decoction may be given in the course of
 twenty-four hours.                                                "vV

   DECOCTUM CINCHONA  FLAVA.  U.S.   Decoctum Cincho-
 na. Lond., Ed.  Decoction of Yellow Bark.
   "Take of Yellow Bark, bruised, an ounce; Water a pint  Boil for ten min-
 utes in a covered vessel, and strain the liquor while hot." U S.
   The London College boils ten  drachms of yellow bark, bruised, with a pint
 [Imperial measure] of distilled water, for a quarter of an hour, in a covered ves-
 sel, and strains while hot.   The Edinburgh College boils an ounce of the yellow
 bark, bruised, with twenty-four fluidounces of water, for ten minutes, allows
 the decoction to cool, then filters it,  and evaporates to sixteen fluidounces.

   DECOCTUM CINCHONA  PALLIDA. Lond.   Decoctum Cin-
 chona. Ed., Dub.   Decoction of Pale Bark.
   The  London and Edinburgh Colleges  prepare  this in the  same  manner as
 the Decoction of Yellow  Park.   The Dublin College takes half an  ounce
 (avoirdupois) of pale bark, in coarse  powder, and half a pint (Imp. meas.)
 of water, boils for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strains while hot.-

   DECOCTUM CINCHONA  RUBRA.  U.S., Lond.   Decoctum
 Cinchona.  Ed.  Decoction of Red Bark.
   The  U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias  direct this to be pre-
pared in the same manner as the Decoction of Yellow Bark.
   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 
990
Decocta.
PART II.
 agency of atmospheric oxygen, or by both causes united.   To prevent this re-
 sult, the process is directed to be performed in a covered vessel, and to be con-
 tinued only ten minutes.  But, even with these precautions, a considerable pre-
 cipitate takes place in the decoction upon cooling, which is thus rendered 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 tan-
 nin 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 cinchonic  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 recomhiends
 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 con-
 centrated by evaporation.  This plan has been adopted by  the Edinburgh Col-
 lege, 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 addi-
 tion 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 acidulat-
 ing the pint of water employed in preparing the decoction with a  fluidrachm of
 the aromatic or diluted sulphuric acid,  we shall probably enable the menstruum
 to extract all the virtues of the bark.  The propriety of such an addition is con-
 firmed by the experiments of MM. Henry, jun., and Plisson, who have ascer-
 tained that portions of the alkalies  exist in the bark connected with the colour-
 ing matter in the form of insoluble compounds, and that it is impossible, there-
 fore, completely to exhaust the bark by water alone.  There may, however, be
 some diversity of 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 compara-
 tively few affect its activity as a medicine.  (See Infusum Cinchonse.)  Tannic
 acid and the substances containing it should be excluded from  the decoction;
 as it  forms salts with  the alkaline principles of the bark,  which are either in-
 soluble 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 alkaloids.
  The dose of the decoction is two fluidounces, to be repeated more or less fre-
 quently according  to circumstances.  Two drachms of orange peel, added to the
 decoction  while still boiling  hot, improve its flavour, and render it more accept-
 able to the stomach.                                                W.

  DECOCTUM CORNUS FLORIDA. U. S.   Decoction of Dogwood.
  " 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 attain-
able.   The dose is two fluidounces.                                   W.

  DECOCTUM CYDONII.  Lond.   Decoction of Quince  Seed.
  "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 
PART II.
Decocta.
991
  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 decomposition, it  should be
  used immediately after being prepared.                               W.

    DECOCTUM  DULCAMARA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Decoction
  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 London and Edinburgh Colleges correspond with the
  above.  The Dublin College boils half an  ounce  (avoirdupois)  of the bitter-
  sweet with half a pint (Imperial  measure)  of water, for  ten minutes,  in a
  covered vessel, and strains.
  _  The slender twigs of the bittersweet are the part employed.  Their proper-
  ties 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  GALLA.  Lond.   Decoction of Galls.
    " Take of Galls, bruised,  two ounces and a half;  Distilled Water two pints
  [Imperial measure].  Boil to  a pint, and strain." Lond.
   For the properties of this  decoction and its uses, see Galla in the first part of
 this work.   The dose internally would be from half a fluidounce to a fluidounce;
 but it is better adapted for external  or local use.                      W.

    DECOCTUM GRANATI. Lond.  Decoction of Pomegranate Rind.
   " 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 GRANATI RADICIS. Lond.  Decoction of Pome-
 granate Root.
   " Take of Pomegranate Root, sliced, two ounces; Distilled Water two pints
 [Imperial measure].  Boil to a pint and strain." Lond.
   For the uses and dose of this decoction, see Granati Radicis Cortex.

   DECOCTUM GUAIACI.  Ed.   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 pints
 [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.
  _ This is the old decoction of the ivoods.   Notwithstanding its former reputa-
 tion, it is little  more than a demulcent drink; for water is capable of dissolving
 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 alterative course of anti-
 monials.  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 per-
 spiration.  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., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Decoc-
tion of Logwood.
  " Take of Logwood, rasped,  an ounce;  Water two pints.  Boil down to a
pint, and strain."  U. S. 
992
Decocta.
PART II.
  The London College takes ten drachms to a pint and a half [Imperial mea-
sure], boils to a pint, and strains.
  " 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,
  The Dublin College boils an ounce (avoirdupois) of logwood with half a
pint (Imp. meas.) of water for ten minutes, in a covered vessel, and strains.
  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 com-
plaint in children during summer.  The dose for an adult is two fluidounces, 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 Bar-
ley;  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.
   The process of the London College does not essentially differ from the above.
The Dublin College washes an ounce and a half (avoirdupois) of barley in cold
water, rejects the washings, and then boils for twenty minutes with a pint and
a half (Imperial measure) of water, in a covered vessel, and strains.
  Parley water, as this decoction is usually called, is much employed as a nutri-
tive  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 Pharmacopoeia 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 prepa-
ration.  The use of the washing with cold water, and  of the first  short boil-
ing,  is completely to remove any mustiness, or other disagreeable flavour, which
the barley may have acquired from exposure.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Hordei Compositum ;  Enema Aloes; Enema Assa-
foetidas ; Enema Terebinthinas.    -                                  W.

   DECOCTUM  HORDEI COMPOSITUM. Lond.  Mistura Hor-
dei.  Ed.  Compound Decoction of Barley.
   " Take  of Decoction of Barley two pints [Imperial  measure] ;  Figs, sliced,
two ounces and a half; fresh Liquorice Root, bruised, five drachms; Raisins,
stoned, two ounces  and a half;  Distilled 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  bruised, 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.
   The compound decoction of barley, in addition to the demulcent and nutritive
properties of the simple, is somewhat laxative, and may be preferably employ-
ed where there is a tendency to constipation.  But it is so often  necessary to 
PART II.
Decocta.
993
  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 pre-
  scription,                                                         yy

    -DECOCTUM LINI  COMPOSITUM. Dub.   Compound  Decoction
  of Flaxseed.
    "Take of Linseed one ounce; Liquorice Root, bruised, half an ounce; Water
  one pint and a half [Imperial measure].   Boil for ten minutes in a covered
  vessel, and strain while hot," Dub.  The weights are the avoirdupois.
    Flaxseed is, we think, a better subject for infusion than decoction, by which
  the oil is partially evolved, and the preparation rendered unpleasant.   W.

    DECOCTUM MEZEREI.  Ed.   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,
    This preparation affords  a convenient mode of  exhibiting mezereon, the
  acrimony of which is qualified by the demulcent principles of the liquorice root.
  For an account of its medical applications, see Mezereum.   The dose is  from
  four to eight fluidounces four times a day.                           \y

    DECOCTUM MYRRHA. Dub.  Decoction of Myrrh.
    " Take of Myrrh two drachms [Dub. weight] ;  Water eight [fluid]ounces
  and a half.  Triturate the Myrrh with the Water gradually added;  then boil
  for ten minutes, in a covered vessel, and strain.  The product should measure
  about eight [fluid]ounces." Dub.
    It does not appear to us that myrrh is  a suitable substance for  decoction.
  Its active principles are but very sparingly imparted to water.         W.

    DECOCTUM  PAPAYERIS.  Lond.,  Ed.,  Dub.    Decoction of
  Poppy.
   " Take of Poppy [Capsules], sliced, four ounces ; Distilled Water four pints
 [Imperial measure].  Boil for a quarter of an hour,  and strain." Lond.
   The Edinburgh process differs from the above only in the proportion of water
 employing three pints (Imp. meas.).   The Dublin College boils four ounces
 (avoirdupois) with three pints (Imp. meas.)  of water, for ten minutes  in a
 covered vessel, and strains.
   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.             \Y

   DECOCTUM PAREIRA. Lond.   Decoction of Pareira Brava.
   " Take of Pareira Brava, sliced, ten drachms; Distilled Water a pint and a
 half [Imperial measure].  Boil down to a pint, and strain.", Lond.
   This is apt to remain turbid after straining, but, if allowed to stand, gradually
 deposits insoluble matter, and then filters perfectly clear.  (Pharm. Journ. and
 Trans, xiv.  191.)  The dose of it is from one to two  fluidounces three or four
 times a day.                                                       -^7-

   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
       63 
994
Decocta.
PART II.
pints (Imperial  measure) of distilled water, and boil to a pint; the Dublin
 College takes an ounce and a half (avoirdupois) of the bark, and  a pint and
 a half (Imp. meas.) of water, and boils for ten minutes.
   This decoction contains the tannin, bitter principle, and gallic acid of oak
 bark.   It affords precipitates with the decoction of Peruvian bark and -other
 substances containing vegetable alkaloids, 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.                                    vy

   DECOCTUM SARSAPARILLA. Dub.  Decoctum Sarsa. Lond.
 Decoctum Sarza.  Ed.  Decoction of Sarsaparilla.
   " Take of Sarsaparilla, five ounces; Distilled  Water four pints [Imperial
 measure.].  Boil down to two pints, and strain." Lond,
   " Take of Sarza, in chips, five ounces; boiling Water four pints [Imperial
 measure].  Digest the root in the Water for two hours at a temperature some-
 what 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,
   The Dublin College digests two ounces (avoirdupois) of the sliced root with a
pint and a half (Imp. meas.) of water for an hour, then boils for ten minutes,
 in a covered vessel, cools, and strains.
   There can be no occasion for the digestion directed by the Edinburgh  College,
 as, if the root is sliced and well bruised, all its  ingredients that are soluble 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 sarsaparilla
 resided in its fecula, the extraction of which was, therefore, the main object of
 the decoction.  Hence the long boiling ordered by the London and Edinburgh
 Colleges.   But this opinion is now admitted to be erroneous.  The activity of
 the root is believed 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 change, at the temperature of 212°.  This fact appears to be demon-
 strated by the experiments of Pope,* Hancock,f Soubeiran,! Beral, and others.
 Hancock  makes the following observations.  "After long boiling, the  peculiar
 odour which rises abundantly on the coction of good sarsa is almostextinguished.
 From the sarsa prepared  in this way, I found no  sensible results upon any pa-
 tient, 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, i.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 sarsaparilla in cold water for twenty-
 four hours; infused another portion in boiling water, and digested with a mode-
 rate 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 in-
 fusions scarcely different in this respect; and both possessed of a stronger odour

   * Trans, of the Medico-Chirurg. Society of London, vol. xii. p. 344.
   t 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.
   t Journ. de Pharmacie, torn. xy-u p. 33^ 
PART II.
Decocta.
995
 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 principle of the drug, is volatile.  From all these facts the in-
 ference 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 testimony in its favour.  Percolation in a displacement apparatus, if pro-
 perly conducted, 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 advantageously re-
 sorted to, when circumstances require  the preparation to be made in less time
 than is requisite for infusion. In every instance the ro'ot should be thoroughly
 bruised, or reduced to a coarse powder, thus obviating the necessity for a long
 maceration, merely to overcome the cohesion of its fibres.
    Precipitates are produced by various substances with this decoction;  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 Sarsas Compositum.                          W.

    DECOCTUM SARSAPARILLA COMPOSITUM.  U.  S.,  Dub.
 Decoctum Sarsa Compositum. Lond.   Decoctum Sarza  CoxMposi-
 tum. Ed.  Compound Decoction of Sarsaparilla.
   Take of Sarsaparilla, sliced and bruised, six ounces ; Bark of Sassafras Root,
 sliced, Guaiacum Wood, rasped, Liquorice Root, bruised, each, an ounce; Me-
 zereon, sliced, three drachms; Water four pints.  Macerate for twelve hours-
 then  boil for a quarter of an  hour, and strain." U. S.
   "Take of Decoction  of Sarsaparilla, boiling hot, four pints [Imp. meas.];
 Sassafras [root], sliced, Guaiacum Wood, rasped, fresh Liquorice Root, 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 meze-
 reon, which in the former is  half an ounce.   The Dublin College  takes two
 ounces (avoirdupois) of the sarsaparilla, two drachms (Dub. weight), each, of
 the sassafras, guaiacum wood, and liquorice  root, a drachm (Dub. weight)' of
 the mezereon root-bark, and a pint and a half (Imp. meas.) of boiling water-
 digests all together, in a close vessel, for an hour, then boils for ten minutes,'
 cools, and strains.
   The process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia differs essentially from those of the
 London and Edinburgh Colleges in this respect, that, instead of taking the sim-
 ple 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 sarsaparilla 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 drug.  (See Decoctum
 Sarsaparillse.)  The direction in the edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia for
 1850, to macerate for twelve hours, is an improvement.  The Dublin process
is preferable to those of the other British Colleges.
  This decoction is an imitation of the celebrated Lisbon diet drink.  The sar- 
 996                             Decocta.                        part ii.

 saparilla and mezereon are the active ingredients; the guaiacum wood impart-
 ing scarcely any of its virtues, and the  sassafras  and liquorice serving little
 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 rheumatism,  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.
   DECOCTUM  SCOPARII.  Dub.   Decoction of Broom.
   "Take of Broom-tops, dried, half an ounce [avoirdupois]; Water half a pint
 [Imperial measure].  Boil for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain. The
 product should measure about eight [fluid]ounces."  Dub.
   DECOCTUM   SCOPARII  COMPOSITUM.  Lond.    Decoctum
 Scoparii.  Ed.   Compound Decoction of Broom.
   "Take of Broom, Juniper, bruised, Dandelion, bruised, each, half an ounce;
 Distilled Water  a joint and a half [Imperial measure].   Boil down to  a pint
 [Imp. meas.], 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 [Imp. meas.].
 Boil them together down to a pint [Imp. meas.], and then strain." Ed.
   This decoction is used as an adjuvant  to more powerful diuretics in dropsy.
 From half a pint to a pint maybe taken during the day.  The simple decoction
 of the Dublin College is twice as strong with broom as the compound.   W.
   DECOCTUM  SENEGA. U. S, Lond.  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 dis-
 tilled 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 decoc-
 tion are essentially the same as those of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
   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. (See
 Senega.) The dose of the decoction is about two fluidounces three or four times
 a day, or a tablespoonful every two or three hours.                    W.

   * The Decoction of Zittmann (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 Pharmacopoeia, 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 gvi, white lead
 5vi, sulphate of zinc giij, white sugar giss, 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
 strong 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 abide the liquor under the name of
 the weak decoction.'' Mercury was detected by Wiggers in this decoction in very small
 proportion.  It should not be prepared in metallic vessels, lest the mercurial in solution
 should be decomposed.  The decoction may be drunk freely. 
 part u.                 Decocta.—Emplastra.                     997

   DECOCTUM TARAXACI.  Lond., Ed.  Decoction of Dandelion.
   "Take of Dandelion, bruised, four ounces; Distilled Water a pint and a half
 [Imperial measure].   Boil to a pint, and strain." Lond.
   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.
   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  Tormentil.
   "Take  of Tormentil, bruised, two ounces; Distilled Water a pint and a Mlf
 [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.   Decoction of  Elm Bark.
   "Take  of Elm [bark], bruised, two ounces and a half; Distilled Water two
 pints [Imperial measure].  Boil down to a pint, and strain." Lond.
   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 cer-
 tain cutaneous disorders.   From four to six fluidounces are given two or three
 times a day.                                                       W.

   DECOCTUM  UVA URSI.  U. S., Lond., Dub.   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.
   "Take of Uva Ursi, bruised, half an ounce [avoirdupois]; Water half a pint
 [Imp. meas.].  Boil for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain.  The pro-
 duct should measure about eight [fluid]ounces." Dub.
   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.

                          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
 U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   Those plasters which contain none of the compound of
 oil and litharge owe their consistence and adhesiveness to resinous  substances,
 or to a mixture of these with wax and oleaginous matter.
   In the 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 preparation
 may in any 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 adhesive, without melting at the
heat of  the human body.   When long kept, they are apt to change colour and 
 998                           Emplastra.                      part ii.

 to become hard and brittle; and, as this alteration is most observable upon their
 surface, it must depend chiefly upon the action of the air, which should  there-
 fore 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 maybe 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 often  be
 accomplished by employing 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. 825.)   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, corre-
 sponding to  the required outline.   The spreading of the plaster is  most conve-
 niently 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.  Care must be taken that the instrument be not  so hot as to
 discolour or decompose the plaster; and special care is requisite in the case of
 those plasters which  contain a volatile ingredient.   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, or in a shallow tin tray open on one side, should,
 when nearly cool, be transferred to the leather, and applied quickly and evenly
^over its surface. By this plan the melted plaster is prevented from  penetrating
'the  leather, as it is apt to do when applied too hot.  Before removing the paper
 from the edge of the plaster, if it has become so hard as to crack, the iron should
 be drawn over the line of junction.*   When  linen or muslin is used, and the
 dimensions of the portion to be spread are large, as is often the case with adhe-
 sive 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 11
 Herent in the Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim. (Be ser., ii. 403).f         W.

   EMPLASTRUM  AMMONIACI.  U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.   Am-
 moniac Plaster.
   " Take of Ammoniac five ounces; Diluted Acetic Acid half a pint  Dissolve
 the Ammoniac in the Diluted Acetic Acid, and strain; then  evaporate the  solu-
 tion by means of a water-bath, stirring constantly until  it acquires  a  proper
 consistence." U. S.
   The London College takes five  ounces  of prepared ammoniac, and  eight
 fluidounces of diluted acetic acid;  dissolves  the ammoniac in the acid; and

   *  The reader is referred to the Am. Journ. of Pharm., (xxv. 29, and xxvi. 15), for
 descriptions of plaster  spatulas, with  contrivances for heating them, which he may
 sometimes find convenient.
   t Within a few years it has been customary with apothecaries to employ an apparatus,
 such as that here figured, for preparing quantities of plasters.  An oblong rectangular 
part ii.                       Emplastra.                           999

evaporates the solution by a slow fire, stirring constantly, to  the proper con-
sistence.   The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of ammoniac and nine
fluidounces of distilled vinegar; dissolves the ammoniac in  the vinegar, and
evaporates over the vapour-bath, frequently stirring.   The Dublin College dis-
solves four ounces (avoirdupois) of ammoniac, coarsely powdered, in four
fluidounces of proof spirit, and then evaporates, by means of a steam or water-
bath, stirring  constantly until it acquires a proper consistence.
   As ammoniac is not usually kept purified in our shops, the straining of the
solution in the diluted acid is directed as the most convenient method of sepa-
rating impurities.   Dr. Duncan remarked that the plaster, prepared  in iron
vessels, "acquires an unpleasant dark colour, from being impregnated with iron;
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 reso-
lution.   It often produces a papular eruption, and sometimes occasions con-
siderable inflammation of the skin.   Dr. Duncan has described  a fatal case of
diffuse inflammation following its use in an instance of diseased  knee-joint.
   Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro.               W.
   EMPLASTRUM  AMMONIACI  CUM HYDRARGYRO.   U.  S.,
Lond., Dub. Emplastrum Ammoniaci et Hydrargyri.  Ed.  Plaster
of Ammoniac with Mercury.
   "Take  of Ammoniac a pound; Mercury three ounces;  Olive  Oil  a flui-
block of hard wood (a e) has its up-
per surface (c) gently convex.  To
this is attached by a movable joint
(at r) a  sheet iron frame (6), with
an opening (n) of the dimensions
of the plaster  to be spread, and
clasps (a!)  at the  other  end,  by
which this may  be fixed  to the
block.  Another portion of the ap-
paratus is a wooden  measure (m),
by which  the leather is  cut out,
and the margin marked.   The lea-
ther thus prepared  is laid on the
convex surface of the block (c) ;
the sheet  iron frame is  brought
down  on  it evenly (as  at h i) ;
the plaster previously melted,  is
poured on the leather in the cen-
tre, and, by means  of an  iron  in-
strument (g), previously heated by
a spirit  lamp, is spread uniformly
over  the  surface,  the  thickness
being  regulated   by the frame
against which the iron is  pressed.
Any   excess of  plaster   is thus
pressed over upon the frame. The
point of  a sharp instrument (I)  is
then drawn along the interior edge
of the frame so as  to separate the
plaster from it, after which the
clasps are unfastened and the plas-
ter removed.
S
,	w0f\	Ji#i
 
1000
Emplastra.
PART II.
 drachm; Sulphur eight grains.   Heat the Oil, and gradually add the Sulphur
 constantly stirring, until they unite; then add the Mercury, and triturate until
 globules no longer appear.   Boil the Ammoniac with sufficient water  to cover
 it until they are mixed;  then strain through  a hair sieve, and evaporate by
 means of a water-bath, until a small portion taken from the vessel hardens on
 cooling.  Lastly,  add the Ammoniac, while yet hot, gradually to the mixture
 of Oil,  Sulphur, and Mercury, and thoroughly incorporate all the intrredients "
 U.S.
   "Take of Prepared Ammoniac a pound; Mercury three ounces; Olive Oil a
fluidrachm; 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 Ammoniac Plaster four ounces;  Mercurial Plaster eight  ounces.
 Mix them together by means of a steam or water-bath, and stir constantly un-
 til the mixture stiffens on cooling." Dub.
   Of these processes the last is preferable, as the unpleasant odour of the sul-
 phuretted oil is avoided, as well as the action of the sulphur upon the mercury,
 with which it must form an inactive  sulphuret.   When ammoniac  not pre-
 viously  prepared is used, as it is not fusible by heat, it must be brought to the
 proper consistence by dissolving it in a small quantity  of hot water, straining,
 and evaporating.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This plaster unites with the stimulant power
 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  indolent
 swellings, especially when dependent on a venereal taint.   It is also sometimes
 applied over the liver in chronic hepatitis.                            W.

   EMPLASTRUM  ASSAFCETIDA. U. S, Ed.  Assafetida Plaster.
   "Take of Assafetida, Lead Plaster, each, a pound; Galbanum, Yellow Wax,
 each, half a pound; Alcohol three pints.  Dissolve the Assafetida 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; Gal-
banum and Bees'-wax, of each, one ounce.  Liquefy the Gum-resins together,
and strain them, then add the Plaster and Wax also in the fluid state,  and mix
them all thoroughly." Ed.
   The directions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia 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 pre-
pared by dissolving it in  a small quantity of hot water or 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
Ed. Pharmacopoeia, unless the term "liquefy" be considered as allowing the
operator to choose the mode  in which they may be rendered liquid.
   This plaster maybe 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. 
PART II.
Emplastra.
1001
    EMPLASTRUM BELLADONNA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Plas-
  ter of Belladonna.
    "Take of Besin 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."  U. S.
   The Edinburgh and Dublin processes are the same as the above.  The Lon-
 don differs in taking three ounces, each, of the extract and of soap plaster.
   The most convenient method of forming this plaster is to rub the ingredients
 together in an earthenware mortar, placed in hot water,  and then, having re-
 moved the mortar from the water-bath, to continue the trituration till the  mix-
 ture  cools.  It should be prepared with  the  extract made according to the
 directions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which is deprived of the albumen and
 insoluble matter; as otherwise it is apt to be wanting in  the due adhesiveness.
 The preparation is a useful anodyne application in  neuralgic and  rheumatic
 pains, and in dysmenorrhea.   We have seen the constitutional effects of bella-
 donna 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 Turpentinefour ounces and a half; Burgundy Pitch and
 Cantharides, of each, three ounces; Bees'-wax one ounce; Yerdigris half an
 ounce; White Mustard Seed and Black Pepper,  of each, two drachms. Liquefy
 the Wax and Burgundy Pitch, add the Turpentine,  and  while the mixture is
 hot sprinkle into it the remaining articles, previously in fine powder, and mixed
 together.   Stir the whole  briskly as it concretes on cooling." Ed.
   This is intended to be  a powerful  and  speedy blistering plaster, and may
probably prove beneficial in 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 un-
pleasant and tedious ulceration, if not gangrene, might result.  To  the cases
of children it is wholly inapplicable.                                 "W.

   EMPLASTRUM CYMINI. Lond.   Cumin  Plaster.
   "Take of  Cumin, Caraway, Laurel [fruit],  each,  three  ounces; Prepared
Burgundy Pitch three pounds;  Wax three ounces; Olive Oil, Water, each,  a
fluidounce and a half.  To the Pitch and Wax melted together add the  dry
ingredients powdered, the Oil, and the Water;  then  evaporate to the  proper
consistence."  Lond.
  This is a gently stimulant plaster, of an  agreeable  odour,  and  may be used
when a very moderate rubefacient impression is  indicated.               W.

  EMPLASTRUM FERRI.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Emplastrum
RoRorans.   Iron Plaster.   Strengthening Plaster.
  "Take of Subcarbonate of Iron three ounces;  Lead Plaster two pounds; Bur-
gundy Pitch half a pound.  Add the Subcarbonate of Iron to the Lead Plaster
                                   <
  * This plaster, according to Mr. Thomas Southall, is better prepared with an alcoholic
extract, than with the inspissated juice, being more easily  spread, more adhesive, and
consequently more efficacious. He prepares the officinal extract for the purpose, by
mixing it with water sufficient to  give it the consistence of treacle, adding successively
small portions of alcohol until the mucilage separates, removing this by strong expres-
sion, and evaporating the clear liquid so as to form an extract, which is to be added to
the melted plaster. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans, xv. 351.)—-Note  to the eleventh edition. 
1002
Emplastra.
PART II.
and Burgundy Pitch, previously melted together, and stir them constantly until
they thicken upon cooling." U. S.
  The London and Dublin preparations are the same as the above, except that
prepared Thus or frankincense is used in the former instead of Burgundy pitch,
and peroxide of iron in the latter, instead of the subcarbonate.
  "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.
  This 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  inflammatory affec-
tions, and, if relieved by the plaster, are so in consequence of  the gentle excita-
tion which it produces in the vessels of the skin.   It may also, in  some in-
stances, give relief by affording mechanical support; but neither in this, nor in
any other respect can it be deemed very efficient.                     W.

  EMPLASTRUM  GALBANI  COMPOSITUM.  U.S.   Emplas-'
trum Galbani. Lond.   Compound Galbanum Plaster.
  "Take of Galbanum eight ounces; Turpentine ten drachms; Burgundy Pitch
three ounces; Lead Plaster three pounds.   To the Galbanum and Turpentine,
previously melted together and  strained, add  first  the Burgundy Pitch, and
afterwards the Lead Plaster melted  over a gentle fire, and mix  the whole to-
gether." U. S.
  The London process differs  only in directing an ounce of turpentine instead
of ten drachms, prepared galbanum instead of the crude, and prepared Thus
or frankincense, instead of Burgundy pitch.
  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 obstinate cases of this
kind, which, after having resisted general and local depletion, blistering, 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, applied over  the whole lumbar region,
and has been recommended in  chronic gouty or rheumatic  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 for-
mer 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 pro-
per consistence for mixing with  the other ingredients.
   Off. Prep. Emplastrum Saponis.                                 W. 
PART II.
Emplastra.
1003
    EMPLASTRUM HYDRARGYRI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Mer-
  curial 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 together." 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 States
  Pharmacopoeia, except that only half the  quantity of materials is employed,
  and nine fluidrachms of olive oil are directed instead of an ounce.
    The Dublin College substitutes a fluidounce of oil of turpentine for the two
  ounces of olive oil;  but in other respects its process  corresponds with that of
  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
    The sulphuretted oil employed by the London College is  intended to facilitate
  the extinguishment of the mercury; but, as it  operates by  the union of the sul-
•  phur with the metal forming an inefficient sulphuret, it impairs the virtues of
  the plaster at least as much as it assists in its preparation.  The melted resin
  and oil of the United States and Edinburgh processes are decidedly preferable.
    This plaster is employed to produce  the local effects of mercury upon venereal
  buboes, nodes, and other chronic tumefactions of the bones or soft parts, de-
  pendent 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 M. Serres  and others, it appears that
 the mercurial plaster of the  Codex (Emplastrum de Vigo  cum  Mercuric)
 has the power, when applied over the eruption of small-pox, before the end of
 the third day from its first appearance, to check the progress of  the eruption,
 and prevent 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  the air is proved by the fact, that the use of lead plaster was not
 followed by the same results.  It is probable that other mercurial preparations
 would answer the same purpose; and the common mercurial  ointment has, in
 our own hands,  proved  effectual in rendering the eruption upon the face to a
 considerable  extent abortive, in one 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 mentioned are
 those of the French metrical pound.  (See table in the Appendix.)
   Emplastrum de Vigo cum Mercuric '< 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 
1004                         Emplastra.                      part ii.

been cooled, but while it is yet liquid, add the mercurial mixture, and incorpo-
rate the whole thoroughly."  This should be spread upon leather or linen cloth,
and applied so as effectually, to cover the face, or whatever other part it is de-
sired to protect.
   Off. Prep. Emplastrum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro.               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 Extract of Opium an ounce; Lead Plaster eight ounces; Prepared
Thus [frankincense] two ounces: boiling Water a fluidounce.  To the melted
Thus add the Plaster melted with a slow fire, and the Extract previously mixed
with the Water, and  evaporate, With a slow fire, constantly stirring, until the
proper consistence is obtained." Lond.
   "Take of Powder of Opium half an ounce; Burgundy Pitch three ounces;
Litharge Plaster [Lead Plaster] twelve ounces.  Liquefy the Plaster and Pitch,
add the Opium  by degrees, and mix them thoroughly." Ed.
   " Take of Opium, in very fine powder, one ounce; Resin Plaster nine ounces.
Melt the Plaster by means of a steam or water bath, then add the Opium by
degrees, and mix thoroughly." Dub.
   The use  of water in the U. S. and London processes 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 Prepared Burgundy Pitch two pounds; Prepared  Thus [frankin-
cense] a pound; Resin, Wax, each, four ounces;  Expressed Oil of Nutmegs an
ounce; Olive Oil,  Water, each, two fluidounces'.   To the Thus, Pitch, Resin,
and Wax, melted together, add the Oils and the Water.  Then evaporate all,
continually stirring, 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 fluidounce.   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.
   The simple " Myristicse Oleum" of the London Materia Medica list, has he-
come  " Myristicse Oleum Expressum" here.  We presume that the Edinburgh
oil of mace, in  the above formula, though the term is not defined in the Phar-
macopoeia,  is the substance denominated, in  the Edinburgh Materia  Medica
catalogue, Myristicse Adeps or concrete oil of nutmeg.  (Seepage 509.)
   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 BURGUNDICA.  U.S. Burgundy Pitch
Plaster.
   " Take of Burgundy Pitch six pounds; Yellow Wax half a pound,  Melt
them together, and stir them constantly till they thicken on cooling."  U. S. 
PART II.
Emplastra.
1005
    In this formula, the object of the wax is simply to give a proper consistence
 to the Burgundy pitch, and to prevent it from breaking in cold weather.   W.

    EMPLASTRUM PICIS  CUM CANTHARIDE.  U.S.   Emplas-
 trum  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." U S.
    The Dublin College employs the same ingredients, but has increased the pro-
 portion of Burgundy  pitch  to five pounds and a half.
    This plaster is an excellent rubefacient, more active than Burgundy pitch, yet
 in general not sufficiently so to produce vesication.  Still, however, in conse-
 quence of peculiar susceptibility of the skin in some individuals, it occasionally
 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 proportion of
 flies would vesicate in  certain persons, and even the Burgundy pitch alone some-
 times produces the same effect.  In whatever mode, therefore, this 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 particular 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
 iu 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 yvould be more thoroughly enveloped in the other  ingredients, and thus
 have their strength much diluted.  Hence the cerate, when used as an ingre-
 dient of the warming plaster, should contain the cantharides 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 tem-
 perature of 212°, and then  strain it so as to separate the flies. (See Ceratum
 Cantharidis.)   The mode frequently  pursued of preparing the warming plas-
 ter by simply sprinkling  a very small proportion of  powdered flies upon the
 surface of Burgundy pitch is altogether objectionable.  The U. S. process is
 that of the old Dublin Pharmacopoeia.  In the edition of that Pharmacopoeia
 of 1850,  the proportion of  the Burgundy pitch has been increased so as con-
 siderably  to diminish the strength of the preparation.
   The warming plaster is employed in chronic rheumatism, and various chronic
 internal diseases attended with inflammation (fr an inflammatory tendency; such
 as catarrh, asthma, pertussis, phthisis, hepatitis, and the sequelas  of pleurisy
 and pneumonia.                                                    ^r

   EMPLASTRUM  PLUMBI.  U.S., Lond.    Emplastrum Lithar-
 GYRI. Ed., Dub.   Lead Plaster.  Litharge Plaster.
   "Take  of Semivitrified 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  bo
 proper to  add a little boiling water, if that employed at the commencement be
 nearly all  consumed before the end of the process." U. S.
   The above process is precisely that of the London  Pharmacopoeia of  1821,
 In the editions of that work for 1836 and 1851, the quantities directed are six
pounds of the oxide of lead,  a gallon of olive oil, and two pints of water; but, 
1006
Emplastra.
part II.
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 dis-
covery, however, was afterwards made, that this liquid was essential to the pro-
cess;  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 Chevreul's views  in relation to oils,  and their combinations
with alkalies and other metallic oxides, the former opinions have been aban-
doned; and it is now admitted that the preparation of the  lead plaster affords a
genuine example of saponification, as explained by that chemist.  A reaction
takes place between the oil and water, resulting in the development of a sweet-
ish 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 remains 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 re-
cent chemical view, the fixed oils are compounds of the oily acids  mentioned and
oxide of glyceryl.  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 glyceryl
takes an equivalent of water and becomes glycerin.  Glyceryl is  a hypothetical
compound of carbon and hydrogen (C(iH7),  which unites  with five equivalents of
oxygen to form  oxide of glyceryl (CBH7Os), also a hypothetical  substance, and
additionally with an equivalent of water to form  glycerin  (C6H7O5+H0).
   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 M. Henry, of  Paris,  no oily matter except animal
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 lead  plaster to the German.
From more recent experiments of  Soubeiran,  it 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 neces-
sity for its partial deoxidation renders a longer continuance of the process ne-
cessary than with  massicot.   According  to  M. Davallon, Professor in the
School of Medicine and Pharmacy at Lyons, it is important that the olive oil
employed should be pure; for when adulterated, as it frequently is in commerce, 
 part ii.                      Emplastra.                          1007

 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 advantage-
 ous as to lead to the general adoption of this process.  For particular informa-
 tion on the subject, the reader is referred to the American Journal of Pharmacy
 (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.  While the water  exerts an important chemical  agency in the changes
 which occur, it  L also useful by  preventing too high  a temperature, which
 would decompose  the  oil and  cause  the  reduction of the oxide.  The waste
 must, therefore, be supplied by fresh  additions as directed in the process;  and
 the water added for this purpose should  be  previously heated, as 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 bot-
 tom 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 consequence partly of the
 vaporization of the water, partly of the escape of carbonic 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 con-
 sistence 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  un-
 combined 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,  having been well  kneaded under
 water, in  order to separate the viscid solution of  glycerin contained in the in-
 terior, 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 useful by
 keeping it in a plastic state, and that washing and kneading are injurious,  the

  * M. de Mussy, physician of the hospital de la Pitie', having witnessed inconveniences
 from lead plaster, in consequence of the absorption of the lead, substituted for it a plas-
 ter with a basis of oxide of zinc, which he has found to answer very well in practice.
 It cannot be made by direct combination of the oxide ; and it is necessary to have re-
 course to the method of double decomposition.  Solutions of white olive oil soap and
 of  sulphate of zinc being mixed, a copious precipitate takes place of oleo-margarate
of  zinc, which, after  being washed and dried,  may be combined with resins, oil, and
wax, to give it the necessary consistence.   This preparation, however, is not likely to
supersede the officinal. (Journ. de Pharm.  et de Chim., xxvii. 100.)—A7ote to the eleventh
edition. 
1008
Emplastra.
PART II.
 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.) By employitif
 steam heat in the preparation of this plaster, the risk of burning it is avoided,
 For a good arrangement for this purpose see Mohr and Redwoods Pharmacy,
 edited by Prof. Procter, p. 420.
    Medical 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 which 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.   While in
 its yet incomplete state, it is used in the preparation of glycerin.*
    Off. Prep.   Emplastrum  Assafcetidae ;  Emp.  Ferri; Emp. Galbani  Com-
 positum ; Emp. Gummosum ; Emp. Hydrargyri; Emp. Opii; Emp. Resina;
 Emp. Saponis ;  Unguentum Plumbi Compositum.                    W.

    EMPLASTRUM POTASSII  IODIDI. Lond.   Plaster of Iodide
 of Potassium.
    " Take of Iodide of Potassium  an ounce;  Prepared Thus  [Frankincense]
 six ounces ; Wax six drachms ; Olive Oil two fluidrachms.  To the Thus
 and Wax melted together add the Iodide previously rubbed with the Oil, and
 stir constantly till they cool.  This plaster is to be spread rather on linen than
 leather." Lond,
    This plaster may be employed for the resolution  of indolent tumours, and
"for the other purposes for which the preparations of iodine are used externally.
 (See Potassii Iodidum.)                                            W.

    EMPLASTRUM RESINA.  U. S., Lond., Dub.  Emplastrum Re-
 sinosum.  Ed.  Emplastrum Adelssivum.  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.
    The London process differs only in melting the resin before adding it.   The
 Edinburgh College orders five ounces of the lead  plaster, and one of resin.
 The Dublin melts two pounds of litharge plaster over a gentle fire, then adds
 four ounces of powdered resin,  and two ounces of powdered castile soap, and
 mixes them intimately, employing the avoirdupois weights in  the process.
    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

   * A plaster of carbonate of lead was originally introduced into our  Pharmacopoeia as
 a substitute for Malnfs plaster, so much employed in some parts of the United States;
 but was omitted in the edition of 1840.  It is a good application to  surfaces inflamed
 or excoriated by friction ; and may be resorted to with advantage in those troublesome
 cases of cutaneous irritation, and even ulceration, occurring upon the back and hips
 during long-continued confinement  to one position.  We give the process as contained
 in the Pharmacopoeia of 1830. " Take of Carbonate of Lead a pound; Olive Oil two pints;
 Yellow Wax four ounces; Lead plaster a pound 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 first, but
 soon acquiring the proper consistence. 
PART II.
Emplastra.
1009
  drawn towards each other, and a firm support is given to the granulations
  As prepared by the Dublin  College  it contains soap, which gives it greater
  pliability, and renders it less liable to crack in cold weather, without impairing
  its adhesiveness.  As thus prepared,  it is  equivalent to the Emplastrum Sa-
  ponis Compositum vet Adhserens  of the  old Dublin Pharmacopoeia   It is
  usually spread 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 re-
  newed.   When the skin is very delicate, it occasionally excites some irritation
  anci  under these  circumstances  a plaster  may  be  substituted,  containing a
  smaller proportion of resin.  That originally employed by Baynton contained
  only six drachms of resin to the pound of  lead plaster.  To obviate the same
  evil,  M. Herpin recommends the addition of tannate of lead, the proportion of
  which, when adhesiveness  is  required in the plaster, should not exceed one-
  twentietli  but under other circumstances  may  be  increased  to one-twelfth
  (Pullet, de Therap. xlviii. 155.)
    Im 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
  tfurgundy pitch or turpentine in  its  preparation.; but these additions are objec-
  tionable, as they greatly increase  the liability of the plaster to irritate the skin
  chiefI tetendeT*interfere with the PurPoses for which the preparation was

    Off. Prep. Emplastrum Belladonnas;  Emplastrum Opii.            W

    ?tI?H!TR™ SAPONIS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Soap Plaster.
      lake of Soap, sliced, four ounces; Lead Plaster three pounds.   Rub the
  boap with sufficient water  to bring  it to a semi-fluid state;  then mix it  with
  the Plaster previously melted, and boil to the proper consistence "  U. S
    "Take of Soap  sliced, half a pound; Lead Plaster three pounds; Resin an
 ounce.  To the Plaster melted by  a slow fire add the Soap and Resin previously
 liquefied;  then  evaporate the whole,  constantly stirring, to the proper consist-
 ence.   Lond.
    "Take of Litharge Plaster [Lead Plaster]  four ounces; Gum Plaster two
 ounces; Castile Soap, m shavings, one ounce.  Melt the Plasters together with
 a moderate heat, add the Soap, and  boil for a little." Ed.
    "Take of Castile Soap in powder,  four ounces;  Litharge  Plaster [Lead
 Plaster] two pounds and a half.  To the  Plaster previously melted  over a
 gentle fire add the Soap, and heat them together until they are thoroughly in-
 corporated."  Dub.   The avoirdupois weights  are used in this process
  f AJie1^'esentU- S._ process is an  improvement upon that of the former edition
 of the Pharmacopoeia.  The proportion of soap in  the old process was so large
 as to  render  the plaster friable.   It has been diminished  from six to four
 ounces.  Besides by the  present  mode of proceeding, it is  more thoroughly
 incorporated with the plaster.   The  same end of greater plasticity is accom-

 nnlw aJhe.sive  plaster' e.xemPt from osid(3 »f lead, is prepared by Pettenkofer.  Jt
 consists of calcareous soap incorporated with turpentine and suet, and may be prepared
 m 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 homo-
 geneous fluid, when it is worked by the hand, in the ordinary manner, in cold water
 bhould portions of the calcareous soap not  melt, they should  be separated by strain-
ing through flannel. (Journ. de Pharm., Zestr,, x. 358, from Repertoriumfur die Pharm.,

       64 
1010
Emplastra.—Enemata.
PART II.
plished, in some degree, in the London process  by the resin, and in the Edin-
burgh by the gum plaster.
  Soap plaster is considered discutient, and is sometimes used as an application
to tumours.
   Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Belladonnas.                               vy

   EMPLASTRUM SIMPLEX.  Ed.  Simple Plaster.
   "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 on cooling." Ed.
   This plaster was originally intended for dressing blistered surfaces, in order
to maintain a moderate discharge, to which purpose it is adapted by the stimu-
lant property of the resin.  But its stiffness and adhesiveness render it unplea-
sant and of  difficult management; and it has been entirely superseded by the
resin cerate.   It is equivalent to the old Emplastrum  Cerse of the London
College.                                                            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 they should be  noticed.   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 portion
of the alimentary canal and neighbouring organs, or of acting on the system gene-
rally 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 sup-
ply their place when the stomach rejects them, or is insensible to their impres-
sion.  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 suscep-
tibilities 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 diminution of that of the rectum.
   When the object is to evacuate the bowels, the quantity of liquid administered
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.  Much larger quantities of mild liquids may sometimes be
given with safety and advantage; as the bowels will occasionally feel the stimu-
lus of distension, when insensible to irritating impressions.
   When the design is to produce the peculiar impression of the remedy upon
the neighbouring parts, or on the system, it is usually desirable that the enema
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 disposition 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 fundament.   The best instrument for adminis-
tering enemata is an accurate metallic syringe.                        W. 
PART II.
Enemata.
1011
    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  ASSAFCETIDA. Lond.    Enema  Fcetidum.  Ed., Dub.
 Clyster of Assafetida.
    "Take of Prepared Assafetida a drachm;  Decoction of Barley half a  pint
 [Imperial measure].  Rub the Assafetida with the Decoction gradually added,
 till they are thoroughly mixed."  Lond.
    The Edinburgh College prepares  this by adding two drachms of tincture of ,
 assafetida to the cathartic clyster; the Dublin, by mixing two fluidrachms of
 the tincture with twelve fluidounces of warm water.
    This is carminative and antispasmodic as well as laxative.  The  preparation
 of the London Pharmacoposia is, we think, the best.   The whole quantity di-
 rected may be administered at once.                                 "W.

    ENEMA CATHARTICUM. Ed.,  Dub.   Cathartic  Clyster.
    "Take X)f 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'lh the Water ;  then dissolve the  Salt and Sugar; add
 the Oil, and mix them by agitation." Ed.
    "Take of Sulphate of Magnesia one ounce [avoirdupois]; Olive Oil one
 fluidounce; Mucilage of Barley sixteen fluidounces.   Dissolve the Sulphate
 of Magnesia in the Mucilage, add the Oil,  and mix." Dub.
    The laxative enema, most commonly employed in this  country, consists of a
 tablespoonful  of common salt, two tablespoonfuls of lard  or olive oil, the same
 quantity of molasses, and a pint of warm water.  It has the advantage of con-
 sisting of materials which are always at hand in families, is in all respects equal
 to  the Dublin  preparation, and, though less active than the Edinburgh, is pre-
 ferable to it on ordinary occasions.
   Off. Prep. Enema Foetidum.                                     W.

   ENEMA COLOCYNTHIDIS. Lond.   Clyster of Colocynth.
   " Take of Extract of Colocynth half a drachm; 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 re-
 quired upon the lower bowels, as in obstinate  colic and constipation.     W.

  ENEMA OPII. Lond.   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
fluidrachm of tincture of opium.
  Of these processes  that of the London  College is preferable, although the
 quantity of decoction of starch is unnecessarily large.   The Edinburgh process
 is objectionable from its indefiniteness.  It must have happened 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 hun-
dred drops of laudanum of the ordinary size, and not less than one hundred  and 
 1012                     Enemata.—Extracta.                  part ii.

 twenty as they are often formed.   From twenty to twenty-five drops are usually
 considered as a medium dose by the mouth ;  so that sixty drops, equivalent to
 about  thirty minims, are abundantly sufficient by enema.   The quantity, there-
 fore, ordered by the London  College, and the smallest quantity by the Edin-
 burgh, is the full dose.   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 irrita-
 tion of the alcohol before the opium begins to take effect.  The ordinary ano-
 dyne 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 that medi-
 cine by the mouth.                                                   W.
   ENEMA TEREBINTHINA. Lond., Ed.,  Dub.   Clyster of Tur-
pentine.
   " Take of Oil of Turpentine a fluidounce; the Yolk of one Egg; Decoction
 of Barley nineteen fluidounces.  Rub the Oil with the Yolk, and mix the De-
 coction with them." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College employs the same proportions, but substitutes water
 for decoction of barley.  The Dublin College mixes a fluidounce of the oil with
 sixteen fluidounces of mucilage of barley. (See Oleum Terebinthinse.)   W.

                            EXTRACTA.

                               Extracts.

   Extracts, as the term is employed in the 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 formerly made a distinction be-
 tween  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 abandoned it in the last edition of its Pharmacopoeia:  There is
 no  such essential difference between these two sets  of preparations  as to require
 that they should be separately classed;  and something is gained in the simpli-
 city of  nomenclature, as well as of arrangement, which results from their union.
 We shall consider them under the same head, taking care, however, to detail
 distinctly whatever is  peculiar in the mode of preparingv each.
   The composition  of extracts varies with the nature of the vegetable, the cha-
 racter 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 two 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, when 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 n pure alcohol.   Of these substances, as well as of others
 which, being soluble,  are  sometimes necessarily present in  extracts, we  have 
part n.                        Extracta.                            1013
  taken occasion to treat  under various heads in the Materia Medica.   There is
  one, however, which, from  its supposed almost uniform  presence in this class
  of preparations,  and from the influence it is thought to  exert upon their cha-
  racter, 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, undergoes
  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, originallv
  called saponaceous matter by Scheele, afterwards received the more expressive
  name of extractive, derived from its frequent presence in extracts.  Its existence
  as a distinct principle is denied, or at least doubted by some chemists, who con-
  sider the phenomena supposed to result from its presence,  as depending upon
  the mutual reaction of other principles  ; and, in relation 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 principles co-exist; but thev
  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,  while the  other
  ingredients may remain.  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, there-
 fore, been called, in its altered condition, oxidized extractive; but De Saussure
 ascertained that, though oxygen is absorbed during the process, 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 proposed to  substitute for it that of apotheme, synony-
 mous with deposit.  According to Berzelius, apotheme is not completely inso-
 luble 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 tend-
 ency, when precipitated from  solutions, to unite with  other principles, and to
 carry them along with it; thus acquiring properties somewhat different accord-
 ing 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'in to  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 possi-
 ble, be avoided.  With these preliminary views, we shall  proceed to the con-
 sideration of the practical rules necessary to be observed in the preparation of
extracts.  We shall treat of the subject  under the  several heads of, 1. the ex-
traction of the soluble principles from the plant; 2. the method of conducting
the evaporation; 3. the proper condition of extracts, the changes they are liable 
1014
Extracta.
part n.
to undergo, and the best method of preserving them ;  and 4. the general direc-
tions of the several Pharmacopceias 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 alone;  2. by the agency of a sol-
vent, with or without expression.
   1.  Py Expression.  This method is applicable  to recent vegetables.  All
plants cannot be usefully treated in this way, as many have too little juice to
afford an appreciable quantity upon pressure, and of  the succulent a consider-
able portion do not yield all their active principles with their juice. Succulent
fruits, and various acrid and narcotic plants, are proper subjects of this treat-
ment.   The plants should be operated upon, if possible, immediately after col-
lection.  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  expressed.  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. (Manual of Pharmacy.)  The juice thus ob-
tained 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 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
precipitate.   If the liquid be now filtered, it becomes limpid and nearly colour-
less, and is prepared for evaporation.   The clarification,  however, is not abso-
lutely necessary, and is  generally neglected.   Sometimes the precipitate carries
with it a considerable portion of the active principle; in which case it should
be subsequently 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
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 alco-
hol.    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, river, or  distilled water should be
preferred.  Alcohol is employed when the principles to be extracted are insolu-
ble, or but slightly soluble in water, as in the case of the resins; when it is de-
sirable 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 re-
action of the water itself upon the vegetable principles is injurious; 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 
PART II.
Extracta.
1015
 chemical changes; while an  alcoholic tincture may be preserved unaltered for
 an indefinite 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
 principles, 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 not a matter of  indifference.   The
 vegetable should be thoroughly bruised, or reduced to a 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 in employed, it has been customary to boil the medicine for a con-
 siderable time, and, if the first portion of liquid does not completely exhaust it,
 to repeat the operation .with successive portions, 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 ex-
 periments upon extracts, Orfila concluded that their virtues were less in pro-
 portion to the heat employed.  It has, therefore, been recommended to  substi-
 tute 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 mode-
 rately increased temperature sustained for a considerable time, and in the third
 is  poured boiling 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 coun-
 terbalanced 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 of albu-
 minous substances, that the albumen  is coagulated, and thus prevented from
 increasing the  bulk  of the extract, without adding to its virtues.   A conve-
 nient mode of  performing this process, is to introduce the solid  material 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 open-
 ing.  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 con-
 tinued evaporation, which injures 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.  When succes-
 sive  portions of water are employed, those which are least impregnated should
 be brought by evaporation to the strength of  that first obtained before being
 mixed with it,  as the latter thus escapes exposure  to unnecessary heat.
  Sometimes the filtering of a turbid infusion  or decoction, before evaporation,
causes the resulting extract to keep better, by removing substances, which*, be-
sides undergoing decomposition  themselves, may act as a ferment, and thus oc-
casion the decomposition  of the active matter of the extract. 
1016
Extracta.
PART II.
   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 substituting
 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.  Wnen alcohol and water are both used,  it is best, as a •■■en oral
 rule, to exhaust the vegetable with each separately, as the two menstrua require
 different modes of treatment.   In whichever of  these modes the extraction is
 effected, it requires the assistance of occasional agitation ; and, when the vege-
 table matter is very porous, and absorbs a large quantity of the solvent, expres-
 sion  must be  resorted to.
   Acetic acid has 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.  According to Girolamo
 Ferrari, the acrid narcotics,  such  as aconite, hemlock, hyoscyamus, and stramo-
 nium, yield much stronger extracts with distilled vinegar than with water, and
 still stronger with alcohol to which strong acetic acid has been added. (Journ.
 de Pharm., Be ser., i. 239.)   This acid is used in the preparation of the acetic
 extract of colchicum.
   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 eva-
 porating at a temperature 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 tincture is first prepared by the
 process of percolation or displacement, and the ether is then either allowed to
 escape by spontaneous evaporation, or is distilled off at a very moderate heat.
 The oleo-resin ous extracts thus obtained are usually of a thick fluid or semi-fluid
 consistence.   For more precise information as to the mode of preparing them,
 the reader is referred to a paper by Prof. Procter, in the Amer. Journ. of Pharm.
 (xxi. 114). Several of them are now ranked  among  the  officinal preparations,
 in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,  under the title of Fluid Extracts.
   The process of percolation or displacement has within a few years been very
 advantageously 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 not
 only saving time, but also obviating the risk of spontaneous decomposition;  and
 3. that it affords the opportunity of obtaining highly concentrated solutions, thus
 diminishing the injurious effects of the subsequent evaporation.   While thus
 advantageous, it is less  liable in  this particular case than  in others to the objec-
 tion 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 822  and 829.
   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
 upoi*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 
PART II.
Extracta.
1017
 linen bag, by means of a common screw press, or other convenient instrument.
 Another portion of the menstruum may then be added, and pressure again ap-
 plied; and, if the substance is not sufficiently exhausted, the same operation may
 be performed a third time.  Frequently only a single expression 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 advantages 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 favour-
 able results,  and finally that it occupies less time.


                 2.  Mode of conducting the Evaporation.
   In evaporating the solutions obtained in the modes above described, attention
 should always be paid to the fact, that the extractive matter is constantly be-
 coming 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 tempera-
 ture 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 in-
 fluence 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, there-
 fore, 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  observe 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-
 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 diminished.
 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 extract
 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
 vesselsat a moderate heat.   When large quantities of liquid are to be  evapo-
 rated, it is best to divide them  into portions, and  evaporate each separately;
 for, as each portion requires less time for evaporation than the whole,  it will
 thus  be a shorter time exposed to heat.  (Mohr.) But the mode of evaporation
 by boiling is  always more or less objectionable, and should be employed only
 in cases where the principles of the plant are  so fixed and  unchangeable as to
 authorize their extraction by decoction.
  Evaporation by means of the water-bath, from the commencement of the pro-
cess,  is safer than the plan just mentioned, as it obviates all danger of burning 
1018
Extracta.                        part ii.
 the extract; but, as the heat is not supplied directly from the fire, the volatili-
 zation 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 liquid should be stirred during the
 process.  The use of the vapour-bath,  as  suggested by M. Henry, is perhaps
 preferable;  as it requires a smaller consumption of fuel, and the heat imparted
 to  the liquid, while  sufficient to evaporate 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 capsule, 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 ex-
 cess of vapour.   The liquid to be evaporated is first distributed in two or three
 capsules, but, when considerably concentrated, is transferred to asingleone, 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  ad-
 vantage of this apparatus is, that it affords a large supply of distilled water.
  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 those-cases
 in which maceration or infusion is preferred to decoction for extracting the ac-
 tive 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 reference to substances which are
 injured by heat and  not by atmospheric air, the plan will 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 condensed
 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, promotes 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 
 part ii.                        Extracta.                           1019

 method, especially with watery infusions and decoctions, to evaporate 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 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 concentration 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 sepa-
 rately 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 necessary in the
 ordinary mode of concentrating the infusion or decoction.
   In every instance, care should be taken to prevent any portion of the  extract
 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, there-
 fore, 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.  In
 astringent extracts,  the evaporation should be carried to dryness.  Those ob-
 tained 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 sur-
 face.   Others, especially such as contain much chlorophylle, harden by time, in
 consequence of the escape of their moisture; and it not unfrequently happens
 that small crystals of  saline matter  are formed  in their  substance.  Most ex-
 tracts, especially those containing azotized principles,  are capable, when left to
 themselves, of producing nitrates.   The air, moreover, exercises an unfavoura-
 ble chemical influence over the softer extracts, which are enfeebled,  and ulti-
 mately become nearly inert, by the  same changes  which they undergo more
 rapidly in the liquid state at an elevated  temperature.  If an  extract  be dis-

  * M. Grandval has described an apparatus, for evaporation  in vacuo for the prepa-
 ration of extracts, in the Journ. de Pharm. et de  Chim.  (xv. 82).   In the same journal
 (xxiii. 1), MM. Soubeiran and Gobley have described and figured an apparatus, founded
 upon that of M. Grandval, but modified'so as to be adapted to operations on  a small
 scale, and to be within the  reach of apothecaries who may desire to prepare their own
 extracts.  Messrs. Tilden & Co., of New York, employ a vacuum apparatus analogous
 to that used in refining sugar.  The vacuum is obtained and continued by the constant
 action of a powerful steam driven pump.  Their apparatus includes  two evaporating
pans ; one large, having a capacity of several hundred gallons, used to concentrate the
solutions for extracts to a  syrupy consistence ;  the other,  holding about fifty  gallons,
in which the evaportion is  finished.  The latter is  furnished with an opening  of such
size as to permit the operator to remove the residual extract.  The temperature during
the evaporation is from 120° to 140° F., and is derived from steam pipes, placed within
the boiler in the large evaporating pan, and a steam jacket beneath the smaller one.
Very fine extracts are  prepared in this  way.—Note to the ninth and tenth editions. 
1020
Extracta.
PART II.
 solved 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.
   Extracts, in order that they may keep well, should be placed in glazed earthen-
 ware, 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 closing 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 prevent 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.)
   Some extracts when powdered have a tendency to cohere again.  According
 to Geiseler, this may be obviated by the addition of sugar of milk or powdered
 liquorice-root; two or three  parts of the former, and one part of the latter to
 one of the extract being  sufficient for the purpose. (Pharm. Cent Piatt, A. D.
 1850, p. 238.)  Mohr recommends the following plan  of drying and preserving
 extracts.   Take equal parts  of powdered liquorice-root and of the extract, rub
 them well together in a  mortar, put the resulting paste  into an earthen vessel
 with a flat bottom, place this in another of iron,  a  little deeper, containing
 chloride of calcium thoroughly dried by a heat insufficient to melt it; then en-
 close the whole with  a cover fitted to the iron vessel, and allow them to stand
 for a day or more.  When the extract is quite dry, powder it, and  mix  it with
 an equal weight of powdered liquorice-root.  (Ibid, p. 119.)
  Extracts from recent plants should 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, unless otherwise  directed, 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." U. S.
  The directions of the London College are the  same as the above,  the sprink-
 ling being omitted.
  " 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 evapora-
 tion in vacuo.   And the  extracts of expressed juices cannot, perhaps, be better
 prepared than by spontaneous evaporation in shallow vessels,  exposed to a cur-
rent of air.  Extracts should be evaporated to such a  consistence as to  form a
pill-mass when cold." Ed.                                           \y,

  EXTRACTUM ACONITI. U.S., Lond., Ed.  Extract of Aconite.
  This is prepared, according to  the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from fresh Aconite
Leaves in the  manner directed for extract of stramonium leaves.  (See Extract-
um Stramonii Foliorum.) 
PART II.
Extracta.
1021
   "Take of fresh Aconite Leaves a pound.  Bruise them in a  stone mortar;
 then express the juice, and evaporate it, without straining, to the proper con-
 sistence."  Lond,
   " 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 eva-
 porate 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. and London processes for this extract  are the same; 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 observations 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 ser-
 vice.   Having passed the expressed juice through a fine hair sieve, he places it
 immediately upon the fire.  Before it boils, a quantity of green matter ijses to
 the surface, which  in some plants  is very abundant.   This is removed by a per-
 forated 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 this, 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 col-
 lected by skimming, together with that precipitated, is  now incorporated with
 it, and the whole placed in a metallic  pan, and by means of a water-bath evapo-
 rated to the consistence of an extract.   In the latter part of the process, care is
 necessary to prevent the extract 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 undis-
 solved vegetable fibre.   It might probably be thrown away without diminishing
 the virtues of the extract; but  as chlorophylle, though itself inactive, 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 Pharmacopoeia,
first expresses the leaves, then digests the residue in alcohol, and evaporates the
two liquids together.   This is an improvement on  the other process; 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 yellowish-brown 
1022
Extracta.
PART II.
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.  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.         AV.

   EXTRACTUM  ACONITI ALCOHOLICUM.    U. S.   Alcoholic
Extract of Aconite.
   "Take of Aconite Leaves, in coarse power, a pound; Diluted Alcohol four
pints.  Moisten the powder with half a pint of the Diluted Alcohol, and, having
allowed the mixture to stand for twenty-four hours, transfer it to a percolator
and add gradually the remainder of the Diluted Alcohol,   When the last por-
tion of this has penetrated the powder, pour in sufficient water from time to
time to keep the mass 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 important 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.   According to Prof. Schroff, of  Vienna, it has four
times the strength of that preparation.  The dose is half a grain or a grain, to
be gradually increased if necessary.
   An alcoholic extract prepared from the root is 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.  Lond.   Extractum  Aloes  Aquosum.
Dub.   Extract of Aloes.
   "Take of Socotrine Aloes fifteen ounces;  Boiling Distilled Water a gallon
[Imperial measure].  Macerate for three days with a  gentle heat; then strain
the liquor, and set it by that the dregs may subside.  Pour  off the clear liquor,
and evaporate it to a proper consistence." Lond.
   "Take of Hepatic Aloes, in coarse powder, four ounces [avoirdupois]; Water
two pints [Imp. meas.].  Boil the Aloes until it is dissolved; when the solution
is cold, and  the dregs have  subsided, pour off the clear liquid, and  evaporate it
to a proper consistence." Dub.
   Off. Prep.  Decoctum Aloes-Compositum;  Pilula Colocynthidis Composita.

  * Plaster of Aconite.   It is often desirable to employ aconite externally in the form
of a plaster, and for this purpose the alcoholic extract of the root may be advantage-
ously resorted to.  Professor Procter prepares such a plaster by the following process.
Mix four ounces of the coarsely powdered root with six fluidounces  of alcohol (sp. gr.
0-835), macerate for 24 hours, then submit the mixture to percolation with alcohol, so
as to obtain a pint of tincture.  From this distil off three-fourths of the alcohol, and
evaporate the residue by a water-bath to a syrupy consistence.  While it is still  hot,
add three ounces  and a half of adhesive plaster, previously melted, and stir the mix-
ture constantly till it cools.  About four ounces  of plaster are thus obtained. (Am.
Journ. of Pharm.  xxv. 202.)— Note to the tenth edition. 
PART II.
Extracta.
1023
   EXTRACTUM ALOES BARBADENSIS. Lond.  Extract of Bar-
 badoes Aloes.
   "Prepare this in the manner directed for Extract of Aloes." Lond,
   The object of these processes is to separate from aloes the resinoid 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 extractive
 becomes insoluble, the preparation  may be considered as at best unnecessary.
 The dose of the purified  aloes is from five to fifteen grains.
   Off. Prep.  Pilula Aloes cum Sapone.                              W.

   EXTRACTUM ANTHEMIDIS. Ed.  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.
   According to Mr. Brande, one cwt. of dried chamomile flowers affords upon
 an average 48 pounds of extract.                                   p
   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 advantageously
 combined with laxatives and mineral tonics in  debility of the digestive or-
 gans.   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.   The dose  is from ten to  twenty grains.  An extract 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 BELLADONNA.   U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Ex-
 tract of Belladonna.
   This is prepared from fresh  Belladonna (leaves) in the manner directed by
 the  U S. Pharmacopoeia for extract  of stramonium leaves  (see Extractum
 Stramonii Foliorum) ; and by the London for extract 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 evaporate the
 filtered liquid in the vapour-bath to the consistence  of  firm  extract, stirring
 constantly towards the close." Ed.
   " Take of fresh Belladonna Leaves, collected when the plant begins to flower,
 any convenient quantity.   Crush them in a mortar, express the juice, and allow
 it  to stand for twenty-four hours.  Pour off the clear liquor, and set it aside for
 subsequent use; and, having placed the sediment on a calico filter, wash it with
 an equal bulk of distilled water, and mix the washings with the decanted liquors.
 When, by the application  of a water heat, coagulation has occurred, skim off the
 coagulated matter, filter the hot liquid through flannel, mix in now the washed
 sediment, and evaporate to the consistence of a firm extract, by a steam or water
 bath, constantly stirring, particularly to wards the close of the evaporation." Dub.
   From the experiments of MM. Solon and Soubeiran, it appears that, in relation
to  this extract, the insoluble matter separated from the expressed juice by filter-
ing, and that coagulated by heat, are nearly if not quite inert; so that advantage
results from  clarifying the juice by  these  means  before evaporating it.   Mr. 
1024
Extracta.
PART II.
 Brande states that one cwt. of fresh belladonna yields from 4 to 6 pounds of
 extract.   According to M. Recluz, nearly ten parts may be obtained from one
 hundred.   The extract  employed in this  country is brought chiefly from Eng-
 land;  but Mr. Alfred Jones has found that it may be prepared of equally good
 quality from the plant grown in the United States. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.
 xxiv. 108.)   It has  usually a dark-brown colour, a slightly narcotic not un-
 pleasant 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 Bella-
 donna. 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 proportion of two drachms to an
 ounce; but care must be taken not too powerfully to affect the system; and the
 preparation, therefore, should be used in a small quantity at first.  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 maybe 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 ointment it has been beneficially employed in phymosis and paraphy-
 mosis,  and  in that of plaster  or  ointment, in local  neuralgic or rheumatic
 pains.  (See Emplastrum Pelladonnse.)  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 gradually to in-
 crease  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 administered at first.
   Off. Prep. Emplastrum Belladonnas; Unguentum Belladonnas.       W.

   EXTRACTUM BELLADONNA  ALCOHOLICUM. U.S.   Alco-
 holic 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 ne-
 cessary than some other  spirituous extracts of the narcotic plants;  as the in-
 spissated 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.                                          w.

   EXTRACTUM  CINCHONA  FLAVA. U.S.   Extractum Cin-
 chona.  Lond., Ed.   Extract of Yellow Bark.
   " Take  of Yellow Bark, in coarse powder, a  pound; Alcohol four pints;
 Water a sufficient quantity.   Macerate the Yellow Bark with the Alcohol for
 four days;  then filter by means of a percolator, 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, set it aside, and proceed with
 the filtration until  six pints of infusion are obtained.  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 Yellow Bark, coarsely powdered, three pounds;  Distilled Water
six pints [Imperial measure].   Add four pints of  the water to the Bark, and
 stir constantly with a spatula  until it is  thoroughly moistened; macerate for
twenty-four hours,  and strain through linen.  Macerate what  remains  in the 
PART II.
Extracta.
1025
  rest of the Water for twenty-four  hours, and strain.   Then  mix the liquors,
  and evaporate to the proper consistence." 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 fluidounces.
  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.

    EXTRACTUM  CINCHONA  PALLIDA.  Lond.    Extractum
  CiNCHONiE.  Ed.   Extract of Pale Bark.
    The London and Edinburgh Colleges prepare this from Pale Bark in the
  same manner as extract of yellow  bark.  (See Extractum Cinchonse Flavse.)

    EXTRACTUM CINCHONA RUBRA. US, Lond.  Extractum
  Cinchona.  Ed.   Extract of Red Bark.
    This is directed, in the Pharmacopoeias recognizing it,  to be prepared from
  Red Bark in the same manner as extract of yellow bark. (See Extractum Cin-
  chonse Flavse.)
    Either of the above processes will afford an efficient extract; and they are
  all much preferable to the old methods, in which the virtues of the bark were
  extracted by boiling.   The U. S. or Edinburgh process is preferable to that of
  the London Pharmacopoeia, as  water does not  thoroughly exhaust the bark,
  and the method of percolation is more efficient than maceration simply.  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 submitted to
 decoction  or maceration; as in this  state it Is sufficiently penetrable by the sol-
 vent, and more readily separated .after being  exhausted.   The extract should
 always be brought to the hard dry state in which it may be pulverized; 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 employed
 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  pro-
 perly 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 exerting all the
 curative influence of cinchona.   We are told,  however, that on account of the
 high price of Calisaya bark, much of the extract as at present in the shops is
 prepared from inferior varieties.   The dose is from ten to thirty grains, equiva-
 lent to about a drachm  of the powdered bark.                         W.

   EXTRACTUM  COLCHICI. Lond.   Extract of Colchicum.
  This is prepared  in the manner directed for extract of aconite; the cormus
being first deprived of its coating. (See  Extractum Aconiti.)
      65 
1026
Extracta.
PART II.
    There scarcely seems to be occasion for both this and the following extract
  of meadow-saffron bulb.   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 the juice to stand for forty-eight hours, that the feculent matter may
  subside, then adding one-quarter of its bulk of alcohol, allowing it again to
  stand for a short period, and ultimately filtering.                      W.

    EXTRACTUM COLCHICI  ACETICUM.  U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.
  Acetic Extract of Colchicum.
    "Take of Colchicum Root, in coarse powder, a  pound;  Acetic Acid four
 fluidounces; Water a sufficient quantity.   To the Acetic Acid add a pint of
  Water, and mix the resulting liquid with the Colchicum Root.   Transfer the
  mixture to a percolator, and pour Water  gradually upon  it until the liquid
  passes with little or no taste.  Lastly, evaporate the liquid, in a porcelain ves-
  sel, to the proper consistence." U.  S.
    "Take of fresh Colchicum Cormus [bulb] a pound; Acetic Acid three fluid-
  ounces.   Bruise the  Cormus previously deprived of its coating,  gradually
  sprinkling in the Acetic Acid; then express the juice, and evaporate it, with-
  out straining, to the proper consistence."  Lond.
    "Take of Bulb of Colchicum a pound; Pyroligneous Acid [acetic acid, sp.
  gr. 1-034] three fluidounces.  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.
    "Take of  Colchicum Root, dried, four ounces [avoirdupois]; Dilute Acetic
  Acid eight.fluidounces.   Digest  the Root in the Acid for fourteen days, then
  filter, and evaporate, by means of a water-bath, to the consistence of a soft ex-
'  tract."  Dub.
    As the fresh  colchicum bulb is rarely to be had in this country, the U. S. Phar-
  macopoeia employs the dried bulb;  and its process, if properly conducted, will
  afford a very efficient extract  Some inconveniences are experienced in prepar-
  ing the extract, according to the London process, from the recent bulb by ex-
  pression, which would  seem to render the U. S. process under all circumstances
  preferable.  (Pharm. Journ.  and Trans., xiii.  62.)
    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 de-
  pend.   The  acetic extract of colchicum is highly commended by Sir C. Scuda-
  more, who, however, prefers it made by evaporating, to the consistence of honey,
  a saturated  acetic  infusion of the  dried bulb.  (Lond. Med. 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  COLOCYNTHIDIS. Lond., Ed.  Extract of Colo-
  cynth.
    "Take of Colocynth, sliced and deprived of its seeds, three pounds; Distilled
  Water half a gallon [Imperial measure].   Macerate the Colocynth for thirty-
  six hours, occasionally pressing it with the hand.  Express the liquor strongly
  and strain.   Finally evaporate to the proper consistence."  Lond.
    " Take of Colocynth a pound; Water two gallons.  Boil gently for six hours,
  replacing the evaporated water occasionally. Strain the liquor while hot; and
  evaporate it in the vapour-bath to  the due consistence." Ed.
    Colocynth should be deprived of  its seeds, as directed by the London College,
  before being submitted to the action of the menstruum. Dr. Duncan found half
  a pound of colocynth  to contain 2710 grains of seeds, which, boiled by them-
  selves, yielded almost nothing to  water.  Boiling water extracts so much pectic
  acid.and mucilage from colocynth, that the decoction or hot infusion  gelatinizes 
PART II.
Extracta.
1027
 on cooling.   Hence the Edinburgh College directs that the decoction should be
 strained while hot.  But the extract made in this way is loaded with inert mat-
 ter, and, besides, is apt to be mouldy, or so tough and hard as to resist tritura-
 tion and formation  into pills.   Hence  the  London College, following in this  „
 respect  the  French Codex, directs in the last edition  of its Pharmacopoeia,
 maceration with cold water; but there is reason to believe that the very large
 proportion of colocynth ordered is a mistake; three pounds having probably
 been inadvertently substituted for three ounces. In the former London process,
 in which boiling was directed, the proportion was a pound of colocynth to two
 gallons  of water, which is the same as three ounces to half a gallon; and it is
 probable that the only difference intended was the use of cold instead of boiling
 water.  Besides, it is admitted that the  compound pill of colocynth of the pre-
 sent London Pharmacopoeia was designed as a substitute for the old compound
 extract, to be given in the same dose; but, if made with the  present simple ex-
 tract, it has been found to be much more powerful than the old preparation, so
 that it  cannot with propriety be  given in the same quantity; while, if made
 with simple extract prepared from three ounces of the pulp to half a gallon of
 water, it has precisely the same  strength.  (See Pharm. Journ,  and  Trans.,
 xii. 271, 376, and 495.)   Upon the whole it  will be safest to adopt the three
 ounces in making this preparation; in  which  case it  may be used, as formerly
 recommended, in the dose of from five to thirty grains; whereas,  if it be made
 in accordance with  the formula, the dose would be much less.  This extract
 is little used in the United States.*
   Off. Prep.  Enema Colocynthidis; Pilula Colocynthidis Composita.  W.

   EXTRACTUM COLOCYNTHIDIS COMPOSITUM. US.  Com-
 pound 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 pow-
 der, an ounce; Soap [Castile] three ounces; Diluted Alcohol a gallon. Macerate
 the Colocynth in the Diluted Alcohol, with  a  gentle heat, for four days.   Ex-
 press 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 object of the soap in this formula is  to improve the consistence of the
 mass, which, when hardened by time, it renders more soluble in the liquors of
 the stomach.   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; but, as it is very convenient'to
 have it in the state of powder for admixture with other substances,  a portion of
 the extract should be evaporated to dryness, by exposing  it  in thin layers to
 dry air for a few days.
   This extract is an energetic and safe cathartic, possessing the activity of its
 three purgative ingredients, with comparatively little of the drastic character of
 the colocynth and scammony. It may be still further and advantageously modi-
 fied by combination with rhubarb, jalap, calomel, &c, with one or more of which
 it  is often united in prescription.   In such combination it is much employed
 wherever an active cathartic is desirable, particularly 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

  * It is proper to state that in their late miniature edition of the Pharmacopoeia the
London College adhere to the proportion of three pounds to the half gallon of water •
and we are, therefore, bound to take it for granted that the proportion was adopted ad-
visedly.—ISote to the eleventh edition. 
1028
Extract a.
PART II.
of habitual costiveness, depending op a want of the due irritability of the bow-
els, 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. Pharma-
copoeia.  We are informed that much of the extract sold in this country is made
with inferior scammony and aloes, and an insufficient proportion of colocynth,
so that it is comparatively inert.  Cheap compound extract of colocynth should
be looked on with suspicion, and the apothecary should prepare it for himself*
   Off. Prep.  Pilulse Catharticas Compositas.  U S.                   W.
   EXTRACTUM  CONII.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Extract of Hem-
lock.
   " Take of fresh Hemlock Leaves a pound.   Bruise them in a stone mortar,
sprinkling on them a little water; then express the juice, and, having heated it
to the boiling point, filter it, and evaporate to the proper consistence, either in
a vacuum with the aid of heat, or in shallow vessels, at ordinary temperatures,
by means of a current of air directed over the surface of the liquid." U. S.
   The London College directs this extract to be made in the  same manner as
extract of aconite (see Extractum Aconiti), and the Dublin, as extract of bella-
donna (see Extractum  Pelladonnse).
   " 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 evaporated
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 carefully triturated with
Aqua Potassas."  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 up-
wards, its active principle undergoes rapid decomposition, being converted into
resinous matter and ammonia.  This is detected by the operator by the ammo-
niacal 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 in the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmaco-
poeias.  An excellent plan in the evaporation is to conduct it first in a vacuum,
and afterwards in shallow vessels with a current of air at common temperatures.
By the present U. S. process, which is an improvement upon that of the former
edition of the Pharmacopoeia, the  extract is procured in a more concentrated
state by heating the juice to the boiling point and  then filtering, whereby the
inert albumen is coagulated, and, with the equally inert chlorophylle and veg-
etable fibre,  is separated from the liquid before evaporation.  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 has often
been carelessly conducted; and large quantities of an extract, prepared by boil-
ing 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 confidence.  That imported

  * See in the American Journal of Pharmacy for March, 1857 (xxix. 97), some useful
practical observations by Dr. E. R. Squibb, upon the best method of preparing this ex-
tract, so as to secure uniformity and efficiency. 
PART II.
Extracta.
1029
 from London has usually been considered the best; but we have seen and tried
 the extract prepared by the Messrs. Tilden and Co., of New York, by evapo-
 ration in vacuo at a low heat, and have found it superior to any that we  had
 previously employed.   It is not improbable  that, as suggested to us  by Pro-
 fessor Procter, the addition of a portion of acetic acid to the juice before evapo-
 ration, might tend to fix the conia, and enable it better  to  resist the influence
 of heat than in its native combination.   The activity of any specimen of the
 extract may be in some measure judged of by rubbing it with potassa, which,
 disengaging  the  conia and rendering it volatile, gives rise to  the  peculiar
 mouse-like odour of that principle.   If no odour be evolved under these cir-
 cumstances, the extract may be deemed inert.
   The extract of hemlock prepared without separating the  chlorophylle has a
 fresh olive or green  colour, but, according to the U. S. process, is brownish.
 It should have 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 medical properties and  application of  this extract, we  have
 spoken under the head of  Conii Folia.  The dose is two grains two, three, or
 four times a day, to be gradually increased till evidences of its action upon the
 system are afforded.   It may be administered in pill or solution.
   Off. Prep. Cataplasma Conii; Pilula Conii Composita.            W.

   EXTRACTUM  CONII ALCOHOLICUM.  U.S.   Alcoholic  Ex-
 tract of Hemlock.
   This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from Hemlock Leaves,
 in coarse powder, in the manner directed for alcoholic extract of aconite.  (See
 Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.)
   This is one of the  French officinal  extracts, and, when well  made from re-
 cently and carefully dried leaves, is a good preparation.   The same caution is
 requisite in evaporating in this case as in that of the inspissated juice or com-
 mon extract.  The dose, to begin with, is two or  three grains.         W.
   EXTRACTUM DIGITALIS.  Ed.   Extract of Foxglove.
   This is prepared from the fresh leaves, in the manner directed by the Edin-
 burgh College for extract  of hemlock. (See Extractum  Conii.)
   This preparation appears to us, considering the activity of the leaves them-
 selves, 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. (See Extractum
 Gentianse.)
   The preparation is well known on the continent of Europe, but little used
 in this country 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  Water, and, after allowing the  mixture to
stand for twenty-four hours,  transfer it to  a percolator, and pour water upon
it gradually until the liquid  passes  but slightly impregnated with the proper-
ties of the Gentian.   Heat the filtered liquor to the boiling  point,  strain, and
evaporate to the proper consistence."  U. S.
  " Take of Gentian, sliced, three pounds; Distilled Water six pints [Imperial
                                                     V 
1030
Extracta.
PART II.
  measure].  Macerate for twelve hours in four pints of the Water; pour off the
  liquor and strain.   To the residue  add two pints of the Water, macerate for
  six hours, and lightly express the liquor and strain.  Lastly, having mixed the
  liquors, evaporate to the proper consistence."  Lond.
     The Dublin process does not differ essentially from the London.
     "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 London and Dublin Colleges  have very properly abandoned decoction
  in preparing this extract, but have not  adopted percolation as employed in the
  U. S. and Edinburgh processes, which is a great improvement over the plan of
  maceration.   The extract, however, may be advantageously made by macerat-
  ing the root in two  parts of water for  thirty-six hours, then expressing in a
  powerful press, again macerating with  additional water and in like manner
  expressing, and  evaporating the united expressed liquors.    MM. Guibourt
  and Cadet de Yaux 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 colouring matter
  with the lignin.   But this opinion requires modification, now that it is under-
  stood that gentian contains pectic acid, which water will extract when boiling
  hot, but not when cold.   For observations in relation to the best'modes of
  evaporation in the formation of extracts, the reader is referred to page 1017.
  Gentian, according to Brande, yields half its weight of extract by decoction.
    As  ordinarily procured, the extract of  gentian is nearly inodorous, very
  bitter, 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.  Pilulas Aloes Composites.                              W.

     EXTRACTUM HAMATOXYLI.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed.   Extract  of
  Logwood.
    "Take of Logwood,  rasped, a pound; Water a gallon.  Boil down to four
  pints,  and strain the liquor while hot;  then evaporate to the proper consist-
  ence."  U S.
     " Take of Logwood, in fine chips, a pound; boiling Water a gallon [Imperial
  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 takes two pounds and a half of sliced logwood and
♦ two gallons  [Imperial measure} of boiling  distilled water;  macerates for
  twenty-four hours, then boils down to  a gallon,  and  strains the liquor while
  hot;  and lastly evaporates to the proper consistence.
    The evaporation  should be carried so far that the extract may be dry and
  brittle when cold.  About 20 lbs. of it  are obtained from one cwt. of logwood.
  (Prande.)  It is of a deep ruby colour, and an astringent sweetish taste, and
  has all the medical virtues of  the wood.   If  given  in pills, these should be
  recently made, as, when long  kept, they are said to become so hard as some-
  times 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 A^ucatan and other parts of Mexico.   W.
-? 
PART II.
Extracta.
1031
   EXTRACTUM HELLEBORI.  U.S.  Extract of Black Hellebore.
   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 care be
 taken 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 obtained.
 Any resin which may be deposited during the evaporation should be sepa-
 rated from  the sides of the vessel,  and mixed with the rest.   The extract ope-
 rates as a drastic purge in the dose of  twelve or  fifteen grains, but is seldom
 employed.                          P
   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 evapo-
 rated 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
 Centaurea benedicta, and made into  pills of one  grain  ea»ch, constitutes the
 preparation known as the tonic pills^of Eacher, formerly much  used in amen-
 orrhcea  and dropsy, and probably not without advantage, especially 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 sub-
 stituted  for the wine in the  preparation of this extract.                W.
   EXTRACTUM  HYOSCYAMI.  U.S., Lond.,  Ed., 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 Foliorum), by the London  for extract of aconite (see Extractum Aco-
 niti), by the Edinburgh for extract of  hemlock (see  Extractum Conii), and
 by the Dublin for extract of belladonna (see Extractum  Pelladonnse).
   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 clarified
 before evaporation.  (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 228.)  Extract of henbane
 is derived chiefly from England.   It  is at present, however, prepared by the
 Messrs. Tilden & Co., of New York, by  the vacuum process. Mr. Brande says
 that one cwt.  of the fresh herb affords between four and five pounds.   M. Re-
 cluz  obtained about one part from  sixteen.
   The extract, as it reaches us, is of a dark-olive colour almost black, of a nar-
 cotic 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 be-
 comes 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 charac-
 ter of the leaves  from which it was procured.  (See Hyoscyamus.)*  In its use,

  * Much depends on the choice of the leaves ; and too little attention is paid to this
point.  In reference to the biennial plant, there seems to be no doubt that the leaves 
1032
Extracta.
PART II.
therefore, it is  advisable to begin with a moderate dose, two or three gi'ains
for instance, and gradually to increase the quantity till some effect is experi-
enced, and the  degree of efficiency of  the  particular parcel employed  is  ascer-
tained.   It is usually given in pill.   It is sometimes used externally for the
same purposes  as extract of belladonna.
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Colocynthidis et Hyoscyami.                     W.

   EXTRACTUM HYOSCYAMI ALCOIIOLICUM. US. Alcoholic
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. (Sec
Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.)
   The alcoholic extract of henbane, if prepared from recently dried leaves, rg
thought to be more uniform and powerful than the inspissated juice or common
extract.  It is one of the preparations of the French  Codex.  The dose  is one
or two grains,  to be gradually increased until its effects are obtained.    W.
   EXTRACTUM JALAPA. U.S., Lond.  Extract of Jalap.
   This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from Jalap, in coarse
powder,  in the manner directed for extract of yellow bark. (See Extractum
Cinchonse Flavse.)
   "Take of Jalap, in powder, two pounds and a half;  Rectified Spirit  a gal-
lon [Imperial measure] ; Distilled W^ater two gallons [Imperial measure]. Ma-
cerate 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 de-
coction  separately;  then distil the former and  evaporate the latter until they
thicken.   Lastly, mix the  extract with the resin, autl evaporate to the proper
consistence.  Let the extract be kept soft, fit for forming pills, and hard, so
that it may be powdered." Lond.
   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, without adding
to its virtues, the U. S. process, in which the water is employed at common tem-
peratures,  is preferable to the London, in which decoction is resorted to.  The
use  both of alcohol and water is  necessary, in  order to extract all the  medi-
cinal qualities  of the drug; and they  are employed successively, under the im-
pression that the previous  removal of the resin by the former, facilitates the
action of the latter.   The use of percolation, as directed by the U. S. Pharma-
copoeia,  enables the cold water to extract the soluble parts without  the long
maceration which would otherwise be  necessary.  According to Cadet de Gas-
sicourt,  water  at ordinary temperatures, and in the old mode,  acts so slowly,
that fermentation takes place before the active matter 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  solution of the  starch, enables
the solvent to  take up the active  matter with sufficient rapidity.
   One cwt. of jalap affords,  according to Mr.  Brande, about  fifty pounds of

of the second year are much more efficacious than those of the first, and should, there-
fore, always be selected.  It is stated under Hyoscyamus, in the first part of this work,
that the leaves  should be gathered soon after the  plant  has flowered.  Mr. Charles
Cracknell gives more particular directions.  He thinks that the plant is in  a fit state
for collection only during a very short period; when the flowers at the top are blown,
but have not yet begun to fade, and the seed-vessels  and  seeds which have been
formed are still soft and juicy.  For other observations on the preparation of this ex-
tract, see a paper by Mr. Cracknell in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. (xxiii. 245), from the
Pharm. Journ. and Urans., March, 1851. 
 part ii.                        Extracta.                           1033

 aqueous extract and fifteen of resin.   The product of the former is somewhat
 less by infusion than decoction; and the extract is proportionably stronger.
    There is reason to believe, as we have been informed on good authority, that
 what is sold for extract of jalap is sometimes prepared from tubers,  which had
 been previously exhausted of their resin by alcohol.
    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 its comparatively small bulk.   The  dose is
 from  ten to twenty grains, or rather more than half that of jalap.*
    Off. Prep.  Pilulas Catharticas Compositas;  Pulvis Scammonii Comp.  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 obtained
- 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., 3e 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.  (Christison's Dispensatory.) The
 pure resin is as white as  starch, and in doses of  from three to  five grains is
 said to purge actively.   For use,  however, the Edinburgh  preparation  is suffi-
 ciently pure.  _ It is dark-coloured, brittle, and of a shining fracture.
   Guaiac, rosin, and other resinous substances are said to be sometimes  fraudu-
 lently added to the resin of jalap.   Guaiac may be detected by the green colour
 it produces, when  a few drops of solution of chloride of soda or of lime  are
 added to an alcoholic solution of the suspected  resin.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3«
 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.)  A better  test is probably that proposed
 by A.  Buchner.  When pure jalap resin is dissolved in  an alkaline solution, it

   * Fluid Extract of Jalap.  The following process has been proposed by Prof. Procter.
 Take of jalap, in coarse powder, gxvi; sugar ^viij ; carbonate of potassa gss ;  alcohol,
 water,  each q. s.  Add to the jalap one pint of a mixture consisting of two parts of
 alcohol and one  of water, and set aside  for 24 hours.  Then  put the mixture into a
 percolator, and pour on it diluted alcohol until half a gallon  has passed.  Evaporate
 the filtered liquid one-half, add the sugar and carbonate of potassa, and evaporate to
 12 fluidounces.   Put the liquid, while warm, into a pint  bottle, add four fluidounces
of alcohol, and mix.  The carbonate  of potassa renders the resin soluble in water, and
probably favourably qualifies the irritating properties of the  jalap.  A fluidrachm of
this extract would represent a drachm of jalap, so that the dose should be from 15 to
30 minims. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 108.)— Note to the eleventh edition. 
1034
Extracta.
PART II.
 is not precipitated by the addition of sulphuric  acid, having been converted,
 through the agency of the alkali, into an acid soluble in water.   All the aduh
 terating resins yield precipitates under the same circumstances.   The resins of
 scammony and of fusiform jalap (See Part I. p. 425) act in this respect like
 the true jalap resin, but are distinguishable by being wholly soluble in ether
 which jalap resin is not. (Neues Repert fur Pharm., no.  1, 1854.)
   It is now generally believed that the resin of jalap is its sole purgative prin-
 ciple, the gummy extractive being perhaps diuretic.   The U. S. or London ex-
 tract 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 Juglans cinerea, in
 coarse powder, in the manner directed for extract of gentian.  (See Extractum
 Gentianse.)
   This extract was formerly for the most part prepared by the country people,
 who are said to have used the  bark  of the branches, and  even  the branches
 themselves, instead of the inner bark  of the root; and to have injured the pre-
 paration  by too much heat.   That  it should have proved uncertain  in the
 hands of many physicians  is, therefore, not a matter of surprise.   It should be
 prepared by the apothecary, and from the inner bark of the root gathered in
 May or June.   Experiments  are yet wanting to prove  that water is the best
 solvent of the active principles of this bark.   Prof.  Procter informs us that he
 has found an extract of  the fresh bark prepared with diluted alcohol to have
 much more of the pungency of  the bark than the officinal.
   The extract of butternut is of a black colour, sweetish odour,  and bitter as-
 tringent taste.  In the dose of  twenty or thirty grains, it acts  as a  mild ca-
 thartic. (See Juglans.)                                              W.

   EXTRACTUM KRAMERIA.  U.S.  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 Gentianse.)
   In selecting a process for the  preparation of this  extract, it was undoubtedly
 wise to adopt the  mode of displacement, with cold  water  as  the menstruum.
 (See page 457.) It is absolutely necessary to the success of this process, that
 the root should  be well and uniformly comminuted;  and the "moderately fine
 powder"  of the Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia is, therefore, preferable  to the
 "coarse powder" of our own.   The wood of the root yielded to Prof.  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 maybe rejected with advan-
 tage. (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 produc-
 tion  of insoluble apotheme, it is desirable that the evaporation should be con-
 ducted rapidly or in a vacuum.  There scarcely appears to be occasion, in the
case  of rhatany, for heating and filtering the infusion before evaporation, the
 only use of which is to get rid of albumen, which is not among the recognised
ingredients of the root.
   Yery inferior extracts of rhatany are often sold.   Such is the South Ameri-
can extract, which has been occasionally imported.   As the product obtained 
PART II.
Extracta.
1035
 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.  Some druggists  prepare the
 extract with an alcoholic menstruum with a view to the greater product; but
 the extract thus prepared has from 20 to 30 per cent, less of the active prin-
 ciple than the officinal.   A substance was shown to us  by a  respectable apo-
 thecary of this city, said to have been imported as extract of rhatany from
 Europe, which was nearly tasteless,  and was  plausibly  conjectured to be the
 dried coagulated matter of old tincture of kino.   Indeed, we are informed
 that very little of the genuine extract, prepared according to the officinal direc-
 tions, is now to be found in the shops.
   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 Kramerias.*                                    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 Extractum Aconiti.)
    The  claims of this extract to favourable notice  are  at least 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 let-
 tuce 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 LUPULI. Lond., Ed.   Extract of  Hops.
    "Take of Hops two pounds and a half;  boiling  Distilled  Water  two gal-
 lons [Imperial measure].  Macerate  for twenty-four hours; then boil to a gal-
 lon, and strain the liquor while  hot; lastly, evaporate to the proper consist-
 ence." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College prepares this in the same manner as extract of log-
 wood.  (See  Extractum Hsematoxyli.)
   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 preparation,
 and has been little used.   It  has the 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 yield  of
 one cwt. of hops is 40 lbs. of the extract.  The dose is from ten to thirty grains.
   Under the inappropriate name of humuline, an  extract has been prepared
 by first treating hops with alcohol and subsequently with water,  evaporating
 the tincture and infusion separately, and mixing the products.  (Pharm. Journ.
 and Trans., xiii.  231.)                                              W.
   EXTRACTUM  NUCIS VOMICA.  U.S., Lond.,Ed.  Extract  of
 Nux Vomica.
   "Take of Nux Yomica 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 |£ into a percolator, and pour Alcohol upon it gra-
 dually until the liquid passes  without bitterness.   Distil off the greater part
 of the alcohol from the filtered liquor, and evaporate the residue  to the pro-
per consistence."  U. S.
  The Edinburgh College treats the nux vomica in the same manner, grind- 
1036
Extracta.
PART II.
 ing it to powder in a coffee-mill;  then exhausts it with rectified spirit, by per-
 colation or repeated decoction ;  and completes the process as above directed.
   " Take of Nux Vomica eight ounces; Rectified Spirit three pints [Imperial
 measure].  Apply steam to the Nux Vomica so that it may be softened.  1 la vini?
 cut it into thin slices, bruise, dry,  and macerate it for seven days  in  two pint*
 of the Spirit.  Express the tincture and filter.  Macerate what remains in the
 rest of the Spirit for three days; then again express and filter.  Having mixed
 the tinctures, distil  off the greater part of the spirit, and evaporate the re-
 mainder to the proper consistence." LOnd,
   This extract is an  active preparation, though not always of uniform strength,
 owing to the variable proportion  of strychnia in the nux vomica.  M. Reclua
 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. *                                       \y.

   EXTRACTUM OPII.  U. S., Lond., Ed.   Extractum Opii Aquo-
 SUM.  Dub.   Extract of Opium.
   "Take of Opium a pound; Water five pints.  Cut  the Opium into small
 pieces, macerate it for twenty-four hours in a pint of the Water, and reduce it
 to a soft mass by trituration.  Express the liquid, and treat the  residue with
 each  of the  four remaining  pints  of water successively in the same manner.
 Mix  the liquors, filter, and evaporate by means of a water-bath to the proper
 consistence."  U S.
   " Take of Opium, in powder, a pound and a half; Distilled Water five pints
 (Imperial measure.) To the Opium add gradually two  pints and a half of th«
 Water, and macerate for twenty-four hours, occasionally stirring with a spa-
 tula ; then strain.  Macerate the residue in the rest of  the Water for twenty-
 four  hours and strain.    Lastly, evaporate the strained liquors to the proper
 consistence." Lond.
   The Edinburgh and Dublin  processes correspond essentially with  that of
 the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.
  An advantage of this preparation is that, by the solubility of the extract in
 water, it affords a convenient method of obtaining quickly an aqueous solution
 of the active ingredients of opium.   It is exceedingly doubtful whether any-
 thing  is left behind after the opium has been exhausted by water, which ma-
 terially modifies the action of its anodyne principle;  and the extract probably
 has no advantage on this account  over opium.  Nor has it the advantage of
 greater uniformity; as the gum,  extractive,  &c, taken up by the water, bear
 no fixed proportion to the active ingredients.
  Denarcotized Extract of Opium.   Under the impression  that the stimu-
 lating and unpleasant effects of opium are owing to the narcotina, it has been
 proposed to separate that principle by treating the  extract with 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

  * Professor Procter informs us, as the result of his own observations, that in the alco-
holic extract of nux vomica  there is a considerable proportion of fixed oil (^iij in^xvi
of the seeds), which will not remain mixed with the other ingredients, becoming fluid
in summer, and concreting in cold weather.  This he thinks should be separated from
the extract, and shaken with a little diluted alcohol, which takes from it any adher-
ing active matter.  The washings should be evaporated, and the  residuum mixed
with the extract, the fatty matter being thrown away.—Note to the tenth edition. 
PART II.
Extracta.
1037
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 distilled ether;  concentrate the residual matter, dissolve it in dis-
tilled 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 U. S., Edinburgh, or Dublin
process is about one half that of opium itself.  The  London extract, according
to Brande, is never stronger, and is sometimes weaker than opium. This state-
ment, however, has reference to the preparation of the Pharmacopoeia of 1836.
In the present, the maceration is continued longer,  but is still  probably insuf-
ficient.   Recluz obtained from sixteen  ounces of opium an average product of
nine ounces by hot water and six by cold.
   Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Opii;  Vinum Opii.                        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, and strain the liquor while
hot;  lastly, evaporate to the 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, moreover, that it is apt to be of a trou-
blesome consistence, too hard to be formed  into pills, and too tough to be pul-
verized; 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.;; M. Meurein gives particular directions for making an
alcoholic extract of poppy capsules, which may be consulted with  advantage by
those who may be called on to supply any demand for this preparation.  (See
Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xxiii. 341.)   Mr. Joseph Ince recommends that the
strained hot  decoction, after having been  brought to a. syrupy consistence,
should be diluted with eight.times its quantity of water, then filtered, and after-
wards  evaporated.  Madeiin this way the  extract will  keep well. (Pharm.
Journ.  and Trans., xiv. 489.)  We are told  that an extract is prepared in this
country from the whole herb, cut after the fruit has formed, but while it is
yet green.  This of course is not the officinal extract, and should not  be used
as such.  The capsules exclusively should be used;  and the best time for col-
lecting them is after they have begun to become yellowish, but are not yet dry.
   This preparation 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 sliced Pareira Brava in the
manner directed for extract of logwood. (See Extractum Hsemaioxyli.)
  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. (See  Extractum Gentianse.)
  The dose is  from ten grains to half a drachm.                      W. 
1038
Extracta.
PART II.
   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 yellow bark.  (See Extractum Cin-
 chonse Flavse.)
   It is possessed of the purgative properties of the root, and may be given in
 the  dose of from five  to fifteen grains, but is  little employed.   It mbdit be
 substituted  in all cases for the extract of jalap.
   From experiments made by Mr. John R. Lewis, it is probable that the alco-
 holic 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
 Gentianse.)
   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.                           "\y.

   EXTRACTUM RHEI.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Extract of Rhu-
 barb.
   "Take of Rhubarb, in coarse powder, a pound; Diluted Alcohol a sufficient
 quantity.   Mix the Rhubarb with  an  equal  bulk of coarse sand, moisten it
 thoroughly  with Diluted Alcohol,  and, having allowed it to stand for  twenty-
 four hours,  put it into a percolator, and  add Diluted Alcohol gradually until
 four pints of filtered liquor are obtained; then, by means of a water-bath, eva-
 porate to the proper consistence."  U. S.
   " Take of Rhubarb, in powder, fifteen ounces;  Proof Spirit a pint [Imperial
 measure]; Distilled Water seven pints [Imp. meas.].  Macerate for four days,
 then strain,  and set the liquor by that  the dregs may subside.   Pour off the
 clear liquor, and evaporate it to the proper consistence."  Lond.
   " Take of Rhubarb one pound; Water five pints [Imp. meas.]; cut the Rhu-
 barb 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 jrentle
heat." Ed.
  The Dublin process corresponds with that of  the Edinburgh College. 
PART II.
Extracta.
1039
  Rhubarb yields all its active  matter to water and alcohol; but, unless the
evaporation is performed with great care and with a moderate heat, it is certain
that the purgative principle is, to a greater or less extent, injured or 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 pur-
gative principle.  There  is, moreover, reason to believe that this principle  is
volatilizable by heat, and that a portion of it escapes with the vapour.  When
properly prepared the extract  has decidedly the peculiar odour of rhubarb.  The
dose of the extract is from ten  to thirty grains.
  Off. Prep. Pilulas Rhei et  Ferri.                                  W.
  EXTRACTUM SARSAPARILLA.  U.S.  Extract of Sarsaparilla.
  The  U. S. Pharmacopoeia prepares this extract from  Sarsaparilla, in coarse
powder, in the manner directed for alcoholic extract of aconite. (See Extract-
um Aconiti Alcoholicum.)
  The watery extract of sarsaparilla has been very properly abandoned by the
London and Dublin Colleges in the recent editions of their  Pharmacopoeias.
Water,  unless in very large proportion, is incapable of exhausting the root, and
the extract could not but suffer in the long process of evaporation.   Very dif-
ferent quantities have been obtained from  different varieties of sarsaparilla, and
even from different parcels of the same variety; but, as the matter 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 watery extract which it is capable of affording.
  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 con-
centration of the tincture is insufficient to destroy the active principle.  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.
It possesses in a high degree  the acrid taste of sarsaparilla.            W.

  EXTRACTUM sive  RESINA  SCAMMONII. Ed.   Extract  or
Resin of Scammony.
  " Take  amy convenient quantity of Scammony in fine powder;  boil  it  in
successive portions of Proof Spirit till the Spirit ceases to dissolve any thing;
filter; distil the liquid tilWrttle 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 tempera-
ture 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  generally adulterated.
When pure virgin scammony  can be procured the extract is unnecessary.  Pre-
pared according to the above  process,  the resin is of a dirty greenish-brown
colour, with a feeble odour  and  taste of scammohy, and is very soluble 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 pur-
gative property.  The resin of scammony is liable to adulteration.  Jalap  resin
may be  detected by its insolubility in rectified ether, which  dissolves that of
scammony in all proportions.   Sulphuric acid is the best test of common  rosin 
1040
Extracta.
PART II.
 or  colophony, producing  instantaneously with this substance an intense red
 colour; while in the resin of scammony it causes no immediate change.   For
 the tests of guaiac, the reader is referred to that article in the Materia Medica
 (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiv. 158.)  The presence of other resins besides
 those of the Convolvulaceas, may be known by yielding precipitates when sulpha-
 ric acid is added to their alkaline solution; the resin of scammony agreehi"- with
 that  of jalap in not affording a precipitate  under the same circumstances.
 When rubbed with unskimmed milk the resin of scammony 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.                                   \y

   EXTRACTUM  STRAMONII  FOLIORUM.   U. S.   Extract of
 Stramonium Leaves.
  "Take  of Stramonium  Leaves a pound.   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 preparation,
 varying in strength according to  the care used in conducting the process, and
 the seasonat which the leaves are collected.   The reader will  find at page
 1021, and in the preliminary observations on the Extracts, some general rules
 which will prove 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, ac-
 cording to the observations of MM. Solon and  Soubeiran, they are nearly or
 quite inert..  M. Recluz obtained  half an ounce of extract from sixteen ounces
 of the leaves.  The dose is  a grain night and  morning, to  be gradually in-
 creased till it affects the system.
  Off. Prep. Unguentum Stramonii.                                 W.

  EXTRACTUM.  STRAMONII   SEMINIS.   U.S.    Extractum
 Stramonii. Lond.,  Ed.  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 a percolator, and pour upon it gradually
 Diluted Alcohol till the liquid passjss colourless.   Distil  off the Alcohol from
 the filtered liquor, and evaporate  the residue to the proper consistence." U. 8.
  " 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 con-
 sistence."  Ed.                                                 l   l
    Take of Stramonium Seeds fifteen ounces; boiling Distilled Water a gallon
 [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 XL S. and Edinburgh processes, which may be considered  identical, are
preferable to the London; as the  seeds yield their virtues more freely to spirit
 than-to water alone.  According  to the table  of Recluz, sixteen ounces of the
 eeeds afford two  ounces and  two  drachms of extract by maceration in diluted
 alcohol, and one ounce and a half by decoction.  The dose to begin with is the
quarter or half of a grain twice a day, to be gradually increased.      W. 
PART II.
Extracta.
1041
    EXTRACTUM TARAXACI. U. S., Lond., Ed.   Extract of Dan-
 delion.
    "Take of Dandelion, gathered in September, five pounds.  Slice the Dan-
 delion ; bruise it in a stone mortar, sprinkling on it a little water, until reduced
 to a pulp; then express the juice, strain, and evaporate in a vacuum, or in a shal-
 low dish over a water-bath, constantly stirring, to the proper consistence." U S.
    The London  College prepares it in the same  manner as extract of hops (see
 Extractum Lupuli); the Edinburgh, from a pound of the fresh root and a gal-
 lon (Imperial measure) of boiling water, as directed for the extract of  poppy-
 heads (see Extractum  Papaveris).
    This extract is undoubtedly stronger, prepared from the root alone than from
 the whole plant.   It is Important that the root should be collected at the right
 season.  The juice expressed from it in the spring is thin, watery, and of a feeble
 flavour; in the latter part of the summer, and in autumn, thick, opaque,  cream-
 coloured, very bitter, and abundant, amounting to one-third or one-half its weight.
 It may be collected in Augustj"and afterwards until severe frost.   According to
 Mr. Squire, frost has the effect of diminishing the bitterness and increasing the
 sweetness of the root.   An extract prepared by inspissating the juice, as in the
 present U.  S. process,  is much more efficient than that prepared in the old
 way by decoction.   The  inspissation should be effected by exposing the juice
 in shallow vessels to a current of warm dry air, or by evaporation  in a vacuum,
 and should  not be unnecessarily protracted.   Long exposure, during  evapora-
 tion, changes the bitterness of the juice into sweetness, which is a sign of infe-
 riority.  As often 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. (Pharm. Journ. and Transact,i.  421.)  When
 prepared from the root and leaves together, it has a greenish colour.   Mr. Brande
 states that one cwt. of the fresh root affords from twenty to twenty-five pounds
 of extract by decoction  in water.   The expressed juice yields from  11 to  25 per
 cent, of extract, the greatest product being obtained in  November, and the least
 in April  and May.*

   * Fluid Extract or Preserved Juice of Taraxacum. The rapid change of the active prin-
 ciple of dandelion, under heat and exposure, renders it extremely difficult to obtain a
 solid extract preserving the virtues of the plant.   Mr. Donovan, therefore, suggests the
 propriety of keeping the juice in the liquid state, and.proposes a plan, by which, as he
 states, it may be obtained and preserved throughout the year, with nearly all its native
 efficiency.  The whole herb, immediately after collection, is to be washed, bruised, and
 expressed; and the residue, having been mixed with as much water at 200° as will bring
 it  to the consistence of a pulp, is to be allowed to stand for two hours, and then again
 expressed.  The liquids thus obtained are to be mixed, and very slowly evaporated, in a
 wide earthen vessel, and with constant agitation, to one-half.  The salts are thus ob-
 tained, though with little of the bitter principle. To supply this, a quantity of the roots
 equal to the weight of the herb first employed, is to be bruised and expressed.  The re-
 sulting juice, which is in small quantity and bitter, is to be set aside; while the residual
 marc is to be mixed with the concentrated juice already prepared, previously brought to
 a boiling heat.  When cold, the mixture is to be strongly expressed, and the liquor ob-
 tained to be mixed with one-sixth of its measure of alcohol.   The liquor is then to be
 poured into quart bottles, but so as not to fill them.  These are to he immersed in a vessel
 containing water as high as the liquid within them, and placed over a fire ; the water is
to  be slowly heated to 180°:  the bottles are to be withdrawn; and the reserved juice of
the root is to be added to each in equal quantities.  The space at first left in the bottles
should be such that, after  the addition of the juice, and the driving in of the cork, as
little as possible should remain.  The  corks, being now. cut off close to the glass, are to
be covered with hard sealing-wax; and the bottles set by, inverted, in a cool place.  The
alcohol used is alone insufficient for the preservation of the juice ; and hence the neces-
sity of heating the bottles, and sealing  them when quite full, according to Appert's pro-
       66 
1042                Extracta.—Extracta Fluida.                part ii.

   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.
   Off. Prep. Pilulas Ferri Sulphatis.                                 \y

   EXTRACTUM  UVA URSI.  Lond.  Extract of Uva Ursi.
   The London College prepares this extract in the manner directed for extract
of hops. (See Extractum Lupuli.)
   The dose is from five to thirty grains.                               ^y

                       EXTRACTA FLUIDA.

                             Fluid Extracts.

   These were first introduced into the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850, as a distinct
class of preparations ;  the fluid  extract of sarsaparilla being the only one pre-
viously directed, either in our own officinal code, or by the British Colleges.
Their  distinctive character is the concentration of the active ingredients of me-
dicinal substances  into  a small bulk, in the liquid form.  Independently of the
greater convenience of administration, the advantages of this class of preparations
are, in relation to all of them, that the evaporation not being carried so far as in
the ordinary extracts, the active  principles are less liable to be injured  by heat;
and, in relation to a certain number, the fluid extract of cubebs for example, that
they afford the only method of concentration, as it would be impossible to obtain
in a solid extract  the whole activity of the medicine, depending as it does, in
part, upon an essentially liquid  substance.  The main difficulty, in  relation to
them,  is the  liability  of substances in the liquid state to undergo spontaneous
decomposition.  This is counteracted in some of the fluid extracts by means of
sugar.   In others, the  nature of the ingredient is  preservative.  A glance at
the several preparations will show that there are two distinct sets of them. In
one set, the principles extracted  are mainly volatile oil and resin, and the men-
struum employed is ether.  They  have been known for some time in pharmacy by
the name of oleo-resins. In their preparation, the active matter is readily yielded
to ether, while principles which might contribute to the decomposition of the ex-
tract are left behind by that menstruum.  The low temperature at which ether
evaporates enables the whole of the volatile oil to  be retained  in the residue;
and  the preparation keeps well,  as it contains no water to favour its decompo-
sition.   In the second set of the  fluid extracts, the active matter is extracted by
diluted alcohol, and the greater part of the alcohol afterwards  evaporated.  A
portion, however,  remains, which  contributes towards the preservation of the
preparation; but this alone is insufficient, and it is necessary to have recourse to
sugar,  which has the subsidiary  advantage of improving the flavour.   But in
these fluid extracts, instead of two pounds of sugar to each pint of the liquid,

cess.  Each ounce will contain about  a drachm of the alcohol. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm.,
xxiv. 65.)
  Professor Procter proposes the following plan.  Of the fresh roots collected in Sep-
tember or October, twenty pounds avoirdupois are to be sliced transversely, reduced to
a pulpy mass  by grinding or contusion, then thoroughly incorporated with four pints of
alcohol of 0-835, and set aside in stoneware jars.   After a week, or a longer time, the
pulpy mass is to be subjected to strong pressure, and the liquid filtered and bottled for
use.  Even after six months the pulp thus treated preserves the sensible properties of
the dandelion in a marked degree.  Should the alcohol in the expressed liquor be ob-
jected to, it may be partially removed by a gentle evaporation by means of a water-bath
until the bulk of the juice has been diminished one-sixth, and then adding eight ounces
of sugar for every pint.  (Ibid., xxv. 408.)— Note to the tenth edition. 
PART II.
Extracta Fluida.
1043
 as in the case of the ordinary syrups, it is generally sufficient to add an ounce
 for every fluidounce.  Sometimes there is an advantage in adding to the preserv-
 ative influence of the sugar, that of some other substance having a similar effect,
 as of Hoffmann's anodyne liquor in the fluid extract of senna.          W.

   EXTRACTUM  CUBEBA  FLUIDUM.  U. S.   Fluid Extract of
 Cubebs.
   "Take of Cubebs, in powder, a pound; Ether a sufficient quantity.  Put the
 Cubebs into a percolator, and, having packed it carefully, pour Ether gradually
 upon it until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained; then distil off by means
 of a water-bath, at a gentle heat, a pint and a half of the ether, and expose the
 residue, in a shallow vessel, until the whole of the ether  has evaporated."  U.S.
   This is one of t^pleo-resins, and consists mainly of the volatile oil and resin,
 with a portion of mi cubebin and waxy matter of the cubebs.  The consistence
 differs with the character of the cubebs employed; its degree of fluidity being
 proportionate to the amount of volatile oil contained  in  the medicine.   The
 colour is usually browni^, with more or less of a greenish hue, according to the
 quantity of chlorophyll^'present, which varies with  the character of the cubebs,
 and with that of the menstruum; pure ether extracting the green colouring mat-
 ter preferably, while  ordinary alcoholic ether extracts also the brown.   Cubebs
 yield from one-eighth to  one-fifth  of their weight of fluid extract.  The prepa-
 ration is apt in time to deposit waxy matter and crystals of cubebin.  It was first
 introduced into use by Prof. Procter. (See Am.  Journ.  of Pharm., xviii. 168.)
 The close is from five to thirty minims, which  may be given  suspended in water,
 or mixed with powdered  sugar.                                      W.

   EXTRACTUM  PIPERIS  FLUIDUM.. U.  S.   Fluid Extract of
 Black Pepper.
   "Take of Black Pepper, in powder, a pound; Ether a sufficient quantity.
 Put the  powder into  a percolator, and pour Ether gradually upon it until two
 pints of filtered liquor are obtained.  From  this distil off, by means of a water-
 bath, at a gentle heat, a pint and a half of  ether, and expose the residue,  in a
 shallow vessel, until the whole of the ether has evaporated, and the deposition
 of piperin in crystals has ceased.   Lastly, separate the piperin by expression
 through a cloth, and keep the liquid portion."  U. S.
  A substance has long been in use under the name of oil of black pepper, con-
 sisting mainly of the  volatile oil and resin of the pepper, and belonging, there-
 fore, to the oleo-resins.  As  usually found it is almost black, and of a thickish
 consistence, and is a residue of the process for preparing piperin.  The officinal
 extract has the same general character, but is of more certain  strength,  and
 should, therefore, be preferred. It contains almost all the volatile oil and acrid
 resin of black pepper,  with little of the piperin;  and, as the last mentioned princi-
 ple, when quite pure, is of doubtful efficacy, the extract may be considered as re-
 presenting the virtue§*of the fruit.   The colour is greener than that of the com-
 mon oil of black pej|per, and not so dark, owing to the fact that ether dissolves
 the green more readier than the brown col oiugpmi after.  A pound of black pep-
 per yields about six draMms of the fluid exjfippthe dose of which, proportionate
 to the ordinary dose  of peppp would henjimkp' two minims.   It may be given
 in emulsion, or may be combined in smalfproportion with other substances in
the form of pill.          0&L^^                                    W.

  EXTRACTUM  RIIE|?FLUIDUM. U S.  Fluid Extract of Rhu-
barb.
  "Take of Rhubarb, in coarse powder, eight ounces; Sugar five ounces; Tinc-
ture of Ginger half a fluidounce; Oil of Fennel, Oil of Anise, each, four minims; 
1044
Extracta Fluida.
PART II.
  Diluted Alcohol two pints, or a sufficient quantity. To the Rhubarb, previously
  mixed with an equal bulk of coarse sand, add twelve fluidounces of Diluted Alco-
  hol, and allow the mixture to stand for twenty-four hours.  Transfer the mass
  to a  percolator, and gradually pour upon it  Diluted Alcohol until the liquid
  which passes has little of the odour or taste of rhubarb.  Evaporate the tincture
  thus  obtained, by means of a water-bath, to five fluidounces;  then add the Su-
  gar, and', after it is dissolved, mix thoroughly with the resulting Fluid Extract
  the Tincture of Girtger holding the Oils in solution."  U S.
    This is a good preparation of rhubarb, the root being nearly exhausted by the
  menstruum, and the evaporation, if carefully conducted, not injuriously affecting
  the active principles.   It is somewhat stimulant in consequence of the small
  proportion of alcohol present,  and the addition of the volatile oils, and is not
  applicable, therefore, to acute inflammatory affections.  For observations on this
  preparation the pharmaceutical reader is referred to papers by Prof Procter in
  the American Journal of Pharmacy (xix. 182, and xxii. 110).   The process
  yields about eight fluidounces of the preparation, or a fluidrachm for each drachm
  of the rhubarb.   Its purgative dose, if well made from good rhubarb, is half a
  fluidrachm for an adult, to be proportionably  diminished for children.    W.

    EXTRACTUM  SARSAPARILLA FLUIDUM. U.S.,Dub.  Ex-
  tractum Sars^b  Liquldum.  Lond.   Extractum  Sarz^ Fluidum.
  Ed.   Fluid Extract of Sarsaparilla.
    "Take of Sarsaparilla, sliced and bruised, sixteen ounces; Liquorice Root,
  bruised, Bark of Sassafras Root, bruised, each, two ounces;  Mezereon, sliced,
  six drachms; Sugar twelve ounces; Diluted Alcohol eight pints.  Macerate all
  the ingredients together, excepting the Sugar, for fourteen days;  then express
  and filter.   Evaporate  the  liquid, by means of a water-bath, to twelve fluia)
  ounces; add the Sugar to it while still hot;- and remove from the bath as soon
  as the Sugar is dissolved."  U S.
    "Take of Sarsa three pounds and a half; Distilled Water five gallons [Im-
' perial measure]; Rectified Spirit two fluidounces. Boil the Sarsa in three gal-
  lons of the Water to twelve pints [Imp. meas.]; pour off the liquor, and strain,
  while hot.   Again boil the Sarsa in the remainder of the Water to one-half,
  and strain.  Mix the liquors, evaporate to eighteen fluidounces, and, when the
  extract has cooled, mix the Spirit with it." Lond.
    "Take of Sarza, in chips, one pound; Boiling Water six pints [Imperial
  measure].   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 Sarsaparilla one poumd [avoirdupois]; Boiling Water eight pints
  [Imp. meas.]; Rectified Spirit as-much as is sufficient.  Digest the Sarsaparilla
  in five pints of the Water for two&ours, at a temperature near 212°, and then
  decant.   Add the rest of the Wats®, digest again for two hours, and  decant.
  Evaporate the mixed liquors by a steam or water heat to the consistence of a
  thin  syrup, and, when the  product has cooled, add as much Rectified Spirit as
  will make the entire twenty [fluid]ounces." Dub,
    The British Colleges all prepare a simple fluid extract  of sarsaparilla.   The
  process of the Dublin  College is to be preferred, as the lqng boiling to which
  the other  Colleges subject  the root is avoided, and digestion, which experience
  has shown to be less injurious, is substituted.   Nevertheless, the extract would
  probably be  more efficient, if diluted alcohol had been directed as the solvent. 
part ii.                    Extracta Fluida.                      1045

   The U. S. fluid extract is a compound preparation, intended to represent in
a concentrated state the compound decoction of sarsaparilla, having all its in-
gredients with the exception of the guaiacum wood, which probably adds little
to the efficacy of the decoction.   The preparation was originally proposed by
Wm. Hodgson, jun.  (Journ. of the Phil. Col.  of Pharm., ii. 285); and  the
officinal process differs from his mainly in the omission of the guaiacum wood,
the resin of which, separating during the evaporation, somewhat  embarrassed
the process, without  adding to the virtues of the extract.   We greatly prefer
this fluid  extract to  that of the British Colleges.   If the effects of a simple
extract of sarsaparilla are desired, they can be obtained  by having recourse to
the  solid officinal extract of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.   The dose is a  flui-
drachm, equivalent to a drachm of the root, three or four times a day.  W.
   EXTRACTUM  SENNA  FLUIDUM.  U. S.    Fluid  Extract  of
Senna.
   "Take of Senna, in coarse powder, two pounds and a half; Sugar twenty
ounces; Oil of Fennel  a fluidrachm;   Compound Spirit of ether  two flui-
drachms;  Diluted Alcohol four pints.   Mix the Senna with the Diluted Al-
cohol, and, having allowed the mixture to stand for twenty-four hours, introduce
it into a percolator, and gradually pour in water  mixed with one-third of its
bulk of alcohol, until a gallon and a half of liquid shall have passed.  Eva-
porate the liquid by means of a water-bath  to  twenty fluidounces, filter,  then
add the Sugar, and, when it is dissolved, the Compound Spirit of Ether holding
the Oil of Fennel in solution."  U S.
   This preparation was originally suggested by Mr. Charles Ellis, of Philadel-
phia, subsequently modified  by the  late  Mr. Duhamel, of the same place, and
adopted by the framers of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   The use of the compound
spirit of  ether is to prevent fermentation.  A fluid extract is  largely prepared
in England by evaporating the infusion  of senna in vacuo.   For a formula by
Mr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, see the Medical Examiner (vi. 250).  The dose of
the U. S. fluid extract is half a fluidounce for an adult.*               W.
   EXTRACTUM   SPIGELIA  ET SENNA FLUIDUM.   US-
Fluid Extract of Pinkroot and Senna.
   "Take of Pinkroot, in coarse  powder, a pound;  Senna,  in coarse powder,
six ounces; Sugar a pound and a half;  Carbonate of Potassa six drachms;
Oil of Caraway, Oil  of Anise,.each, half a fluidrachm;  Diluted Alcohol a
sufficient quantity.   Mix the Pinkroot and Senna with  two  pints of  Diluted
Alcohol, and, having allowed the mixture to stand for two days, transfer it to
a percolator, and gradually pour  upon it Diluted Alcohol until half a gallon of
liquid has passed.  Evaporate the liquid, by means of a water-bath, to a pint;
then add the Carbonate of Potassa, and,  after the sediment has dissolved, the
Sugar previously triturated with the Oils.  Lastly, dissolve the Sugar with a
gentle heat." U.S.

  * Dr. H. Thayer, of CambridgefrMasi^, recommends the following  process, which he
has found, upon extensive trial^jfryield a preparation, more  fluid than the officinal
fluid extract, handsomer in appe^tSnce, less  liable to ferment, and free from the grip-
ing property.  " Take of senna, bruised, flriiss, sugar gvij, oil of fennel, oil of caraway,
each, gtt. xv, alcohol [f]§vi.  Macerate the senna in the water cold ; transfer to a per-
colator, and displacewith the  same so long as the infusion shows strength.  In warm
weather place ice on the  percolator.  Add  the  sugar, and evaporate to  26. ffluid.]
ounces.  Then add the alcohol, holding the oils in solution. Mix well, allow tn»p%-
cipitate to subside, and decant the clear liquid for use."  The dose is from one td fej-ee*'
fluidrachms.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 103.)—Note to the eleventh edition,  •iip .


                                                                      jjf| 
     1046                  Extracta Fluida.—Ferrum.              part ii,

       This fluid extract combines the cathartic property of senna with the anthel-
     mintic virtues of pinkroot, and  is a very good vermifuge, being generally ac-
     ceptable to the stomach, and, what is of no little importance in such medicines
     not offensive to the taste.   It has been in use in Philadelphia for several years'
     and with satisfactory results.   The use of the carbonate of potassa is to enable
     the resinous matter which is  deposited during evaporation to be dissolved, and
     also to counteract the griping property of the senna. The whole product of the
     process should be about a pint and a half.  The dose is half a fluidounce for an
     adult,  a fluidrachm for  a child two years old.                          \y

       EXTRACTUM VALERIANA FLUIDUM.  U.S. Fluid Extract
     of Valerian.
       "Take of Yalerian, in coarse powder, eight ounces; Ether four fluidounces;
     Alcohol twelve fluidounces; Diluted Alcohol a sufficient quantity.   Mix the
     Ether  and Alcohol, and, having incorporated the Yalerian with one half of the
     mixture, introduce the mass into a percolator, and gradually pour in  the re-
     mainder.  Then add Diluted Alcohol until the  whole liquid which has passed
     shall amount to a pint.   Put the ethereal liquid thus obtained  into a shallow
     vessel, and allow it to evaporate spontaneously until reduced to five fluidounces.
     Upon  the mass in the percolator pour gradually Diluted Alcohol until ten fluid-
     ounces of tincture have passed. With this mix the five fluidounces left after the
     spontaneous evaporation, taking care to dissolve in a little alcohol any oleo-
     resinous matter which may have been deposited, and to add it to the rest.  Allow
     the mixture to  stand, with occasional agitation, for four hours,  and then filter,
     The resulting Fluid Extract should measure a pint; and, if it be less than that
     quantity, the deficiency  should be supplied by the addition of Alcohol." U.S.
       This preparation represents in a concentrated  state the virtues of valerian,
     and  may be  used when  the influence of that medicine is desired.  (See papers
     by Mr. Evan T. Ellis in the American Journal of Pharmacy,  xix. 83, and by
     Prof. Procter, ibid., 184.)   The dose is one or two fluidrachms.        W.

                                   FERRUM.

                            Preparations of Iron.

       FERRI  PULVIS. U. S., Dub.   Powder of Iron.   Reduced Iron.
     Iron by Hydrogen.   Quevenne1 s Iron.
       "Take of Subcarbonate of Iron, previously calcined in an open vessel, two
     pounds and a half or a convenient quantity.   Into a wrought iron reduction
     tube, of about  four inches in diameter, introduce the Subcarbonate, contained
     in an incomplete sheet-iron tube, open at both ends, made by bending the iron
     into the form of a cylinder, and of such a size as to fill loosely about seven-eighths
     of the reduction tube.  Place the reduction tube longitudinally in an oblong
     charcoal furnace; and, by means of a self-regulating generator of hydrogen, pass
     through it a stream of  that  gas, previously purified by bubbling  successively
     through Solution of Subacetate  of Lead, diluted with three times its volume of
-^w-ater, and through milk of lime, severally contained  in half-gallon bottles,
  'Vabout  one-third filled.  Connect with the further extremity of the reduction tube
     a lead tube bent so as to dip  into water.   Make  all the  junctions  air-tight by
     appropriate lutes ; and, when the hydrogen  has passed long enough to fill the
     whole  of the apparatus  to the exclusion of atmospheric air, light the fire, and
     bring  that part of the reduction tube occupied by the Subcarbonate to a dull
     red heat, which must be kept up so long as the bubbles of hydrogen, breaking
     from the water covering the orifice of the lead tube, are smaller than those pass- 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1047
ing through the milk of lime.   When the reduction is completed, remove the
fire, and allow the whole to cool to the ordinary temperature, keeping up, during
the refrigeration, a moderate current  of hydrogen through the  apparatus.
Lastly, withdraw the reduced iron from the reduction tube, detach it from the
sheet-iron tube, and, having powdered it, keep it in well-stopped bottles.  When
two pounds and a half of Subcarbonate of Iron are operated on, the process
occupies from five to eight hours."  U:S.
   "Take of Peroxide of Iron, Zinc, in small pieces, Oil of Vitriol, Water, each,
a sufficient quantity.  Introduce into a gun-barrel as much of the Peroxide of
Iron as will occupy the length of about ten inches, confining it to the middle
portion of the barrel by plugs of asbestos.   Let the gun-barrel be now placed in
such a furnace as is used for organic analysis, one end of it being fitted by means
of a cork  into a bent adapter whose further extremity dips in water, while the
other end (of barrel) is connected with a bottle containing the Zinc and Water,
with  the intervention, however, of a desiccating tube  including  fragments of
caustic potash, and a small bottle half filled with oil  of vitriol.   Matters being
thus arranged, a little Oil  of Vitriol is to be poured  into the  bottle containing
the Water and Zinc, with the view of developing a sufficiency of hydrogen to
expel the air from the interior of the apparatus.  As  soon as this object is con-
sidered to have been accomplished, the part of the tube containing the Peroxide
of Iron must be  surrounded with ignited charcoal, and, when it is thus brought
to a low red heat, the Oil of Vitriol is to be gradually added to the Zinc, so as
to cause a steady current of hydrogen to pass through the oil  of vitriol and de-
siccation tube into the gun-barrel.   As soon as  the reduction of the Oxide is
completed, which maybe judged to have taken place when the gas bubbles escape
at apparently the same rate through  the water in which the adapter terminates,
and through the bottle  containing the oil of vitriol, the fire is to be removed (a
slow current of  hydrogen being still continued), and, when the gun-barrel has
assumed the temperature of the air,  its metallic contents should  be extracted,
and preserved in an accurately stopped bottle."  Dub.
   This is  a new preparation  of the U. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias of 1850,
and consists of metallic iron  in fine powder, obtained by reducing the sesqui-
oxide by hydrogen at a dull-red heat.   The subcarbonate of the IT. S. Pharma-
copoeia, which is essentially  the sesquioxide of  iron, is deprived  of water  by
calcination, and  then subjected to the reducing influence of  a  stream of hydro-
gen,  purified from sulphuretted  hydrogen and  acid by passing  successively
through a solution of subacetate of lead and milk  of lime.  The hydrogen unites
with the oxygen of the  sesquioxide  to form water, and  leaves the iron in the
metallic state.   The subcarbonate should  be perfectly free from sulphate of
soda,  which it is apt to  contain when imperfectly washed.  If this salt be pre-
sent  it will be reduced by  the hydrogen to the  state of sulphuret of sodium,
which will contaminate and spoil the metallic iron formed,  and cause the pre-
paration, when taken, to give rise to unpleasant eructations.   The heat should
be carefully regulatedf'for  if  it fall  below dull redness,  part of the oxide will
escape reduction; and, if it exceed that point considerably, the particles of re-
duced iron will agglutinate, and the preparation  will be  heavy and not readily
pulverizable.   The Dublin  process is not so well fitted for practical purposes
as that of the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia.   The directions given in the Dublin for-
mula to dry the  hydrogen are unnecessary.  On  the subject of powder of iron,
manufacturing chemists will find it useful to consult the paper of AIM. Soubeiran
and Dublanc, in which full directions are  given for purifying  the hydrogen, con-
structing the furnace, regulating the  heat, and  avoiding explosions. (Amer.
Journ. of Pharm,, xviii. 303, from the Journ. de Pharm,, viii.  187.)   Prof,-"
Procter, of Philadelphia, has  made some improvements in the process of Sou-. 
1043
Ferrum.
PART II.
   beiran and Dublanc, which he has communicated in a paper, embracing many
   useful details.  (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 11.)
     Since the last edition of this work was published, several processes have been
   proposed for obtaining powder of  iron.  Mr. Arthur Morgan, of Dublin, re-
   commends the  use of dried ferrocyanuret of potassium, thoroughly mixed with
   the Dublin red oxide of iron, and calcined with pure carbonate of potassa at a
   low red heat.  The product contains all the iron in a reduced state, mixed with
   soluble matters, which are carefully washed away. (See Am. Journ, of Pharm.
   Sept. 1854, p.  450.)   A similar process to the above has been proposed by a
   German chemist, named Zangerle;  the oxalate of protoxide of iron being sub-
   stituted  for the  red  oxide. (See Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., May, 1857, p.
   565.)  Prof. Wohler recommends the use of the same oxalate, not in connexion
   with ferrocyanuret of potassium; but  as a  suitable  compound of iron for  re-
   duction by hydrogen.   Oxalate of protoxide of iron is a salt of a lemon-yellow
   colour, and may be obtained by precipitating a concentrated solution of sulphate
   of iron with oxalic acid.   Another eligible compound for reduction  is the
   crystalline powder of oxide of iron, prepared by fusing, in a clay crucible, pure
   dried sulphate  of iron with three times its weight of chloride of sodium, and
   then washing the melted mass when cold, until everything soluble is removed.
   (Wohler.)  The process of M. Eugene Fegueux consists in reducing the oxide
   of iron by carbonic oxide, formed by passing a stream of carbonic acid over
   red-hot charcoal in the reduction tube,  before it reaches  the oxide of iron. The
   carbonic acid,  thus reduced to carbonic oxide, becomes formed again by deoxi-
   dizing the ferruginous oxide.
    Properties.   Powder of iron, called by the French,  fer reduit, is a light,
   tasteless powder, soft to the touch, of an iron-gray colour, and without metallic
   lustre.  If black the preparation is  to be rejected as not being fully deoxidized.
   When thrown into a dilute acid, it causes a lively effervescence of hydrogen.  A
   small portion of it, struck on an anvil with  a smooth hammer, forms a scale,
   having a brilliant metallic lustre. On account of its great liability to oxidation,
   it should  be kept  in  a  dry bottle, well stopped.  A black  powder, having a
   composition corresponding with that of the magnetic oxide of iron, has been
   sold in London and Edinburgh  under  the name of Quevenne's iron.  The spu-
   rious powder  may be known  by its having a black instead of an  iron-gray
   colour, and by  its effervescing but slightly with acids. In the process for mak-
   ing reduced iron, part of the sesquioxide almost always escapes full deoxidation,
   and comes out  of the tube of a black colour.  This part should be rejected, in-
   stead of being  sold as  reduced  iron, as appears to have been done by some
   manufacturing  chemists.  If the preparation has been very badly prepared, it
   will produce an intensely red colour with sulphocyanuret of potassium.
    Medical Properties.  Powder of iron, reduced from the oxide by hydrogen,
   was first prepared for medicinal purposes by Quevenne and Miquelard, of Paris.
   The general therapeutic properties of the preparations of iron, and the mode
   in which they should be given, have been stated under another head. (See page
   361.)  Of these, the preparation under consideration is, perhaps, the most im-
   portant, and one growing in favor  with the  practitioner every day.  It is the
   preparation which introduces the largest proportion of iron into the gastric
v^giCe,  according to Quevenne, and to M. Costes, of Bordeaux.  The chief ob-
  jectio'n to it is the difficulty of obtaining it well prepared.  Much of the powder
   of iron, found in the shops, is not to be depended on, in consequence of imper-
   fect reduction.   The principal diseases in which it has been employed are anasmia,
   chlorosis,  amenorrhcea,  chorea, and enlargement of the spleen following inter-
   mittent fever.   Its general  mode of action  is to improve the quality of im-
   poverished blood.   Observations to determine  its therapeutic value, compared 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1049
 with that of the other ferruginous preparations, were made by M. Costes, for
 nearly four years, at the hospital Saint-Andre, of Bordeaux, and with results
 highly favourable to it.   The dose is from  three to six  grains several times
 a day, given in powder  or  pill.   It is sometimes prepared with chocolate in
 the form of lozenges.                                                B.

   TINCTURA FERRI ACETATIS.  Dub.   Tincture of Acetate  of
 Iron.
   "Take of Sulphate of Iron eight ounces [avoird.]; Distilled Water half a
 pint [Imp. meas.];  Pure Sulphuric Acid six fluidrachms [Imp. meas.]; Pure
 Nitric Acid half a  fluidounce [Imp. meas.]; Acetate of Potash eight ounces
 [avoird.] ; Rectified Spirit half a gallon [Imp. meas.].  To nine [fluid]ounces
 of the Water add the Sulphuric Acid, and in the mixture, with the aid of heat,
 dissolve the Sulphate of Iron.  Add next  the Nitric Acid, first diluted with
 the remaining [fluid] ounce of Water, and  evaporate the resulting solution to
 the consistence of a thick syrup.   Dissolve this in one quart [two pints, Imp.
 meas.], and the Acetate of Potash in the remainder of the Spirit, and, having
 mixed the solutions, and shaken the mixture repeatedly in  a large bottle, let the
 whole be thrown upon a calico filter. When any further liquid ceases to trickle
 through,  subject the filter, with its contents, to expression, and, having cleared
 the turbid tincture thus procured by filtration  through paper,  let it be added
 to that already obtained.   The sp. gr. of this tincture is 0-891." Dub.
   This preparation is a tincture of the teracetate of sesquioxide of iron.  The
 first step  in making it is to convert the sulphate of protoxide of iron into the
 tersulphate of the sesquioxide by the action of sulphuric and nitric acids, with
 the aid of heat, in the usual way.   The salt thus formed is then dissolved in half
 the rectified spirit, the acetate of potassa in the other half.  The spirituous saline
 solutions  having been mixed, a double decomposition of the salts takes place,
 resulting in the formation of teracetate of sesquioxide of  iron which dissolves
 in the spirit, and sulphate of potassa which precipitates,  being insoluble in that
 menstruum.   By filtration, therefore, the sulphate of potassa is removed, and
 the clear liquid constitutes the tincture under notice.  As  there is an excess of
 sulphate  of protoxide of iron taken, the tersulphate of the sesquioxide into
 which it is converted, is  more than sufficient to decompose all the acetate of po-
 tassa.  Accordingly, the portion of the tersulphate not expended in the double
 decomposition, being soluble in rectified spirit, remains  in solution along with
 the teracetate in the tincture.
  Properties.   This tincture is a transparent liquid, of a deep-red colour, and
 strong chalybeate taste.  It is said to form an agreeable chalybeate.  The dose
 is from twenty drops to  a teaspoonful, sufficiently diluted with  water.   B.
   FERRI CARBONAS SACCHARATUM. Ed., Dub.;  Ferri Car-
 bonas cum Saccharo.  Lond.   Saccharine Carbonate of Iron.   Carbon-
 ate of Iron with Sugar.
  "Take of Sulphate of  Iron four ounces;  Carbonate of Soda four ounces and
 a quarter; Sugar two ounces; boiling Distilled Water four pints [Imp. meas.].
 Dissolve separately the Sulphate and Carbonate in two pints of the Water. Mix
 the solutions while still hot, and set the mixture by that the Carbonate of Iron
 may subside.  Then, having poured off the supernatant liquor, wash frequently
 the precipitated Carbonate.  To this add the Sugar, dissolved in two fluidounces
 of Water, and evaporate the mixture by means of a water-bath until the powder
is dry. Keep this in a well stopped bottle," Lond,
  " Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Carbonate of Soda five ounces; Pure
 Sugar two ounces; Water four pints [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the Sulphate and
 Carbonate, each, in  two  pints of the water ; add the solutions and mix them; 
1050
Ferrum.
PART II.
 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 powder.  Dry the mixture
 at a temperature not much above 120°." Ed.
   The Dublin process is substantially the same as the Edinburgh, and, there-
 fore, need not be given.
   When solutions of sulphate of iron and carbonate of soda are mixed together
 there are formed, by double decomposition, sulphate of soda which remains in
 solution, and  carbonate of protoxide of iron which falls as a pale-bine precipi-
 tate.  This precipitate begins immediately to alter in nature by the absorption
 of oxygen, and, if washed and dried in the ordinary way, becomes 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 Subcarbonas.)  As the preparations
 of iron containing the protoxide are most esteemed, the change which this pre-
 cipitate undergoes was always matter of regret, and various attempts were made
 to prevent it.   Now saccharine matter has been ascertained to possess the prop-
 erty 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 saccharine
 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 car-
 bonate of iron.  In the London process the washed precipitate is immediately
 mixed with the sugar in the form of syrup.  In the Edinburgh formula, it is
 pressed so as to free it from water as far as possible, and then incorporated with
 the sugar in fine powder.   The mode of treating the precipitate, directed in the
 London formula, is that recommended by Mr. R. Phillips, jun., and is preferable
 to the treatment by expression, which exposes it for a longer period to the action
 of the air.  The final drying heat should not exceed 130°.  The protection from
 oxidation, however, is more complete,  when both the materials and product of
 the process are maintained constantly in contact with  saccharine matter, by
 using weak syrup  both for dissolving the salts and 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 Pilulse Ferri Carbonatis, U.S.)
  Properties.  Saccharine carbonate of iron is a grayish-green powder, perma-
 nent in the air, having a sweetish, styptic taste, and wholly and readily soluble
 in muriatic acid, with brisk effervescence.  Its composition is not well  made
 out.   The Edinburgh College defines it to be a "carbonate of protoxide of iron
 in an undetermined state of combination with sugar and sesquioxide of iron."
 The  presence of sesquioxide of  iron is a defect, which is avoided in Vallet's
 ferruginous pills.
  Medical Properties.  This preparation is an excellent chalybeate, possessing
the advantages of having nearly all the iron in it in the state of protoxide, and
of being readily soluble in acids.  Originally introduced into the officinal list by
the Edinburgh College, it appears for  the first time in the Dublin and London
Pharmacopasias of 1850 and 1851.  It  is probably more active than  the subcar-
bonate of iron, and must be used in  a smaller dose.  It is, however, inferior to
Vallet's ferruginous mass, in the preparation of which the anti-oxidizing influ-
ence  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.  Pilulas Ferri Carbonatis, Ed.                            B. 
PART II.
Ferrum.   *
1051
    TINCTURA FERRI  CHLORIDI.  U. S.   Tinctura Ferri Ses-
 quichloridi. Lond., Dub.   Ferri Muriatis Tinctura. Ed.   Tinc-
 ture of Chloride of Iron.   Tincture of Muriate of Iron.
    "Take of Subcarbonate of Iron half a pound: Muriatic Acid a pint: Alcohol
 three pints.  Pour the Acid upon the Subcarbonate of Iron, in a glass or porce-
 lain vessel, mix them, and, when effervescence has ceased, apply a gentle heat,
 and continue it, stirring occasionally, until the carbonate is dissolved; then
 filter the solution, and mix it with the alcohol."  U S.
    "Take of Sesquioxide of Iron [Subcarbonate, U &] six ounces; Hydrochloric
 Acid^a pint [Imperial measure];  Rectified Spirit three pints [Imp. meas.]. Mix
 the Sesquioxide with the Acid, and digest with a sand-bath, occasionally stirring,
 till it is dissolved.  Then to the solution, after it has cooled, 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.].
 Add the 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  Iron Wire eight ounces  [avoirdupois] ; Pure Muriatic Acid one
 quart [two pints, Imp. meas.]I; Pure Nitric Acid eighteen fluidrachms [Imp.
 meas.] ; Distilled Water one pint [Imp. meas.]; Rectified Spirit one pint and a
 half [Imp. meas.].  Dilute the Muriatic  Acid with the Water, and, having
 poured the mixture on the Iron, apply a gentle heat till the metal is dissolved.
 Next add the Nitric Acid in successive portions, and then evaporate at a*gentle
 heat until the solution is reduced to one pint.  Finally mix this in a bottle with
 the Spirit, and, after the mixture has  stood for twelve hours, draw off the clear
 tincture.   The sp. gr. of this tincture is 1-237."  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 dissolves with effervescence, in consequence
 of the escape of carbonic acid;  and  a solution  of  the sesquichloride of iron,
 with a little protochloride, is obtained.   When the muriatic  acid employed is
 of the officinal strength (sp. gr.  1-16), the quantity directed in the  U. S. for-
 mula 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 muriatic  acid and the alcohol, as  the prepa-
 ration has a decided ethereal odour.   On exposure,  the small quantity  of pro-
 tochloride  of  iron present is converted, by the absorption of oxygen, into ses-
 quichloride and sesquioxide,  the latter of which is precipitated unless there be
 an excessof muriatic acid present.  In the U. S. formula no such excess exists,
 and the tincture may consequently deposit, upon  standing, a little sesquioxide
 of iron, and become in the same proportion more feeble; but this is a very
 slight objection, and is easily obviated,  if thought advisable, by adding sufficient
 muriatic acid to redissolve the precipitate.  The London and Edinburgh prepa-
 rations, which have a considerable excess of acid,  are liable to  the more  serious
 objection of being thus  rendered  more irritant to the stomach.  It  is import-
 ant  that the apothecary should  employ muriatic acid of the  officinal  specific
 gravity, as otherwise his preparation will be of uncertain strength.*  A want

  * As it is difficult to find muriatic acid in the shops of the proper strength, the
 operator often fails to dissolve the whole of the subcarbonate of iron directed. Mr. A.  P.
 Sharp, of Baltimore, proposes to obviate this difficulty by passing muriatic acid gas,
obtained by heating commercial muriatic acid in a flask, into the liquid muriatic acid
employed, after  it has ceased to dissolve the subcarbonate, until the solution is effected,
and then to  add the alcohol, filtration being unnecessary unless the subcarbonate con-
tain impurity.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxvii.  103.) 
1052
•»   Ferrum.
PART II.
 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 93 grains.   A
 specimen  prepared  by himself, precisely acccording to  the directions  of  the
 London Pharmacopoeia of 1824, 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  sesquioxide.   The present London preparation,  according to the same  au-
 thority,  has the sp.  gr. 0-992,  and would  afford, from  half a fluidounce, upon
 the addition of potassa, nearly 15 grains of sesquioxide.   The process of  the
 Dublin Pharmacopoeia of 1850 is quite new.   In the first  step of it a solution
 of  protochloride of  iron is formed, which is  subsequently converted by the re-
 action of nitric acid into a solution of the  sesquichloride, to which the alcohol
 is added.  The strength of the resulting tincture is more  than thrice that of
 the other  British preparations, and nearly thrice that  of the U.  S. tincture.*
  Properties.  Tincture of chloride of iron  is  of a reddish-brown, somewhat
 yellowish  colour, a sour and very styptic taste,  and an odour resembling that
 of  muriatic ether.   The  sesquichloride of iron, which results from its evapora-
 tion, is a deliquescent compound, of a dark-orange colour,  scarcely crystallizable,
 and consisting of two eqs. of  iron 56, and three of chlorine  106-5 = 162-5.f

  * One  of the difficulties in preparing an unobjectionable  tincture of  sesquichloride
 of iron arises from the state of the sesquioxide (subcarbonate) employed.  If this be
 freshly prepared, and  dried without heat, it will dissolve readily in muriatic acid. But
 if heated highly during or after its preparation, or if kept long, it undergoes a molecular
 change which interferes with its solubility, so that muriatic  acid  fails to dissolve it in
 the proportion required in the officinal process, and the resulting tincture is consequently
 too  feeble.  Dr. Squibb, of the U. S. Navy, proposes the following formula, as being
 more likely to accomplish the objects aimed at  by the Pharmacopoeia than the officinal.
  " Take of iron filings or card teeth ^ xviij, muriatic acid (sp. gr. 1-16) Ov, nitric acid
 (sp. gr. 1-42) f.^ivl or q. s., alcohol (sp. gr. 0-835) Oxv, distilled water Oiij.  To  the
 iron filings, placed in a ten pint flask, add 3 pints of the muriatic acid, and 8 fluidounces
 of the distilled water.  When the reaction has subsided, boil gently for four hours, add
 one pint of  distilled water, heat again to boiling, and strain off the hot solution. Wash
 the flask and residue with 8 fluidounces of distilled water, [and  add the washings to]
 the  original solution.   To the strained solution, in a flask, add the remainder of  the
 muriatic  acid, and heat the mixture.  Then add, by small portions, the nitric acid
 until it falls into the hot mixture without effervescence,  boil for half an hour, and set
 aside  to  cool.  When cold  make up the measure to five pints  with distilled water,
 and add  the solution to the alcohol." (Am. Journ. of Pharm.  xxix. 290.)
  For more precise rules in relation to the conducting of the  process, the reader will
 consult the article referred to. It is based upon the same principle as the Dublin pro-
 cess ;  but yields a tincture much more nearly corresponding with that of the U. S.
 Pharmacopoeia.  Its sp. gr. is 0-992, and one fluidounce of it yields 32-04 grains of ses-
 quioxide of iron.—Note to the eleventh edition.
  t  Sesquichloride of Iron.   This  salt has recently acquired additional  importance in
 consequence of. the introduction into use by M. Pravaz,  of  Lyons, of its concentrated
aqueous solution, as a local remedy for aneurisms.   In consequence  of the deposition,
by this solution, of the insoluble  oxychloride of iron, and the  resulting excess of mu-
riatic  acid, it is apt to-become injuriously irritating.  To obviate this disadvantage,
M. Burin du Buisson recommends the following  mode of preparation.  " Saturate as
quickly as  possible pure and colourless muriatic  acid with [gelatinous] hydrated per-
oxide  of  iron; evaporate the solution to  somewhat  less  than one-half over a gentle
fire  ; and then continue the evaporation by means of the salt-bath, taking care to re-
move  the-aqueous vapours, which would cause the formation of muriatic  acid, and a
deposition  of insoluble oxychloride.  When the solution has attained the consistence
of thick  syrup (in which  state it curdles on  cooling, without, however,  becoming a
solid mass), cease evaporating, add an excess of  the gelatinous  hydrate diluted with
a little water, agitate for a quarter of an hour,  and afterwards allow the liquor to  rest
 for  several  hours.  Next add distilled water sufficient  to bring the solution to  the
density of  30D Baume, and allow  it to stand for eight days in contact with an excess
 of the hydrate; after which filter, and again allow it to stand for two weeks." 
 part ii.                         Ferrum.                             1053

 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
 the purposes to  which the chalybeates generally are applied.   It has been  par-
 ticularly commended as a tonic in scrofula, in which it was formerly often given,
 jointly with the solution of chloride of calcium, or chloride of  barium.  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  leucorrhoea; and is
 said to be useful in dysury dependent on spasmodic stricture 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 ad-
 vantageously, but should be confined to those of a passive character, or employed
 only  after sufficient  depletion.   Upon the  recommendation of Dr.  Bell,  of
 Edinburgh, it has recently been much  employed in erysipelas, with great  sup-
 posed advantage;  and, upon  the same principle, that of improving the condi-
 tion  of  the blood, has been used also in scarlatina.  Externally  it is sometimes
 used for the destruction of venereal warts, and as a styptic in  cancerous  and
 fungous ulcers.  It has recently been employed with success, as  an injection in
 aneurismal tumours.   (See Ranking's Abstract, xviii.  120.)  The dose of the
 U. S. tincture is from ten  to thirty  minims, which may be  gradually increased
 to  one or even two fluidrachms, two or three times  a day.   In acute febrile
 diseases, as erysipelas, the  dose should be  repeated every two hours.  It is given
 diluted with water.                                                     W.

  This strength of the solution (30° Baume) is required for the cure of varices.  For
 injection into aneurismal tumours, it is sufficient to employ a solution of 20° or even 15°.
  M.  T. Gobley thinks  that this solution, though but slightly acid at first,  soon be-
 comes so ; and advises that the sesquichloride should be prepared in a dry state, in
 which it keeps well  for a long time, and be dissolved in water as wanted for use, in
 the proportion required in each case.   Solutions of  45°, 30°, 20°, and 15° Baume  con-
 tain respectively, 43-10, 29-70, 17-05, and 12-10, per cent, of the dry  salt. (Journ. de
 Pharm. et de Chim. xxv. 260-3.)
  This solution has been used not only for the cure of aneurisms  and varices,  in which
 it acts by coagulating the blood with which it is  brought into contact, but also as a
 powerful haemostatic to bleeding surfaces, as  in  surgical operations, and as a local
 application in the ophthalmic  affection called "panniform  keratitis." (See A7.  Am.
 Medico-Chir. Per. i. 115 and 157.)
  * Bestuchefs tincture, which is much used in Europe, is simply a solution of sesqui-
 chloride of iron in a mixture of one measure of ether and three or four measures of alco-
 hol.  Fr. Mayer recommends that the sesquichloride should be  prepared by passing
 chlorine through  a solution  of the protochloride, until  a  solution of the ferridcya-
 nuret of potassium no longer produces  a blue  precipitate, and then  evaporating by a
 water-bath.  In this mode crystals of the  sesquichloride are obtained, one  ounce of
 which is to be dissolved in twelve ounces of ether, mixed with four times its bulk of
 alcohol.  The solution may be rendered colourless, if desired, by exposure to the direct
 rays of the sun. (N. Y. Journ. of Pharm., i. 233.)
  Mr. A.  Cushman recommends the following process for  the  above tincture.   He
 first prepares the crystals of the sesquichloride by dissolving two ounces of iron filings
 in a mixture of eight fluidounces of muriatic acid  and four of distilled water, then
 adding four  fluidrachms of nitric  acid, evaporating to a pellicle, and setting aside
to crystallize. The crystals, having been washed in alcohol, and afterwards redissolved
 and crystallized, are to be dissolved in  a mixture of two  parts of alcohol and one  of
ether;  the proportion being an ounce of the crystals to twelve fluidounces of  the mix-
ture.  After solution, the liquid is to be filtered, and exposed for 48 hours to the direct
rays of the sun. (Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxix. 461, from Am. Med.  Gaz.)—Note to the
eleventh edition. 
1054                            Ferrum.                         part ii.

   FERRI CITRAS.  U.S.   Citrate of Iron.
   "Take of Citric Acid^ne ounces and a half; Sulphate of Iron twelve ounces;
Distilled Water five fluidounces.   Dissolve the Acid in the Water.  Then pre-
pare from the Sulphate the Hydrated Oxide of  Iron, according to the formula
for that substance.   To the solution of  the Acid, heated to about  150°, and
maintained at that temperature, gradually add the Hydrated Oxide, in its moist
and recent state, as long as it is dissolved, and until the Acid is fully saturated.
Filter the liquid,- and, having evaporated it to the consistence of a thick syrup,
spread it in layers on glass or porcelain plates, so that, when dried, it may form
thin laminas, which are to  be detached from the plates, and broken into pieces
of convenient size."  U. S.
   In this process a strong solution of citric acid, heated to 150°, is accurately
saturated with moist and recent hydrated sesquioxide of iron.   The heat di-
rected promotes the solution of the  sesquioxide, and should  not  be exceeded •
as a higher temperature lessens the solubility of the oxide, and interferes with
the proper saturation of the  acid.   Citrate of iron,  as  thus  prepared,  is in
thin transparent pieces, of a beautiful garnet-red colour.   It is  an uncrystal-
lizable acid salt, slowly soluble in cold, but readily soluble in  boiling water, and
possessing a mild chalybeate teste.  It consists of one eq. of  citric acid  165,
and one of sesquioxide  of  iron 80=245.
   Citrate of iron was introduced to the  notice of the profession, in  1831, by
M. Beral, of Paris.   It is a pleasant chalybeate, and is best given in solution.
Prof. Procter  finds that a solution of this salt in distilled water, containing
240 grains to  the fluidounce, keeps perfectly, and is very convenient for dispens-
ing.   It may be given in the dose of ten minims, containing five  grains of the
salt, several times a day.                                              j},

   FERRI AMMONIO-CITRAS.  Lond., Dub.   Ammonio-citrate of
Iron.
   " Take of Sulphate of Iron twelve ounces; Carbonate of Soda twelve ounces
and a half; Citric Acid six ounces; Solution of Ammonia nine fluidounces
[Imp. meas.] ; boiling Distilled Water twelve pints [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve
separately the  Sulphate and Carbonate  in six pints of the Water.   Mix the
solutions while still hot, and set the mixture by that  the precipitate may sub-
side.  Having poured off the supernatant liquor, wash the precipitate frequently
with water, throw in the Acid, and dissolve  by the aid of  heat.  When the
solution has cooled, add the Ammonia, and evaporate to  the consistence of
syrup.   Pour this in thin layers on earthenware plates, dry with a gentle heat,
and preserve the product in a well stopped bottle." Lond.
   The Dublin College dissolves its hydrated peroxide of iron,  freshly made, in
a solution of citric acid, and boils for twenty minutes.  The cool solution, after the
addition of ammonia in slight excess, is dried in thin layers, so as to form scales.
   In the London process, by double decomposition between sulphate of iron and
carbonate of soda, carbonate of protoxide of iron is first formed, which, by the
exposure to the air during washing, becomes the sesquioxide with loss of car-
bonic acid.  To this  oxide, while still moist, the citric acid is added, and the
whole is dissolved by the aid of heat, the moisture present and the water of
crystallization of the acid  being sufficient to effect the solution.  In this  man-
ner the citrate of sesquioxide of  iron  is formed, the salt described in the last
article.   Now this is  an acid salt, and, when the excess of acid in it is neutral-
ized with ammonia, the ammonio-citrate of iron is  formed.
   Properties, &c.  Ammonio-citrate of iron is in garnet-red  scales, having a
slightly chalybeate taste, and forming a solution of a  clear ruby colour.  It is
much more readily soluble in water than  the citrate of iron, described in the last 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1055
 article.   It is neutral to test paper, and not rendered blue by the addition of
 ferrocyanuret of potassium.  It is decomposed by potassa and lime-water, which
 throw down sesquioxide of  iron  and evolve ammonia.   The London College
 states that 100 grains of the salt, dissolved in water and treated with potassa,
 yield  about 34 grains of sesquioxide of iron.   This salt is a pleasant chalyb-
 eate.   Its ready solubility gives it an advantage over the citrate.   The dose
 is five grains, repeated several times a day, and given in solution.  According
 to Dr. Paris it may be mixed with the carbonated alkalies without decompo-
 sition, and given in a state of effervescence with citric acid.             B.

    FERRI ET  POTASS^   TARTRAS. U.S.    Ferri  Potassio-
 tartras.  Lond.   Ferrum  Tartarizatum. Ed.,  Dub.    Tartrate  of
 Iron and  Potassa.   Potassio-tartrate of Iron.   Tartarized Iron.
    "Take of Sulphate of Iron eight ounces; Bitartrate of Potassa seven ounces;
 Distilled Water half a gallon.   Prepare from the  Sulphate the Hydrated Ox-
 ide of Iron, according to the formula for that substance.  Mix the Bitartrate
 of Potassa with the Distilled Water, heat the mixture  to  140°, and, keeping
 it at  that temperature, add gradually the Hydrated Oxide,  frequently stirring,
 until  it ceases to be dissolved.   Then filter the solution, evaporate it  by means
 of a water-bath to the consistence of Syrup, and spread it upon plates of glass
 or porcelain, so that it may dry in the form of scales."  U S.
    "Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Sulphuric Acid half a fluidounce;
 [Imp. meas.] ; Nitric Acid a fluidounce [Imp. meas.]; Solution of Ammonia
 ten fluidounces [Imp. meas.] ;  Bitartrate  of Potassa, powdered, two ounces;
 Distilled Water four gallons [Imp. meas.].   Dissolve  the Sulphate with the
 Sulphuric Acid in a pint of the Water; then, applying heat, add gradually the
 Nitric Acid.  Boil down the solution  to the consistence of syrup, and mix it
 with the rest of the Water.   Then add the Ammonia, in order to throw down
 the sesquioxide of iron.  Wash this and  set it aside for  twenty-four hours.
 Then  heat the Bitartrate, mixed with half a pint of Distilled Water,  to  140°,
 and to this mixture add the  moist sesquioxide, the water which floats over it
 having been poured off.  Separate the part of the  sesquioxide which fails to
 be dissolved by straining through a cloth; then evaporate the clear liquor until
 the salt is dry.  The Potassio-tartrate of Iron may also be dried in the man-
 ner directed for Ammonio-citrate of  Iron." 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 [Imp. meas.] '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  Ammonia 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 Sulphate of Iron eight ounces [avoird.];  white Bitartrate of Pot-
 ash five ounces [avoird.]; Distilled Water one pint and a half [Imp. meas.].
 From the Sulphate of Iron prepare Hydrated Peroxide of Iron by the [Dublin]
 process, and having, immediately after it is washed, placed it with the Bitartrate
 of Potash and Water in a porcelain capsule, apply heat to the mixture (taking
 care, however, that the temperature does not rise beyond 150°), and stir it occa-
 sionally for six hours.   Let the solution, after it  has cooled down  to the tem-
 perature of the atmosphere, be decanted off any undissolved oxide of iron, and,
having transferred it in small quantities to delf dinner plates, let it be evaporated
to dryness at a heat not exceeding  150°.  Lastly, chip off the film of  dry salt
which adheres to the plates, and preserve it in well stopped bottles."  Dub. 
1056
Ferrum.
PART II.
  The object of these processes is to combine the excess of acid in the liitar-
trate of potassa with sesquioxide of iron.  In all of them the plan of Soubeiran
is adopted; namely, that of dissolving the moist hydrated sesquioxide to satu-
ration in  a  mixture of the bitartrate and water, aided by a  moderate heat.
The sesquioxide is now obtained, in  all the Pharmacopoeias, from the tersul-
phate of sesquioxide of iron, yvhich is precipitated either  by ammonia (U. S.,
Dond., Ed.), or by solution of potassa (Dub.).   Potassa is not a good precipi-
tant;  because the alkali adheres  obstinately to the precipitated sesquioxide,
and cannot be completely separated  even by repeated  washings.   The  neces-
sary hydrated sesquioxide is made in  the body of the  Loudon formula; this
College not having it as the product of a separate process.   The sesquioxide
should be gradually added to the bitartrate and water,  heated to 140°, as re-
commended  by Soubeiran,  at  which  temperature the oxide dissolves more
readily and in larger  quantity than when a higher temperature  is employed.
In the U. S. and Dublin formulas, the liquid is  poured out on  a plane surface,
so as to dry in scales;  and the  London College  gives  this as an alternative
method of drying.  The present formulas of the U. S., London, and Dublin
Pharmacopoeias are much superior to those of former editions  of those works.
  The late Dr. Ure proposed  the tartrate of protoxide of iron for medical
use.   He made it by acting on clean  iron filings, or bits of iron  wire, with a
solution  of tartaric acid.  It is a pulverulent salt, insoluble in water, and pos-
sessing a mild chalybeate taste.
  Properties.  Tartrate of iron  and potassa, as obtained by the U. S. and
Dublin formulas, is in  transparent scales of a ruby-red colour, and wholly solu-
ble in about four parts of water.  It has a slightly chalybeate  taste.  Its solu-
tion does not change the colour of litmus, and at common temperatures is not
precipitated by 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 peculiar  state of combination.  It is  incompatible with
astringent vegetable infusions,  which give rise to a dark-coloured precipitate.
When heated with potassa, 100 grains of the salt yield a precipitate of about
34 grains of sesquioxide of iron. (Lond. Pharm, 1851.)
  Composition.  Prepared according to the U. S., London, or  Dublin formula,
it consists of one  eq. of tartrate of sesquioxide of iron, and one of tartrate of
potassa.  When of this composition it contains 34 per cent, of sesquioxide of iron,
The Edinburgh preparation contains only about 18 per cent, of sesquioxide.
  Medical Properties.   Tartrate  of iron and potassa is an agreeable chalyb-
eate, and, when  made according to the  U. S., London,  or Dublin formula,
may be depended upon  for activity and uniformity of composition.  It has a
someyvhat laxative effect, which makes it suitable to the treatment of certain
cases.   It is the chalybeate preferred by M.  Mialhe, who conceives that it i?
more readily absorbed than any  other ferruginous preparation. It is also well
borne by the stomach, whether taken fasting, or with the food.   From its
slight taste and ready solubility, it is one of the best ferruginous preparations
for children.  The dose for an adult is from ten grains to half a drachm, given
preferably in solution.                                                13.

  FERRI FERROCYANURETUM. U. S.   Ferrocyanuret of Iron.
Pure Prussian Blue.
  "Take of Sulphate  of Iron four ounces; Sulphuric Acid  three fluidrachms
and a half; Nitric Acid [sp. gr. 1-42] six fluidrachms, or a sufficient quan-
tity; Ferrocyanuret 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 por- 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1057
tions, boiling the liquid for a minute or two  after each addition, until a dark
colour is no longer produced ; then allow it to cool.   Dissolve the Ferrocya-
nuret of Potassium in the remainder of the Water, and add this solution gradu-
ally to the first liquid,  agitating the mixture after each addition ;  then 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.
  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 sul-
phuric acid, is to provide for the higher saturating power of  the sesquioxide
over the protoxide, and thus to prevent the precipitation of the monosulphate
of the sesquioxide.  The tersulphate of the sesquioxide may be obtained, with-
out the use of nitric acid, by treating the sulphate of the protoxide, previously
dried, with boiling sulphuric acid.  The tersulphate, in whatever manner  ob-
tained, is  decomposed by the gradual addition of the solution of ferrocyanuret
of potassium.  Three  eqs. of ferrocyanuret, and two of tersulphate of sesqui-
oxide 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 reaction by the following equation ;  3K2Cfy and
2(Fea03,3S03)=Fe4Cfy3 and 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 hydro-
ferrocyanate of the sesquioxide  of iron, represented by the formula, 2Fe20,,
3H^Cfy.  From the formula given for the  anhydrous  compound (Fe4Cfy3), it
is evident that it contains seven eqs. of iron and nine of cyanogen.
  Preparation for Use in the Arts.  Prussian blue  is manufactured on the
large scale as follows.  A mixture made  of equal parts of carbonate of potassa
(pearlash  of commerce), and of animal matter, such as dried  blood, hair, the
shavings of horn,  &c, is calcined at a red heat in  an iron vessel, until it  be-
comes 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 ob-
tained 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 car-
bonic 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, succes-
sively, 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.   In  relation to  the manufacture of Prussian blue,
see Pharm. Journ, and Trans., March,  1856, p.  423, and May,  1856, p. 511.
  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.   Concen-
trated muriatic acid decomposes it, dissolving  sesquioxide of iron, and liberat-
ing hydroferrocyanic acid (H2Cfy).  Boiled with red oxide of mercury, it gene-
rates bicyanuret of mercury.  (See Hydrargyri Cyanuretum.)  By the contact
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
       67 
1058                            Ferrum.                        part ii.

carbonate of ammonia are evolved, and carburet of iron is left.  Its composition
has been given above.   The Prussian blue of commerce was discovered by acci-
dent, in 1710, by Diesbach,  a preparer of colours at Berlin.   It has the same
general properties as the pure substance.  It occurs in small rectangular masses,
which are heavier than water, and have a fracture presenting a bronzed appear-
ance.   Besides the  constituents of pure Prussian blue, it always contains un-
combined sesquioxide of iron, and a portion  of alumina, derived from the alum
employed in its manufacture, which serves to give it body as a pigment.  These
substances may be detected by  boiling the pigment  with dilute muriatic acid,
and precipitating the filtered  solution with ammonia.  Pure Prussian blue,
treated in this manner,  yields no precipitate.
   Medical  Properties, dec.  Prussian blue  is deemed a tonic, febrifuge, and
alterative.  Dr. Zollickoffer, of Maryland, recommended it iu intermittent and
remittent fevers, and deemed it to be particularly adapted to the cases of chil-
dren,  on account of the smallness of the dose and its want of taste.  He con-
siders 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. Kirch off, of
Ghent, in epilepsy with advantage.  Dr. Bridges, of this city, exhibited it in a
case of severe and protracted facial neuralgia, with considerable relief, after the
usual remedies for this complaint had been tried with little or no benefit.  It
is sometimes employed as an application to ill-conditioned ulcers, mixed with
simple ointment in the proportion of a drachm to the ounce.  The dose of pure
Prussian blue is from three to five grains, repeated several times a day, and
gradually increased until some  obvious effect is produced.
   Off. Prep.  Hydrargyri Cyanuretum.                                B.
   FERRI IODIDUM.   U.  S., Ed.,  Dub.  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 constantly.  Heat
the mixture gently until the liquid acquires a light greenish colour; then filter,
and, after the liquid has passed, pour upon the filter the remainder of the Dis-
tilled Water boiling hot.   When this has passed, evaporate 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.
   "Take any convenient quantity of Iodine, Iron Wire, and Distilled Water,
in the proportions for making Solution [Syrup] oi Iodide of Iron.   Proceed
as directed for that process; but, before filtering  thejsolution, concentrate it to
one-sixth of its volume, without removing the exceiss 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 other-
wise, until  the water be entirely evaporated; and  preserve the dry iodide in
small well closed vessels."  Ed.
   " Take of Pure Iodine one ounce [avoirdupois];  Filings, or thin Turnings of
wrought Iron, separated from impurities by a magnet, half an ounce [avoird.];
Distilled Water five ounces [avoird.].   Introduce  the Iodine, Iron, and four
ounces of the AVater into  a Florence flask, and, having heated the mixture
gently for ten minutes, boil until the solution loses its red colour.   Pass the
liquid now through paper  into a second flask, washing the filter with the re-
maining ounce of Water, and, by means  of a regulated  heat, boil down the
liquor until a drop of it taken out on the end of an iron wire solidifies on cool- 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1059
  ing.  When the flask has assumed the temperature of the air, let the iodide of
  iron be extracted from it (by breaking the flask if necessary), and, after it has
  been submitted to powerful pressure, enveloped in blotting paper, let it be en-
  closed in a well stopped bottle." Dub.
    In these processes iron is made to unite with iodine by the intervention of
  water, and the combination takes place readily and quickly.  The liquid at first
  is red or 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
  is half  the weight  of the iodine.   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 exceed-
  ingly difficult to obtain this salt in the solid state perfectly pure, so great is the
  proneness of its 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. Pharmacopoeia, 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 evapo-
  rating 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 recommended the
  following improved process, which more effectually excludes atmospheric 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 evaporation 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,  when cold, 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 deliques-
 cent, of  a greenish-black  colour, and styptic, chalybeate taste.  "When care-
 fully prepared* by the Edinburgh formula, it has a dark grayish-black metallic
 appearance, and irregularly foliated texture, not unlike iodine itself." (Chris-
 lison's Dispensatory.)   Its solution, by  evaporation with as little contact 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 solu-
 ble in water, forming a pale-green solution; but, if made for some time,  it al-
 most unavoidably contains some sesquioxide of iron, from a partial decomposi-
 tion, and will not entirely dissolve.  M. Lecoq, of Saint-Quentin, has proposed
 to preserve it in a wide-mouthed, ground-stoppered bottle, covered with a  layer
 of reduced iron, which  cannot decompose it,  and  protects it from the action
of the air.  When the iodide is  wanted, the iron is removed with a bone spat-
ula, or a little brush.  The aqueous solution  is very liable to spontaneous de-
composition, becoming  at last orange-red from the generation of free iodine, 
1060
Ferrum.
PART II.
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 hydri-
odic acid, from the decomposition of water.  As the protoxide immediately begins
to be converted into sesquioxide  by absorbing oxygen  from the air, and  in
this state is precipitated, the hydriodic acid is set free; and hence is explained
the acidity of the solution from the first moment the sesquioxide is  deposited.
Afterwards, the hydriodic acid is decomposed by the air, 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 com-
bining with the iodine of nascent hydriodic acid, and not yvith nascent iodine.
(Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iv. 19.)  The plan of Mr. Squire does not pre-
vent the deposition of sesquioxide, and has,  therefore, been  superseded by the
use of saccharine matter, which affords a better protection to the  solution. (See
Liquor Ferri Iodidi.)   Iodide of iron is incompatible with alkalies and their
carbonates, 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.
   Medical Properties and Uses.  Iodide of iron, was first employed in medicine
by Dr. Pierquin in 1824.   It was first used in the United States in 1832 by
Professor  Samuel Jackson,  of this city, at whose request  it was prepared in
solution by Mr. E. Durand.   Its powers are those of a tonic, alterative, diuret-
ic, and emmenagogue.  It acts more like the preparations of iron than like those
of iodine.   It sometimes sharpens the appetite and promotes  digestion, and
occasionally  proves laxative.  When it does  not  operate  on  the  bowels, it
generally augments the urine.  Its use blackens the  stools and lessens their
fetor.  It  is chiefly  employed in scrofulous  complaints, swellings of the cervical
glands, visceral obstructions  attended with  deficient  action, chlorosis, atonic
amenorrhcea, and leucorrhoea.  In the two diseases last mentioned, Dr. Pierquin
employed  it with success.   Dr. Burguet, of Bordeaux, cured a case of diabetes,
of long standing, by the use of the remedy for several mouths. In obstinate sy-
philitic ulcers, M. Baumes, of Lyons, used  it  with satisfactory results. He gave
it in the form of pill, conjoined with extract of opium, and sometimes increased
the dose to 20 grains in the course of twenty-four hours.  In secondary syphilis,
occurring in  debilitated and scrofulous subjects, Ricord has found it  a valuable
remedy.   The dose is a grain, gradually increased to eight grains or more.
   This salt,  on account of its deliquescent property,  and proneness  to decom-
position, should not be given in pill, unless protected by saccharine matter
and, even thus protected, the pills become soft and lose their shape.   Messrs. T.
and H. Smith, of Edinburgh,  have given a formula for pills  of this kind, made
from anhydrous iodide  of iron with refined sugar and honey.  A similar pill
had been previously devised by Dupasquier, and improved by Mr. H. W. Wor-
thington,  of this city, in which the protecting substances  were honey and traga-
canth.  In 1850 M. Blancard proposed pills of iodide of iron,  to be made di-
rectly from the elements of that salt, protected by honey, brought to a pilular
consistence with powdered marshmallow, rolled in the powder of reduced iron,
and varnished with  a coating of resin, by dipping them once or twice  in an ethe-
real solution of the balsam of Tolu.   Each pill contained a grain of iodide of
iron,  and the sixth of a grain of metallic iron.  These pills are without the
taste or smell of iodine or iron, and are considerably used in the United States.
Dr. D. F. Wright, of Memphis, Tenn., has  given a formula for a similar pill,
made extemporaneously from reduced iron, and protected by honey and an ex-
cess of iron.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., Jan. 1854, p. 6.)  The same pill, silvered
for further protection, and as a sign of the  absence of free iodine, was proposed
in 1855 by M. Perrens, of Bordeaux.  Prof. Procter is in the habit of intro- 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1061
 ducing a small proportion of reduced iron into the mass, when iodide of iron is
 prescribed  in  pill.   In view of the serious objections to the solid  iodide of
 iron, it might  well be dispensed with, and the syrup or saccharine solution sub-
 stituted.   The London College has omitted it from the Pharmacopoeia of 1851.
 In cases, however, in which it may be  expedient  to give the salt in  the  solid
 state, the officinal syrup may be reduced to a saccharine mass, proper for mak-
 ing pills, by evaporation to dryness. (See Pilulse Ferri Iodidi.)*
   For forming enemata, injections for the vagina, and lotions for ulcers, one or
 two drachms of  the  iodide may be dissolved in a  pint of water.         B.

   LIQUOR  FERRI IODIDI. U.S.   Syrupus  Ferri Iodidi. Lond.,
 Dub.  Ferri Iodidi Syrupus. Ed. Solution of Iodide of Iron.  Syrup
 of Iodide  of  Iron.
   " Take of Iodine two ounces; Iron Filings an ounce; Sugar, in coarse pow-
 der, twelve ounces;  Distilled Water a sufficient  quantity.  Mix the Iodine
 with five fluidounces of  Distilled Water, in a  porcelain or glass  vessel, and
 gradually add the Iron Filings, stirring constantly.  Heat the mixture gently
 until all the Iodine is dissolved, or until the liquid acquires a light greenish
 colour.   Then filter the  solution  into a  glass bottle, containing the Sugar,
 and, after it has passed, pour Distilled Water gradually upon the filter, until the
 filtered liquor, including the Sugar, measures twenty fluidounces.  Lastly, shake
 the bottle until the Sugar is dissolved,  and keep it closely stopped."  U. S.
   " Take of Iodine an ounce;  Iron Wire three  drachms; Distilled  Water
 twelve fluidounces [Imp. meas.],  or a  sufficient quantity; Sugar ten ounces.
 Mix the Iodine and Iron  with  eight fluidounces of the Water, and heat until
 the solution acquires a greenish colour; then filter.   Evaporate the solution to
 about four  fluidounces, and throw in  the Sugar.   Then, when  the Syrup has
 grown cold, add  sufficient Water to make it measure fifteen fluidounces [Imp.
 meas.], and keep it in a black glass bottle,  well stopped." Lond.
   "Take of Iodine (dry) two hundred grains; fine Iron Wire, recently cleaned,
 one hundred grains; White Sugar, in powder, four ounces and a half; Dis-
 tilled Water six fluidounces [Imperial  measure].   Boil the Iodine, Iron,  and
 Water together in  a glass  matrass, at  first gently, to  avoid the expulsion of
 Iodine vapour,  afterwards briskly, until about two fluidounces of liquid remain.
 Filter this quickly, while hot, into a matrass containing the Sugar;  dissolve
 the Sugar with a gentle heat, and add Distilled Water, if necessary, to make
 up six fluidounces.   Twelve minims contain one grain of Iodide of Iron." Ed,
   "Take of Pure Iodine five drachms [avoirdupois] ; Iron Turnings, separated
 by a magnet, three drachms [Dub. weight]; Distilled Water two ounces [avoird.];
 Simple Syrup six fluidounces [Imp. meas.].  Introduce the Iodine, Iron, and
 Water into a glass flask, and apply a moderate heat until the solution  loses its
 red colour.  Filter the solution while hot into a bottle containing the Syrup,
 mix with agitation, and add Distilled Water, to make up  eight fluidounces  [Imp!
 meas.].  One fluidrachm contains about five grains of Iodide of Iron." Dub.
   These preparations furnish a solution of iodide of iron, rendered more per-
 manent by sugar.   The mode of making the iodide  is precisely the same as that

  * M.  Alquie has proposed a plaster of iodide of iron, of which he speaks highly as an
 application to white swellings and lymphatic enlargements.  It is made by the follow-
 ing recipe.   Take of iodine one part; porphyrized iron  filings two parts; Burgundy
 pitch plaster thirty parts. Melt the plaster with a gentle heat, and add first the filings,
 and then the  iodine, previously dissolved in t<n parts of alcohol, stirring with an iron
 spatula until the  whole assumes a greenish-brown colour. The plaster is then spread
on leather, which is cut into strips for convenient application to the diseased part.—
Note to the eleventh edition. 
1062
Ferrum.
PART If.
given under the head of  Ferri Iodidum,   The gentle heat  employed is mine-
cessary, .and boiling, directed by the Edinburgh College, is injurious.  This Col-
lege directs the iodine to be dry; because, if moist, as British iodine often is,
less iodide of iron will be formed, and the syrup will be proportionably weaker.
(See Iodinium Purum.)  In all the processes an excess of iron is taken, beino-
greatest in the Dublin formula, and least  in the London.   A moderate excess
is  useful in preventing the solution of iodide of iron from undergoing any
change from the absorption of oxygen during filtration, before it comes in con-
tact with the  sugar.   Assuming that the iodine without loss is all  converted
into iodide of  iron, it is easy to calculate the strength  of the several officinal
solutions.  Thus, it will be found that the U. S. solution contains seven and a
quarter grains, and  those of the British Colleges about five grains of the dry
iodide to the fluidrachm.  In the British  preparations there is sufficient sugar
to constitute a syrup; in the U. S.  process much less is  directed.   According
to Mr. W.  Tozier, of Kingstown, Ireland, the proportion of sugar in the Brit- t
ish formulas is not sufficient fully to protect the iodide from change.  If this '
be so, the saccharine strength of the U. S. preparation must be altogether in-
adequate.  Prof. Procter thinks that the iodide of iron, in  the U. S. formula,
should be protected by more sugar.  A coil  of iron wire, or a strip of bright
iron, immersed in the solution, assists in preserving it from change.
   The plan of protecting the solution of iodide of iron from change by saccha-
rine matter originated with M. Frederking, of Riga, who published  a formula
for the purpose in Puchner's Repertorium in 1839.  The same plan was pro-
posed in a paper by Prof.  Procter, contained in the Amer. Journ.  of Phar-
macy for April, 1840.  In the Journal de Pharmacie for March,  1841, Dr.
Dupasquier, of Lyons, claims to have made a pure iodide of iron, protected by
syrup of gum, as early as 1838.   In the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, for Au-
gust, 1841, the late Dr. A. T. Thomson published a paper in which he confirmed
the results of Frederking and Procter, and proposed a formula for a strong
syrup, which  is the basis of that adopted in the British Pharmacopoeias.
   Properties.   The U. S. solution of iodide of iron is a transparent liquid,
free or nearly so from sediment, and of a pale-green colour.   Mr. E. S. Wayne
has observed  that, when kept for some  time, it occasionally deposits grape
sugar, into which the cane sugar is converted, probably through the agency of
hydriodic acid.   According  to Mr. J.  M. Maisch,  of  this city, the solution
is  not decomposed  by the light alone;  but undergoes decomposition by the
action of atmospheric oxygen in bottles, partly filled and  frequently opened.
The oxidation of the iron  and the evolution of the iodine  are  accelerated by
the action of  light, when the solution is thus insecurely kept;  but, when the
altered solution is transferred to air-tight bottles, completely filled, and exposed
to the direct light of the sun, it resumes its transparency; and its original colour
is  restored, or rendered much lighter.  After this restoration the solution can-
not be the same;  and Mr. Maisch thinks it probable that it contains some iodate
of sesquioxide of iron. (See his papers in the Am. Journ. of Pharm, for Sept.,
1854, and May, 1855.)  The removal  of  the apparent defects of a solution of
iodide of iron by the action of sunlight is, therefore, not an admissible expedi-
ent; because it changes the nature of the solution.   Mr. Maisch has  discovered
copper in a sample of this  preparation.   It  may be detected by putting into
the solution  a piece of bright  iron, which, by a prolonged contact, will be
covered with copper, if that metal be present.  Solution of iodide of iron is
rendered brown by sulphuric acid, and emits violet vapours when heated.  It
should not contain  any free iodine, which, if present, may be detected by the
production of a blue colour with starch.
   Syrup of iodide of iron of the  Pritish Colleges is  a  transparent liquid,
either colourless or pale yellowish-green, and without sediment even when ex- 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1063
posed to the air.  When concentrated it becomes brown, and, when evaporated
to dryness, it  forms a mass which may be called saccharine iodide of iron,
and which is not entirely soluble again, a little sesquioxide of iron being left.
This saccharine iodide, being protected by the sugar it contains, is not liable
to the objections which apply to the  pure solid salt, and may be made into
pills.  (Seepage 1061.)
   Medical Properties.  These have been detailed under the head  of Ferri
Iodidum.  The dose of the U. S. solution is from 20 to 50 drops, diluted with
water, of the syrup of the British  Colleges, one-half larger.   The dilution
should be made at the moment it is taken;  and, in order to  guard against
injury to the teeth, the mouth should be carefully washed after each close.
   Solution of iodide of  iron  is sometimes used as an external  application;
and when so employed, the necessary dilution should be made at  the moment
of  applying it.                                                      B.

   LIQUOR  FERRI  NITRATIS.  U. S.  Ferri Pernitratis  Li-
quor. Dub.  Solution of Nitrate of Iron.  Solution of Per nitrate of Iron.
Solution of Ternitrate of Sesquioxide of Iron.
   "Take of Iron  Wire, cut in pieces,  an ounce; Nitric Acid [sp. gr.  1*42]
three fluidounces; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity.  Mix the Acid with
a pint^ of Distilled Water,  and add the Iron, about a drachm at  a time, with
agitation, allowing each portion to be dissolved before adding  the next.  Filter
the solution as soon as the disengagement of gas ceases, and, having  heated
it to 160°, carefully drop in nitric acid, stirring constantly, until  it acquires a
bright reddish colour,  and yields with ammonia a red precipitate,  without any
tinge of black.  Lastly,  add sufficient Distilled Water to make the  Solution
measure thirty fluidounces."  U. S.
   "Take of fine Iron  Wire,  free from  rust,  one ounce [avoirdupois]; Pure
Nitric Acid [sp. gr. 1-5] three fluidounces [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water  a
sufficient quantity.  Into  the Acid, first diluted with sixteen ounces [avoird.]
of the Water, introduce the Iron Wire, and leave them  in contact until  gas
ceases to be disengaged.   Filter the solution,  and to it add as much Water as
will make its bulk one pint and a half [Imp.  meas.].   The specific gravity of
this Solution is 1-107." Dub.
   The present U. S. formula for this solution is an amended one, adopted in
the second  edition of the Pharmacopoeia,  published  in Dec.  1855.   The
formula in the first edition was found to be defective, giving a solution which
was not permanent, owing principally to the  deficient  quantity of nitric acid
ordered.   The present  formula is framed in accordance with the views of Prof.
Procter, contained in his paper, published in  the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for
Oct. 1851.  The iron is gradually added to the acid, diluted  to a certain ex-
tent with water,  so as to  convert the  metal fully into sesquioxide.  The solu-
tion is now a mixture of mononitrate and ternitrate; and, in order  to bring the
whole to the state  of ternitrate of sesquioxide, it is heated, and nitric acid of
indefinite strength dropped in  until it assumes a proper colour, and  gives no
indication of the presence of protoxide of iron by the test of ammonia.   This
amended formula has  not  been found fully to answer.  There is a want of
precision in the direction, to add nitric acid until a certain colour  is produced;
and it is not likely that the preparation will  be always the same, when made
by different operators.  Even when the solution remains transparent, the colour
is found to vary from  a  bright sherry-wine  colour to  a full reddish-brown.
These are some of the defects, pointed out by the author himself, in this prepa-
ration,  made by his own formula, and their existence has led him to devise  a
new one,  which appears to be unexceptionable.  In the new formula,  nitric 
1064
Ferrum.
PART II.
 acid (sp. gr. 1-42), diluted, is gradually added to an excess of iron, mixed with
 water, so as to insure the production of the mononitrate of protoxide of iron
 which is filtered from the excess of iron.  To this  is added a quantity of nitric
 acid, equal  to two-thirds of that  originally employed, which converts  the
 mononitrate of the protoxide into  the ternitrate  of the sesquioxide, attended
 with a violent effervescence of red nitrous  acid vapours.  The preparation is
 finished by giving it a determinate bulk by the addition of water, and then fil-
 tering through paper.   In this process, the two portions of nitric acid used
 are correctly adjusted to produce the intended result.   Thus, six eqs. of mono-
 nitrate,  containing six eqs. of nitric  acid, require exactly four eqs. of additional
 acid to effect the conversion; one eq. of the additional acid being expended in
 converting the six eqs.  of protoxide into  three eqs.  of sesquioxide, and  the
 three remainiug eqs.  in  completing three  eqs.  of ternitrate.   Prof.  Procter
 states  that a solution of  nitrate of iron, thus prepared,  has the density 1-098.
 It has a pale-straw colour, and  a strong  astringent  acid taste,  affords pure
 sesquioxide of iron  on the addition of ammonia, and will keep without any
 tendency to change.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., July, 1857, p. 306.)*
   The Dublin formula  must yield a solution liable to  become turbid and to
 deposit,  on account of the insufficiency of the nitric acid directed.
   Ternitrate of sesquioxide of iron, as described by Mr.  J. M.  Ord way, of
 Massachusetts, is  in the form of oblique  rhombic prisms,  which are either
 colourless, or of a delicate lavender colour.   It is somewhat  deliquescent, very
 soluble in water, and sparingly soluble in nitric acid.   It consists of three eqs.
 of nitric acid,  one of sesquioxide of iron, and eighteen of water.  (Silliman's
 Journ.,  Jan.  1850.)   S. Hausmann found  only twelve eqs. of water.  (Chem.
 Gaz., June 1,  1854.)
   Medical Properties.   This solution  was  introduced to the notice of the
 profession by  Mr. William Kerr, in 1832.   Its virtues are'those of  a  tonic
 and  astringent.  Dr. R.  J. Graves, of Dublin, praises it as a remedy in  chronic
 diarrhoea, especially when occurring in delicate and nervous women, in which

  * Prof. Procter has  proposed the following  formula for a syrup of the nitrate of
protoxide of iron, a preparation considerably used, in Philadelphia, as an astringent
in chronic diarrhoea.   Take of iron wire, in pieces (card teeth), two ounces; nitric acid
 (sp. gr. 1-42) three fluidounces; water thirteen fluidounces; sugar, in powder, two pounds.
Put the iron in a wide-mouthed bottle,  kept cool  by standing in cold water, and pour
upon it three fluidounces of water.   Then mix the acid with ten fluidounces of water,
and add  the mixture in portions of half a fluidounce to the iron, agitating frequently
until the acid is saturated, using litmus  paper.  When the saturation  is complete,
filter the  solution into  a bottle  containing the  sugar, and  marked to contain thirty
fluidounces.  If the whole does not measure that bulk, pass water through the filter
to make up the deficiency.   When all the sugar is dissolved, strain if necessary, and
introduce the syrup into suitable vials, and seal them.  This syrup is thick, perma-
nent, of a light-greenish colour, perfectly transparent,  neutral, and yields a greenish
precipitate with ammonia.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., Oct. 1851,  p. 314.)  Mr. W. W. D.
Livermore has given a formula for a similar syrup. (Ibid. p. 315.)  A third formula
has been  proposed by Mr. Thomas Lancaster, of this city, in which the nitrate of pro-
toxide of iron is obtained  by double decomposition between nitrate of lime and sul-
phate of  protoxide of iron.  (Ibid. Sept. 1854, p. 400.)  These syrups should not con-
tain an excess of acid; for if they do, they are apt to deposit, after keeping, white
granular  masses of grape sugar, as observed by Mr. W. Tozier, of Kingstown, Ireland,
in consequence of the action of the acid  upon the cane sugar.  According to Mr. Joseph
Laidley, of Richmond, Va., the so-called syrup  of the nitrate of sesquioxide of iron is
an unscientific preparation, containing protoxide if an  excess of acid is avoided, and
liable to let fall  a precipitate of oxalate of iron when the acid is in excess.   Hence Mr.
Laidley believes that the only nitrate, proper to be formed into a syrup, is the nitrate
of the protoxide, where alone  the protective influence of  sugar is required. (Ibid.
March, 1853, p.  97.)—Note to the tenth and eleventh editions. 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1065
   there is no thirst, redness of tongue, tenderness of the abdomen  on pressure,
   or other indication of inflammation.   Mr. Kerr attributed to it the property
   of diminishing the irritability of the intestinal mucous membrane.  It is par-
   ticularly applicable to the treatment of mucous diarrhoea, attended with pain,
   but not to cases in which ulcerations of the intestines exist.  Dr. T. C. Adams,
   of Michigan, also reports favourably of this remedy in chronic diarrhoea, con-
   sidering it, like Mr. Kerr, to act as a sedative as well as astringent.  He em-
   ployed it, likewise with good effect, in menorrhagia,-and both internally and by
   injection  in  leucorrhoea, when occurring in pale, exsanguine, and feeble sub-
   jects.  The dose,  according to Dr. Graves, is seven or eight drops, gradually in-
   creased to fifteen, sufficiently diluted, given in the course  of the day.   Dr.
   Adams gave it in doses of ten drops, two, three, or four times a day, ahd some-
   times increased it to twenty-five drops.  As an injection he employed it suffi-
   ciently diluted to cause only a slight heat and smarting in the vagina.   B.

I      FERRI  OXIDUM HYDRATUM.  U. S.   Ferrugo. Ed.  Ferri
   Peroxydum Hydratum.  Dub.   Hydrated  Oxide of Iron.   Hydrated
   Peroxide of Iron.   Hydrated Sesquioxide of Iron.
      "Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces;  Sulphuric Acid three fluidrachms
   and a half; Nitric Acid [sp. gr. 1-42] six fluidrachms, or a sufficient quan-
   tity; Solution of Ammonia a sufficient quantity; Water two pints.  Dissolve
   the Sulphate of Iron in the Water, and, having added the Sulphuric Acid, boil
   the solution; then add the Nitric Acid in small portions, boiling tins liquid for
   a minute  or two after each addition, until the Acid ceases to produce a dark
   colour.  Filter the liquid, allow it  to cool, and  add  Solution  of Ammonia in
   excess, stirring the mixture briskly.  Wash the precipitate with water until the
   washings  cease to yield a precipitate with chloride of barium, and keep it in
   close bottles  with water sufficient to cover it."  U. S.
     "Take  of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Sulphuric Acid (commercial) three
   fluidrachms and'a half'[Imp. meas.]; Nitric Acid (D. 1-380) nine fluidrachms
   [Imp.  meas.]; Stronger Aqua Ammonias three fluidounces and a half [Imp.
   meas.] ; Water two pints [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the Sulphate in the Water,
   add the Sulphuric Acid, and boil the solution; add then the Nitric Acid in small
   portions, boiling the liquid for a minute or two after each addition, until it ac-
   quires a yellowish-browm?colour, and yields a precipitate of the same colour with
   ammonia.   Filter, allow the liquid to cool, and add in a full stream the Aqua
   Ammonias, stirring the mixture briskly. Collect the precipitate on a calico filter;
   wash it with water till the washings cease to precipitate with nitrate of baryta;
   squeeze out the water as much as possible, and dry the precipitate at a tempera-
   ture not exceeding 180°.  When this preparation is  kept as  an  antidote for
   poisoning  with arsenic, it is  preferable to preserve  it in the moist  state, after
   being simply  squeezed." Ed.
     "Take of Sulphate of Iron eight ounces [avoirdupois]; Pure Sulphuric Acid
   six fluidrachms  [Imp. meas.]; Pure Nitric Acid half a fluidounce [Imp.
   meas.]; Solution  of Caustic Potash one quart [two pints, Imp. meas.]; Dis-
   tilled Water twelve ounces [avoird.].  To  ten ounces of the Water add the
   Sulphuric Acid, and in the mixture with the aid of heat dissolve the Sulphate
   of Iron.   Mix the Nitric Acid with the remainder of the Water, and, having
  added the Diluted  Acid to the solution of Sulphate of Iron, concentrate by boil-
  ing, until, upon the sudden disengagement of much gas, the liquid passes from
  a dark to a red colour.   Let this be now poured into the Solution of Caustic
  Potash, and, when the mixture has been well stirred, place it on a calico filter,
  and  let the precipitate be washed with distilled water until the  liquid which
  passes through ceases to give a precipitate when dropped into a solution of 
1066
Ferrum.
PART II.
chloride of barium.   Lastly, enclose the  precipitate, while in the pasty state,
in a porcelain pot whose lid is made air-tight by a luting of lard, so as to pre-
vent the loss of water by evaporation." Dub.
   This preparation was introduced into the officinal catalogues on account of its
importance as an antidote to arsenious acid.   The first step of the processes is
to convert the sulphate of protoxide of iron into the tersulphate of sesquioxide
precisely as in the U. S. formula for  pure Prussian blue.   The sesquioxide is
then thrown down in the hydrated state by ammonia in excess in the U. S. and
Edinburgh formulas, and by potassa in the Dublin.  The precipitate is washed
with water to remove adhering sulphate  of ammonia or of potassa, until the
washings cease to precipitate with a barytic salt.   In the U. S. Pharmacopoeia
the precipitate  is directed to  be kept in  close bottles with sufficient water to
cover it, in which state it is most suitable for use as an antidote.   The Edin-
burgh College  directs it to be kept in two states;  dried at a temperature not
exceeding 180° for use as a medicine,  and in the moist state as an antidote.
   Besides having this antidote ready  formed in the pulpy state, it is the duty
of the apothecary to be always prepared  to make it, by keeping the necessary
solutions for its precipitation.   These are solution of tersulphate of sesquiox-
ide of iron, made as directed in the  above formulas,  and solution of ammonia.
In relation to this subject the reader is referred to a paper, by Prof. Procter, in
the Am. Journ.  of Pharm. for March, 1853, p. 104.
   Properties.   Hydrated  oxide of iron, as directed to be kept by the U. S.
formula, is a soft, moist, reddish-brown magma.  If dried at a heat not exceed-
ing 180°, and afterwards pulverized, it forms a reddish-brown powder, not at-
tracted by the magnet, being the sesquioxide in the state of hydrate, containing
about  18 per cent, of  water.   In this state it is  wholly and readily soluble in
muriatic acid without effervescence.  If exposed to a red heat, it loses the com-
bined water, and becomes the anhydrous sesquioxide, less easily soluble in acids,
improper for medicinal use, and altogether without effect as an antidote.   Hy-
drated oxide of iron consists of  one eq.  of sesquioxide 80, and two of water
18 = 98, and is represented by the formula Fe/U-f 2HO.   Kept for  some time
in the pulpy state, it loses half its combined water, and becomes less soluble in
acids, and less efficient as an antidote.
   Medical Properties and Uses. - The hydrated oxide of iron is not an eligi-
ble ferruginous preparation for medical use.  Its antidotal powers in poison-
ing by arsenic, the manner in which it acts, the circumstances which impair its
efficiency, and the mode of using it, are  fully explained under  arsenious acid,
page 28.  Its power of rendering arsenious acid insoluble is readily shown by
agitating a solution of the acid with a considerable excess of the moist oxide,
filtering, and then testing the filtered solution for the acid; not a trace of the
metal can be detected, even by sulphuretted hydrogen.   The  hydrated oxide,
as obtained  by the U.  S. and  Edinburgh  formulas, contains a little ammonia,
which  is thought by some to assist its antidotal powers.   At least it has been
ascertained  that the sesquioxide, when precipitated by potassa, as directed by
the Dublin  College, is less  efficient than when precipitated by ammonia, and
must be employed in quantities three or four times as large to produce the same
effect.   The dry hydrate,  rubbed up  with water, is in the same  proportion
weaker than the pulpy hydrate.  It has already been mentioned, under arseni-
ous acid, that the officinal subcarbonate  of iron (formerly called precipitated
carbonate) possesses antidotal powers  to arsenic,  though in an inferior degree;
but this statement will not apply to it, after it has been exposed to a red heat,
to which it is improperly subjected by some manufacturing chemists.  By igni-
tion it becomes anhydrous, and altogether inefficient as an antidote.
   Off. Prep.  Ferri Peroxydum.                                      B. 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1067
      FERRI OXIDUM NIGRUM. Ed.  Black Oxide of Iron.
      "Take of Sulphate  of Iron six ounces; Sulphuric Acid (commercial) two
   fluidrachms and two fluid scruples; Pure Nitric Acid four fluidrachms and
   a half; Stronger Aqua Ammonias four fluidounces and a half; boiling Water
   three pints [Imperial measure].  Dissolve half the Sulphate in half the boiling
   Water, and add the Sulphuric Acid; boil; add the Nitric Acid by degrees, boil-
   ing the liquid  after each addition briskly for a few  minutes.  Dissolve the rest
   of the  Sulphate in the rest of the boiling Water; mix thoroughly the two solu-
   tions ;  and  immediately add the Ammonia in a full stream, stirring the mixture
   at the  same time briskly.   Collect the black powder on a calico filter; wash it
   with water till  the water is  scarcely precipitated by a solution of nitrate  of
   baryta, and dry it at a temperature not exceeding 180°." Ed.
      The black oxide of iron of the Edinburgh College is here made by the process
   of Wohler, which'consists in precipitating by ammonia a solution of the mixed
|  sulphates of protoxide and sesquioxide of iron.  Half the  sulphate of iron
"  taken  in the formula, after having been dissolved in water, is acidulated with sul-
   phuric acid, and converted into the tersulphate of the sesquioxide.by  means of
   nitric  acid.  The object of the addition of the sulphuric acid is explained under
   the head of Prussian blue.  (See Ferri Ferrocyanuretum.)   The other half of
   the sulphate is dissolved in water; and the two solutions, being thoroughly mixed,
   form a compound  solution of sulphate of the protoxide and tersulphate of the
   sesquioxide of iron.  From this the ammonia throws down, at the'same moment,
   both the protoxide and sesquioxide, which unite chemically to form the black
   oxide of the Edinburgh College.
      Properties.   This is a dark grayish-black powder, unchangeable in the air,
   and strongly magnetic.  Dried in mass and broken, it presents a shining frac-
   ture.   It is wholly soluble in muriatic acid without effervescence, and may be
   thrown down again as  a black precipitate by ammonia.  Heated in close ves-
   sels, it suffers no change except the loss of water; but in open vessels it absorbs
   oxygen, and is converted wholly into  sesquioxide.   It consists of two eqs.  of
   protoxide of iron,  one  of sesquioxide, and two  of water, and its  formula  is
   2FeO,Fe203+2HO.  It may be seen,  from these symbols, that the two oxides
   are united  in it in such proportions as to contain, each, the same quantity of
   iron; and this  composition corresponds with the direction, given in the for-
   mula, to divide the sulphate of iron into two equal portions.
      Medical  Properties.  This  black oxide is a valuable chalybeate, having the
   merit of uniform composition and  permanency under the influence of air and
   moisture.  The dose is from five to twenty grains, two or three times a day. B.
      FERRI OXYDUM  MAGNETICUM. Dub.   Magnetic Oxide  of
   Iron.   Martial Ethiops.
      "Take of Sulphate of Iron twelve ounces [avoirdupois] ; Solution of Caus-
   tic Potash fifty-four ounces [avoird.]; Distilled Water  a sufficient quantity.
   Convert, as is directed in the formula for Ferri Peroxydum Hydratum, eight
   ounces  of the Sulphate of Iron into a persulphate.  To the solution thus  ob-
   tained add the four remaining ounces of the Sulphate of Iron, first dissolved in
   half a  pint  [Imp.  meas.] of Distilled Water.   Mix well the resulting liquid
   with the Solution of Caustic Potash, and, having boiled for five minutes in  an
   iron vessel,  collect  the precipitate  on  a  calico filter, and wash it with boiling
   distilled water, until the liquid which passes through ceases to give a precipi-
   tate when dropped into a solution of chloride of barium.   Lastly, let the pre-
   cipitate be dried by a steam or water heat, and, having been first reduced to a
   fine powder, let it be enclosed in  a well-stopped bottle."  Dub.
     In this formula, two-thirds of the sulphate of protoxide of iron taken are 
1068
Ferrum.
PART II.
converted into tersulphate of sesquioxide.  The remaining third of the sulphate
is then dissolved in water, and mixed with the solution of the tersulphate.  A
compound  solution is thus obtained, containing two-thirds of  the iron  in the
state of sesquioxide, and one-third in that of protoxide.  When this solution is
treated with  potassa, a mixed precipitate of one eq. of protoxide  and one of
sesquioxide is thrown down  (FeO,Fe.20;1).  Now such a compound oxide cor-
responds in composition with the native  magnetic black oxide.   The precipi-
tate is washed to remove sulphate of potassa, and the washings are known to be
completed when the chloride of barium ceases to give a precipitate  with them.
  Properties, &c.  The artificial magnetic oxide of iron of the Dublin College
is a dark grayish-black powder, having the same general appearance as the Edin-
burgh black oxide.   It is  formed almost always to some extent in the process
for making reduced iron, in consequence of the partial deoxidation of part of the
sesquioxide by the hydrogen. (See Ferri Pulvis, p. 1046.)  It differs from the
Edinburgh black oxide in  composition, containing one eq. of protoxide  to one
of sesquioxide; whereas the Edinburgh oxide contains two eqs. of protoxide to
one of sesquioxide.  The Dublin preparation has the same medical properties
as the corresponding one of the Edinburgh College.  The dose is from  fiye to
twenty grains, given several times a day.
   Scales of iron (ferri squamse) were formerly officinal with the Dublin Col-
lege under the name of black oxide. They were  prepared from the scales, found
at the blacksmith's anvil,  by washing them with water, separating  them from
impurities by means of a magnet, and reducing them to a fine powder.  They
are of variable composition; being mixtures of the two oxides of iron  with me-
tallic  iron.   In view of their want  of uniformity in composition, they were
abandoned by the College for the magnetic oxide.                      B.

   FERRI PEROXYDUM. Dub.   Peroxide of Iron.  Sesquioxide of
Iron.
   "Take of Hydrated Peroxide of Iron any convenient quantity.   Place it in
an  oven  on a few folds of filtering paper, and,  when it has become dry to the
touch, transfer it to a  covered crucible, and expose it for a few minutes to  an
obscure"red heat."  Dub.
   This is the former Dublin red  oxide of iron  under a new name, and formed
by  a better process.  The dried hydrated oxide  loses, by ignition, its combined
water,  and is converted into the pure  sesquioxide.
   Properties, ice.  This oxide is a reddish-brown, tasteless, insoluble powder,
identical with the colcothar  of commerce.   It should not be deliquescent, and
should dissolve in  muriatic acid without effervescence.  If it contain copper, its
muriatic solution will deposit this metal  on a bright piece of iron.  It consists
of two. eqs. of iron 56, aud three of oxygen  24 = 80. It is, therefore, a sesqui-
oxide.    As it is anhydrous, it has no effect as an antidote to  arsenious acid.
This oxide is not used as  a  medicine.   It is employed by the Dublin College
in making iron plaster and powder of iron,  for which purposes other forms of
oxidized iron would answer as well. The former Dublin Rubigo Ferri or rust of
iron, formed by exposing moistened iron wire to the air till converted into rust,
is  essentially the sesquioxide, containing a little carbonate of the protoxide.
   Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Ferri; Ferri  Pulvis.                       B.

   FERRI PHOSPHAS.  U.S.   Phosphate of Iron.
   "Take of Sulphate of Iron five ounces; Phosphate of Soda six ounces; Water
a gallon.  Dissolve the Sulphate of Iron and Phosphate of soda, severally, in
four pints  of  the Water ; then mix the solutions, and set the mixture by that
the powder may subside; lastly, having poured off the supernatant liquor, wash
the Phosphate of Iron with  hot water, and dry it with a gentle heat."  U.  S. 
part ii.                         Ferrum.                           1069

   This preparation is the result of a double decomposition between the saline
materials employed.   As the medicinal phosphate  of  soda is the neutral tri-
basic phosphate, having the composition 2NaO,HO,P05, it follows that it re-
quires  two eqs. of sulphate of protoxide of iron for its decomposition, as shown
by the following equation:—2(FeO,S03) and 2NaO,HO,P05=2FeO,HO,PO,
and  2(NaO,S03).   The resulting salts,  therefore, are one eq. of neutral tribasic
phosphate of iron, the salt  under  notice, and two  eqs. of sulphate  of soda,
which  are washed away.   If the ferruginous  sulphate be a perfect sulphate of
the protoxide, the precipitate as first thrown down will be white; but it quickly
absorbs oxygen and becomes bluish-white.
   Phosphate of iron is in the form of  a  powder of a bright  slate colour, in-
soluble in water, but soluble in acids.   When perfect it consists of one eq. of
phosphoric  acid, two of protoxide of iron, and one of basic water; but gene-
rally it contains some phosphate of the sesquioxide (2Fe203,3HO,3PO,).
   Phosphate of iron, dissolved to saturation in a boiling solution of metaphos-
phoric acid (HO,P05), under the name of superphosphate of iron, was pro-
posed as a new remedy, in Jan. 1851, by Dr. Routh,  of London.   Mr. Thomas
Greenish, of  the same city, states that the solution of the salt, on  cooling,
hardens  into a mass  of a  pilular consistence, soluble in water in all propor-
tions,  and free from any disagreeable or inky taste.   He has prepared from it
a syrup, containing five grains of the salt to  the fluidrachm.
   If two eqs. of tersulphate of sesquioxide of iron be decomposed by three eqs.
of pyrophosphate of soda, one eq. of pyrophosphate of sesquioxide of iron is pre-
cipitated, and six eqs. of sulphate of soda remain in solution 2(Fe303,3S03)
and  3(2NaO,POs)=2Fe203,3P05 and  6(NaO,S03).  This ferruginous pyro-iW
phosphate is soluble in pyrophosphate  of  soda; and hence, if an excess  of py-„„%-*
rophosphate of soda  be used in the double decomposition, the ferruginous py^ f'
rophosphate,  first thrown down, is redissolved.   This  solution was  propos.§d>.'
as a medicine by M.  Persoz in 1848, and by M. Leras in 1849.  M.  L&$;as
conceives that pyrophosphate of iron,  rendered soluble by pyrophosphate of
soda, is the only ferruginous preparation which is not  precipitated in the sto-
mach by the agency of the food or gastric juice.   Mr. Alex. Ure, of London,
tried this solution, calling it soda-pyrophosphate of iron, in scrofula^ and found
it a mild and efficient chalybeate.  The same solution, as preparecfby M. Leras,
has been employed with marked success in anemic diseases, by MM. Follet and
Baume, who found it easily administered and rapidly absorbed.   In the prepa-
ration  he used, the sulphate of soda, resulting from  the double decomposition,
was  allowed to remain. The same solution, including the sulphate c-( soda, has
been prepared as a syrup by M.  Soubeiran, under the name of syrup  of pyro-
phosphate of iron. *

  * M. Soubeiran's formula is as follows : Add 55 grains  of tersulphate of sesquioxide
of iron, dissolved by a gentle heat in 2 fluidounces of water, to 462 grains of crystal-
lized pyrophosphate of soda, dissolved in 7£ fluidounces of water and 3^ fluidounces of
mint water, and mix. So soon as the precipitate formed redissolves, filter the solution,
and add to the filtrate 19 ounces troy of white sugar, which must be allowed to dissolve
without heat.   The dose of this syrup, which is easy to take, is a tablespoonful, con-
taining about a third of a grain of iron.  Pyrophosphate of soda is obtained by igniting
the medicinal phosphate (2NaO,HO,P05-f24HO), whereby it loses its basic  water, as
well as  its water of crystallization, and acquires the composition (2NaO,P05).  When
the ignited mass is dissolved in boiling water, and the solution filtered, the pyrophos-
phate may be obtained crystallized, with the formula, 2NaO,PO5-f-10HO. M. E. Robiquet,
in a paper, presented to the Imperial Academy of Medicine  of France, on the 10th of
Feb.  1857, has proposed another method of preparing pyrophosphate of iron.  This con-
sists  in dissolving the gelatinous precipitate of the salt, well washed, in a  solution of
citrate of ammonia, and preparing the resulting liquid as  a syrup. The citrate acts as
a  solvent in small quantity, and effectually masks the presence of iron, which does not
respond to the  usual reagents.  M. Robiquet states that this preparation keeps for 
1070
Ferrum.
PART II.
  Medical Properties.  Phosphate of iron possesses  the  general properties
of the ferruginous preparations, and has been given with advantage in ame-
norrhcea and some  forms of dyspepsia.   It was introduced into  the  U. S.
Pharmacopoeia at the  suggestion of the late Dr. Hewson, of this city, who
found it, after an extensive experience, to be a valuable chalybeate.  The dose
is from five to ten grains.                                             p

  FERRI SUBCARBONAS.  U. S.   Ferri  Sesquioxidum. Lond.
Ferri Oxidum Rurrum.  Ed. Ferri Carbonas. Dub.  Subcarbonate
of Iron.   Sesquioxide of Iron.  Red Oxide  of Iron.  Precipitated Car-
bonate of Iron.   Aperitive Saffron of Mars.
  " Take of Sulphate of Iron eight ounces ; Carbonate of Soda nine ounces;
boiling Water a gallon.   Dissolve  the  Sulphate of Iron  and Carbonate of
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 I
hot water,  wrap it in bibulous paper, and dry it with a gentle heat."  U. S.
  " Take of Sulphate of Iron four pounds;  Carbonate of  Soda four pounds
and two ounces; boiling Water six gallons [Imp. meas.].   Dissolve the Sul-
phate  and Carbonate,  separately, in three gallons  of the Water.   Mix the
solutions together while yet hot, and set them by that the precipitate may sub-
side.  Having poured off the supernatant liquor, wash the precipitate repeatedly
with water, and dry it." Lond.
  "Take of  Sulphate  of Iron four ounces;  Carbonate of Soda five ounces;
boiling Water half  a pint [Imp. meas.] ; cold  AVater  three pints and a 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 of nitrate  of baryta, and dry it in
the hot air-press, or over the vapour-bath." Ed,
  " Take of  Sulphate of Iron eight ounces [avoird.];  Crystallized Carbonate
of Soda of Commerce ten ounces [avoird.]; Distilled Water two gallons  [Imp.
meas.].  Dissolve each  salt in one-half of the Water, and, both solutions being
raised to the boiling temperature, mix them, and set the whole to rest in a
covered vessel for six hours.   The supernatant solution having been drawn off
with a syphon, the precipitate is to be drained on a calico filter, and then sub-

months without change, is entirely free from taste, is well borne by the stomach, and
is easily assimilated.  It  was found particularly useful as a remedy in amemia, chlo-
rosis, and chronic urethritis.  The exact formula of M. Robiquet, so far  as we know,
has not reached this country ;  but, guided  by the vague information  received, Prof.
Procter has devised a similar  formula, which may be found in the Am. Journ. of
Pharm. for Sept. 1857.
  For a formula for a compound syrup of phosphate  of iron  by Mr. Wiegand, made
by introducing into it  the phosphates of lime, potassa, and soda; and for remarks on
the pharmacy of the phosphates by Prof. Procter, see the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for
March, 1854, pp. Ill and 112.   A formula  similar to Mr. Wiegand's, communicated
by Mr. Edward Parrish, as the probable formula of a secret preparation considerably
used in this city, may be found in the Amer. Journ. of Pharm. for Nov. 1857, p.  573.
These formulae are too complicated to have any therapeutic value.
  Subsequently, Mr. Wiegand gave a formula for a simple syrup of phosphate of iron,
made by dissolving the recently precipitated salt in muriatic acid,  and adding the requi-
site quantity of sugar. By a misprint the phosphate of soda taken, is double what it
should be.  The same writer, lias proposed to make a syrup of the phosphates of iron
and lime, by dissolving in the above a definite quantity of recently precipitated phos-
phate of lime, made by double decomposition between solutions of chloride of calcium
and phosphate of soda.  See his formulae in the Am. Journ. of Pharm. for March, 1855, •
p. 104.—Note to the tenth  and eleventh editions. 
 part ii.                        Ferrum.                           1071

 jected to strong expression.   Finally, let  it be dried at a temperature not ex-
 ceeding 212°, pulverized, and preserved in a well stopped bottle." 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-blue colour, is
 thrown down, and sulphate of soda remains in solution.  The equivalent quan-
 tities 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 Pharmacopoeia orders of carbonate of soda 8^ parts, theU.
 S. Pharmacopoeia 9 parts, and the Edinburgh and Dublin 10 parts.  The pro-
 portion of the London College coincides most nearly with the equivalents.  The
 precipitate, during the washing and drying, absorbs  oxygen, and loses nearly
 all its carbonic  acid, whereby it  is converted almost entirely into sesquioxide
 of iron,  Hence, the London College has given  it the name of Ferri Sesqui-
 oxidum; but, as  this is applicable to the red oxide,  obtained by calcining the
 sulphate, or igniting the hydrated sesquioxide, the U. S. name of Ferri  Sub-
 carbonas, adopted in allusion to the small quantity of carbonic acid present in
 it, is more  distinctive.  Carbonate of soda is preferred to carbonate of potassa
 for decomposing the ferruginous sulphate, because  it produces in the double
 decomposition sulphate of soda,  which, from its greater solubility, is more
 readily washed away than sulphate of potassa.
   Properties.   Subcarbonate of iron is a reddish-brown powder, of a disagree-
 able, slightly styptic taste ;  insoluble in water, and not readily dissolved by any
 acid except the muriatic, with which it effervesces slightly.  When of a bright-
 red colour it should be rejected, as this colour shows that it has been injured
 by exposure to a  red heat.   After precipitation  from its muriatic solution by
 ammonia or potassa, either of which throws down the sesquioxide of iron, the
 supernatant liquor should give no indications of  containing any metal in solu-
 tion by the  test  of sulphuretted hydrogen  or ferrocyanuret  of potassium.   It
 is incompatible with acids and acidulous salts.  In composition it is a hydrated
 sesquioxide  of iron, containing a little  carbonate of the protoxide.   By ex-
 posure to a  red heat, it absorbs oxygen, and loses water and carbonic acid, be-
 ing converted into the astringent saffron of Mars of the French Codex.  After
 ignition it is no longer a subcarbonate, but is converted into the pure sesqui-
 oxide, which is less  soluble in acids, and less efficient as a medicine than the
 preparation in its original state.  Hence it is wrong to expose the subcar-.
 bonate to a red heat, as some manufacturing chemists are in the habit of doing,
 in order to give  it a bright-red colour.
   Medical  Properties and Uses.   Subcarbonate of  iron is tonic, alterative,
 and emmenagogue, and is  employed for  all the purposes  to which the prepa-
 rations  of iron are  generally applicable.  It was recommended by Mr. Car-
 michael 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,
 chlorosis, and, generally, in those diseases in which the blood is deficient in red
 corpuscles.  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 teaspoonfuls.   No
nicety need be observed in the dose ; as its only obvious effect in very large doses
is a slight nausea, and a sense of weight  at the stomach.  It blackens the
stools. 
1072
Ferrum.
PART II.
   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 30.)
   Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Ferri;  Ferri Pulvis ; Ferrum Ammoniatum ;  Tinc-
tura Ferri Chloridi.                                                  p.

   FERRI  SULPHAS. U. S.,  Lond., Ed., Dub.   Sulphate of Iron.
 Green 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, al-
lowing the lower end of the funnel to touch the bottom of the receiving vessel.
Evaporate the filtered liquor in a matrass until sufficiently concentrated; 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 Commercial Sulphate of Iron four pounds; Sulphuric Acid  a
fluidounce [Imp. meas.];  Iron Wire an ounce; Distilled Water  four pints
[Imp. meas.].   Mix the Acid with  the Water, and add to them the Sulphate
and  Iron; then apply heat,  stirring occasionally, till the Sulphate is dissolved.
Filter the solution while hot, and set aside to crystallize.   Pour off the liquor,
and evaporate it that crystals may again form.   Dry all  the crystals."  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, or turnings of wrought Iron, four ounces; [avoird.] ;
Oil of Vitriol of Commerce four fluidounces  [Imp. meas.] ; Distilled Water
one pint and a half [Imp.  meas.].  Pour the Water on the Iron placed in a por-
celain capsule, add the Oil of Vitriol, and,  when the disengagement of gas has
nearly ceased, boil for ten minutes.  Filter now through paper, and, haying
separated the crystals which, after the lapse of twenty-four hours, will have
been deposited from the solution, let them be dried upon blotting-paper placed
upon a porous brick, and then preserved in a well stopped bottle." Dub.
   The object of the U. S.  and Dublin processes is to make a pure  sulphate  of
protoxide of  iron by direct combination.   Sulphuric acid, in a concentrated
state, acts but imperfectly on iron; but when diluted, a vigorous action  takes
place, the oxygen of the water converts the metal into protoxide,  with which
the sulphuric acid unites, and hydrogen is evolved.   The equivalent quantities
for mutual reaction are  28 of iron to 49 of acid.   This proportion is one part
of iron to one and three-quarters  of  acid.    The U.  S. proportion is one part
of iron to one and a half of acid, and gives a quantity of iron one-sixth more
than the acid can dissolve.   The Dublin College uses an  excess of acid, the
weight  of acid taken being  7-38 avoirdupois ounces, instead of 7.   An excess
of iron, however, 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 pecu-
liar,  and are intended to secure the formation of  a salt entirely free from ses-
quioxide,  by the method of  Bonsdorff.  This chemist found that, when a per-
fect sulphate of protoxide  of iron was formed in solution by heating dilute
sulphuric  acid with an excess of iron, it might be crystallized free from sesqui-
oxide^ provided a little excess of sulphuric  acid were added to the liquid before
filtration, 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. 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1073
   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.   The London formula
   proceeds upon the plan of  purifying the  commercial sulphate.   The  salt is
   dissolved in water, acidulated with a quantity of sulphuric acid, equal to about
   2Tth of the weight of the salt.  A portion of  iron is placed  in the solution
   to precipitate any copper yvhich may happen'to be present, and to convert any
   sesquioxide of iron into protoxide.   The  latter effect results from the  decom-
   position of water, the  nascent hydrogen of which  reduces the sesquioxide to
   protoxide.  Heat is then applied, and the solution is filtered hot, and set aside
   to crystallize.   The Edinburgh College purifies the commercial  sulphate in a
   similar manner, but gives less  precise directions, and omits the use of iron.
     Properties.  Sulphate of iron is in the form  of transparent crystals, efflores-
I  cent in the air, of a pale bluish-green colour,  and having the shape of oblique
   rhombic prisms.   It has a 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.   By exposure to the  air the crystals absorb oxygen, and
   become first green, and ultimately covered with  a yellow efflorescence of mono-
   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 reddish, depositing, in
   the  mean  time, a  portion  of sesquisulphate of the sesquioxide, having the
   composition 2Fea03,3S03+8HO.  (Wittstein,  Chem,  Gaz.,  May .15,  1849,
   from Puchner's Repert)  When heated moderately, it parts with six-sevenths
   of its water of crystallization and becomes grayish-white.  (See Ferri Sutyhas
   E'xsiccatum.)  At a red heat it loses its acid, and is converted into the anhy-
   drous sesquioxide  of iron, called colcothar.  It is incompatible with  the alka-
   lies 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
   activity of the salt, is not well ascertained.  Sulphate of iron, as kept in the
   shops, is often the impure commercial sulphate, which is not fit for  medicinal
   use.  (See Ferri Sulphas  Venalis, page 364.)   The perfectly pure salt is pre-
   cipitated white by ferrocyanuret of potassium; but that of ordinary purity
   gives a greenish 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 depo-
   sited.  Both copper and zinc may be  discovered by sesquioxidizing  the iron
   by boiling  the  solution of the salt with  nitric acid,  and then, precipitating
   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 of white oxide,
  on expelling the excess of ammonia by ebullition.  Sulphate of iron, when crys-
  tallized, consists of one eq. of acid 40, one of protoxide 36, and seven of water
  63=139, and its formula is  FeO,S03-f 7110.
    Medical Properties and Uses.   Sulphate of iron  is astringent and tonic.
  In large doses it is apt to produce nausea, vomiting, griping and purging; and
  its use, when long  continued, injures the stomach.   As its effect is chiefly that
        68 
107-1
Ferrum.
PART II.
of an astringent, it cannot be used with advantage to improve the quality of
the blood.   As an astringent it is given in diseases attended with immoderate
discharges, such as passive hemorrhages, colliquative sweats, diabetes, chronic
mucous catarrh, leucorrhoea, gleet, &c.   As a tonic it is used in dyspepsia, and
in the debility following  protracted  diseases.  In  amenorrhcea with  deficient
action, it is resorted to with supposed  advantage, either  alone,  or conjoined
with the fetid and stimulant gums.   Externally, the solution is used in chronic
ophthalmia, leucorrhoea, and gleet, made of various strengths, from one or two,
to eight or ten grains of the salt to the fluidounce of water.  M. Velpeau has
found it an  excellent remedy in erysipelas, applied topically in the form' of solu-
tion or ointment.   In forty cases in which it was tried, it cut short the disease
in from 24 to 48 hours.   The solution was made of three and a half drachms
of the  salt to  a  pint of water, and applied by compresses, kept constantly wet.
In a few cases, convenience required the application  of the ointment, made of
eight parts of the salt to thirty of  lard.   An ointment made of one or two i
parts of the sulphate  to sixty of lard was found by M. Devergie to be par-
ticularly efficacious in  certain skin diseases, especially in the different forms of
eczema.   In scaly affections it had no effect.  The dose is one or two grains,
in the  form of pill, yvhich should be made from the dried sulphate.  (See Ferri
Sulphas Exsiccatum.)  When  given in solution, the water should be  pre-
viously boiled to expel the air, which,  if allowed to  remain, would  partially
decompose the salt.  Taken in an oveMose it acts as a poison.
   Off. Prep.   Ferri Ammonio-citras;  Ferri Carbonas  Saccharatum ; Ferri
Citras; Ferri et Potassas Tartras; Ferri  Ferrocyanuretum; Ferri  Oxidum
Hydratum ; Ferri Oxidum Nigruin ; Ferri Oxydum Magneticum; Ferri Phos-
phas;  Ferri Subcarbonas; Ferri  Sulphas Exsiccatum;  Ferri Valerianas; Mis-
tura Ferri Composita;  Pilulas Aloes  et Ferri;  Pil. Ferri Carbonatis; Pil. Ferri
Compositas; Pil. Ferri Iodidi;  Tinctura Ferri Acetatis.                B.
   FERRI SULPHAS  EXSICCATUM. Ed.   Ferri  Sulphas Sic-
CATUM. Dub.  Dried Sulphate of Iron.
   "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,
   "Take of Granulated Sulphate of Iron any convenient quantity.   Expose
the salt in a porcelain capsule to an oven heat not exceeding 400°, until aque-
ous vapours cease to be given off, and, having then reduced it to a fine powder,
preserve it in a well stopped bottle." Dub.
   In these processes six eqs. out of seven of the water of crystallization of the
 salt are driven off.  The heat should not exceed 400°, otherwise the salt itself
 would suffer decomposition.   Dried sulphate  of iron is used for miking pills,
 the crystallized sulphate not being  adapted for that purpose.   In prescribing
 the dried sulphate it is necessary to recollect that three grains are equivalent to
five of the crystallized salt.
    Off. Prep.  Pilulas Ferri Sulphatis ; Pilulas Rhei et Ferri.           B.
    FERRI SULPHAS GRANULATUM.  Dub.  Granulated  Sulphate
 of Iron.
    "Take of Iron Wire, or turnings of wrought Iron, four ounces [avoirdupois];
 Oil of Vitriol of Commerce four fluidounces [Imp. meas.] ; Distilled Water one
pint and a half [Imp. meas.];  Rectified Spirit ten fluidounces [Imp. meas.].
 Pour the Water on the Iron placed in a porcelain capsule, add the Oil of Vitriol,
 and, when  the disengagement of gas has nearly ceased, boil for ten minutes.
 Filter now through paper into  a vessel containing eight [fluid]ounces of the
 Spirit, and stir the mixture as it cools, in order that the salt may be obtained 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1075
in minute granular crystals.   Let these, deprived by decantation and draining
of the adhering liquid, be washed on a funnel or small percolator with the re-
mainder of the  Spirit; and, when rendered quite dry by repeated pressure
between folds of filtering paper, and subsequent exposure for twenty-four hours
beneath a glass bell over a common dinner-plate, half filled with oil  of vitriol,
let them be preserved in a well-stopped bottle."  Dub.
   The directions given  in the first  part of this process are precisely the  same
as those laid down by the Dublin College for making sulphate of iron; but the
hot solution of the iron in the sulphuric acid, instead of being allowed to filter
into an empty vessel, is  made to drop into a portion of rectified spirit, the mix-
ture being stirred while it cools.   The acid directed by the College is in excess;
and the filtrate is consequently an acid solution of sulphate of protoxide of iron,
mixed with spirit.  The stirring as the mixture cools finely granulates the salt,
which separates  perfectly pure ; the spirit holding in solution any tersulphate
of sesquioxide of iron which may have been formed, and the excess of acid dis-
solving any free  sesquioxide.  This process, in its main features, is the same as
that of M. Berthemot,  given in the eighth edition of this  work.
   Properties, <h\  Granulated sulphate of iron is a crystalline, granular, bluish-
white powder.  When carefully dried it undergoes no change by keeping.  It ap-
pears to have been introduced-into the catalogue of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of
1850, as the best form of the sulphate for conversion into the officinal  dried salt;
and its peculiar state of aggregation *^uld seem to fit it for that purpose.
   Off. Prep.  Ferri Sulphas Siccatum^                               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 Irou Filings, in a crucible, in a-com-
mon 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.
   " Take of rods of Iron, of the size employed in the manufacture of  nails, any
convenient number.  Having raised them  to a strong red or white heat, apply
them in succession by their heated extremities to sticks of  Sulphur,  operating
so that the melted Sulphuret, as it is formed, may drop into a stone cistern filled
with water, and be thus protected from oxidation.   The water being poured off,
let the product be separated from the Sulphur with which it is mixed, and, when
dried, let it be enclosed  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 pro-
toxide and sesquioxide of iron, the bisulphuret or cubic pyrites, and  magnetic
pyrites, which is a compound of five eqs. of protosulphuret, and one of bisul-
phuret.   When the sulphuret is obtained by the application of solid sulphur
to white-hot iron,  the product corresponds with magnetic pyrites; but, when pro-
cured by heating flowers of sulphur with an excess of iron filings, as directed in
the second Edinburgh process, a protosulphuret is formed mixed with metallic
iron.  When sulphur is applied to white-hot iron over water, 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.
  Properties,  die.  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 
1076
Ferrum.
PART II.
globules, having a somewhat crystalline texture.  When pure it furnishes a yel-
low powder, and dissolves in dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid without leaving
a residue of sulphur, and with the production of hydrosulphuric acid gas (sul-
phuretted 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 compo-
sition  5FeS-f FeS2, or, according to some, 5FeS+FeaS3.   This sulphuret is
employed solely as a pharmaceutical agent for the production  of hydrosulphu-
ric acid.   It yields this gas by reaction with diluted sulphuric acid.  Water is
decomposed; its hydrogen combines with the sulphur  to form hydrosulphuric
acid, while the oxygen converts the iron into protoxide, with which the sulphu-
ric acid unites.  Hydrosulphuric acid is  a colourless gas, having a smell like
that of putrid eggs.  Its sp. gr. is 1-1782.   It saturates bases,  with which it
forms salts called hydro sulphates, sulphohydrates, or hydro sulphurets.  It con-
sists of one  eq.' of sulphur 16, and one of  hydrogen 1 = 17.
   Off. Prep.  Ammonias Hydro-sulphuretum.                         B.
   FERRI  VALERIANAS.  Dub.   Valerianate  of Iron.
   " Take of Valerianate of Soda five ounces and three drachms [Dub. weight];
Sulphate of Iron four ounces [avoird.]; Distilled Water one pint [Imp. meas.].
Let the Sulphate of Iron be converted  into a persulphate, as directed in the for-
mula for Ferri Peroxydum Hydratum, and, by the addition of distilled water,
let the solution of the persulphate be^gmented to the bulk of eight [fluid]
ounces [Imp. meas.].   Dissolve the Valerianate of Soda in ten [fluid]ounces of
the Water, then mix the two solutions cold, and,  having placed the precipitate
which forms upon a filter, and washed it with the remainder of  the Water, let
it be dried by placing it for some days  rolled up in bibulous paper on a porous
brick.   This preparation should be kept in a well stopped bottle."  Dub.
   Tliis is a  new officinal of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of 1850.  The first step
in the process for making it is to convert the sulphate of protoxide of iron into
the tersulphate of sesquioxide.   Then by a double decomposition between this
salt  and  valerianate  of soda, sulphate of soda is formed in solution, and ter-
valerianate  of sesquioxide of iron is precipitated.  The proper proportion of
the reacting salts  is three equivalents of valerianate of soda, and one of tersul-
phate of sesquioxide of iron ; and the  resulting salts are three eqs. of sulphate
of soda, and one of tervalerianate of  sesquioxide of iron.
   Properties, &c.  This salt is in the form of a dark tile-red, loose, amorphous
powder,  having a faint odour and teste of  valerianic acid.  It is insoluble in
cold water,  and decomposed by boiling water, which extracts all its acid, and
leaves the sesquioxide of iron behind.   It is soluble in alcohol.  Citrate  and
tartrate  of iron, impregnated with oil of valerian,  have been  fraudulently sold
for valerianate of iron.  The genuine salt may be distinguished from these sub-
stitutions by being insoluble in water and soluble in alcohol, and by the action
of a little dilute muriatic acid, which sets free the valerianic acid, readily recog-
nised by its disagreeable odour,  which is quite distinct from that of the oil of
valerian.  In relation to the modes of distinguishing the true from the spurious
valerianates, see Pharm. Journ.  and Trans., viii. 577.  Valerianate of  iron
has been given in hysterical affections, complicated with chlorosis.   The dose
is about a grain, repeated several times a day.                         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 fluidounces:
Muriate  of Ammonia  two pounds  and  a half: Distilled Water four pints.
Mix  the Subcarbonate  of  Iron with  the Muriatic Acid in a glass vessel, and 
PART II.
Ferrum.
1077
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 essentially the same as the above, of
which it is the original.  The College, instead of a  digestion of two hours, di-
rects that it should continue until the sesquioxide (subcarbonate) is dissolved.
  By the mutual  action of muriatic acid and the sesquioxide of iron of the sub-
carbonate, 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  subcar-
bonate, a portion  of protochloride of iron must also be formed, which, however,
would probably be converted into  sesquichloride during the operation.  The
preparation was formerly made by subliming a mixture of red  oxide (sesqui-
oxide) of iron and muriate of ammonia.  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 undecomposed  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  sesqui-
chloride of iron and muriate of ammonia are chemically combined in the pre-
paration.  According to Mr. Phillip^* they are in  the proportion  of 15 parts
of the sesquichloride to  85 of the muriate.
   Properties. Ammoniated iron, thus prepared, is in crystalline grains, of a
fine reddish-orange colour,  and a sharp, styptic,  saline taste.  It  is entirely solu-
ble in water and diluted alcohol, is deliquescent, and should be kept  in well
stopped bottles.  By the alkalies and their carbonates, and by lime-water, it is
decomposed, with the precipitation of about seven per cent, of sesquioxide of
iron; and potassa in excess  occasions the  evolution  of  ammonia.   Like the
other chalybeates, it is incompatible with vegetable  astringents.  As procured
by sublimation, it is of a yellow colour, and feeble  odour, and is probably the
result of a chemical reaction  between the ingredients.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   This preparation unites aperient properties
with those belonging to the chalybeates generally, and is said to have been used
with advantage in amenorrhoea, epilepsy, scrofula, rickets, &c.; but it is at best
uncertain,  and is  now very seldom prescribed.   The sublimed preparation was
formerly employed under the names of flores martiales and ens  martis.  From
four to twelve grains may be given in the form of  pill, electuary, or solution,
several  times a day.
   Off. Prep.  Tinctura Ferri Ammonio-chloridi.                       W.
   TINCTURA FERRI AMMONIO-CHLORIDI. Lond.   Tincture
of Ammonio-chloride of  Iron.
   "Take  of Ammonio-chloride  of Iron  [Ammoniated  Iron]  four ounces;
Proof Spirit, Distilled Water, each, half a pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve
and filter." Lond.
   This is the corrected formula, given in the recent duodecimo  edition of the
London Pharmacopoeia; the  proportions having, by inadvertence, been incor-
rectly stated  in  the  original edition  of the Pharmacopoeia  of 1851.  The
tincture is simply a solution of the preceding preparation  in diluted alcohol.
It has no special claims to attention.                                 Wr.
   VINUM  FERRI.  Lond.   Wine of Iron.
   " Take of Iron Wire an ounce; Sherry Wine two pints [Imp. meas].  Di-
gest for thirty days, and filter."  Lond. 
1078
Ferrum.—Glycerina.
PART II.
   A preparation under the name of Vinum Ferri was officinal in the  London
Pharmacopoeia of 1824, but dismissed in that of 1836.  It was made originally
by a faulty process, in which a moistened mixture of iron and cream of tartar
exposed to the air for six weeks, was acted on  with  abundance of weak spirit'
which failed to dissolve all the iron.  The preparation admitted into the London
Pharmacopoeia of 1851 is much more entitled to the name of Vinum Ferri than
the discarded one, and is made by a better  process.   It  may be presumed  that
so much of the iron as is necessary to convert the tartar of the wine into tartrate
of iron and potassa is dissolved. This must be but a small proportion of the iron
taken; so that the preparation is a weak solution of tartrate of iron and potassa
in -.vine.  Wine of iron is a feeble chalybeate,  and, on account of the variable
quality of sherry wine, of unequal strength.  It is applicable to cases requiring
the use of iron, and in which the stimulant effect of  the wine may be useful, or
at least, not contra-indicated.  The dose is from one to two tablespoonfuls
given several times a day.   A good substitute  for wine  of iron  may be made by
dissolving  an ounce of tartrate of iron and potassa in twelve fluidounces of
water, previously mixed with  an equal measure of  sherry wine.   The dose of
this  preparation, each fluidounce of  which will contain  a scruple of the double
salt, is about the same as that of Vinum Ferri.                        B.


                            GLYCERINA.

                                Glycerin.

   GLYCERINA.   U.,S., Dub.   Glycerin.  Siceet Principle of Oils.
   "Take of Lead Plaster, recently prepared and yet fluid, Boiling Water, each,
a gallon.  Mix them, stir briskly for fifteen minutes, then  allow  them to cool,
and  pour off the supernatant liquid.  Evaporate this until it has the specific
gravity 1-15, and pass a current of sulphohydric acid  slowly through it until
a black precipitate is no longer produced.  Filter, and apply heat  until the
sulphohydric acid is driven off.   Lastly, evaporate the liquid until it ceases to
lose  weight." U.S.  '
   The*  Dublin College places  glycerin  in  the  Materia Medica list, with  this
explanation: "A sweet principle produced during saponification, sp. gr. 1-260."
   In the process for making lead  plaster, litharge, olive oil, and water are
boiled together,  with  the result of decomposing the  oil, the oily acids of which
unite with the oxide  of lead to form the plaster.   At the same time the sweet
principle of the oil, called glycerin, which was previously united to the oily acids
to constitute the oil,  is set free, becomes hydrated, and dissolves in the water.
(See Emplastrum Plumbi.)  It follows, therefore, that the plaster, while still
hot and in the liquid state, contains an aqueous solution of glycerin, diffused
through it.  It is the plaster in this state that is made use of for preparing
glycerin in the U. S. formula.  Accordingly, when the  liquid plaster is mixed
with  an equal measure  of  boiling  water, and the  mixture stirred briskly, a
solution of glycerin is obtained;  which/ after having been  decanted, and evap-
orated to a limited extent,  is freed from lead by sulphuretted hydrogen.  The
liquid is then filtered to separate sulphuret of  lead, heated to free it from sul-
phuretted  hydrogen,  and finally evaporated to expel the  free water, which is
known to be all removed when it ceases to lose weight.
   Glycerin was discovered in 1789 by Scheele,  by whom it  was called the siceet
principle of oils.  It is produced not  only during the saponification of the
fats  and oils  by oxide of lead in forming  lead plaster, but also during the same
process, when effected by potassa and soda in the manufacture of soap; the al- 
PART II.
Glycerina.
1079
kalies uniting with the oily acids, and setting the glycerin free.   Hence soap-
makers' waste  is an abundant source of glycerin; but, thus  originating, it is
apt to have more or less odour, which even percolation through animal charcoal
does not always remove.   A  method of purifying glycerin from soap-makers'
waste is given  by M. Bruere-Perrin. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xx. 549.)*
The process of Mr. Richard A. Tilghman, of this city, patented, Jan. 9,  1854,
consists in subjecting fatty bodies to the action of water at a high temperature
under  pressure, whereby their constituents combine with water, so as to form
free fatty acids, and solution of glycerin. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., March,  1855,
p. 121.)  Thus obtained it is called distilled glycerin, and is  produced at once
in the purest form.   This process is used at the great candle manufactory of
Price  & Co., London, according to the  statement of a member of the firm,
Mr  G. F.  Wilson, who incidentally mentions Mr. Tilghman's process, without
naming him.  (See Pharm. Journ.  and Trans. Nov. 1855, p. 235.)
   Properties, dec.  Glycerin is  a thick syrupy liquid, either colourless or of a
slight amber colour, without smell  when pure, unctuous to the touch, and hav-
ing a very sweet taste.  In properties it is intermediate between water and the
oils.   When  exposed to the  air it  gradually absorbs moisture.   Its sp. gr. is
1-25, U.S., 1-26, Dub.  According to Mr. G. F. Wilson,  glycerin, when of
the  density 1-24, contains 94 per  cent, of anhydrous glycerin ; when of  the
density 1-26,  98 per cent.  It is soluble in all  proportions in water and alco-
hol, but insoluble in ether.   Glycerin possesses extensive powers as  a  solvent,
and is an excellent excipient for many medicinal substances.  It dissolves bro-
mine and iodine, the iodide of sulphur, the chlorides of potassium and  sodium,
the fixed alkalies, some of the alkaline earths,  and a large number of neutral
salts.  It also dissolves the vegetable acids, particularly tannic acid, and  either
suspends or dissolves  the vegetable alkalies.  Many of the salts of the vege-
table alkalies  are soluble in it, forming convenient solutions for external appli-
cation.  Such solutions are now  made for medicinal purposes with some of the
salts of morphia,  quinia, strychnia,  veratria, and atropia.  Prof. J. S. Blockey,
of London, has  ascertained  that certain neuter  vegetable substances are far
more soluble in glycerin than in water.   Thus salicin dissolves in eight parts
of cold glycerin, and santonin in eighteen parts when boiling.   The latter so-
lution, when of half this strength, forms  on cooling, an almost solid  mass.
Glycerin, next to  alcohol, is  the best solvent of iodine.   Iodine and iodide of
potassium, when dissolved in it, form iodized glycerin,  the  medical applica-

  * Dr. Campbell Morfit has given the following process for making pure glycerin on
the large scale.   Melt one hundred  pounds of tallow, lard, or pressed lard, in a clean
iron-bound  barrel, by the direct  application of a current of steam, and add to the melt-
ed liquid fifteen pounds of lime,  previously slaked and made into a milk with two  and
a half gallons of water.  Then cover the vessel, and continue the steaming for several
hours, or until the completion of the saponification.   This is known to be completed,
when a portion of the cooled soap gives a smooth  shining surface on being scraped
with the nail, and breaks with a cracking noise.  By  this treatment the fat is decom-
posed, the oily acids unite with  the  lime to form  an insoluble lime soap, and the libe-
rated glycerin remains in solution in the water, along with the excess of lime.  After
the liquid has been sufficiently boiled, it is allowed to cool and settle, and then strained
through a crash cloth. The strained liquid, containing only the glycerin and excess of
lime, is carefully concentrated by steam heat, treated with a current of carbonic acid
to remove the lime as carbonate of lime, boiled again to decompose  any bicarbonate of
lime that may have been formed, and allowed to repose. The supernatant clear liquid
is finally decanted or strained off from the precipitated carbonate of lime, and concen-
trated, if necessary, to expel any excess of water.  The residue of the process, the lime
soap, is sold to the stearic candle makers, or reconverted into saleable fat.  Dr. Morlit
has found his process for glycerin to combine the advantages of saving time, labour, and
money. (Silliman's Journal, 2nd ser , xv. 429.)—Note to the tenth edition. 
1030
Glyeerina.
part 11.
tions of which are given under iodine. (See page 431.)*   Glycerin is not sus-
ceptible of becoming rancid, or of fermenting spontaneously; but will generate
a portion of alcohol  under the combined influence of chalk, and of a ferment
formed of cheese or animal tissue. During this change there is no intermediate
formation of glucose, provided carbonate of lime is present. (Berthelot) (jj]y.
cerin does not evaporate when exposed to the air;  nor can it be distilled with-
out decomposition, unless in the presence of water or steam.  At a full red heat
it takes fire, and burns with a blue flame.  Glycerin is antiseptic, and has been
recommended by Air. Warington  and M.  Demarquay to  preserve  alimentary
substances and objects of natural history, and to  inject bodies for dissection.
According to Dr. W. Frazer, it does not answer to keep pathological prepara-
tions;  as they are completely softened by its action.  M.  Berthelot, of Paris,
has succeeded iu combining glycerin with a number of acids, both mineral and
organic,  forming three distinct series of neutral compounds.   Among others
he has united it with the fatty acids, producing, by synthesis, the organic fatty
substances,  stearin, margarin, olein, &c.   Glycerin has been  recently formed.
artificially, by a complicated process, by M. A. Wurtz. (See Chem. Gaz. June 1,
1857, p.  205.)   When treated with equal parts of strong nitric and sulphuric
acids, successively added in small portions, at a temperature kept below freezing,
glycerin is converted into a bright-yellow, explosive, and poisonous oleaginous
liquid,  discovered by M. Sobrero, and called nitro-glycerin  or glonoin.   Its
density is 1*6, and its composition corresponds with that of glycerin, with three
eqs. of hydrogen replaced by three of  nitrous acid  (3NOJ.   Glycerin consists
of one eq. of the  hypothetical radical glyceryl (CHH.), five eqs. of oxygen, and
one of water.  Its formula is, therefore, C6H.Os-fHO.
   Impurities and  Tests.   Glycerin is sometimes deficient in density and con-
sistency.   According to  M. Dalpiaz, it is  sometimes  perfectly colourless from
being bleached by chlorine, when it is apt to contain chloride of  calcium, as
well as free  chlorine.  The latter may be detected by rendering the suspected
sample slightly blue by  a few drops of sulphate of indigo, and then  adding a
little sulphuric acid, when, if  free chlorine be present, the blue colour will dis-
appear.   Lime may be detected by oxalate of ammonia; lead by hydrosulphu-
ret of ammonia, and sulphuric acid by a soluble salt of baryta. Diluted, and
boiled  with  a solution of potassa, it is not  altered in colour, showing the ab-
sence of  glucose.   If a drop be rubbed on the hand, no odour should be per-
ceived.   One volume of  glycerin should dissolve completely in one volume of
alcohol, acidulated  with  one per cent,  of sulphuric  acid, without affording any
precipitate of sulphate of lime, even after standing for twelve hours.   For the
tests of pure glycerin, given  more in  detail, see the paper of M.  Cap, in the
Journ. de Pharm., Mars, 1856, p. 212.
   Medical Properties, dec.   The uses of glycerin  as a. vehicle of  other medi-
cines have been already given.  Employed internally as a  therapeutic agent, it
is  deemed alterative, nutrient, and demulcent.  Dr. J. L.  Crawcour, of New
Orleans,  has used it  with  supposed advantage in phthisis, and prefers it to
cod-liver oil.  Dr.  R. P. Cotton has  tried  it in the  Consumption Hospital,
Brompton, and concluded that it has  generally but little  influence, and that,
as a remedial agent, it will bear no comparison with cod-liver oil.   Dr. W.
Lauder Lindsay made experiments yvith it, to determine its alterative and nu-
trient properties, and found it to increase the weight  of the body;  but his ex-
periments were not made on a sufficient scale to be conclusive.  Some cases are
cited by him, in which it appeared to  act beneficially in tuberculous and stru-

  * In relation to the pharmaceutical applications of glycerin, and to its powers as a
solvent, the reader is referred to an elaborate paper by MM. Cap and Garot, published
in the Journ. de Pharm., for Aug. 1854, p. 81.                  v 
 part ii.       Glycerina.—Gummi-Resinae et Resinosa.          1081

 mous affections;  forming a useful succedaneum for cod-liver oil, when the latter
 could not be borne by the stomach.
   Glycerin has come into extensive use as an external remedy.  Its emollient
 virtues, and undrying properties,  adapt it to the treatment of skin diseases, in
 which a softening and  soothing application is required.   It appears to have
 been first employed externally, in 1846, by Mr. Thomas De la Rue, of London,
 whose observation of its utility led Mr.  Startin  to try it in  the Hospital  for
 Skin Diseases, where it came into extensive use.  The principal cutaneous  dis-
 eases in which it has been found beneficial are pityriasis, lepra, herpes, eczema,
 psoriasis, prurigo, and lichen.  It is a useful addition to lotions  in the incrusted
 form of lupus, and  in various syphilitic  and strumous eruptions.   Added to
 poultices, in a proportion varying from one-fourth to one-sixteenth, it has  the
 effect of keeping them soft for  a long time.  Incorporated in very small propor-
 tion with extracts and pills, it keeps them soft and free from mouldiness.  M.
 Devergie, in giving the results of his trials of glycerin  in skin  diseases, thinks
 its virtues have been exaggerated, and that it is not superior to pure lard  and
 similar fatty substances ; though it has the advantage of liquidity and freedom
 from odour.   In cases of deafness, from  deficiency, accumulation, or hardness
 of the cerumen, and attended with dryness of the meatus, glycerin is an excel-
 lent remedy, introduced into the canal by means of raw cotton, saturated with
 it.  In relation to the uses of glycerin in diseases of the ear, the reader is re-
 ferred to a paper by Mr. Thomas Wakley, in the London  Lancet, for June,
 1849.  Glycerin  may be prepared as an ointment, for which formulas are given
 by Mr. J. Laidley, and by Mr. J. H. Ecky.* (Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxii.
 118, and xxv.  27.)
   Glycerin has been used by M. Demarquay, of Paris, as a dressing in hospital
 gangrene, and in wounds in general.  The wound is covered with folds of linen,
 dipped in the glycerin, over which lint is applied, and secured by a bandage.
 The advantages claimed for this dressing  are that it lessens suppuration, pro-
 motes cicatrization, and, when removed, leaves the wound clean.  Glycerin, used
 in this way, has been tried by two London Surgeons, Mr. Skey and Mr. Hutch-
 inson, and both conclude that it possesses no particular virtues.   It is con-
 ceded, however, that it is an agreeable application, causes no smarting, excludes
 the air, keeps the  sore moist,  and does not  adhere to its edges; and these  are
 no small recommendations.  It has the advantage over bland oils that it may
 be readily washed from the  wound, on account of its  solubility in water. (See
 Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., July, 1856, p. 253.)
   The vaccine lymph and scab have been  dissolved in glycerin  with a view to
 the preservation of the virus,  and Dr. Andrews,  of Chicago, has successfully
 vaccinated with the solution ;  but the expedient,  to say the least, is of doubt-
 ful advantage.                                                        jj.

               GUMMI-RESIN^E  et RESINOSA.

               Gum-resins and Resinous Substances.

  Gum-resins are concrete natural juices  of  plants,  obtained by spontaneous
 exudation or incision, and consisting of gum and resin, associated for the most
 part with more or less volatile  oil, and frequently with  other substances, such
 as extractive, bassorin, starch,  wax, and various salts. The gum and resin are

  * Mr. Ecky's glycerin ointment is made as follows: Take of spermaceti half an ounce;
white wax a drachm; oil of almonds two fluidounces ;  glycerin a fluidounce.   Melt the
spermaceti and wax with the oil of almonds by a moderate heat.  Then having poured
the melted liquid into a wedgwood mortar, add the glycerin, and rub until the ingre-
dients are thoroughly mixed and cool.  This ointment may be used  with advantage in
chaps and excoriations. 
1082                 Gummi-resinae et Resinosa.               part ii.

essential ingredients, but exist in  very different proportions in the different va-
rieties.   All the  gum-resins are partially soluble in alcohol and in water, but
completely so in neither of these liquids.  Diluted alcohol, on the contrary, dis-
solves them almost entirely, especially if assisted by heat.  With water they
form an opaque emulsion; the resin, essential oil, and other insoluble constitu-
ents being held in suspension by the dissolved gum. They are to a certain ex-
tent 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.   A good method of
effecting their  suspension in any watery vehicle, is to rub them with a few drops
of pure almond oil so as to form a smooth paste, and then very gradually to
add the liquid, continuing the trituration.
  They are often so impure from  admixture of vegetable and mineral sub-
stances, as to be unfit for use until  purified.  Various modes of effecting this
object have been practised.  Some of the gum-resins, as galbanum, are so far
fusible, that they may be rendered sufficiently liquid by heat to admit of strain-
ing through a hempen cloth.  Care should be taken in this process not to ap-
ply too great  a heat, and it is best that the liquefaction should be  effected by
means of a water-bath.   But several of them, as assafetida and ammoniac, are
not sufficiently fusible at the temperature of boiling water to admit of being
strained with facility.  As they are usually brittle and pulverizable when very
cold, they 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.   When boiled with  hot  water any of  the gum-
resins, though  not dissolved,  will form a semi-liquid mass capable of being
strained;  and this is the  mode now adopted by the London College for their
purification.  It is liable to the objection  that  a portion of the volatile oil,
upon which their  medical virtues in part depend, is driven  off; and the gum-
resins thus prepared are adapted more especially for external use. The French
pharmaceutists purify these substances by dissolving them in diluted alcohol,
filtering, and  evaporating the solution.  This process, though  liable in a still
greater degree than that of  the London College to the objection of diminish-
ing the virtues of the medicine by driving off the essential oil, has the advantage
of completely separating all insoluble substances, however minutely divided, such
as fine sand or other earth, which might pass through the pores of  a hempen
strainer.  For internal use, it is best to select the gum-resin of such quality as
not to require purification.
  M. Constantin recommends, as an effectual method of producing permanent
homogeneous  emulsions with the  gum-resins, to put into a marble or porcelain
mortar the  quantity directed of the gum-resin,  in small pieces, to  add about
four times its  weight of alcohol, to set  this on fire and triturate with a por-
celain pestle until the alcohol is consumed, and lastly to rub the  soft mass,
thus produced, with the liquid gradually added.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim.
xxvi. 39.)   It is an objection to this proceeding that, as the gum-resins de-
pend in some  measure for their activity on their volatile oil, they may be in-
jured for use by the partial evaporation of  the  oil through the heat of the
burning alcohol.                                                     W.

   AMMONIACUM PR^EPARATUM. Lond.  Prepared Ammoniac.
  "Take of lump Ammoniac a pound;  Water sufficient to cover the Ammo-
niac.   Heat the Ammoniac with the  Water till they are mixed.   Strain the
mixture through a hair sieve, and evaporate by means of a water-bath, stirring
constantly,  so that upon cooling it may become hard."  Lond.
   Off. Prep.   Mistura Ammoniaci. 
part ii.     Gummi-resinae et Resinosa.—Hydrargyrum.       1083

  ASSAFCETIDA PRiEPARATA. Lond.  Prepared Assafetida.
  "Prepare this in the manner directed for Prepared Ammoniac."  Lond.
  Off. Prep.   Enema Assafoetidas;  Pilula Galbani Composita.

  GALBANUM PR^PARATUM. Lond. Prepared Galbanum.
  "Prepare this in the manner directed for Prepared Ammoniac."  Lond.
  Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Galbani; Pilula Galbani Composita.
  PIX  BURGUNDICA  PRiEPARATA. Lond.  Prepared Bur-
gundy Pitch.
  "Prepare this in the manner directed for Prepared Ammoniac."  Lond.
  This is not a very scientific mode  of purifying Burgundy pitch; and is alto-
gether unnecessary.  It  may be very readily melted by the heat of a water-
bath, and then strained through linen or canvas.
   Off. Prep. Emplastrum Cymini; Emplastrum Picis.               W,
   SAGAPENUM PRiEPARATUM.  Lond.   Prepared Sagapenum.
  "Prepare this in the manner directed for Prepared  Ammoniac."  Lond.
   Off. Prep. Confectio Rutas; Pilula Galbani Composita.
   STYRAX PURIFICATA.  U.S.    Styrax Prjeparata.  Lond.
Extractum Styracis. Ed.   Purified Storax.   Prepared Storax.
  "Take of  Storax, Alcohol, each,  a sufficient  quantity.   Dissolve the Sto-
rax 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.
  "Take of Storax a pound; Rectified Spirit four pints [Imperial  measure].
Dissolve and strain through linen;  then with a  gentle heat distil the greater
part of the spirit: evaporate what  remains by means of a water-bath to the
proper consistence." Lond.
  "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 followed, is to ex-
press, between heated iron plates, the balsam from the foreign matters; but,
if the process be not very carefully conducted, the  heat employed to melt the
storax maj dissipate a portion of its cinnamic or benzoic acid.
  Off. Prep.  Pilula Styracis Composita; Tinctura Benzoini Composita. W.

  THUS PR^IPARATUM. Lond.  Prepared Frankincense.
  " Take of Frankincense,apound; Water sufficient to cover the Frankincense.
Heat the Frankincense in the Water till it liquefies, and strain through a hair
sieve; then, when  it has  cooled,  pour off the AVater, and keep the Frankin-
cense for use." Lond.
  Off. Prep.  Emplastrum Ferri; Emplast. Galbani; Emplast. Opii; Emplast.
Picis;-Emplast. Potassii Iodidi.

                      HYDRARGYRUM.

                    Preparations of Mercury.

  HYDRARGYRUM  PURUM. Dub.   Pure Mercury.
  "Take of   Quicksilver of Commerce  three pounds  [avoirdupois];  Pure 
1084
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
Muriatic Acid half a fluidounce [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water two ounces
[avoird.].   Having  introduced the Quicksilver into a small glass retort, over
the body of which a hood of sheet iron is supported, let the heat of a gas'lamp
be applied until two-thirds  of the metal has distilled over. Boil this for a few
minutes with the Acid and  Water, and having, by repeated affusion of distilled
water, and decantation, removed the entire of the  Acid, let the metal be poured
into a capsule, and dried by the application of heat."  Dub.
   The mercury of commerce is usually sufficiently pure for pharmaceutical pur-
poses ; 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 metals, rises first in distillation, while they
are left behind.   But it is necessary to avoid pushing the distillation too far-
for in that event, some of the foreign metals are  apt  to be carried over.  The
Dublin College, on account of this danger, directs only two-thirds of the mercury
to be distilled.  The distilled product is boiled for a  few minutes  with dilute
muriatic acid, which, while  it does not attack the mercury, dissolves any con-
taminating metals which may have passed  over.   The distillation is directed to
be performed from  a glass retort over a gas lamp ; but it is more conveniently
conducted from an  iron retort, over a common fire, into water contained in a
receiver.  In small operations  a wash-hand basin will answer for  a receiver.
Millon has ascertained the  curious fact, that the  presence of so small a quan-
tity as 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 always be found in the mar-
ket.  For other methods of purifying mercury, and for the properties and tests
of the pure metal, see Hydrargyrum.
   M. Violette has made known a new method of distilling mercury, or amalga-
mated silver, which presents many advantages.   It consists in subjecting the
metal, in iron vessels, to a current of high pressure steam, which serves the double
purpose of imparting the necessary heat, and carrying over the mercurial vapour
by a mechanical agency.  (Philos. Mag, Dec. 1850, from Comptes Bend us.)
   Off. Prep.  Arsenici et Hydrargyri  Hydriodatis  Liquor;  Emplastrum Hy-
drargyri ; Hydrargyri Iodidum Viride; Hydrargyri Oxydum Rubrum; Hydrar-
gyri Pernitratis Liquor; Hydrargyrum cum Creta; Hydrargyrum cum "Mag-
nesia; Pilulas Hydrargyri;  Unguentum Hydrargyri.                   B.

   HYDRARGYRI CHLORIDUM CORROSIVUM.  U.S.  Hydrar-
gyri BlCHLORIDUM. Lond.   SURLIMATUS CORROSIVUS.  Ed.  SUBLI-
MATUM Corrosivum. Dub.   Corrosive  Chloride of Mercury.  Bichloride
of Mercury.   Corrosive Sublimate.
   "Take of Mercury two pounds;  Sulphuric Acid  three pounds;  Chloride of
Sodium a pound and a half.   Boil the Mercury with the Sulphuric Acid until
a dry white mass is left.   Rub this, when cold, with the Chloride of Sodium, in
an earthenware mortar; then sublime with a gradually increasing heat." U.S.
  The London process  is the  same as the above, the twenty-one and a half
Imperial fluidounces of sulphuric acid, taken by  the College, being equivalent
to three pounds.
   "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  Sulphate of Mercury ten pounds; Dried  Chloride of Sodium five 
 PART ii.                     Hydrargyrum.                        1085.
                t
 pounds.  Reduce each salt to a fine powder, and, having mixed them carefully
 by trituration in a mortar, let the mixture be introduced into an iron pot lined
 with clay, and by a regulated heat, applied through the intervention of sand, let
 the corrosive sublimate be sublimed into an earthen head, placed over the pot,
 and connected to it by means of lute.   The product should be preserved in an
 opaque bottle." Dub.
   In order to understand the above processes, which are the same in principle,
 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 bisul-
 phate of the deutoxide of mercury.  (See Hydrargyri Sulphas.)  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 com-
 mon 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 chlo-
 rine and two of sodium; and one eq. of bisulphate of 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 sul-
 phuric acid form, by their union, two eqs. of dry sulphate of soda.  The Edin-
 burgh formula is very much changed from  that given in the previous edition of
 the Ed. Pharmacopoeia.   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.   The Dublin formula is peculiar in ordering the bisulphate of the deut-
 oxide  of mercury ready formed, under  the name of sulphate of mercury, instead
 of preparing it as the first step  of the process, as  is done in the processes of
 the other Pharmacopoeias. (See Hydrargyri Sulphas.)
   The names given in the several Pharmacopoeias  to this important chloride,
 unfortunately, do not correspond.  It is called a chloride, as it is admitted to
 be, in  the U. S. and London  Pharmacopoeias, and corrosive  sublimate, irre-
 spective of chemical nomenclature, in the Edinburgh and Dublin.  We shonld
 be sorry to share the  opinion of the Edinburgh College that the adoption of
 the modern chemical nomenclature, to express  pharmaceutical substances, was
 a  great error, 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 name of  bichloride, we think it not
 sufficiently distinct from  chloride, adopted by the  same College  for calomel.
 We prefer the U. S. name, with the epithet  corrosivum, as serving to  fix atten-
 tion  to the deleterious nature of  the compound.
   Preparation on the Large Scale, dec.  The first step is to form the bisulphate
 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 unwholesome fumes
 of sulphurous acid, which are copiously generated. The dry salt obtained is
 then mixed with the common salt, and the mixture sublimed in an iron pot
 lined with clay, and covered by an inverted earthen  pan.  The late Dr.  A. T.
 Thomson, of London, took out a patent for forming corrosive sublimate, on the
 large scale, by the direct combination, by combustion, 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 yvay.  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, 
1086
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
corrosive sublimate, made by this process, is liable to the objection that a pro-
portion of calomel is  always formed, occasionally amounting to ten per cent.
   It may sometimes be useful to know how to make a small quantity of corro-
sive sublimate on an emergency.   This may be done by dissolving deutoxide of
mercury (red precipitate) in muriatic acid, evaporating the solution to dryness,
dissolving the dry mass  in water, and crystallizing.   Here a double  decompo-
sition 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 sixteen parts  of cold
water,  and in three of boiling water. A boiling  saturated solution, upon cool-
ing, 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 boiling alcohol, and in
three parts of ether.  The latter solvent is capable of removing corrosive sub-
limate, to a considerable extent, from its aqueous solution, when agitated with
it.  According to  M. Mialhe, ether will not dissolve it yvhen accompanied by
a considerable quantity of deutoxide of mercury, and a chloride of an alkalifiable
metal.    Sulphuric, nitric,  and muriatic acids dissolve it without alteration.
Wrhen  heated it melts, and readily sublimes in dense, white, acrid vapours,
which condense, on cool surfaces, in white shining needles.   Its aqueous solu-
tion renders green the syrup of violets, and is precipitated brick-red,  becoming
yellow, by the fixed alkalies and alkaline earths, and white by ammonia.  (See
Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum.) The former precipitate is the hydrated deutox-
ide of mercury, which has the property of emitting  oxygen, and of being re-
duced to metallic globules, when  exposed to heat.   This oxide is formed in
the process for preparing aqua phagedsenica, called also lolio flava or yellow
wash, which is obtained by mixing half 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 uncom-
bined mercurial  salt.    It  is on this account that  aqueous solutions of sal
ammoniac, or of common  salt, dissolve much more  corrosive sublimate than
simple water.   The combination of corrosive sublimate with muriate  of am-
monia  was formerly called sal alembroth, or salt  of wisdom.  (See Liquor
Hydrargyri Pichloridi.)  According  to F. Hinterberger, corrosive sublimate
is  capable of combining with quinia and cinchonia.  (Chem. Gaz., ix. 211.)
   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 Lncompatibles.   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, the  alka-
lies and their carbonates, soap, lime-water, tartar emetic, nitrate of. silver, the
acetates of lead, the sulphurets of  potassium and sodium, and all the hydro-
sulphates.   It is decomposed by many vegetable and some animal substances.
According to Dr. A.  T. Thomson,  it produces precipitates in infusions or de-
coctions of chamomile, horse-radish, columbo, catechu, cinchona, rhubarb, senna,
simaruba, and oak-bark.   MM. Mialhe  and Lepage have shown that corrosive
sublimate is slowly converted into calomel by syrup of sarsaparilla and syrup
of honey, but is not changed by contact with pure syrup.                B. 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1087
   Medical Properties  and  Uses.   Corrosive sublimate is  a very powerful
 preparation,  operating quickly,  and, if not properly regulated,  producing
 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 has been highly recommended.  It  is said to remove  the symp-
 toms more speedily than other  mercurials;  whilst its action  is less unplea-
 sant, as the mouth is less liable  to be made sore.   For  the latter reason it
 has been much employed by empirics, and is an ingredient  in most of 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.   On the  whole  it appears to be best
 adapted to secondary syphilis, in which it occasionally does much good.   It is
 also used advantageously in some chronic cutaneous affections, 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 advantageously united with opium, or extract of hemlock.   There is
 no doubt that  many of the substances in connexion with yvhich 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, containing
 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 phagedsenica of the older writers, employed as a wash
 for ill-conditioned ulcers.  The powdered chloride has been used as an eschar-
 otic ; but is, in general, inferior  to  nitrate of silver  or caustic potassa.  Li
 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 ulcer
 heals.  This' practice was originated, we believe, by the late Dr. Perkins, of
 Philadelphia, and was highly recommended by Dr. Physick.   We have  often
 employed it with complete success.   A solution of corrosive sublimate in col-
 lodion, in the proportion of four parts of the former to thirty of the latter,
 has'of late been used as a caustic,  for the destruction of nasvi materni, and
other purposes.  It  has the  advantages  that it  may be applied to parts of
inconvenient access for ordinary caustics, and  forms a well defined boundary,
without risk of spreading.  It  is  applied by means of a camel's hair pencil/'
  The dose of corrosive sublimate is from the twelfth to the quarter of a grain, 
1088                        Hydrargyrum.                     tart ii.

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 burn-
ing 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, signs of the  operation  of  a violent corrosive poison.
These  symptoms are sometimes followed or conjoined with others  indicating
an excessive mercurial action upon  the system, such  as  inflammation 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 corrosive sub-
limate  sprinkled upon an excoriated surface; and, in two instances of children,
the one seven, and the other nine years old, death, with all the symptoms of
internal poisoning, folloyved the  application  to the scalp of an ointment, said
to consist of one part of the corrosive chloride to four parts of tallow. (Dub.
Quarterly, Aug. 1854, p. 70.)  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 white of eggs
beat up yvith water.  The albumen forms an insoluble and comparatively
innocent compound with the corrosive  sublimate;  and the liquid by its bulk
dilutes the poison, and distends the stomach so as to produce vomiting.  It is,
however, asserted by M. Lassaigne that this compound of albumen and corro-
sive 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 also soluble in an  excess of albumen,
whether introduced  into  the  stomach,  or previously existing there.   It is,
therefore, important, 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 ten 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, mucilagi-
nous 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.                                                          "\y. 
 part ii.                     Hydrargyrum.                         1089

   Tests for Corrosive Sublimate.   On account of the extreme virulence of
 this chloride as a poison, the reagents by wdiich it may be detected form a sub-
 ject of study of the utmost importance, as connected with medico-legal  inves-
 tigations.   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 (ferrocyanuret of mercury), becoming slowly yellowish, and at length
 pale-blue.   Lime-water throws down a yellow precipitate of hydrated deut-
 oxide.   Carbonate of potassa causes a brick-red precipitate of carbonate of
 mercury.   Iodide of potassium produces a very characteristic pale-scarlet pre-
 cipitate of biniodide of mercury.   This precipitate frequently appears at first
 yellow, especially if the corrosive sublimate be present in minute proportion.
 Ammonia gives rise to a white, flocculent precipitate, the  officinal ammoniated
 mercury, or white precipitate.  Sulphuretted hydrogen occasions a black pre-
 cipitate of  bisulphuret of mercury; and the  same precipitate is thrown  down
 by hydrosulphuret of ammonia.  Finally, protochloride of tin causes a grayish-
 black precipitate (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  be  expressed numerically  as  follows:—Ferrocyanuret of potas-
 sium 1^; lime-water 4; carbonate of potassa 7; iodide of potassium 8; am-
 monia 36; sulphuretted hydrogen or hydrosulphuret of ammonia 60; and pro-
 tochloride of tin 80.   To  the above the following tests  may be added,  easily
 applied even by one 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 clear mercurial  solu-
 tion, 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 conveniently 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 gal-
 vanic circle, which enables the latter  metal to precipitate the mercury on its
 surface.  Nearly all the above tests  merely prove the presence of mercury.
 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), in-
 soluble in nitric  acid, but soluble in ammonia.  The nitrate of silver may be
 added directly to the mercurial liquid ;  and,  if it contain corrosive  sublimate,
 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 substance 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 pur-
 pose.   If this causes a grayish-black colour, he shakes the mixture, as recom-
 mended by Orfila, with a fourth of  its bulk of cold ether, which dissolves the
 corrosive sublimate, 'and rises to the surface.  The  ethereal solution 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 de-
tected by the ordinary tests.   In using ether, however, it must be borne in
       69 
1090
Hydrargyrum.
part ii.
mind that, as ascertained by M. Mialhe, the presence of a considerable quan-
tity of deutoxide of mercury, and of a chloride of an alkalifiable metal, prevents
the solvent power of ether.  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 will have
a slate-gray colour.   Collect, wash, and drain it on a filter, and, having re-
moved it without being dried, boil it, in a glass flask, with a moderately strong
solution of caustic potassa, until all the  lumps disappear.  The alkali will dis-
solve all  animal and vegetable matter; and, on allowing the solution 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 with the naked eye, or by the aid of a magnifier.
   Off. Prep.   Hydrargyri Iodidum  Rubrum ; Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum;
Liquor Hydrargyri Bichloridi.                                       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."  Lond.
   This solution was intended to facilitate the dispensing of corrosive sublimate
in small doses.   The muriate of ammonia has been  substituted for the alcohol
formerly added  to the solution, probably in order to prevent the decomposition
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., 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 a dry white mass is left.
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 fre-
 quently 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 a measure of sul-
 phuric acid is taken,  equivalent to three pounds, and the testing of the washings
 is not directed.
   "Take of Mercury eight ounces; Sulphuric Acid (commercial) two fluidounces
 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.  Reduce the sublimate to fine
 powder; wash the powder with boiling Distilled Water until the Water ceases
 to precipitate with solution of iodide of potassium, and then dry it." Ed.
   " Take of Sulphate of Mercury ten pounds;  Mercury of Commerce seven 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1091
 pounds; Dried Chloride of Sodium five pounds.  Incorporate as completely as
 possible the Sulphate and the metallic Mercury by prolonged trituration, and,
 having then added the Chloride of Sodium previously reduced to a fine powder,
 rub all well together until  a perfectly equable mixture is obtained.  Heat this,
 through the medium of sand,  in  a shallow iron pot with a flat bottom, lined
 with clay, and covered with a lid of cast iron, until the sublimate which attaches
 itself to a circular plug in  the centre of the lid (which admits of being removed
 and cleaned from time to time) neither exhibits minute globules of  mercury, nor
 is rendered yellow by being touched with a solution of potash. The whole being
 now permitted to cool down to  the temperature of  the air, the contents of the
 pot are to be transferred to a small hot-hearth or oven, whose door is made tight
 by a clay lute, and a regulated heat is  to be applied so as to cause the vaporized
 Calomel to pass into an adjacent chamber of considerable size, on the floor of
 which it will accumulate in the form of a fine white powder." Dub.
    The object of  the above processes,  all coinciding 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 U. S. process, as  in  the  case of corrosive sub-
 limate, a bisulphate of the deutoxide is first formed; but, instead  of being im-
 mediately sublimed with the chloride of  sodium, it undergoes a preparatory
 trituration with a quantity of mercury  equal to that employed in forming it.
 This trituration may be conceived to  take place between  one eq. of  bisulphate
 of the deutoxide, and one  of metallic mercury, which are thus converted into
 two eqs. of monosulphate of the protoxide.  This change will be  easily under-
 stood, by adverting 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 rub-
 bed 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
 monosulphate of the protoxide.    The two eqs. of monosulphate thus formed,
 being heated with two of common salt, the two eqs. of chlorine  in the latter
 sublime in union with the two of mercury  in the former, and generate two eqs.
 of protochloride of mercury;  while the two eqs., severally, of sulphuric acid,
 oxygen, and sodium, unite together to form two of dry sulphate of soda, which
 remain as a fixed residue.   It is  hence apparent that the residue of this process
 and of 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 direction of the U.  S. Pharmacopoeia to reduce the sub-
 limed 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 (ammoniated  mercury) so long as the washings contain cor-
 rosive sublimate;  and, when it ceases to produce this effect, the operator may
 rest satisfied that the whole of the poisonous salt has been removed.  Accord-
 ing to M. Berthe, calomel,  in contact with hot water, is converted, to  a small
 extent, into corrosive sublimate;  and hence he recommends that the portion of
 water to be tested, should be cold when  passed through the calomel.   (Chem.
 Gaz. Oct. 1, 1856.)   The London Pharmacopoeia prescribes a careful washing,
 but omits iu the formula any directions  for testing the washings for corrosive
 sublimate.  In the appended note of tests, it is  stated  that water, in which
calomel has been either washed or boiled, gives  no precipitate with  nitrate of
 silver, lime-water, or hydrosulphuric acid.
  The Edinburgh formula  is peculiar  in ordering a  small proportion of nitric
acid to assist the sulphuric acid in oxidiziug the mercury, as is done also in the
corrosive sublimate  process.  The  washings are tested by iodide of potassium, 
1092
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
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 desig-
nated by a distinct name, sulphate of mercury.  It is, therefore, taken ready
formed, mixed with the mercury and common salt in the usual way, and the
mixture is submitted to a preliminary sublimation to separate metallic mercury
and corrosive sublimate.  The product is allowed to cool, and then transferred
to a small oven, connected with a chamber of  considerable size; and, heat being
applied, the vaporized  calomel condenses in the chamber, andlalls on its floor
in the form of powder.   By thus using a large  cool chamber, the necessity of
pulverizing calomel is avoided.  The Dublin College orders no washing, which
is a defect; for, although the preliminary sublimation separates corrosive sub-
limate, yet some  accidental circumstance may  prevent  the whole  of  it from
being removed  by this  step of the process, in which case the  sublimed powder
will be contaminated with the poisonous chloride.
   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 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
62 lbs.  of the dry salt formed are triturated  with 40| lbs. of mercury till the
globules disappear, and the whole is mixed with 34 lbs.  of common  salt.  The
mixture is sublimed from an  earthenware retort into an earthenware receiver,
and the product is from 95 to 100 lbs. of calomel in mass.  This is then 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 per-
fectly 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 impal-
pable powder,  and  perfectly washed from corrosive sublimate, in the same ope-
ration.   Calomel made by this process, sometimes called Jewell's or Howard's
hydrosublimate of mercury, is free from all suspicion of containing corrosive
sublimate, 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 douxd la vapeur).   M. Soubei-
ran, of Paris,  has perfected a process for obtaining calomel in an impalpable
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.,  3e ser., ii. 507.   For an account of the English  apparatus, as des-
 cribed  by F. C. Calvert, see Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., iii.  121.   Both these
 papers are copied into the Am. Journ. of Pharm.  (xv. 89 and 93).
   Prof. Wohler has proposed to obtain calomel in the  humid way, by precipi-
 tating  a solution of corrosive sublimate by a stream of  sulphurous acid, taking
 advantage of  a reaction, first observed  by Vogel.   Calomel, obtained in the
 humid  way,  called precipitated calomel, was formerly officinal with the  Dub-
 lin College,  and  is still retained in the French Codex.   This form of calomel
 is of doubtful  utility;  and, when obtained by  Prof. Wohler's process, it  is  a
 crystalline powder, which is a fatal objection to it.
   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 on  the shape and temperature of the 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1093
 subliming vessel.  In this state it is generally in the form of a white, fibrous,
 crystalline cake, 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 is always kept 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 prot-
 oxide, reducible by heat to the metallic state.  (See Hydrargyri Oxidum Ni-
 grum.)  The preparation employed, under the name of lotio nigra or  black
 wash, as a  local application to syphilitic ulcers, &c, is made by adding a
 drachm of calomel to a pint of lime-water.   By double decomposition between
 the calomel and lime, the black protoxide precipitates, and chloride of calcium
 remains in solution.  The oxide, however, is not pure,  but associated with un-
 decomposed calomel, from the fact that this  is used  in  excess.   Before being
 applied, the wash should be well shaken.
   Tests of Purify and fncompatibles.  Calomel, when pure, completely sub-
 limes on the application of heat, a property which detects all fixed impurities,
 such  as carbonate, sulphate, and phosphate of lime, sulphate of baryta, and
 carbonate of lead.   Under the influence of an elevated temperature, especially
 in the  presence of alcohol or water, it  gives  rise to a certain quantity of
 corrosive sublimate.  (M. Berthe.)  Calomel strikes  a  black colour,  free  from
 reddish tinge, by the action of the  fixed alkalies.  The buff colour indicates
 the absence of corrosive sublimate; but whiteness by no means shows the pre-
 sence of this impurity.   Its freedom from the corrosive chloride  may be deter-
 mined by washing a portion of it in  warm  distilled water, and then testing the
 water with ammonia, which will cause a white precipitate (ammoniated  mer-
 cury),  in case the water has taken up any of  thepoisonous chloride.   Soluble
 salts of mercury may be detected by rubbing  the suspected calomel with ether
 on a bright surface of copper, when the metal will become amalgamated, and
 exhibit a white stain.   W nen this test shows impurity, the soluble salt present
 is probably corrosive sublimate.  Calomel, containing corrosive sublimate, acts
 violently on the bowels; and, when the impurity has been  present in consider-
 able amount, has been  known to  cause death.   Besides  being  incompatible
 with the alkalies and  alkaline earths, calomel is also  decomposed by  the alka-
 line carbonates, soaps, hydrosulphates, and, according  to  some authorities, by
 iron, lead, and copper.  According to M. Lebeaux, calomel should not be pre-
 scribed with iodine; unless the prescriber intends to give biniodide (red iodide)
 of mercury, when the dose must be reduced  accordingly.  (Ann. de Therap.,
 1857, p.  180.)  It 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 bicya-
 nuret only.   Hence this writer considers it very dangerous  to associate calomel
with bitter almonds or li3Tdrocyanic 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- 
1094
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
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 primas vias.  Popular belief  coincides with M. Mialhe's views in regard
to the power  of  common  salt to increase  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 amount of corrosive  sublimate by re-
acting with solutions of the chlorides of potassium, sodium,  and ammonium.
The deutoxide and similarly constituted compounds are most prone to undergo
this change.   Even metallic mercury, digested with  the  chlorides  named, is
partly converted, under  the influence of  air, into  corrosive sublimate.   l)r.
Gardner denies the assertion of M. Mialhe, that calomel is converted into  cor-
rosive  sublimate by chlorides of the alkalifiable metals, maintaining that it is
merely rendered soluble by their solutions.   The results, however, of M. Mialhe
have been confirmed experimentally by Dr.  A.  Fleming,  of Pittsburg,  Pa.
(Am. Journ.  of Pharm.  Sept. 1857.)  M. Bauwens, of Ghent,  recognising
the conversion of calomel  into corrosive sublimate in the  body by these chlo-
rides, explains on this fact the relatively less powerful action of large than of
small doses of calomel.  He also states that physicians near the sea, where the
water is brackish, seldom prescribe calomel, and that naval surgeons have been
obliged to abstain from giving it to sailors who eat salt meat.          B.
   Medical 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 ex-
ception of the blue pill, which, though less certain, is still milder, and is some-
times preferably  employed.  When used with the above objects, the tendency
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 gave it a direction to certain
organs, have their own peculiar influence increased by its co-operation.  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, at-
tributable to the acrid character of the bile which it causes the liver to secrete.
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 function.  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
remedies, 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 
PART II.                     Hydrargyrum.                       1095

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 liver.
   In very large doses, calomel is supposed by some to act directly as a sedative,
and with this view has been given in yellow and  malignant bilious fevers, vio-
lent dysentery, malignant cholera, &c.  The quantities which have been admin-
istered in such affections, with asserted impunity and even advantage, are al-
most 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 herpetic
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 irritable, 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.   Sometimes, very minute doses, as the twelfth of  a grain or less, given
very frequently, so as to amount to the ordinary quantity in twenty-four hours,
will operate more effectually as a sialagogue than  larger doses.   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 exhibited.
Calomel has the peculiarity that  its cathartic action  is not increased in pro-
portion to the dose, and enormous quantities have  been given with  impunity.
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 justifiable 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 in-
dividuals briskly.  In these persons, large doses, though they do not proportion-
ably increase the evacuation, often occasion 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 two  or three years old, and  this quantity often fails to  act, unless as-
sisted 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;  Pilulas Calomelanos Compositas;
Pilulas Calomelanos et Opii;  Pilulas Catharticus Compositas; Pilulas Hydrar-
gyri Chloridi Mitis.                                                  W.
   HYDRARGYRI  CYANURETUM. U. S.   Cyanuret of Mercury.
Bicyanuret of Mercury.    Prussiate of Mercury.
   "Take of Ferrocyanuret of Iron [pure  Prussian  blue] four ounces; Red 
1096
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
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 Mer-
cury, previously powdered and thoroughly mixed, 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 the remainder 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.
   The object of the above process is to present cyanogen and mercury to each
other under favourable circumstances for combination.  The compound formed
consists of two eqs  of cyanogen 52,  and one of mercury 200 = 252.  It is,
therefore, a bicyanuret (HgCyJ.  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 maybe thus expressed; 2Fe7Cy1Jand 9IIg0.j
= 9HgCy3and 6FeO and  4Fe.f).y   This formula would be exact, if nothing
remained but the oxides of iron ; but in the residue cyanogen appears to be
present in an unknown state of combination.
   Winckler prepares bicyanuret of  mercury by the following process.  Mix 15
parts of ferrocyanuret of  potassium in powder with  13 parts of concentrated
sulphuric acid,  and 100 parts of water.   Distil the mixture to dryness into a
receiver containing 30 parts of water.   The ferrocyanuret is decomposed, bisul-
phate 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 yields 12 parts of 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, composed of the bicyanuret and the red oxide,
which crystallizes in small  acicular crystals.
  Properties, dec.  Cyarturet of mercury is permanent in the air, and crystallizes
in anhydrous right square prisms, which are sometimes 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 abund-
antly in hot.  When acted on  by muriatic acid, hydrocyanic  acid is evolved,
recognisable by its odour,  and bichloride of mercury is left, which  is wholly
volatilizable by heat.   When heated it yields cyanogen, and a black matter is
left containing globules of mercury.  It acts on the  animal economy as a po-
tent poison.  In  medicinal doses it sometimes causes ptyalism, but does  not
produce  epigastric pain like  corrosive sublimate.    It has been occasionally
used as a remedy in syphilis; and in the treatment of that disease it is preferred
by some practitioners to corrosive sublimate, on account of its not giving rise
to pain,  and not  being decomposed by alkalies and  organic substances.   M.
Desmartis, of Bordeaux, considers it superior to all the other preparations of
mercury in  the treatment of syphilitic complaints; particularly in cases in
which the patients have suffered,  for a long period, from obscure pains.   The
dose is from a sixteenth to an eighth of a grain, which should not be  exceeded;
as the medicine may meet with free muriatic acid in the stomach.       B. 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1097
  HYDRARGYRI IODIDUM.  U. S., Lond.  Hydrargyri Iodidum
Viride. Dub.  Iodide of Mercury.  Green Iodide of Mercury.  Proti-
odide 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 protected from the light."  U. S.
  The London and Dublin Colleges make this iodide by the foregoing formula.
  This process for forming the protiodide of mercury is a case of simple com-
bination, the alcohol facilitating the.union by dissolving the  iodine.   It  may
also be prepared by precipitation, by adding a solution of iodide of potassium
to one of  nitrate of  protoxide  of mercury; but, as  it is difficult to prepare
the nitrate of the protoxide, without being mixed with some binitrate of deut-
oxide, 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
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. (See Amer. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 326.)  This process did not succeed
with Mr. Charles Bullock, of this city, when he used the reacting ingredients in
quantities six times those recommended byM. Boutigny.   Mr. John Canavan,
of New York, ascribes the failure  to insufficient trituration, which,  to insure
complete reaction, must be long  continued, involving much  labour, when the
quantities taken  by Mr. Bullock are  employed.   If the reaction lie imperfect,
the water washes away not only chloride of potassium, but also iodide of po-
tassium, holding  in solution a part of the protiodide  of mercury formed, which
is ultimately decomposed  into biniodide and metallic mercury.   The experi-
ments of Mr. J. M. Maisch, of this city, tend to confirm this view.  He further
found that a boiling temperature enables chloride of  potassium to decompose
the protiodide perceptibly, and  infers that the  use of cold water would  give
a purer product.   He, therefore, concludes that the process of Boutigny cannot
be depended upon for giving a pure protiodide, and that we must fall back on
the Pharmacopoeia process.   As obtained by this process it is liable to  con-
tain a little biniodide, which may be removed by washing it with boiling alco-
hol. (See Mr.  Maisch's paper, Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  Jan.  1857.)
  Properties.  Iodide of mercury is in the form of a yellowish-green powder,
insoluble in water, alcohol, or solution  of chloride of sodium, but soluble in
ether.  Its sp. gr. is 7*75.   When exposed to the  light  it is partially decom-
posed, and becomes of a dark-olive colour.  If quickly and cautiously heated,
it sublimes in red crystals which afterwards become yellow.  It is  a protiodide
of mercury, Hgl, consisting of one eq. of mercury 200, and  one of iodine
126-3 = 326-3.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Iodide of  mercury has been given in scrof-
ula  and scrofulous syphilis.  The dose is a grain daily, gradually increased to
three or four grains.  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., 3c ser., iv. 36.)
  Off. Prep. Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi.                          B. 
1098
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
   HYDRARGYRI  IODIDUM  RUBRUM. U. S.,  Dub.  Hydrar-
gyri Biniodidum. Ed.   Red Iodide of Mercury.  Biniodide of Mer-
cury.
   "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 Distil-
led 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.
   The Dublin formula is substantially the same as that of the U. S. Pharma-
copoeia ;  the same proportion of  the reacting salts being taken, and a similar
mode of  proceeding prescribed.
   "Take of Mercury two ounces; Iodine  two ounces and a half;  Concen-
trated Solution of Muriate of Soda a gallon [Imp. meas.].  Triturate the Mer-
cury and Iodine together, adding occasionally a little rectified spirit till a uni-
form  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
crystals which form on cooling."  Ed,
   In  the U. S. and Dublin processes for  forming  biniodide of mercury, a
double decomposition  takes place between  corrosive sublimate and iodide of
potassium, resulting in  the formation of chloride of  potassium which remains
in solution, and biniodide of mercury which precipitates.   The precipitate 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  taken in the formulas;  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 Edin-
burgh College  is the same in principle as  that for  obtaining the protiodide,
described in  the last article; namely, the  simple combination of  the ingre-
dients by trituration with the aid of alcohol, a double proportion of iodine,  of
course, being taken ; but, after the red powder  is obtained, it is treated with a
boiling solution of common salt, which dissolves the  biniodide to the exclusion
of any contaminating protiodide ; and the solution, thus obtained, on cooling,
deposits  the pure biniodide in crystals.
   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 com-
pound formed with iodide of potassium has been used as a medicine.  (See Iodo-
hydrargyrate of Potassium, in Part III.)   Biniodide of mercury consists of
one eq. of mercury 200, and two of iodine 252-6=452-6, and its formula is
Hgla.  It  combines with the protiodide, so as to form a yellow sesquiodide,
represented by the formula Hgl + HgL,, or  Hg ,I3.
   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.   Dr. Fuller, physician to St.
George's Hospital, London, has  found it a valuable remedy in rheumatism,
dependent on a syphilitic taint, having cured several cases  in which corrosive
sublimate had been given in vain.  He also employed it with good results in 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1099
 two cases of epilepsy, dependent on injuries to the head, in which he suspected
 thickening of the dura mater, or deposit between it and the bone.  (Banking's
 Abstract, no. 25, p. 51.)  The dose of this iodide is the sixteenth of a grain,
 gradually increased to  the fourth, given  in pill, or dissolved in alcohol.   A
 preferable mode of administering it,  is dissolved in a solution of iodide  of
 potassium.  This mode was adopted by Dr. Fuller,  who attributes his success
 with the remedy, in great measure, to  its having been given in this way.   The
 preparation thus made is really a solution  of iodohydrargyrate of potassium.
   M. Cazenave considers  biniodide of mercury  as the best topical application
 in lupus.  He applies it in thin  layers, every six or eight days,  to  small  por-
 tions of the ulcerated surface at a time, in the form of a caustic ointment, made
 of equal parts of the iodide, oil, and  lard.  The application produces severe
 pain, and_ gives rise  to  a sharp inflammation which  soon  terminates, leaving
 the  ulcer in an improved condition, with a tendency  to cicatrize  smoothly, and
 on a level with the surrounding skin.  (Ann. de Therap., 1852,  p. 175.)
   Off. Prep.  Liquor Arsenici et Hydrargyri Iodidi; Unguentum Hydrargyri
 Iodidi Rubri.                                                       j>

   HYDRARGYRI  OXIDUM  NIGRUM. U.S.   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 have
 subsided, pour off the clear solution.   To this add the Mild 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 distilled water,
 and dry it with a gentle heat." U. S.
   The  object of this process is to obtain the protoxide or black  oxide of mer-
 cury, which was at one time believed to be the active constituent of those  pre-
 parations in which the metal is minutely divided by trituration.   The calomel
 is completely decomposed by the solution of potassa; its chlorine uniting with
 potassium to form  chloride of potassium, which remains in solution, and  the
 mercury with the oxygen of the potassa to  form protoxide of mercury, which
 subsides.   More potassa is employed than by calculation would seem to be re-
 quisite;  but it  has been  ascertained by experiment that a considerable excess
 is necessary for the complete decomposition of  the calomel.  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
 insure 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
 oxide of mercury originated with Mr. Donovan.
   The oxide may also  be prepared by decomposing a  solution of nitrate of
 protoxide of mercury by solution  of potassa.   This  nitrate may be obtained
 by treating 20  parts of  mercury with  18 parts of nitric acid of 25° Baume,
 adding, when nitrous vapours cease to rise,  10 parts  of warm distilled water,
 boiling for a short time,  decanting the  clear liquor, and setting it aside to crys-
 tallize.  The mother-waters by evaporation will furnish a new product of crys-
 tals of nitrate of  protoxide.  (Ratier, Pharm. Frang.)  The London College
 formerly prepared  this oxide by decomposing calomel with lime-water; but it
 is extremely difficult to  effect a complete decomposition in  this  way, and  the
 preparation was consequently almost always mixed with  calomel.  The prepa-
ration, officinal in a former Dublin Pharmacopoeia under the name of Pulvis
Hydrargyri Cinereus, made by adding carbonate of ammonia to  a solution of 
1100
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
mercury in heated  nitric  acid, was a mixture of subnitrate of mercury and
ammonia  with protoxide of mercury.  Both the London and Dublin Colleges
have abandoned the protoxide in the latest editions of their Pharmacopoeias
   Properties, die.  As first prepared, this oxide is greenish-black; but as found
in the shops it is almost always of an olive colour.   It is inodorous, tasteless
and insoluble in water and alkaline solutions; and consists of one eq.  of mer-
cury 200,  and one of oxygen 8 = 208.   On exposure to light or heat it is de-
composed, 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, deutoxide, and metallic mercury,
with which calomel is sometimes associated, in consequence of the incomplete de-
composition of that employed in the process.  By a strong heat it is completely
dissipated, and  metallic globules  are sublimed.   When  pure  it is soluble in
acetic  and nitric acids, and entirely insoluble in muriatic acid, which forms
with it water and calomel.  If it contain the deutoxide,  this will be 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 as 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, has informed us that he uses it habitually as a
mercurial, 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 erroneous.
Made into an ointment with lard, according to the process of Donovan, it may
be applied externally with goSd effect in bringing the system under the mercu-
rial 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 used by Mr. Abernethy for
mercurial  fumigation; the patient  being placed, covered with under garments,
in a vapour-bath, and exposed  for 15 or 20 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.   Hydrargyri
Nitrico-oxidum.  Lond.  Hydrargyri Oxydum Rurrum. Dub.  Red'
Oxide of Mercury.   Red Precipitate.
   " Take ofAlercury thirty-six ounces; Nitric Acid eighteen 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 eighteen fluidounces; Distilled
Water two pints [Imperial measure].   Mix, and apply  a gentle heat till the
Mercury is dissolved.  Boil down the solution, and rub the residue into powder.
Put this into a  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.   Tritu-
rate 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. 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1101
   " Take of Pure Mercury eigtii ounces [avoirdupois]; Pure Nitric Acid three
fluidounces; Distilled Water six [fluid]ounces.  In the  Acid,  diluted with
the Water, digest the Mercury, using at first a very gentle heat, but, when  the
action has ceased,  finally boiling for a few minutes; and, having decanted  the
solution, evaporate to dryness.  Let the residuum, first reduced to powder, be
transferred to a shallow cast-iron pot with a flat bottom, and loosely covered
by a fire-tile lid; and in this let it be exposed  to the heat  of  a slow  fire until
red vapours cease  to be given off.  The heat  must now  be withdrawn, and,
when the pot has cooled, its contents should be transferred to  bottles."  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 nitrate of deutoxide of mercury, or a mixture of this with nitrate
of the protoxide.   The resulting mass when exposed to a  strong heat is  de-
composed, 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  decomposition of  the
nitric acid, by the oxygen of which the protoxide of mercury, if any be present,
is converted  into deutoxide, while nitric oxide gas  escapes, and becomes  ni-
trous acid vapour on contact with the air.   The deutoxide of mercury is  left
behind; but in  general not quite free from the nitrate, which cannot be wholly
decomposed by heat, without endangering  the decomposition of the oxide
itself, and the volatilization of the metal.  The  preparation is commonly called
red precipitate.  The name of red oxide of mercury, by which it is now desig-
nated in most of the Pharmacopoeias, is  appropriate; as  nitrate of  mercury
exists in it merely as an accidental impurity; and there  is  no  occasion to dis-
tinguish the preparation from the  pure deutoxide obtained by calcining mer-
cury, the latter not being officinal, and perhaps never employed.
   In the preparation of this mercurial, various  circumstances influence  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,
usually considered desirable.  Among these  circumstances  is the  condition of
the nitrate of mercury submitted to calcination.  According to Gay-Lussac, it
should be employed in the  form of small crystalline grains.  If previously pul-
verized, as directed in the  officinal 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 repeated experiment, 7 parts of nitric acid of 35° Baume, to be suffi-
cient 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  ex-
posed, and all parts  heated equally.  The  metal and acid  having been intro-
duced, 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 appear,
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 
1102
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
    of the matrass, or by its rekindling if partially extinguished.  Too high a tem-
    perature 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
    stppped, 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 uniformly maintained.   The direc-
    tion of  the Edinburgh College to rub a portion 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 addi-
    tional quantity of the metal.
       As the process is  ordinarily conducted in 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 contain ten  pounds of
    the nitrate.   There is always loss in the operation  thus conducted.
       Under the  name  of Hydrargyri  Oxydum  Rubrum,  the  Dublin College
    formerly directed a preparation, called by the elder chemists hydrargyrum
    prsecipitatum per se, or precipitate per se, and sometimes calcined mercury,
    made by exposing the metal to  a heat near its boiling point, or about 600° I1.,
    in a matrass with a broad bottom and narrow mouth.  The vapours rising were
    condensed in  the upper part of the vessel;  and  a  circulation was thus kept up
    within it,  during which the mercury slowly combined with oxygen, being con-
    verted first into a black and then into a red powder.  But  the process was very
    slow, requiring several weeks for the complete oxidation of the metal; and, as
    the product, which  was pure deutoxide, had no peculiar virtues to  recommend
    it  over the oxide procured in the ordinary mode, it has been properly discarded
    by the College.   The oxide made in this  way is  in minute sparkling, crystal-
    line scales, of a deep-red colour, becoming still  deeper by heat.
       The same oxide of mercury,  prepared by precipitation,  was recognised in a
    former  London  Pharmacopoeia by the name of  Hydrargyri Binoxidum, or
    binoxide of mercury.  It was made by adding solution of potassa to a solu-
    tion of bichloride of mercury, and differed from the preceding only in containing
    some water.  It was an orange-red impalpable powder, having the same prop-
    erties essentially as the present officinal red oxide.
       Properties, die.   Red precipitate, 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 0-62 of the oxide.  Dr. Christison found  1 part of  the oxide to  be dis-
    solved by  about 7000 parts  of  boiling water, and the solution to give a black
    precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen.   Nitric and  muriatic acids dissolve it
    without effervescence.  It yields oxygen when heated, and at a red heat is de-
    composed and entirely dissipated.  It is essentially the deutoxide (peroxide) of
    mercury, consisting  of one  equivalent of  the metal  200, and two  of oxygen
    16 = 216; but, in its ordinary  state, it always contains a minute proportion of
    nitric acid, probably in the state of subnitrate.  According to Brande, when rub-
    bed 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
    sometimes 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.  The 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 precipi-
    tate with lime-water. 
PART ii.                     Hydrargyrum.                        1103

  Medical Properties and Uses.  This preparation is too harsh and irregular in
its operation for internal use; but is much employed externally as a stimulant
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.
   Off. Prep.  Hydrargyri Cyanuretum;  Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri.
                                                                    W.
   HYDRARGYRI PERNITRATIS  LIQUOR. Dub.   Solution  of
Per nitrate  of Mercury.  Acid Nitrate of Mercury.  Acid Binitrate of
Deutoxide  of Mercury.
   "Take of Pure Mercury two ounces  [avoirdupois]; Pure  Nitric Acid [sp.
gr. l-5] one fluidounce and a half [Imp. meas.];  Distilled Water one ounce
and a half [avoird.].  In the Acid, first diluted with  the Water, dissolve the
Mercury, with the application of heat, and evaporate the solution to the bulk
of two ounces and a half [Imp. meas.]." Dub.
   In the process for making this new officinal of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of
1850, mercury is  dissolved, with  the  assistance of heat, in an excess of nitric
acid, and  there is formed  an acid binitrate of deutoxide of mercury, which is
brought to a  determinate bulk by evaporation.  The nitric acid taken weighs
two ounces  and a  drachm.  This proportion  of acid is sufficient not only to
deutoxidize  the mercury and generate a bisalt, but to furnish from twelve to
fifteen per cent,  of acid  in excess.   Binitrate of deutoxide  of mercury must
be  viewed as the  neutral salt of  that oxide;  and if this  salt were  exclu-
sively formed, it may be  presumed that three eqs. of  mercury would  require
eight of nitric acid; two eqs. of the acid being broken up into nitric^oxide and
oxygen in oxidizing the mercury, and the remaining six uniting with the three
eqs. of deutoxide formed, producing  three eqs. of binitrate.  In  the formula,
however, more than ten eqs. of nitric acid are taken to three  of mercury; and,
consequently, sufficient acid is furnished to form an acid salt.  This  solution
forms a dense and very caustic liquid.   If made with U. S. nitric acid (sp. gr.
 l-42), the quantity required will be about two ounces and seven drachms.
   Binitrate of deutoxide  of mercury (the salt present  in this preparation) is
uncrystallizable, unless when  exposed in a freezing mixture  to a temperature
of 5°,when it crystallizes with the formula, HgO,,2N05+ 16HO. (H. S. Ditten.)
   Medical Properties.   This preparation is  frequently used in  Europe, and
has been employed to some extent in this country,  as a caustic application to
malignant ulcerations and cancerous affections.   It has been used by Biett in
lupus, by Bennet and others in ulceration of the  neck of  the uterus, and by
Recaraier in cancer.  It is applied to the diseased surface by a camel's hair
brush, or preferably by a  brush made of spun glass. The parts touched imme-
diately become white, the surrounding parts inflame, and in  a few days a yellow
scab is formed, which gradually falls off.  Sometimes the application produces
salivation.   When it is desirable to avoid this result, the cauterized part should
be washed with water immediately after the application of  the caustic.
   Acid nitrate  of mercury  is extensively used by Mr. Startin  in  the Hos-
pital for Cutaneous Diseases, London.*   He has employed it with advantage
in acne, boils, carbuncle, lupus, sloughing ulcers, and other external affections.
In  acne, a  very minute drop of the solution is  placed, by means of a finely

  *  The acid nitrate, used by Mr. Startin. does not correspond, in the proportions em-
ployed, with  the Dublin preparation. It is  made by dissolving two ounces of mercury
in four ounces of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1-5.) 
1104
Hydrargyrum.
PART II.
pointed glass brush, on the top of each indolent tubercle.  The application, if
carefully made, leaves no scar.  In treating boils, a full-sized drop is applied
to the apex of the furuncle. (Med. Times and Gaz., Jan., 1855, p. 9.)    B.

   HYDRARGYRI SULPHAS. Dub.   Sulphate of Mercury.
   " Take of Quicksilver of Commerce ten ounces [avoirdupois] ; Oil of Vitriol
of Commerce six fluidounces [Imp. meas.].   Place the Quicksilver and Oil of
Vitriol in a porcelain capsule, and apply heat  until effervescence ceases, and
nothing remains but a white and dry crystalline salt."  Dub.
   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 bisulphate
of deutoxide of mercury, which is the sulphate of the  Dublin College.
   Sulphate 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 tur-
peth mineral.   The adoption of a separate formula  and distinct officinal name
for this  salt is  certainly a convenience;  as it obviates the necessity of repeat-
ing the  directions for  obtaining the  same  substance in  several  formulas.
On account  of its various 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  decom-
position 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, dec.  Sulphate 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 216 = 296.
It has no medical  uses.
   Off. Prep. Calomelas; Sublimatum Corrosivum.                    B.

   HYDRARGYRI SULPHAS FLAVUS. U. S.  Yellow Sulphate of
Mercury.   Turpeth 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 re-
mains.   Rub this 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.
   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 the same salt is again directed to be formed in preparing
turpeth  mineral.  We  have already stated that this salt is  bisulphate of
deutoxide of mercury.  When  thrown into boiling or even warm water it is
instantly decomposed, and  an insoluble salt is precipitated, which is the tur-
peth mineral.  According to Berzelius, turpeth mineral is a basic sesquisulphate
of deutoxide of mercury, and the supernatant solution contains a supersul-
phate, consisting of six eqs. of acid and one of base.  The same composition for
turpeth  mineral is given by Gay-Lussac;  and its accuracy was  verified by Sir
Robert  Kane,  of Dublin.  (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans., August,  1842.)
The composition above given of turpeth mineral  implies the decomposition of
four eqs. of  bisulphate of deutoxide, and  the manner in which the reaction
takes place is shown by the following equation; 4(Hg02,2S03)=turpeth mine-
ral, 3HgOfl,2S03,  and supersulphate of  mercury, Hg02,6SOs. 
part II.                     Hydrargyrum.                        1105

   Properties, &c.  Yellow sulphate of mercury is a lemon-yellow powder, of
a somewhat acrid taste.  It dissolves in 2000 parts of cold water, and in about
600 of boiling water.   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 decomposed and dissipated,  sulphuric acid being evolved,
and metallic globules sublimed.  It was originally called turpeth mineral, from
its resemblance in colour to the root of  Ipomsea Turpethum.
   Medical 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 usefully employed as an emetic, repeated
every few days, in chronic enlargement of the testicle.   It operates with great
promptness, and sometimes excites ptyalism.  Dr. Hubbard, of Maine, considers
it a valuable emetic, in cases requiring an equalizing  and revulsive effect,
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 prompt-
ness and certainty, and of its not producing catharsis, or the prostration caused
by antimony.   The dose for a child two years old is two or three grains, re-
peated in fifteen minutes, if it should not operate.   As an errhine, it has been
used with benefit in chronic ophthalmia ; but 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 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 Medical Gazette, for March, 184?.                     B.
   HYDRARGYRI SULPHURETUM NIGRUM.  U. S.  Black Sul-
phuret of Mercury.   Ethiops Mineral.
   " Take of Mercury, Sulphur, each, a pound.   Rub them together till all the
globules disappear."  U. S.
   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 sulphurous odour.   During the trituration, the mixture
should be sprinkled from time to time with a little water or alcohol, to prevent
the dust  from rising, which exposes the operator to  serious inconvenience.
When rubbed together in equal weights, as  directed in the  formula, 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 mer-
cury have been  admitted by chemists generally, the protosulphuret, and bisul-
phuret or cinnabar; but the quantity of sulphur directed in the process is much
more  than sufficient to form even the latter.   It is still undetermined what
is the exact nature of the officinal black sulphuret, or ethiops mineral.   Mr.
Brande, from his experiments, considers it to  be the bisulphuret mixed with sul-
phur.  Thus he found that, when boiled repeatedly in solution of potassa, sulphur
was dissolved, and a black  insoluble powder was left, which sublimed without
decomposition, 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 sul-
phur is  apt  to  become acidified, and the preparation  to acquire an activity
which does not belong to it when obtained by trituration.
  Properties, dec.   Black sulphuret of mercury is a heavy, tasteless, insoluble
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
      10 
1106                       Hydrargyrum.                     part ii.

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.  Adultera-
tion by sulphuret  of antimony is shown, if muriatic acid,  boiled on a portion
of the powder, acquires the property of causing a precipitate of oxychloride 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.   Ethiops mineral is supposed to be alterative, and as
such is  sometimes  prescribed in glandular affections and  cutaneous diseases.
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 producing  any
obvious impression on the system.   Ethiops mineral is very little  used as a
medicine, and might with propriety be expunged from  our national Pharma-
copoeia.  The London and Dublin Colleges have omitted it.           B.
   HYDRARGYRI SULPHURETUM RUBRUM. U.S.   Hydrar-
 gyri Bisulphuretum. Lond.    Cinnabaris.  Ed.  Red Sulphuret 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 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 two pounds of mercury and five
 ounces of sulphur,  and treat them as in the U. S. process.
   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 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 sublimation is performed, should be
 got rid of by gently heating the matter, reduced  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 ar-
 ranged,  exposed  to a red heat.  The equivalent quantities for forming this
 sulphuret, are 32 of sulphur, and 200 of mercury.
    Preparation on the Large Scale.  Cinnabar is seldom 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 cha-
  mois  leather.  As soon as the combination has taken place, the iron vessel is
  surmounted by another, into which the cinnabar is sublimed.   The larger the
  quantity of the materials employed in one operation, the finer will be the tint
  of the product.   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. 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1107
  Properties, &c.  Red sulphuret of mercury is in the form of heavy, brilliant
crystalline masses, of a  deep-red colour and fibrous texture.   It is inodorous
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 alkalies;  but is
soluble  m 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 brilliant red powder, and
in that state  constitutes the paint called vermilion.  The same  compound
occurs native, being the  sole ore from which mercury is extracted.    The pre-
paration 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 that substance, if present; and, if chalk be mixed
with it, effervescence will be excited on the addition of an acid.   This sulphu-
ret consists  of one eq. of mercury 200, and  two of sulphur 32=232.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  Cinnabar was formerly thought to be alte-
rative and anthelmintic, but is at present seldom given internally.  It is some-
times employed by fumigation, as a rapid sialagogue, in venereal ulcers of  the
nose and throat, in cases in which it is important to bring- the system under
the influence of mercury in the shortest possible  time.  The dose internally 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 va-
pour, 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., Dub.  Hydrargyri Precipitatum Album.
Ed.  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
the washings become tasteless, and dry it."  U. S.
  The London and Edinburgh processes are essentially the same as the above.
  "Take of Corrosive Sublimate one ounce [avoirdupois]; Solution of Am-
monia nine fluidrachms  [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water one pint [Imp. meas.].
Dissolve the Corrosive Sublimate in the Water, with the aid of a gentle heat,
pour the Ammonia into the solution, and,  having  stirred  the mixture well*
collect the precipitate on a filter, and wash it with warm distilled water, until
the liquid which passes through ceases to give a precipitate when dropped into
an acid  solution of nitrate of silver.  Lastly, dry the product at a temperature
not exceeding 212°." Dub.
  All the Pharmacopoeias now agree in obtaining white precipitate by precipi-
tating a solution of  corrosive  sublimate by ammonia.   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.   The precipitate is washed, according to the U. S. formula,
until the washings become tasteless, and not until the powder is tasteless as
directed by  the London  College;  because the powder itself is  sapid.  The 
1108
Hydrargyrum.
part ii.
matter washed away is muriate of ammonia  and the excess of ammonia em-
ployed; and hence the washings, agreeably  to the directions of the Dublin
formula, are tested with an acid solution of nitrate of  silver.   According to
Sir Robert Kane, white precipitate 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.  This compound, represent-
ed by NH2, he has named amidogen, the amide of some chemists.   The reaction
may be thus explained.  Two eqs. of ammonia are decomposed into one of
ammonium (NH4) and one of amidogen (NH3); and one eq. of corrosive sub-
limate into one of chlorine and one of calomel.   The chlorine unites with the
ammonium and remains in solution as chloride of ammonium (muriate of am-
monia), and the calomel precipitates with the amidogen  as white precipitate.
In symbols the reaction  is thus denoted ; 2NH3 and HgCla=NH4Cl and HgCl,
NH3.  For an account of ammonium, see page  85.  The analysis of Kane
agrees virtually with those of Guibourt and Hennell; for Guibourt's results,
minus  the elements of one eq. of water, and  Hennell's, minus the elements 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, decomposed by boiling water,
and having a taste, at first earthy and afterwards metallic.  It dissolves with-
out effervescence in muriatic acid.  When heated with  a solution of caustic
potassa, it yields ammonia and becomes yellow.  Exposed to a strong heat it
is entirely dissipated, and  resolved into nitrogen, ammonia, and protochloride
of mercury.   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 residue will be obtained on
the application of heat.  Lead may be found by digesting the white precipitate
with acetic acid, and testing the acetic solution with iodide of potassium, which
will give a yellow precipitate.  The absence of protoxide of mercury is shown
by its not being blackened when rubbed with lime-water.  Ammoniated mercury
is used only as an external application.
  Ammoniated mercury has been  swallowed by mistake.   It is highly poison-
ous, producing  gastric pain, nausea, and purging.   A case of  recovery after
taking what was estimated to be half a drachm, is reported in the London Lan-
cet, for July 4, 1857.   The remedies employed were an  emetic of sulphate of
zinc, and milk to  allay the gastro-intestinal irritation.
  Off. Prep. tUnguentum Hydrargyri Ammoniati; Unguentum Sulphuris
Compositum.                                                       13.

  HYDRARGYRUM CUM  CRETA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Mer-
cury 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 rubs an ounce of mercury with two ounces of prepared
chalk, in a porcelain mortar, until the globules cease to be visible, and the mix-
ture acquires a uniform gray colour.
  When mercury  is triturated with  certain  dry and pulverulent substances,
such as chalk or magnesia, it gradually loses its  fluidity and metallic lustre,
and becomes 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.  At present, the change is generally
ascribed to the mechanical division of the metal, which in this state is supposed 
PART II.
Hydrargyrum.
1109
 to be capable of acting on the system.  There is good reason, however, to be-
 lieve 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.  Dr. Stewart, of Baltimore, proposed the following process, by which
 he stated that the preparation might be completed in a short time, so that no
 globules should 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 remaining
 powder is to be dried on bibulous paper, and well rubbed in a mortar.  (Am.
 Journ,  of Pharm., xv.  162.)   But Professor  Procter  has  shown that the
 preparation thus made contains deutoxide of mercury, and is, therefore, injuri-
 ously harsh in its operation.  (Ibid., xxii. 113.)  It is said  that the precipi-
 tated black oxide 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. Dr. Ed. Jenner  Coxe, of New Orleans, has  found
 that the  extinguishment of the mercury  may be effected much more speedily
 than in the  ordinary manner, by putting the ingredients into a quart bottle,
 to be well corked, and kept in constant agitation till the object is attained. A
 portion of the chalk may be thus shaken with the metal until no globules can
 be seen,  and the process completed by trituration with the remainder of the chalk
 in a mortar.   This mode of proceeding was suggested to  Dr.  Coxe by Mr. W.
 Hewson, of Augusta, Ga.  (Ibid.,  xxii.  317.)   The mercury contained in the
 preparation is volatilized by heat.   The remaining chalk  is dissolved by  dilute
 acetic acid, aud the solution is not coloured by sulphuretted  hydrogen.   The
 presence of any probable metallic impurity may  be detected in this way.
   Medical Properties and Uses. Mercury with chalk is a very mild mercurial,
 similar in its properties to the blue pill, but much weaker.   It is sometimes
 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 accompani-
 ment of the mercury in diarrhoea.  Eight grains  of the U. S., London, and Ed-
 inburgh preparation  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 together the particles of mer-
 cury, which, in time,  appear in globules  in the interior  of the pill.     W.

   HYDRARGYRUM CUM MAGNESIA.  Dub.  Mercury with Mag-
 nesia.
  The Dublin College prepares this with  an ounce of  pure mercury and two
ounces of carbonate of magnesia in the same manner as directed for the prepa-
ration of mercury with chalk.  (See Hydrargyrum cum Creta.)
  This preparation has  the same virtues as the  preceding, but may be prefer-
ably used in the complaints of children attended with constipation.     W. 
1110
Infusa.
PART II.
                                INFUSA.

                                Infusions.

  These are aqueous solutions obtained by treating with water, without the
aid of ebullition, vegetable products only partially soluble in that liquid.   The
water employed  may be hot or cold, according to the  objects to be accom-
plished.   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 pre-
ferred, 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 some-
times danger that spontaneous decomposition may commence before the process
is completed.  When a strong infusion is required, the process of percolation
may be advantageously resorted to.  (See pages 822 and 829.)  The water em-
ployed should be free from saline impurities, which frequently produce precipi-
tates, and render the 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 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  com-
pletely to separate the undissolved portion.  In other cases it is sufficient to
strain through fine linen or muslin.   When, however, percolation or displace-
ment is resorted to, the substance should be more or less finely powdered.  In-
fusions 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 longer time; but they are also more liable
to chemical alteration, and may sometimes  injuriously affect  the preparation.
Vessels of  block-tin are generally well adapted for the purpose.*

                                       * Alsop's infusion jar affords a very neat
                                     and effectual method of making the hotinfu-
                                     sions.   It consists of an earthenware mug, re-
                                     presented in the marginal figure, with a spout
                                     (d) proceeding from  the bottom, and placed
                                     closely to the side of the vessel to prevent frac-
                                     ture ; a perforated plate or diaphragm (6), sup-
                                     ported on a ledge (c), at about one-quarter or
                                     one-third of the height of the vessel from the
                                     top; and a lid (a), which may be.fastened on
                                     by a string through holes (ff). The material
                                     to be submitted to infusion is placed on the
                                     perforated  plate, and the hot water poured in
                                     so as to cover it, the vessel having been previ-
                                     ously warmed so as not to chill the liquid.
                                     As the water  becomes impregnated, it acquires
                                     an increased specific gravity, and sinks to the
                                     bottom, its place  being supplied  by the un-
                                     saturated portion ; and this circulation goea
                                     on until the whole of the soluble matter is ex-
                                     tracted.   In  order to maintain a due warmth,
                                     the vessel  may be placed upon a stove  or an
                                     iron plate near the fire.  The advantage of the
 
PART II.
Infusa.
1111
  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 stand-
ards for the regulation of the  medical practitioner; and it is sometimes  con-
venient to  direct infusions from  the  apothecary, for whose guidance officinal
formulas 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 attendants upon the sick.   For a mode
of preserving infusions, the  reader is referred to the  introductory observations,
page 825.   By making very concentrated infusions, as suggested by Mr. Dono-
van, with a mixture of three parts of  water and one of alcohol, they may be
long kept,  and when  used can be diluted with'water to the proper strength.
Thus, if made four times as  strong as the officinal infusion, they may be diluted
with three  measures of water.   The proportion of alcohol would thus be  very
small; but it might  still be medically injurious; and infusions should not be
prepared in this way unless  with  the cognizance of the  prescriber.
  Mr. Battley, of London, has introduced a new set of preparations, which he
calls inspissated infusions, the advantages of which are that the virtues  are
extracted by cold water, are  not injured by heat used in  the evaporation, are in
a concentrated state, and are not  impaired by time.  To prepare them he mace-
rates the material, coarsely powdered, bruised, or finely sliced, in twice its weight
of cold distilled water, pressing the solid matter into the liquid repeatedly by a
rammer or the hand;  then allows the liquid to drain out, or expresses it in the
case of highly absorbent substances; and repeats the process, with an amount of
water equal to that which has been separated, until the strength is exhausted.
Four or six hours maceration is usually sufficient.  The infusion is then to be
concentrated by evaporation at a temperature not exceeding  160° to the sp.
gr. 1-200, and as much alcohol is to be added as will make its sp. gr.  1-100.
These preparations  are very analogous to the fluid extracts already treated
of.   As a general rule it would probably be preferable to prepare the infusion
by the process of percolation.   The inspissated infusions must be diluted when
administered.   The presence of  alcohol, though in  small quantity, would  in
some instances be a serious  objection.  (Pharm. Journ. and  Trans.,  x. 129.)
  As we have already treated of  the chemical relations  and medical properties
of the substances used in infusion, it would be useless repetition to enlarge 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 ANGUSTURiE.  U.S.  Infusum Cusparle. 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

process is that the material is  subjected to the solvent power of the least impregnated
portion of the menstruum. Such jars may now be had in Philadelphia.  In order that
the vessel may be adapted for the preparation of different quantities of infusions, it will
be proper to have ledges arranged within at different heights, so that the diaphragm
may be supported at any desirable point.  The surface  of the liquid  (e) should of
course always be above the medicinal  substance placed upon the diaphragm.  (See
Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  viii. 89.)  Mr. Squire, of London, has modified this jar by sur-
mounting it with a colander of queensware, which is closely covered with a lid, and
descends into the jar so as to form a diaphragm for the support of the substance to
be infused.  It has the advantage that the material, after having been exhausted, may
be lifted out without disturbing the  inj-jsion. 
1112
Infusa.
PART II.
 boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, five drachms to a pint [Imp. meas 1
 of boiling water; and both proceed as above.
   The dose of the  infusion is two fluidounces, repeated every two, three  or
 four hours.                                                       ^y

   INFUSUM ANTHEMIDIS.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Infusion  of
 Cliamomile.
   " 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,
 five drachms to a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water, and infuses for twenty
 minutes ; the Dublin, half an ounce [avoirdupois]  of the flowers and twelve
 [fl,uid~]ounces of boiling water, and infuses for fifteen minutes.
   The infusion of chamomile has the odour and taste of the flowers.  It affords
 precipitates with gelatin, yellow Peruvian bark, sulphate  of iron, tincture 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 emetic medicines  it
 should be administered in the tepid state, and in large draughts.  The infusion
 prepared by maceration in cold water is more grateful to the palate and stomach
 than that made with boiling water, but is less efficient as an emetic.    W.

   INFUSUM ARMORACLE. U.S.   Infusum  Armoracia Compo-
 situm. Lond.   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 vessel^
 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.
   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 Dis-
pensatory.)  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 two fluidounces three or four times a day.   W.

   INFUSUM AURANTII COMPOSITUM. Lond.,  Dub.  Infusum
 Aurantii. Ed.  Compound Infusion of Orange Peel.
   " Take of dried Orange Peel half an ounce; Lemon Peel two drachms;
 Cloves, bruised, a drachm;  boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure].
 Macerate for a quarter of an hour  in a 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 Col-
 lege takes three drachms [Dub. weight] of dried  bitter orange peel, half a
drachm [Dub. weight] of bruised cloves, and half a pint [Imp. meas.] of boil-
ing water ; and infuses for half an  hour.
   This infusion is given as a grateful stomachic, in the dose of two or three
fluidounces.                                                        W.

   INFUSUM  BUCHU.  U.S.,  Lond., Dub.   Infusum Bucku. Ed.
Infusion of Buchu.
   " Take of Buchu an ounce; Boiling Water a pint   Macerate for two hours
in  a covered vessel, and strain." U  S. 
PART II.
Infusa.
1113
     The London College takes an ounce of buchu and a pint [Imperial measure]
   of  boiling distilled water, and  macerates for four hours; the Edinburqh the
   same quantities, and infuses for two hours ; the Dublin, half an ounce (avoird )
   of buchu and half a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water, and infuses for an hour.
     1 his is the Infusum Diosmse of former Pharmacoposias.   It has the odour,
   taste and medical virtues of the leaves, and affords a convenient method of ad-
   ministering the medicine.  The dose is one or two fluidounces.         W.

     INFUSUM CAPSICI.  U.S.   Infusion of Cayenne Pepper.
     "Take of Cayenne Pepper, in coarse powder, half an ounce; Boiling Water
   a pint   Macerate for two hours in a  covered vessel, and strain." U S
    This infusion is used chiefly as a gargle.   It may, however, be given inter-
   nally in the dose of half a fluidounce.                                \y

    INFUSUM CARYOPHYLLI. U. S, Lond., Ed., 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; and both proceed as above   The
   Dublin College takes two drachms [Dub. weight] of cloves, and nine [ fluid']
   ounces of boiling water, and infuses for an hour.
    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.                                             -iy

    INFUSUM CASCARILLA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Infusion of
   \j(XhC(Xi%lilOL*
    "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 same
  quantities of the bark and of boiling water; and both  proceed as above   The
  Dublin College  takes  an ounce [avoirdupois] of  the bark, and  half a pint
  Limp, meas.] of boiling water, and infuses for an hour.
   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.         W.

   INFUSUM CATECHU COMPOSITUM.  U. S., Lond., Dub.   In-
 fusum Catechu. Ed.  Compound Infusion  of Catechu.
 R UJ^f Catechu, in powder, half an ounce; Cinnamon, bruised, a drachm;
 foiling Water a pint  Macerate for  an hour in  a covered vessel, and strain."
 U. S.
   "Take of Catechu,  in powder, six drachms; Cinnamon, bruised,  a drachm;
 boiling Distilled Water a pint  [Imperial  measure].  Macerate for an hour in a
 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 Catechu, in coarse powder, three drachms [Dub. weight]; Cinna-
mon bark, bruised, half a drachm [Dub. weight]; boiling Water nine [fluid!
ounces.  Infuse for one hour in a covered vessel, and strain." Dub. 
1114
Infusa.
PART II.
   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., Dub.  Infusion of Chiretta.
   "Take of  Chiretta four drachms; boiling Water one pint [Imp. meas.].
Infuse for two hours, and strain through linen or calico." Ed.
   "Take of Chiretta, bruised, two drachms [Dub. weight]; boiling Water nine
\_fluid~\ounces and a half  Infuse for one hour in a covered vessel, and strain."
Dub.
   The dose of this simple bitter is from one to three fluidounces.      W.

   INFUSUM CINCHONA  COMPOSITUM. U. S.   Compound In-
fusion of Peruvian Bark.
   " Take of Red Bark, in powder, an ounce ;  Aromatic Sulphuric Acid a flui-
drachm; Water a pint  Macerate for twelve hours, occasionally shaking, and
strain.
   "The  Infusion may also be prepared from the  same quantity of Red Bark,
in coarse powder,  by the process of displacement, in the manner directed for
Infusion of Yellow Bark, a fluidrachm of Aromatic Sulphuric Acid being added
to the Water with which the Bark is moistened."  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, therefore,
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 second process more
speedily  and perhaps thoroughly exhausts the bark; but in this case a glass or
porcelain percolator  should be used.  This preparation may also be made very
advantageously with  the yellow or Calisaya bark.   It would be best  that the
bark should be macerated with the acidulated water some time before being in-
troduced into the instrument.   The medium dose of the infusion is two fluid-
ounces, equivalent to a  drachm of the bark.                         W.
   INFUSUM CINCHONA  FLAVA. U. S.   Infusum  Cinchona
Lond.,  Ed.   Infusion of Yellow Bark.
   "Take of Yellow Bark, bruised, an ounce;  Boiling Water a pint  Macerate
for two  hours in a covered vessel, and strain.
   "This infusion may also be prepared from the same quantity of Yellow Bark,
in coarse powder,  in the following manner.    Having moistened the Bark tho-
roughly  with Water, introduce it into a percolator, 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 filtration to continue until
a pint of clear infusion  is obtained." U. S.
   " Take of Yellow Bark, bruised, an ounce; boiling Distilled Water a pint
[Imp. meas.]. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." Lond.
   " 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.
   Though the infusion  with boiling  water is more quickly prepared  than the
cold infusion, 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.  We, therefore, prefer the second process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia,
provided it 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 
PART II.
Infusa.
1115
  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, foxglove, senna,
  rhubarb, valerian, and simaruba.   In some instances the precipitate occurs im-
  mediately, in others not for several hours. (London Dispensatory.)  Few, how-
  ever, of these substances diminish the efficacy of  the infusion, as they do not
  affect the active principles.  The alkalies, alkaline earths, and vegetable astrin-
  gents are really incompatible.  As gallic, tartaric, and oxalic acids form salts
  with quinia of somewhat difficult solubility, the neutral and soluble gallates,
  tartrates, and oxalates, produce in  the  infusion  slight precipitates  of corres-
  ponding salts of the alkaloids; but these are  redissolved by an excess of the
  acid.   Tartrate of antimony and potassa does not precipitate the  alkaloids.
  Solutions  of iodine are incompatible by forming with the alkaloids insoluble
  compounds.  For  an account  of  the chemical reactions of the infusions of
  different varieties 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.                                    "vV.

   INFUSUM CINCHONA PALLIDA. Lond.   Infusum  Cincho-
  na. Dub., Ed.   Infusion of Pale Bark.
   The London College prepares this in  the manner directed for infusion of yel-
  low bark.  (See Infusum Cinchonse Flavse.)  The Edinburgh College has only
  one infusion of bark, which it names Infusum Cinchonse, and prepares from any
  one of the varieties in the manner directed for infusion of yellow bark.  The
  Dublin College directs only this infusion of bark, which it prepares by infusing
 an ounce [avoirdupois] of pale bark, in coarse powder, in half a pint [Imperial
 measure] of boiling water for an hour,  in a covered vessel, and then filtering
 through paper.
   It is rather singular that the Dublin College should have selected the feeblest
 bark exclusively for this preparation.  The  remarks made in reference to the
 preparation of the infusion of yellow bark are applicable to this.       W.

   INFUSUM  CINCHONA RUBRA.  U.S.  Infusum Cinchona.
 Ed.  Infusion of Red Bark.
   " Take of Red Bark, bruised, an ounce; Boiling Water a pint.  Prepare the
 Infusion in the  manner directed for  Infusion of  Yellow Bark." U. S.  (See
 Infusum Cinchonse Flavse.)
   The Edinburgh directions are also the same as those for infusion of yellow
 bark, as it recognises no distinction between the three varieties in the prepara-
 tion of the infusion.
   The remarks made in relation to infusion of yellow bark are equally applica-
 ble to this.                                                         "yV.

   INFUSUM  CINCHONA SPISSATUM. Lond.   Inspissated In-
fusion of Peruvian  Bark.
   "Take of Yellow Bark, coarsely powdered, threepounds; Distilled Water six
pints [Imperial measure]; Rectified Spirit a sufficient quantity.   Macerate the
Bark in the manner directed in the preparation of Extract of Peruvian Bark
[see Extractum Cinchonse, Lond.], and strain.  Mix the infusions, evaporate by
means of a  water-bath to one-fourth, and set apart that the dregs may subside.
Pour off the clear liquor, and filter the rest.  Then mix, and again evaporate till
the sp. gr. of the liquor becomes 1-200.   Into this, when cold, slowly drop  the
Spirit, so that three fluidrachms may be added for every fluidounce.   Lastly, set
the liquor aside for  twenty days, that it may  become entirely clear." Lond. 
1116
Infusa.
part II.
    INFUSUM CINCHONA PALLIDA SPISSATUM. Lond.   In-
 spissated Infusion of Pale Bark.
    " Prepare this in the manner directed for Inspissated Infusion of Peruvian
 Bark." Lond.  (See Infusum  Cinchonse Spissatum.)
    These two inspissated infusions are made according to Mr. Battley's method
 described under the general observations upon infusions (page 1111).   They
 are no doubt efficacious preparations of Peruvian bark; and the proportion of
 alcohol is scarcely sufficient to interfere with their use in most cases in which the
 bark or its preparations are prescribed.   They might without violence be placed
 among the fluid extracts.  We have had some of the " Infusum Cinchonas Spis-
 satum" prepared, and found that each ounce  of the bark yielded very nearly
 two fluidrachms of the preparation, the dose of which, therefore, equivalent to a
 drachm of the bark would be fifteen minims, supposing the bark to be exhausted •
 but, as this is not the case, twenty minims may be considered as a medium dose.'
 The preparation is a very dark, yet clear, and intensely bitter liquid.    W.

    INFUSUM COLOMBA. U.S.   Infusum Calumra. Lond.,  Ed.,
 Dub.  Infusion of Columbo.
   "Take of Columbo, 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 of Columbo to a pint  [Imperial
 measure] of boiling distilled water, and proceeds 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, so
 as  to moisten it thoroughly; put it into a percolator, and transmit cold Water
 till sixteen fluidounces of infusion be obtained." Ed.
   "Take of  Calumba Root, in coarse powder, three drachms [Dub. weight];
 cold Water nine [fluid'jounces.   Macerate for two hours and strain." Dub.
   The infusion of columbo  is apt to spoil very quickly, especially in warm wea-
 ther.   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 spontaneous
 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  albumen are liable to
 spontaneous change; but the former is much the more permanent of the two.
 Hence it is, according to Mr. Greenish, that the hot infusion keeps best.   In-
 deed,  he ascribes the change which takes place in the starch of the hot infusion
 chiefly to the agency of a little albumen, which has escaped coagulation.   Ac-
 cording to these views, the  best plan of preparing infusion of columbo  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.\and Trans.)  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 
PART II.
Infusa.
1117
for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain; then add the Tincture of Cinna-
mon."  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 Ed.  College takes two drachms of the leaves, two fluid-
ounces 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 Dub. College takes a drachm [54-68 grains]
of the dried leaves, and nine \_fluid~]ounces of boiling water, infuses for an
hour, and strains.
   The U. S. infusion is essentially the same as that employed by Withering.
It affords precipitates with sulphate of iron, acetate of lead, and infusion of Pe-
ruvian bark.  The dose is  usually stated at half a fluidounce, repeated twice a
day under ordinary circumstances, every eight hours in urgent'cases, until the sys-
tem is affected.   The proportion of digitalis is not half as great in the London
preparation, and the dose is proportionably larger.   It will not 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  ERGOTA.  Dub.  Infusion of Ergot.
   "Take of Ergot  of Rye, in coarse powder, two drachms [Dublin weight];
Boiling Water nine [fluid^ounces.   Infuse  for one hour in a covered vessel,
and strain." Dub.
   The dose of this  infusion is two fluidounces for a woman in labour.  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 one or two fluid-
ounces three or four times a day, or more frequently; as an emetic and diapho-
retic, 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 Diluted
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, and sixteen fluid-
ounces [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 of gentian and dried orange peel, each,
two drachms  [Dub. weight], and of boiling water half  a pint [Imp. meas.] ;
both macerate for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain.
  The U. S. and Edinburgh infusion differs materially from the London.  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, and the addition of
alcohol gives the  preparation the character rather of a weak tincture than an
infusion.  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 
1118
Infusa.
PART II.
infusion, which, without this addition, is very apt to spoil.  The Dublin pre-
paration is rather weaker than that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and is simply
an infusion.
  The dose of the U. S. infusion is a fluidounce, that of the preparation of the
London College two or three fluidounces, repeated three or four times a day.
  Off. Prep. Mistura Gentianas Composita.                        W.

  INFUSUM  HUMULI. U.S.   Infusum Lupuli. Lond.  Infusion
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 covered vessel,  and strain." Lond.
  The dose of this infusion is one or two fluidounces.                 W.
  INFUSUM  JUNIPERI.  Dub.  Infusion of Juniper.
  " Take of Juniper Berries, bruised, one ounce [avoirdupois]; Boiling Water
half a pint [Imperial measure].  Infuse for one hour, in a covered vessel, and
strain." Dub.
  It will be found more convenient to  prepare this  infusion, as is generally
done in this country, in the proportion of an ounce of  the fruit, to a pint of
boiling water.   The whole quantity made may be taken in twenty-four hours,
in doses of two  or three fluidounces.                               W.
   INFUSUM  KRAMERIA.  U.S., Lond.,  Dub.   Infusion of Rha-
tany.
   "Take  of Rhatany, bruised, an  ounce; Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate
for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain.
   "This Infusion may also be prepared from the same quantity of Rhatany, in
coarse powder, by the process of displacement, in the manner  directed for the
Infusion of Yellow Bark." U. S.  (See Infusum Cinchonse Flavse.)
   The London  College takes an ounce of the root, and  a pint [Imperial mea-
sure] of boiling distilled water, and macerates for four hours; the Dublin takes
half an ounce [avoirdupois] to nine  \_fluid~\ounces, and digests for an hour.
   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 infusion of Peruvian bark.  The dose of the infu-
sion is one or two fluidounces.                                      W.
   INFUSUM LINI  COMPOSITUM. U.S., Lond.  Infusum Lini.
Ed.  Compound Infusion of Flaxseed.
   "Take  of Flaxseed half an ounce; Liquorice Root,  bruised, two drachms;
Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain."
 U.S.
   The London College directs six drachms of flaxseed, two drachms of sliced
fresh liquorice root, and a pint [Imperial measure] of  boiling distilled water,
and macerategjfor four hours; the Edinburgh directs the same, except boiling
water for boiling distilled water, and  digests near the fire for four hours.
   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 MATICO. Dub.  Infusion of Matico.
   " Take of Matico Leaves, cut small, half an ounce [avoirdupois];  Boiling
Wrater half a pint [Imperial measure].  Infuse for one hour in a covered ves-
sel, and strain."  Dub.
   The dose of this infusion is two fluidounces.                       W. 
PART II.
Infusa.
1119
   INFUSUM MENTHA VIRIDIS.  Dub.   Infusionx>f Spearmint.
   " Take of Spearmint, dried, and cut small, three drachms [Dublin weight] •
 Boiling Water half a pint [Imperial measure].  Infuse for fifteen minutes in
 a covered vessel, and strain." Dub.
   This is common mint tea, and may be taken ad libitum.            W.

   INFUSUM PAREIRA. Ed., Dub.  Infusion of Pareira Brava.
   "Take of Pareira six drachms; Boiling Water a pint [Imperial measure].
 Infuse for two hours, in a covered vessel, and then strain through  linen or
 calico."  Ed.
   "Take of Pareira Root, bruised and torn into shreds, half an ounce [avoir-
 dupois];  Boiling  Water  nine [fluidounces.   Digest for  one hour, in a
 covered vessel,  and strain." Dub.
  # 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.   The London
 College has substituted the decoction for the infusion.                 W.

   INFUSUM PRUNI  VIRGINIANA.  U. S.   Infusion of Wild-
 cherry Bark.
   "Take of Wild-cherry Bark, bruised, half an ounce; Water [cold] a pint.
 Macerate for twenty-four hours, and strain.
   "This Infusion  may also be prepared from the same quantity of Wild-cherry
 Bark, in coarse powder,  by the process of displacement, in the manner directed
 for Infusion of Yellow Bark." U. S. (See Lnfusum Cinchonse Flavse.)
   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 628), 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.   In this
 way the virtues of the bark can be more rapidly 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 quas-
 sia in chips, and a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water; both macerate for two
 hours.  The Dublin College takes a drachm [54-68 grains] of the wood, and
 eight [fluid]ounces and a half of boiling  water, and infuses for an hour.
   The proportion of quassia directed in the London and Edinburgh Pharma-
 copoeias is much too small.  The London infusion contains the strength of only
 two grains of quassia in a fluidounce, 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 de-
sirable to obtain the  preparation quickly; but cold water affords a clearer in-
fusion.  The dose is two fluidounces three  or  four times a day.        W. 
1120
Infusa.
PART II.
   INFUSUM RHEI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Infusion of Rhubarb.
   "Take of Rhubarb, bruised, a drachm; Boiling Water half a pint  Digest
 for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain."  U S.
   "Take of Rhubarb, sliced, three drachms; boiling Distilled Water a pint
 [Imperial measure]. Macerate for two hours, in a 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, aud
 strain through linen or calico." Ed.
   "Take of Rhubarb,  sliced, three drachms [Dublin weight]; boiling Distilled
 Water a pint [Imp.  meas.].  Macerate for two hours, in a covered vessel, and
 strain."  Dub.
   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 nut-
 meg,  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 con-
 nexion 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 Ro-
 sm. Ed.  Infusum  Ros^e  Acidum. Dub.  Compound Infusion of
 Roses.
   " Take of Red Roses [dried petals] half an ounce; Boiling Water two 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 two  hours instead  of half an hour.   The Edinburgh process
 corresponds with the London, except that boiling water  is used instead of boil-
 ing distilled water, the maceration  continues only for an hour, and the acid is
 added after the maceration instead of before it.  The Dublin College takes two
 drachms [Dub. weight] of the  dried roses, a fluidrachm of the diluted acid,
 and half a pint [Imp.  meas.] of boiling water; infuses  the petals for an hour
 in the water,  strains, and adds the acid.
   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 astringent, and
 affords a useful and not unpleasant drink in hemorrhages and colliquative sweats.
 It is much used by British practitioners as a vehicle for saline medicines, par-
ticularly 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.   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 from the same quantity of Sarsaparilla, 
   part ii.                       Infusa.                           1121

   in coarse powder, by the process of displacement, in the manner directed for
   Infusion of Peruvian Bark."  U. S.  (See Lnfusum Cinchonse Flavse )
     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 pre-
   paration which he found to possess most of the sensible properties of the root
   was made by infusing the spirituous extract in water.  In all his experiments'
   M. Soubeiran employed the same proportions of the root and of water  (Journ
   de Pharm., xvi. 43.)   These  observations correspond  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 com-
   petent completely to exhaust sarsaparilla 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 Sou-
   beiran 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. Pharmacopoeia in the second formula
   above given, will be found the most efficacious plan.   The  sarsaparilla should
   in this case be reduced to  powder.  From two to four fluidounces of the infu-
   sion may be taken three times a day.                    .            --y

    INFUSUM SASSAFRAS MEDULLA. U.S.   Infusion of Sassa-
  fras Pith.
    "Take of Sassafras Pith a drachm;  Water [cold] a pint.   Macerate for
  three hours, and strain."  U. S.
    This infusion is much  used as an application to the eye in  inflammation of
  the conjunctiva.  It may be taken as a drink, ad libitum, in inflammatory and
  febrile diseases, particularly inflammations of the mucous passages.    W.

    INFUSUM SENEGA. Ed.  Infusum Polygalje. Dub.  Infusion
  of Seneka.
    "Take of Senega ten drachms; boiling Water one pint [Imperial measure]
  Infuse for four  hours  in a covered vessel,  and strain." Ed,
    The Dublin College digests half an ounce [avoirdupois] of the root in nine
  [fiuid]ounces of boiling water, for an hour, and strains.
    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.  The dose of the preparation is from one
 to three fluidounces.                                               ry

'    INFUSUM  SENNA. U.S., Ed.   Infusum Sennjs  Compositum.
 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 bruised
 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, half an ounce [avoirdupois] of senna, half
a drachm [Dub. weight]  of ginger, and half a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling
water.   All macerate as above directed.
   We decidedly prefer the formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  The propor-
tions of senna directed by the London and Edinburgh Colleges are unnecessarily
large;  and coriander is a  better addition than ginger to an infusion very often 
1122
Infus a.
PART II.
given in inflammatory affections.   This infusion deposits, on exposure 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 customary to connect
with it manna and some one of the saline cathartics, which increase its ellicacy
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. Pharmacopoeia is about four fluidounces.
   The cold infusion, especially if made by percolation from the coarsely pow-
dered leaves, while probably not inferior in strength to that prepared with boil-
ing water, is said to be less unpleasant to the taste.
   Off. Prep. Mistura Gentianas Composita.                         W.

   INFUSUM  SENNA  COMPOSITUM. Ed.   Compound Infusion
of Senna.
   " Take of Senna one drachm; Tamarinds one ounce; Coriander, bruised, one
drachm; Muscovado [sugar] half an ounce; boiling Water eight fluidounces.
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,
   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 complaints 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 AVater a pint.  Mace-
rate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain."  U. S.
   The London College employs half an ounce of the root with a pint [Impe-
rial 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. Ed., Dub.  Infusion of Simaruba.
   "Take of Simaruba, bruised, three drachms; boiling Water a pint [Imperial
measure].   Infuse for two hours in a covered vessel, and then  strain through
linen or calico."  Ed.
   The Dublin College infuses two drachms [Dublin weight] of the bark with
nine [fluid]ounces of boiling water, for an hour, in a covered vessel, and strains.
   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 flui-
drachms to a fluidounce; for an adult, from four to eight fluidounces, repeated
morning and evening.   A quantity of senna equal to that of the spigelia is
usually added, in order to insure a cathartic effect.                     W. 
PARTIL                 Infusa.—Iodinium.                     1123
    INFUSUM TABACI.  U.S.   Enema Tabaci.  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.
  Infusion of Tobacco.
    " Take of Tobacco a drachm; Boiling Water a pint   Macerate for an hour
  in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S.
    The London College takes a scruple of tobacco, and half a pint [Imperial
  measure] of boiling distilled water, macerates for an hour, and strains   The
  Edinburgh  College^ takes  from fifteen to thirty grains of tobacco, and eight
  fluidounces of boiling water, infuses for half an hour, and strains   The Dub-
  lin College takes a scruple [18-22 grains] of tobacco, and eight [fluidounces
  of boiling water, infuses for 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 of the
  U. S  infusion should be employed at once ; and, if this should not produce re-
  laxation m half an hour, the remainder may be injected.  Fatal consequences
  have resulted from too free a use of tobacco in this way.               W

    INFUSUM TARAXACI.  U.S.  Infusion of Dandelion.
    "Take of Dandelion, bruised, two ounces; Boiling Water a pint  Macerate
  for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S.
    This has  been  substituted in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia for the decoction
  The dose is a wineglassful two or three times  a day, or  oftener.         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 intestinal
  mucous membrane.                                                Ty

   INFUSUM VALERIANA.  U.S., Lond., Dub.  Infusion  of Va-
  lerian.
   " Take of Valerian  half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint   Macerate for an
  hour m 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 covered ves-
 sel, and strains.  The Dublin College takes two drachms [Dub. weight] of va-
 lerian, and nine [fluidounces of boiling water, digests for an hour, and strains.
   The dose of this infusion is two fluidounces, repeated  three or four  times a
 day, or more frequently.                                            ^y

   INFUSUM ZINGIBERIS.   U. S.  Infusion of  Ginger.
   "Take of Ginger, bruised, half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate
 for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S.
   The dose of  this infusion is two fluidounces.                        "ty

                            IODINIUM.

                      Preparations of Iodine.

  IODINIUM PURUM. Dub.   Pure Iodine.
  " Take  of Iodine of Commerce any convenient quantity.  Introduce it into
a deep porcelain capsule of  a circular shape, and, having covered this as accu-
rately as possible with a glass matrass filled  with cold water, apply  to the
capsule a water heat for the space of twenty minutes,  and then, withdrayvino-
the heat, permit the capsule to cool.   Should the sublimate attached to the
bottom of the matrass include acicular prisms  of a white colour and pungent 
1124
Iodinium.
part ii.
odour, let it be scraped off with a glass rod, and rejected.  The matrass being
now returned to its previous position, a gentle and steady heat (that of a gas-
lamp answers well) is to be applied, so as to sublime the entire of the iodine.
Upon now lifting off the  matrass, the purified product will be found attached
to its bottom.   When separated, it should  be immediately enclosed in a bottle
furnished with an accurately ground stopper." Dub.
   The Edinburgh  College does not recognise purified iodine under a separate
name, but gives the following directions for its purification.
   " Iodine,  as  obtained  in commerce, being almost always adulterated with
variable proportions of water, and being consequently unfit for making pharma-
ceutical preparations of fixed and uniform  strength, it  must be dried by beinc
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." Ed.
   In the Dublin process for the purification of iodine, a short preliminary sub-
limation by the heat of a water-bath is ordered, in which the bottom of a glass
matrass filled with cold water is the refrigerator. The object of this is to sepa-
rate any iodide of cyanogen that may happen to be present.  This impurity is
sometimes  present  in  considerable  amount.  Klobach obtained from eighty
avoirdupois pounds of commercial iodine, twelve ounces of this iodide, which
is in  the proportion of nearly one  per cent. (Chem.  Gaz., April 15, 1850.)
If the matrass, upon  its removal, should have attached to its bottom white
acicular crystals, these will consist of the iodide in question, and must be re-
jected.  The matrass  having been replaced, heat  is again applied until the
whole of the iodine has sublimed, and attaches itself to the cool bottom of the
matrass.  The  Edinburgh process  for purifying iodine is merely intended to
separate water  by  the  drying  influence of  quicklime.  Water  has sometimes
been found to  the  extent of fifteen or twenty per cent.  Its  amount  may be
estimated by the method of M. Bolley, which consists in rubbing together, until
the smell of iodine disappears, thirty grains of iodine with about two hundred
and forty grains of mercury, in a small weighed porcelain dish, using  a small
weighed agate pestle.  When complete combination has been effected, the whole
is placed in a water-bath to dissipate the water.  The loss of yveight gives the
amount of  water in the  iodine.  (Chem. Gaz., Mar. 15, 1853, p. 118.)  The
presence of water is not otherwise injurious than as it renders all the prepara-
tions of iodine weaker than they should be.
   The U. S. and  London Pharmacopoeias give no directions for purifying
iodine; but the  iodine recognised is the pure substance, and not the commercial
iodine, unless this should happen to be pure.  For the properties and  tests of
pure iodine, see Iodinium in the first part  of this work.
   Off. Prep. Arsenici et Hydrargyri Hydriodatis Liquor;  Ferri Iodidum;
Hydrargyri  Iodidum  Viride; Potassii  Iodidi Liquor Compositus; Potassii
Iodidum; Sulphur  Iodatum;  Syrupus  Ferri Iodidi;  Tinctura  Iodinii Com-
posita; Unguentum Iodinii Compositum.                            B.

   LIQUOR  IODINII COMPOSITUS U.S.  Iodinei Liquor Com-
positus. Ed.   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 [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the Iodide and Iodine in
the Water with gentle heat and agitation." Ed.
   In these solutions iodine is dissolved in water with  the  assistance of iodide 
PART II.
Iodinium.—Linimenta.
1125
  of potassium.  Iodine dissolves sparingly in water, but freely in a solution of
  that salt.  In  using  iodide of potassium to render iodine more  soluble in
  water, the iodide is generally taken in a quantity twice the weight of the
  iodine; and  this is the proportion  adopted in the U. S. formula.   The US
  solution is a concentrated solution of iodine with iodide of potassium and is
  intended  to facilitate the administration of the combination  in drops'   The
  Edinburgh preparation is a weaker form of  concentrated solution, in which
  the iodide of  potassium is taken in a  quantity four times  the weight of the
  iodine, instead  of twice its weight, the usual proportion adopted.  On  the
  assumption that 16 Imperial fluidounces are equal to the wine pint and they
  are only 5 fluidrachms  less, it will be found, on  comparing the formulas that
  the Ed. 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 medicinal
  properties of  these compound solutions depend mainly on the free iodine con-
  tained in  them,  by which  their dose must be regulated, and  not by  the iodide
  of potassium.  According to  Mr.  Lloyd, of St. Bartholomew's  Hospital
  London, they  act differently from iodide of potassium, which, when given alone'
  does not produce the same effects.  In a case of  constitutional syphilis under his
  care, the compound solution of iodine effected  a rapid cure, after the iodide of
  potassium had been taken in large doses, for several months, without benefit
  The dose  of the U. S. solution  is six drops, containing about a quarter of a
  grain of iodine,  three times a  day, given in four tablespoonfuls of sweetened
  water, and gradually increased.  The dilution should always be large in order
  to favour  the  absorption of the medicine, and to avoid any irritation of the
  stomach.  For children the dose to begin with is two drops.   The Edinburgh
  solution may be  given in doses about three times as large.   By adequate dilu-
  tion, these solutions become virtually the same as the London Liquor Potassii
  Iodidi Compositus.                                                 t>

                            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.                  \y   '

    LINIMENTUM ARUGINIS. Lond.   Liniment  of  Verdigris.
   "Take of Verdigris [Subacetate of Copper], in powder, an ounce; Vinegar
 seven fluidounces;  Honey fourteen  ounces.   Dissolve the Verdigris  in the
 Vinegar, and strain  through linen;  then gradually add the  Honey, and boil
 down to the proper consistence." Lond.
   It sometimes happens, during the boiling of the acetic solution of the verdi-
 gris, that a red deposit rapidly forms, consisting of the red  or suboxide  of
 copper;  and that, at the end of the process, little or none of the metallic salt
 remains in  the preparation.  This  happens especially when granular  honey is
 employed.  (Harley,  Pharm. Journ.  and Trans.,  xi.  357.)   The  change  is
 owing to the decomposition of the protoxide of copper by the grape sugar of the
 honey, converting it into the suboxide.  The inference is that, in making the
 preparation, so as to fulfil the intentions of the original  prescription, fresh
 liquid honey should be employed, which contains comparatively little  glucose.
  This is an external stimulant and  escharotic, and was formerly called Mel
Mgyptiacum.   It is employed, either undiluted, or mixed with  some mild oint-
ment, to  destroy  fungous granulations, or to repress  their growth.  In  the 
1126
Linimenta.
PART II.
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 such ulcers in the  fauces, by means of a camel's hair brush.         W.

   LINIMENTUM AMMONIA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Liniment
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  one fluidounce of its  solution of ammonia, and three fluid-
ounces of olive oil.
   The U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias agree at present in the
strength of this liniment.   In the  preparation, the  ammonia reacts 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 rheumatic pains.   It is applied by rub-
bing 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.                                                          \y

   LINIMENTUM AMMONIA  COMPOSITUM. Ed.    Compound
Liniment of Ammonia.
   "Take of Stronger Aqua Ammonias (D. 0-880) [Stronger Solution of Am-
monia]  five fluidounces;  Tincture of Camphor two fluidounces;  Spirit of
Rosemary one fluidounce.   Mix them well together.  This liniment maybe
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 Ammo-
nise 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 power-
ful rubefacients, vesicatories, or escharotics, in various neuralgic, gouty, rheu-
matic, 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 yvith the liniment!  A convenient 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 inflam-
mation.   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 are mixed."  Lond.
  In  this, as- in the liniment of ammonia, a liquid soap is formed;  but the union 
PART II.
Linimenta.
1127
 between the oil and alkali is less perfect, and after a short time the soapy mat-
 ter separates from the water.  The preparation  is therefore less elegant;  and
 the end which it was 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., Lond., Ed., Dub. Lime Liniment.
    " Take of Lime-water, Flaxseed Oil, each, two fluidounces. Mix them." U.S.
    The London College directs ten fluidounces, each,  of lime-water and olive
 oil; the Dublin, two fluidounces, each, of the same ingredients; the Edinburgh,
 equal measures of lime-water and flaxseed 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 London and  Dublin
 Colleges, is often  substituted for that of  flaxseed; but possesses no other advan-
 tage than that of having a less unpleasant odour.  This is a very useful lini-
 ment in  recent burns and scalds.  It is sometimes called Carron oil, from hav-
 ing been  much employed at the Carron  iron works in Scotland.  It is recom-
 mended to be applied upon some carded cotton.                       W.

    LINIMENTUM CAMPHORA.  U.S., Lond., Ed., 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, an avoirdupois ounce of the for-
 mer and four fluidounces 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.
    Mr. Wm. B. Price, of Burlington, N. J., proposes a modification of this lini-
 ment,  founded on the solvent power of chloroform over camphor, whereby the
 preparation is made stronger with camphor, and acquires also additional ano-
 dyne influence frOm the chloroform.  The proposed liniment consists of an
 ounce and a half of camphor, two fluidrachms of chloroform, and two fluid-
 ounces of olive oil.   It is useful in rheumatic and neuralgic pains.   (N. J.
 Med. Beporter, ii. 217.)
    Off. Prep. Linimentum Hydrargyri Compositum.                  W.

    LINIMENTUM   CAMPHORA  COMPOSITUM.   Lond.,  Dub.
 Compound Camphor Liniment.
   "Take of Camphor two ounces and a half; Oil of Lavender a fluidrachm;
 Rectified Spirit seventeen fluidounces;  Stronger Solution of Ammonia three
 fluidounces.   Dissolve the Camphor and Oil in the Spirit; then add the Am-
 monia, and agitate together till they are mixed."  Lond.
   The Dublin College takes  five ounces  [avoirdupois]  of  camphor;  two
 fluidrachms of oil of lavender, a pint  and a half [Imp. meas.] of rectified
 spirit,  and half a pint [Imp.  meas.] of stronger solution of ammonia, and
 proceeds  as above.
   This preparation deserves a place rather among the spirits or tinctures than
 the liniments.   It is used as a rubefacient and at the same time anodyne embro-
 cation  in local pains,  particularly of a rheumatic character.             W.

   LINIMENTUM  CANTHARIDIS. U. S., Dub. Liniment of Span-
 ish Flies.
   "Take of Spanish  Flies, in  powder,  an ounce; Oil of Turpentine half a
pint   Digest for  three hours, in a close vessel, by means of a water-bath, and
 strain."  U. S. 
1128
Linimenta.
PART II.
   "Take of Spanish Flies, in fine powder, three ounces [avoirdupois]; Olive Oil
 twelve fluidounces.  Digest the Flies in the Oil for three hours, in a steam or
 water bath, and strain through flannel; express  the residuum and strain the oil
 thus obtained; finally mix both products." Dub.
   Oil of turpentine dissolves, especially with the aid of heat, the active principle
 of cantharides, and, when impregnated with it,  acquires in addition  to its own
 rubefacient properties those of a powerful epispastic.  The  U. S. liniment was
 introduced into notice by the late Dr. Joseph Hartshorne, of Philadelphia, who
 employed it with 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 troublesome, if  not dangerous vesication.  If too powerful'
 it may be diluted with olive or linseed  oil.   The Dublin  preparation, in which
 olive oil is the solvent,  exercises only the properties of the flies.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Cantharidis.                             "W.

   LINIMENTUM CROTONIS. Dub.  Croton Oil Liniment.
   "Take of Croton Oil one fluidounce; Oil of  Turpentine seven fluidounces.
 Mix them with agitation."  Dub.
   This is a rubefacient and pustulating preparation, operating speedily in the
 former capacity through  the  oil of turpentine,  and more slowly in the latter
 through the croton oil.   From ten to thirty minims or more may be rubbed
 upon a limited surface,  and repeated twice a day or oftener till an eruption is
 produced.                                                        W.

   LINIMENTUM HYDRARGYRI.  Lond.   Linimentum  Hydrar-
 gyri Compositum.  Dub.  Mercurial Liniment.
   "Take of Mercurial Ointment, Lard,  each, four ounces; Camphor an ounce;
 Rectified Spirit a fluidrachm; Solution of Ammonia four fluidounces.  Rub
 the Camphor first  with the  Spirit, then with the Lard  and Ointment;  lastly,
 add gradually the Solution of Ammonia, and mix the whole." Lond.
   "Take of Ointment  of Mercury  one ounce [avoirdupois];' Camphor Lini-
 ment, Solution of Ammonia, of each, one fluidounce.  Melt the Ointment
 in the Liniment, with a gentle heat, then add the Ammonia, and mix them with
 agitation." Dub.
  This is a stimulating liniment, employed for the discussion of chronic gland-
 ular enlargements,  swellings of the joints, and venereal  tumours, and to  pro-
 mote the absorption of collections of fluid.  It is said to be more apt to salivate
 than mercurial ointment. One drachm of it may be rubbed upon the affected
 part night and morning.                                           W.

   LINIMENTUM  OPII. Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   Liniment of Opium.
 Anodyne Liniment.
  "Take of Castile Soap six  ounces; Opium an ounce and a half; Camphor
 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 Lond. and Dub. Colleges mix their liniment of soap (Tinctura Saponis
 Camphorata,  U. S.) with tincture of opium; the former, six measures of the
liniment to two of  the tincture, the latter, in equal measures.
  This is commonly called anodyne liniment, and is employed as an anodyne
and gently rubefacient embrocation in sprains, bruises, and rheumatic and gouty
pains.  It differs from camphorated tincture of soap only in containing opium,
and is most conveniently prepared by extemporaneously  mixing  that tincture
with laudanum, as  directed by the London and Dublin Colleges.        W. 
PART II.
Linimenta.
1129
   LINIMENTUM SAPONIS CAMPHORATUM.  U.S.   Campho-
rated Soap Liniment.  Opodeldoc.
   " Take of Common Soap, sliced, three ounces; Camphor an ounce; Oil of
Rosemary, Oil of Origanum, each, a fluidrachm;  Alcohol a pint  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 oint-
ment."  U S.
   This preparation differs from the common soap liniment ( Tinctura Saponis
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 concretes into a soft, translucent, uniform, yellowish-white
mass.  This liniment melts with  the heat of the  body, and therefore becomes
liquid when rubbed on 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 con-
cretes." Ed.
   This may be used for keeping the skin  soft and  smooth in cold  weather.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Zinci.                                    W.
   LINIMENTUM  TEREBINTHINA.  U. S, Lond.,  Dub.   Lini-
mentum Tereeinthinatum. Ed.  Liniment of Turpentine.
   "Take of Oil of Turpentine  half a pint; Resin Cerate a pound.  Add the
Oil of Turpentine to the Cerate previously melted, and mix them." U S.
   "Take of Soft Soap two ounces;  Camphor an ounce; Oil of Turpentine six-
teen 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.
   "Take of Oil of  Turpentine five fluidounces;  Ointment of  Resin eight
ounces [avoirdupois].   Melt the Ointment, then  add the Oil of Turpentine
gradually, and stir the mixture  until a uniform liniment is obtained." Dub.
  This preparation,  made according to the U.  S. and  Dublin formulas, 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 occur-
rence 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 burn 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 in-
flammation  requiring stimulation, as in certain  conditions of erysipelas.  The
liniment of the London College is  a  stimulating mixture, applicable wherever a
powerful rubefacient  impression is desired.                             W. 
1130
Magnesia.
PART II.
                            MAGNESIA.

                     Preparations of Magnesia.

  MAGNESIA.  U.S., Lond., El, Dub.   Maynesii.
  "Take of Carbonate of Magnesia any quantity.  Put it into an earthen ves-
sel,  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 a pound.  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 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 convenient quantity.  Introduce it
into a clay crucible closed loosely by a lid, and let this be exposed to a low red
heat as long as a little of the magnesia, taken from the central part of the cruci-
ble, when cooled, and dropped into dilute sulphuric acid, continues to give rise
to effervescence.   Let the product be preserved in well-closed bottles."  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 phos-
phorescent 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, pre-
viously mixed with  water.  It is an error to suppose that a very intense heat
is requisite in the calcination.   The temperature of ignition is sufficient for the
expulsion of the water and carbonic acid,  and any increase 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 reduce its  bulk ; but the French pharmaceutical
writers direct that the vessels employed  should be sufficiently large to contain
a considerable 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 car-
bonic 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 introduction
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.
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 precipitating a
solution of sulphate of magnesia by caustic potassa;  as  the earth afforded by
this plan is comparatively dense.  It is  asserted that  the magnesia, prepared
from  the carbonate procured by precipitating  the  sulphate of magnesia with 
PART II.
Magnesia.
1131
 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 car-
 bonate 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. (See  Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 118.) By
 packing  the  carbonate closely in the crucible,  or by moistening and then com-
 pressing it strongly in a cloth, before calcination, a heavy magnesia is obtained.
 The advantages of Henry's magnesia,  independently of the convenience of its
 less bulk, are its greater softness, and more ready miscibility with water.  Pre-
 parations similar to Henry's are nmde  by T. J. Husband and by Charles  Ellis,
 of Philadelphia,  and sold under the names respectively of  Husband's and  of
 Ellis's Magnesia*

   *  The three kinds of heavy magnesia sold in our market have been examined by
 Prof. Procter, with the following results.  All  are  heavier than common magnesia,
 more readily miscible with water,  smoother upon the tongue, and of a  less quickly
 developed taste ; but they differ in these respects, Henry's standing first, Husband's
 second, and Ellis's last.  But the two latter are much more readily acted on by acids
 than Henry's, differing in this respect little from each other.  Both, moreover, though
 less readily miscible with water than  Henry's,  are longer retained in suspension, and
 Ellis's exceeds Husband's in this quality.   In reference, therefore, to mere facility of
 administration and to taste, it appears that the imported magnesia has the advantage ;
 but for forming liquid mixtures, and for rapidity of antacid action, the  American are
 preferable.  Husband's contained 7 per cent, of combined water; the two others lost
 at a red heat only seven-tenths of one per cent. (Am, Journ. of Pharm.,  xxii. 383.)
   Dr. Pereira found light magnesia, under the microscope, to  exhibit the same  forms
 observed in the light carbonate ; namely, one portion was amorphous and of a flocculent
 or granular consistence, and another was composed of fragments of prismatic crystals ;
 while the heavy magnesia was homogeneous,  exhibiting no traces of  crystals, and con-
 sisting of minute granules more or less cohering into small soft balls or masses. (Pharm.
 Journ. and Trans., viii. 235.)—Note to the  ninth edition.
   In reference to the preparation of heavy magnesia, Mr. T. H.  Barr, after trying various
 methods,  obtained the best results  either by precipitating a hot concentrated solution
 of sulphate of magnesia with a like solution of carbonate of  soda, or by decomposing
 chloride of magnesium by heat. (Am.  Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 193.)
   Mr. Thomas Weaver proposes the following ready method of preparing a heavy mag-
 nesia, which, as we have been informed, yields a good product, having not only the
 recommendation of density, but that also of smoothness, which is a no less  desirable
 quality.   " Take of sulphate of magnesia ^iv, gij;  ^carbonate  of soda ^iij.  Dissolve
 the sulphate in six ounces of water, add a few drops of nitric acid,  and boil for 15  or
 20 minutes ; then add sufficient carbonate of soda, dissolved in a little water, to pro-
 duce a slight precipitate, and continue boiling for some  time  ; filter, and  set aside  to
 cool.  Triturate the ^'carbonate of soda with about eight ounces of cold water, and
 add4t to the  cold  solution of sulphate of magnesia.  After frequent agitation, filter,
 transfer to a porcelain capsule, and boil quickly till reduced to a small bulk.  Collect
 the precipitate on a filter, wash thoroughly, and, when nearly dry, transfer to a cruci-
 ble free from iron, and calcine, bearing in mind the suggestion of  Mr.  Barr, that a
 low heat just approaching redness, and long continued, will ensure a much finer pro-
 duct than  a high heat for a  short time."  The object of the nitric acid is to peroxidize
 any iron present in the sulphate, and the subsequent addition of carbonate of  soda,
 followed by ebullition, is to precipitate the ferruginous  oxide.  Cold solutions of bi-
 carbonate of soda and sulphate of magnesia do not react on each other;  but, when the
excess of carbonic acid is  driven  off  by boiling, a precipitation  takes place of car-
bonate of magnesia, which affords a denser magnesia by calcination than  can be ob-
tained  from carbonate of  soda. (Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxviii. 214.)—Note  to the
eleventh edition. 
1132
Magnesia.
PART II.
   Properties, &c.  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, ac-
 cording to Dr. Fyfe, 5142 parts of water at 60°, and 36,000 parts of boiling
 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 magne-
 sium 12, and  one of oxygen  8 = 20.   Magnesium is a white, very brilliant
 metal, resembling silver, malleable, fusible at a  low temperature, and  con-
 vertible 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 soluble in alco-
 hol, and very deliquescent.  It is precipitated from its saline solutions  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 dissolved
 in muriatic acid.  Lime, which is a very 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 disturbs
 a neutral solution of pure magnesia in  a dilute acid; but if lime  be present,
 both produce a precipitate, the former of oxalate, the latter of carbonate of lime.
 As magnesia is completely dissolved by muriatic  acid, silica and other impuri-
 ties insoluble in that acid would be left behind.   Alumina is  indicated  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 Dis-
pensatory.)  If the  magnesia contain a soluble sulphate or carbonate, chlo-
 ride 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 used, under the name of calcined magnesia, in dyspepsia, sick headache,
 gout, and other complaints attended with sour stomach and  constipation.  It
 is  also  a favourite  remedy in  the complaints of children, in which acidity  of
 the primas vias is often a prominent symptom.   Its antacid properties render it
 useful in gravel attended with an excessive secretion of uric acid. •  Its advan-
 tages 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 that case be followed by lemonade.  It should be administered in water
 or milk, and should  be thoroughly triturated so  as to render the mixture uni-
form.   If mixed with less than 14 or 15 times its weight of yvater, 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 moist-
 ure is employed instead-of  that freshly calcined.   It has  been conjectured that
anhydrous  magnesia might prove injurious in the stomach by solidifying its
liquid contents; and the earth which has become  saturated with moisture by 
PART II.
Magnesia.
1133
exposure to a damp air is preferably recommended. (Journ. de Pharm., Se ser.
iv. 360, and v.  475.)   Freshly precipitated hydrate of magnesia will serve as
an antidote to arsenious acid, though less  efficient  than  hydrated sesquioxide
of iron.  Magnesia is used in the process for preparing veratria.
   Off. Prep. Pilulas Copaibas; Pulvis Rhei Compositus ; Trochisci Magnesias.
                                                                    W.
  LIQUOR MAGNESIA CITRATIS.  U.S.   Solution of Citrate of
Magnesia.
   " Take of Magnesia two drachms; Citric Acid seven drachms and a half;
Syrup of Citric Acid two fluidounces; Bicarbonate of Potassa, in crystals, two
scruples; Water a sufficient quantity.   Dissolve the Citric Acid in four fluid-
ounces of Water,  and, having added the  Magnesia, stir till it is dissolved.
Filter the solution into a strong glass bottle, of the capacity of twelve fluidounces,
into which  the  Syrup of Citric Acid has been previously introduced; then add
the Bicarbonate of Potassa, and sufficient Water nearly to fill the bottle, which
is to  be  tightly corked, and  secured with twine.  Lastly, shake the mixture
occasionally until the Bicarbqnate is dissolved."  U. S.
   This is a revised formula for solution of citrate of magnesia, which first ap-
peared in the second edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850.   The original
formula was soon found to have several defects.  It called for the use of car-
bonate of magnesia, which often contains gritty impurities.   Four-fifths of the
carbonate was dissolved in the citric  acid, and the solution filtered into a bottle
containing the syrup of  citric acid; and then the reserved fifth, mixed with
water, was added to the acid citrate, and the bottle tightly corked.  The addi-
tion of the reserved carbonate was intended to impregnate the preparation with
carbonic acid by its solution in the excess of citric acid.   To effect the solution
of this reserved carbonate required at least half an hour.   But the chief objec-
tion to the formula, as originally framed,  was that the citrate of magnesia,
when the solution  was kept for some days, underwent a  molecular change, re-
sulting in the formation of a white  granular precipitate, which rendered the
solution  unfit for  medical use.  This precipitate was found by Prof. Procter
to consist of one eq. of citric acid, three of magnesia, and fourteen  of water.
In the revised formula, noyv adopted, magnesia, which is generally purer than
the carbonate, is substituted for it; and the impregnation of the solution with
carbonic  acid is effected by adding, just before the closing of the bottle, a small
quantity of bicarbonate of potassa in crystals,  which dissolve immediately,
instead of consuming half an hour.   Solution of citrate of magnesia, made by
this formula, is not liable  to the objection of letting fall a granular precipitate
on keeping, and may be prepared in  a short time.   The  use of bicarbonate of
pofassa,  it  is true, introduces citrate of potassa into the preparation, but in
too small a proportion to be of any consequence.
  Properties, doc.   This officinal solution is founded on a preparation proposed
by M. Roge Delabarre, and  improved by M.  Rabourdin, of Paris.   It  is an
aqueous  solution of citrate of magnesia, containing an  excess  of citric acid,
impregnated with carbonic acid, and sweetened with syrup.  When properly
prepared, it is a clear liquid,  having an agreeable taste, like that of lemonade.
Overlooking the excess of acid which  it contains, the salt present is that tri-
basic  citrate, in which the three  eqs.  of basic water in the  crystallized acid
are replaced by three  eqs.  of magnesia.   Accordingly it  consists of one eq. of
citric  acid and three of magnesia.  In the revised formula, this  salt does not
precipitate  by keeping, as  in the superseded one, probably because the solution
contains  a greater  excess of acid.
  Dorvault makes a  solid citrate  of magnesia which is perfectly and readily
soluble, by  melting on a sand-bath 100 parts of crystallized  citric acid in its 
1134
Magnesia.—Mellita.
PART II.
water of crystallization, and thoroughly incorporating with it 2!) parts of cal-
cined magnesia.   A pasty mixture is formed, which soon hardens, and may be
pulverized for use.  Citrate of magnesia, thus prepared, is soluble in  twice its
weight of water.   When in saturated solution it soon precipitates as a nearly
insoluble hydrate; but with eight or ten  times its weight of water, it forms a
permanent  solution.   See  the report on  the solid citrate, made by E. Parrish
and A. Smith, to the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (Am. Journ. of Pharm.
April, 1852, p. 113).  See also M. E. Robiquet's paper on lemonades of citrate
of magnesia  (Journ. de Pharm., April,  1852, p. 295), and his formula for
preparing a soluble citrate of magnesia (Am.  Journ, of Pharmacu for July,
1855).  M. Simonin finds that an insoluble citrate of magnesia may be restored
to solubility in boiling water, by being thoroughly rubbed up with water so as
to form a paste.  The necessary trituration is abridged, if a little  citric acid be
added. (Ann. de  Therap.,  1857, p. 124.)  Mr. Charles Ellis, of this city, pre-
pares a  soluble citrate of magnesia with sugar, citric acid, bicarbonate of soda,
and oil of lemons, in  the form of a powder, which effervesces when mixed with
water.   For the details of  the formula, the reader is referred to his  paper in
the Am. Journ. of Pharmacy,  for July,  1854.
   Medical Properties.  This  solution is a cooling cathartic, and  operates
mildly.   It has come into  extensive use  in the United States, on account of
the facility with which it may be taken.  The dose as  a full purge is the whole
quantity directed in the formula, or twelve fluidounces; as a laxative, half that
quantity or less.                                                    B.

                             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 sto-
mach in many persons, and as its variable consistence prevents the same exact
precision 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 vinegar
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 P261
(30° B.) at  the boiling point of water.   The specific gravity is most readily
determined by means of the saccharometer.                          W.

   MEL DESPUMATUM.  U.S.   Mel Depuratum.  Dub.   Clarified
Honey.
   " Take of Honey any quantity.  Melt it by means of a water-bath, and then
remove the scum." U. S.
   The Dublin College prepares it by melting in a water-bath, and straining
while hot through flannel.
   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 skim-
med 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^on'-
dered and washed, 96 parts.  Mix them in a suitable vessel, and boil for three 
PART II.
Mellita.
J135
  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 15 minutes, strain it through flannel,  and repeat the
  straining till the liquid  passes perfectly clear.  Should it not have a due con-
  sistence, it should be concentrated sufficiently by a  quick boiling.  The car-
  bonate of lime serves to saturate  any acid in  the honey, which might  favour
  the formation of glucose, and thus increase the tendency to granulation.
    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 method  of clarifying honey  is recommended  by  Andre von
  Hirschberg.   Boil 25 lbs. of honey, to which  half  the quantity of water has
  been added, with a pulp obtained by stirring three sheets of white blotting-paper
  with water, over a slow fire, till the paper is reduced to minute  fibres   When
  the mixture cools, put it into a woollen filtering-bag, previously moistened and
  allow the honey to pass. It comes away quite clear.  The paper pulp may then
  be washed, and the dark liquid which  passes, evaporated by a water-bath to
  the proper consistence.  (See Pharm. Journ, and Trans., ix.  543.)
    Another process, recommended  by A. Hofmann, is to  dissolve 28  lbs of
  honey in twice its weight of water, heat the solution to the boiling point, and
  then add a solution of 3 drachms of gelatin in  three times its weight of water
  and afterwards an aqueous solution of one drachm of tannin, or  an  infusion of
  two drachms  of galls.   The mixture is to be well stirred, and kept hot for an
  hour.   Lastly, seven-eighths of the honey may be drawn off clear, the remain-
  der filtered through flannel, and the whole evaporated. (Ibid. xv. 121.)
    Honey clarified with carbonate  of lime  and  animal charcoal,  as  in the  first
  process described, 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 ; Confectio  Opii;  Confectio Piperis Nigri;
  Confectio Rosas;  Confectio Scammonii;  Confectio Sulphuris ; Confectio Tere-
  binthinas ; Mel Boracis; Mel Rosas; Oxymel; Oxymel Scillas; Pilulas Ferri
  Carbonatis ; Tinctura Opii Camphorata.                              \y.
    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 the thrush of infants, and aphthous ulcerations of the mouth.    W.
   MEL ROSA. U. S.,  Lond.,  Ed.   Honey of Roses.
   "Take of Red Roses, in coarse powder, two ounces; Clarified Honey twenty
fluidounces;  Boiling Water twelve fluidounces.  Macerate the Roses in eis?ht
fluidounces of boiling Water for four hours, in a glass or earthen vessel; then,
with strong pressure, remove  as much as possible of  the infusion,  and  set it
aside.   Macerate the residue in four fluidounces of the boiling Water for half
an hour, and again express.   Reserving four fluidounces of the first infusion,
mix the remainder with the infusion last obtained, add the  Honey, and by
means of a water-bath evaporate to a pint.  Lastly, add the reserved" infusion,
and strain." U.S.
  The London College macerates four ounces  of dried red roses in sixteen
fluidounces of boiling distilled water for two hours; then gently expresses
with the hand, and strains.   The residue it macerates for a little while in eight 
1136                     Mellita.—Misturae.                  part ii.

fluidounces of boiling water, and pours off the liquor.   To this it adds  the
half of the former infusion, and places the other half aside.   Lastly, it adds
the mixed liquors to five pounds of honey, and evaporates by a water-bath, so
that, upon the admixture of the liquor set  aside, the proper consistence may be
obtained.   The Edinburgh College, operating upon the same quantity of roses
and honey, infuses the petals for six hours in two pints and a half [Imperial
measure]  of boiling water, strains with expression, allows the  impurities  to
subside, decants the clear liquor, adds the  honey, and evaporates in a vapour-
bath to the consistence of syrup, removing the scum which forms.
   The  object  in reserving a portion of the first  infusion, as in the U. S. and
London processes, is to avoid the evaporation of the volatile oil in the concen-
tration of the infusion, and thus to preserve the flavour as well as the astrin-
gency  of the roses.  Honey of roses forms a pleasant addition to the gargles
employed in inflammation and ulceration of the mouth and throat.     W.

   OXYMEL. Lond., Dub.  Oxymel.
   "Take of Acetic Acid seven fluidounces; Distilled Water eight fluidounces;
Honey five pounds.   Add the Acid to the Water, and mix them with  the
Honey previously heated." Lond.
   "Take of Clarified Honey one pound [avoirdupois];  Acetic Acid of Com-
merce  (sp. gr. 1-044)  three ounces  [avoird.].   Mix the Acid with the Honey
previously heated." Dub.
   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.                                     W.
   OXYMEL SCILLA. U. S. Lond.   Oxymel of Squill.
   "Take of Vinegar of Squill two pints;  Clarified Honey a pint and a half.
Mix 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 five pounds  of honey and two pints and a half
[Imperial measure] of vinegar of  squill, evaporates  the vinegar with a slow
fire to  twelve fluidounces, and mixes it with the honey previously heated.
   This preparation has the virtues of squill, but is in no respect superior to
the  syrup.   Prepared according to the directions  of the London College, 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  generally in  those
states  of the pulmonary organs in which the bronchial tubes are loaded with a
viscid  mucus of difficult  expectoration.   The dose is from one to two flui-
drachms.'  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 prepa-
rations 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 mixture.   As a general 
PART II.
Misturae.
1137
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 has
been 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
Bubstances before the water is added.   Mixtures are generally the objects of
extemporaneous prescription; but a few have been deemed of sufficient import-
ance to merit a place in the Pharmacopoeias.  They  should be prepared only
when  wanted for use.                                              W.
   MISTURA ACACIA. Ed.   Gum  Arabic Mixture.
   "Take of Mucilage [of gum Arabic]  three fluidounces; Sweet Almonds cow
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.
   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 ALTHAA.  Ed.   Alarsh Mallow Mixture.
   "Take of Althasa-root, dried, four ounces; Raisins, freed of the seeds, two
ounces; boiling Watering pints [Imperial  measure].  Boil down to three
pints; strain through linen or calico, and when the sediment  has subsided, pour
off the clear liquor for use."  Ed.
   This should have been  placed by the Edinburgh  Pharmacopoeia among the
decoctions.  It is essentially a mucilage flavoured with raisins, and maybe used
advantageously as a drink, in all cases in which demulcents  are indicated.  W.

   MISTURA AMMONIACI.  U. S.,Lond., Dub.  Ammoniac Mixture.
   "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 prepared ammoniac, and a pint
[Imperial measure]  of water; the Dublin, two drachms [Dublin weight] of
ammoniac and eight fluidounces of water;  both proceed as  above, the Dublin
directing that the mixture should be strained through muslin.
   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.
   MISTURA  AMYGDALA. U.S., Lond., Dub.  Mistura Amyg-
dalarum.  Ed.   Almond Mixture.   Almond Emulsion.
  "Take of Sweet Almonds half an ounce;  Gum Arabic,  in powder, half a

  * The proportion of gum and water necessary to make a good emulsion with the
fixed oils varies with the oil.  Thus, while castor oil requires only  two drachms of the
gum and three drachms of water to the ounce, most other fixed oils require half their
weight of gum, and a weight of water equal to  half that of the oil and gum united.
These quantities being well rubbed together, any desirable amount of water may after
wards  be gradually added, and will readily incorporate with the other ingredients
(Overbeck, Pharm. Cent. Blatt, A. D. 1851,  p. 95.)
      72 
1138
Misturae.
part ii.
drachm; Sugar two drachms; Distilled Water eight fluidounces. Macerate the
Almonds in water, and, having removed their external coat, beat them with the
Gum Arabic and Sugar, in a marhle 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 pint
[Imperial measure].   To the Confection, while rubbing it, gradually 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 Acacias." Ed.
   "Take of Sweet Almonds five drachms  [Dub. weight]; Refined  Sugar two
drachms [Dub. weight]; Gum Arabic, in powder, one drachm [Dub. weight],
Distilled Water eight [fluidOunces.  Steep the Almonds in hot water for five
minutes, and, having removed their external coat, beat  them with the  Sugar and
Gum, in a mortar, into a coarse  powder; add the Water gradually, and tritu-
rate so as to form a uniform mixture.  Finally, strain through muslin." Dub.
   Of the above modes of preparing the almond emulsion, we prefer those in
which the mixture is made  directly from  the almonds, and not from  the con-
fection.  This quickly spoils if kept; and it would be a very unnecessary com-
plication of the process to prepare it each time that the emulsion might be want-
ed.  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 preferable,  as less likely to have un-
dergone^ change.  The preparations, however, of the different Pharmacopoeias
are essentially the same.   The gum arabic in these formulas is introduced, not
so much for its demulcent properties, as  to assist in the suspension of the inso-
luble ingredients  of the almonds.  In the Mistura Acacias, described at page
1137, 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 prop-
erly 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 albu-
men.   The preparation is closely analogous to milk in chemical relations and
appearance.   In warm weather it 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. 
PART II.
Misturae.
1139
     MISTURA ASSAFCETIDA. U. S.   Assafetida Mixture.
    • ^Tj,ke ™f Assafetlda two drachms ; Water ha If a pint.   Rub the Assafetida
  with the Water gradually added, until they are thoroughly mixed "  U. S
     This mixture from its whiteness and opacity, is frequently called  lac assa-
  fcetidse, 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 fluid-
  ounces may be given by the rectum.*                                  w

     MISTURA  CAMPHORA  CUM  MAGNESIA.  Ed.  Mixture of
  Camphor with Magnesia.

    "Take of Camphor ten grains; Carbonate of Magnesia twenty-five qrains;
  Water six fluidounces.  Triturate the Camphor and Carbonate  of Magnesia
  together, adding the Water gradually." Ed,
    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
  is formed, which, though it may sometimes be given with advantage  hardly
  deserves a place among the officinal preparations.
    Camphor, with a view to its full effects upon the system, is frequently given
  in the form of liquid mixture, being suspended in water by various intermedia
  as gum arabic, the yolk of eggs,  &c.   The  addition of resinous substances, as
  myrrh, for example, softens the camphor, and enables it to be more readily re-
  tained in suspension.   Chloroform, by its solvent power over camphor, answers
  this purpose admirably. (See Camphora, p.  171.) Before mixing camphor with
  the suspending substance, it should be powdered with the aid of a few drops of
  alcohol.  A good plan also is to rub it first with half its weight  of olive oil, then
  with sugar and gum arabic, and lastly, with water gradually added.     W.

   MISTURA  CREASOTI. Ed.  Creasote Mixture.
   "Take of Creasote and Acetic Acid [glacial acid], of each, sixteen minims;
 Compound Spirit of Juniper and  Syrup, of each, one fluidounce; Water four-
 teen fluidounces.   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.

  *  Syrup of Assafetida. Such a preparation has been proposed by Mr. Richard Peltz.
 He has found the following formula to answer the purpose best.  Take of assafetida
 3j, boiling water Oj, sugar ftij.  Rub the assafetida with a part of the water so as to
 make a uniform paste, then gradually add the remainder of the water, strain, and add
 the sugar, heating moderately till it is dissolved.  This has a less disagreeable taste
 than the mixture, and keeps much better, remaining several months without change,
 while the latter is often altered in a short time.   The dose is  the same as that of the
 mixture.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiv. 313.)— Note to the tenth edition.
  Wine of Assafetida. Mr. H. N. Rittenhouse proposes  a concentrated wine of assafe-
 tida, as affording an easy method  of preparing the mixture, which, when  called for in
 haste, cannot always be furnished in due time, from the amount of trituration required.
 He rubs half an ounce of the gum-resin with ten  fluidrachms of white wine, until
 the former is suspended.  Two ounces of the wine  are thus  obtained; and, as  each
 drachm contains fifteen grains of assafetida, it is easy to prepare the mixture of the
 officinal strength, by simply mixing  the wine in due proportion with water.  (Am.
Journ. of Pharm., xxvii. 216.)—Note  to the eleventh edition. 
1140
Misturae.
PART II.
   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 fluidounces.
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 yvater.  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
Imperial pints of water; rubs the chalk, mucilage,  and sugar together, and
then adds gradually the water and spirit of cinnamon.  The Dublin College
rubs two drachms [Dub. weight]  of prepared chalk with seven fluidounces of
cinnamon water, then  adds half a fluidounce, each, of mucilage of gum arabic
and simple syrup,  and mixes.
   This mixture is a convenient form for administering chalk, and is  much em-
ployed 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 Peruvian Bark (crown or pale), in powder, one ounce; Calumba
Root, in coarse powder, three drachms; Cloves, bruised,  two  drachms; Filings
of Iron, separated by a magnet, half an ounce.   Digest for three  days in a
covered vessel, with occasional agitation, with as much Peppermint Water as
will give twelve [fluidf\ounces of a filtered product, and then add, of Compound
Tincture of Cardamom three [fluid~\onnces; Tincture of Orange Peel three
[fluid^drachms.  This mixture should be kept in a well stopped bottle." Dub.
The weights used are the avoirdupois, with the Dublin divisions.
   This is an aromatic infusion of Peruvian bark and columbo, and has no claim
to the title given it in the Pharmacopoeia; as it contains but a minute propor-
tion of iron, insufficient for remedial effect.  In consequence of the action of
the vegetable principles upon the filings, enough of the metal  is taken up to im-
part 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.  Com-
pound Mixture of Eon.
   " Take of Myrrh a drachm; Carbonate of Potassa twenty-five grains; Sul-
phate of Iron, in powder,  a scruple; Spirit of Lavender half a fluidounce;
Sugar [refined] a drachm; Rose Water seven fluidounces and a half.  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 Sulphate
of Iron.  Pour the mixture immediately into a glass bottle, which is to be well
Btopped."  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, two scruples and a half; Spirit of Nutmeg a fluidounce; Sugar two
drachms.  Rub the Myrrh with the Spirit and Carbonate; and to these, while
rubbing, add  first the Rose Water with  the Sugar, and then the Sulphate.
Put the mixture immediately into a 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, half a drachm of pure carbonate of potassa, a fluidrachm
of essence of  nutmeg, eight fluidounces of rose  water, a drachm  of  refined 
PART II.
Misturae.
1141
 sugar, and halfa drachm of sulphate of iron, using the Dublin weights; rubs
 the myrrh, carbonate, and essence with seven fluidounces of the rose water; then
 adds the sulphate dissolved in the remaining fluidounce of rose water, and puts
 the mixture into  a bottle, to be tightly corked.
   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 prot-
 oxide of iron; yvhile 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 prot-
 oxide of iron of the carbonate into the red or sesquioxide.  It may, however,
 be kept for some time without change, if the vessel in which it is contained be
 well closed;  but the best plan is to prepare it only when  wanted for use.  The
 sugar contained in it 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 contraindi-
 cated by the existence of inflammation of the gastric mucous membrane.  The
 dose is one or two fluidounces two or three times a day.               W.

   MISTURA GENTIANA COMPOSITA.  Lond.   Compound Mix-
 ture of Gentian.
   "Take  of Compound  Infusion of Gentian twelve fluidounces; Compound
 Infusion of Senna six fluidounces;  Compound Tincture of Cardamom two
 fluidounces.  Mix them." Lond.
   A tonic and cathartic preparation  adapted to, dyspepsia and constipation.
 The dose is one or two fluidounces.                                  W.

   MISTURA GLYCYRRHIZA COMPOSITA.  U.S.   Compound
 Mixture  of Liquorice.   Brown Mixture.
   "Take of  Liquorice [extract], in powder,  Gum  Arabic, in powder,  Sugar,
 each, half an ounce; Camphorated Tincture of Opium two fluidounces; Anti-
 monial Wine a fluidounce; Spirit of Nitric Ether half a fluidounce;  Water
 twelve fluidounces.   Rub the Liquorice, Gum Arabic, and Sugar with the
 Water gradually poured upon them; then add the other ingredients, and mix."
 U.S.
   This is  an exceedingly popular cough mixture, which was made officinal  in
 the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850. The spirit of nitric ether is probably useful
 by somewhat retarding decomposition.  The  preparation is applicable to the
 advanced stages of catarrhal  affections, after expectoration has become estab-
 lished.   The  dose is  a tablespoonful  for an adult; a teaspoonful for a child two
 years old.  It should be well  ghaken when administered.               W.
   MISTURA GUAIACI. Lond., Ed.   Guaiac Mixture.
  "Take of  Guaiac, in powder, three drachms;  Sugar half an ounce; Gum
Arabic, in  powder, two drachms; Cinnamon Water a pint [Imperial measure].
Rub the Sugar with  the Guaiac and Gum Arabic, and to these, while rubbing,
add gradually the  Cinnamon Water."  Lond.
  The Edinburgh process differs only in using half a fluidounce  of mucilage,
instead of  the powdered gum, and half a fluidounce less of cinnamon water. 
 1142                     Misturae.—Morphia.                 part ii.

   For the changes of colour which the guaiac in this mixture undergoes, and
 produces in other  substances, see Guaiaci Besina, p.  393.  From one to three
 tablespoonfuls may be given for a dose, and repeated two or three time a day,
 or more frequently.                                                ^y

   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., Dub.   Morphia.
   "Take of Opium, sliced, a pound;  Solution of Ammonia six fluidounces;
 Distilled Water, Alcohol, Animal Charcoal,  each, a sufficient quantity. Mace-
 rate the Opium with four pints  of  Distilled Water for twenty-four hours, and
 having  worked it with the hand, digest for twenty-four hours, and strain.   In
 like manner, macerate the residue twice successively with the same quantity of
 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 Turkey Opium, cut into thin slices, one pound [avoirdupois]; Dis-
 tilled Water six pints [Imperial measure]; Chloride of Calcium six drachms
 [Dub. weight]; Prepared Animal Charcoal as  much as is sufficient  Macerate
 the Opium for twenty-four hours with a quart [two pints, Imp. meas.] of the
 Water, and decant. Macerate the residuum for twelve hours with a second quart
 of the Water, decant, and repeat this process with the rest of the Water,  sub-
jecting the insoluble residuum to strong expression.  Let the decanted solutions
 and expressed liquor be evaporated  by a steam or water heat to the bulk of one
 pint, and  then passed through  a  calico filter.  Pour in  now the chloride of
calcium, first dissolved in four [fluid]ounces of distilled water, and then proceed
 with the evaporation until the solution is so far concentrated, that upon cool-
ing nearly the whole of it becomes  solid.   Let this solid matter be enveloped
in a couple of folds of strong calico, and subjected to powerful pressure, the
dark liquid which exudes being reserved for subsequent use.   The squeezed cake
is now to  be acted  on with  about half a pint  of boiling water, and the whole 
 PART ii.                        Morphia.                           1143

 being thrown upon a paper filter, the  precipitate  must be well washed.  The
 filtered solution having been evaporated as before, cooled and solidified, the re-
 sidue is to be again subjected to expression.   If the product be not quite white,
 this process should be repeated a third time, the liquid  forced  out during ex-
 pression being always preserved.  Let the squeezed cake be dissolved in six
 [fluid]ounces  of boiling water,  and, if  necessary, cleared by filtration through
 Prepared Animal  Charcoal, the portion of it soaked by the filter being carefully
 washed out of it;  and to the solution thus obtained let Water of Ammonia be
 added, in slight excess, and let the  crystalline precipitate which forms when
 the liquor has cooled be collected on a paper filter, and washed with cold distilled
 water until the washing ceases to give  a precipitate  upon being dropped into
 an acid solution of nitrate of silver.   Lastly, let the filter be transferred to a
 porous brick,  in order that the  Morphia it contains may become dry.
   " The liquids separated  by expression from the Muriate of Morphia, in the
 preceding process, having been diluted  with water, so as  to occupy the bulk of
 four [fluid]ounces, and then supersaturated slightly with  ammonia, let the pre-
 cipitate which forms be  collected, after the lapse of  six hours, on a filter, and
 washed with a little cold water.  This, if redissolved in dilute  muriatic acid,
 boiled with a  little animal  charcoal,  and filtered, will, upon cooling, afford a
 crystalline deposit, from  which, when pressed, dissolved in water, and supersatu-
 rated with ammonia, an additional quantity of morphia will be procured." Dub.
   These processes will be better understood  by a previous  acquaintance with
 the properties and chemical relations of the substance 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.   In the
 products resulting from  the combustion  of opium or morphia, this  alkaloid
 may  be  detected, proving  that it is partly volatilized, when burned.  (Des-
 charmes, Arch. Gen., Fev.  1855, p. 240.)  It is insoluble or nearly so in cold
 water, soluble in rather less  than 100 parts of water at 212°, slightly solu-
 ble 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.  Both morphia and its salts are insoluble in chloroform. (Le-
 page, Journ.  de Pharm. et de Chim., xxv. 258.)  Its solution restores the blue
 colour of litmus paper reddened 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 also  dis-
 solve morphia, which  is precipitated slowly from them on exposure  to the
 air, in consequence of the absorption 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.  Solu-
 tion of iodine with iodide of potassium precipitates  the salts  of morphia in
 aqueous solution.  With chlorine water morphia and its salts assume an orange
 colour, and the same  effect is produced  on  them by solution  of chlorinated
 soda.  (Fairthorne, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 9.)   By the contact of nitric
 acid,  they assume  a blood-red  colour,  yvhich ultimately changes to  yellow.
 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

  * When a mixture of a  little morphia and iodic  acid with a few drops of water is
gently heated in a capsule, a series of explosions is produced, with the evolution of
gas.   The same thing happens with other vegetable alkaloids treated in the same
manner; and Dr. Brett proposes this reaction of iodic acid, which takes place with no 
1144
Morphia.
part n.
 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 alka-
 lies, added in large quantity to the blue compound formed, destroy its colour.
 According to Pelletier, however, there occasionally exists in opium a principle
 called by him 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 phenomena, in any medico-
 legal case, cannot be considered as certain evidence of the presence of morphia.
 (See  Am. Journ. of Pharm.,  viii. 77.)   The terchloride of gold precipitates
 morphia first yellow, then bluish, and lastly violet. (Larocque and Thibierge.)
 Morphia is precipitated from  its solutions by 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 Dublanc,  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 proportion of the constituents of morphia
 is somewhat differently given by different writers.  According to the most re-
 cent authorities, anhydrous morphia consists of one eq. of nitrogen  14, thirty-
 four of  carbon 204, nineteen  of hydrogen 19, and six  of oxygen 48=285, to
 which in the crystals are added two eqs. of water 18, or about 5-8 per cent.
  Yarious 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 precipitation.
  Sertiirner,  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 solution
 in boiling alcohol, and crystallization.
  The process of the French Codex is a modification  of that of Sertiirner.  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 that menstruum.  For that 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 alkaline.   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 coloured 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 colourless 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 surmounted by  a refrigerator."
  The process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is an improvement upon the above,
 and is essentially  the same as that of Dr. Edward  Staples, published  in the
 Journal of the Philadelphia  College of Pharmacy (i.  15).   Without repeat-
ing a description  of  the process, we shall make such remarks upon its several

other organic substance that he has tried, as a test of the presence of these alkaloids.
 (Pharm.  Juurn. and Trans., xiv.  211.) 
PART II.
Morphia.
1145
steps, as appear to us likely to be of practical advantage.   The employment of
water as the solvent is justified by the almost universal  practice.   It is true
that dilute acetic acid has sometimes been employed, and Yogel 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 maceration 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 the ultimate  product more im-
pure; 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 procur-
ing 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 Gui-
bourt.   According to these latter chemists,  no  alcohol is produced  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 sol-
vent 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 por-
tion 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 ammonia  is added, which seizes the acid,
and precipitates the organic 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  addition of the ammonia, and by employing the
solution  of ammonia itself in connexion with alcohol, as directed in the Phar-
macopoeia.  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 separated  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 circum-

  * By a modification of the process of Guillermond, MM. Desmedt have succeeded in
extracting all the morphia from opium, perfectly free from narcotina.  Of  crude opium
60 parts were treated with 240 of alcohol at 71° centigrade (160° F.), and expressed when
cold ; the residue was then treated in the same manner with 160 parts of  alcohol; the
liquor was introduced into a bottle well stopped ; next day a copious crystallization of
narcotina appeared, without the least morphia ;  the  liquid was decanted, and, on the
addition of 4 parts of ammonia, furnished a considerable quantity of morphia, free from
narcotina. To the mother liquor a little distilled water was added, and the mixture was
kept at the temperature of 24° C.  In two days an additional quantity of the crystals of
morphia was obtained equally free from narcotina. The opium was completely ex-
hausted, and the  60 parts employed furnished 5 parts of morphia. (Annuaire de The"rap.t
1852, p. 31.)—Note to the tenth edition. 
1146
Morphia.
PART II.
stances, of dissolving the morphia in some degree, and will therefore lessen the
product, while waste is incurred  by its own  unnecessary consumption.  Arery
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, aud 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 bv
ammonia.   According to Dr. Staples, opium yields from 10 to 12|-per cent, of
the crystals.  Their purification by solution in boiling alcohol is the concluding
step of the operation.  The liquid,  on cooling, deposits the morphia crystal-
lized, and nearly free from colour.  As cold alcohol retains a portion of morphia,
it should not  be employed too largely.  Alcohol somewhat reduced by water
is preferable to highly rectified spirit; as it is less capable of holding the mor-
phia in  solution when  cold.  It  is  sufficiently strong 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 purified animal charcoal, 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 colouring 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.   But his process
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.  For an account of it the reader is referred to for-
mer editions of  this work.
   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 solution 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 re-
peated solution and crystallization, and finally decomposed by ammonia. (Journ.
de Chim. Med., Mars, 1828.)
   Somewhat similar to this is the process of Gregory, of Edinburgh, by which
muriate of morphia is obtained by  double  decomposition between chloride of
calcium and the meconate of morphia of the opium, and the muriate thus ob-
tained is decomposed by ammonia.  This process was adopted  by the Edinburgh
College for the preparation of muriate of morphia; and is imitated by the Dublin
College in the elaborate process above given.   It will be sufficiently explained
under Muriate of Morphia.
  Mohr has proposed a process founded on the solubility  of morphia in water
mixed with  lime, yvhich he recommends as the  shortest 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 
 ?ART ii.                        Morphia.                           1147

 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 filtered liquor.   The liquor
 thus obtained is evaporated till reduced to double the weight of the' opium
 then  quickly filtered through paper, and heated to ebullition.  Muriate of am-
 monia is now added to it in the proportion of 1 part to 16 of the opium used-
 and the morphia is abundantly precipitated.  The use of animal charcoal is un-
 necessary 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 pure by solution  iu dilute muriatic acid, boiling with milk of dime,
 filtration, and precipitation  by muriate  of ammonia.  (Annal. der Pharm '
 xxxv. 119, and Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xiii. 60.)
   Yarious other processes, or modifications of those above  described, have been
 proposed; but, for the preparation of small quantities of morphia by the apo-
 thecary, none are probably better  adapted than that of the U. S. Pharmaco-
 poeia, unless, indeed, the plan of Mohr should be found to equal the represen-
 tations 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 ether, which dissolves  the  narcotina 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 maybe recovered from the acetic solution by sa-
 turating 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.
 (Journ, de Pharm., xvii. 640.)  Wittstock advises one of the following modes.
 Dissolve the impure morphia in dilute muriatic acid, evaporate to the point  of
 crystallization, and strongly express the  crystals, yvhich consist solely of the
 muriate of morphia, the narcotina 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 theliquor,  and separate the morphia  by neutralizing  the alkali.  If the
 potassa is in great excess,  a little  of the narcotina is redissolved.  (Berzelius
 Traite de Chim.) Mohr recommends to dissolve the morphia in dilute muriatic
 acid, and to boil the  solution with  lime, which throws down the narcotina and
 holds  the morphia dissolved.  The liquid being filtered  yields the morphia
 upon the addition of muriate of ammonia.  (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, the loss in the  pro-
cess for preparing it, or inferiority in the quality of the drug.
  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 some-
what in its mode of  action.   Whether the difference arises from  the peculiar 
1148                            Morphia.                       part il

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 discpvery of this alkali, preparations of opium yvere 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 insolu-
bility 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 stomach, and perhaps
on the peculiar character of the acid.  Its salts are therefore always preferred
The acetate,  sulphate, and muriate have been employed.  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 di*
posed to constipate the bowels, and less apt  to leave behind them headache,
nausea, or other unpleasant effect.   The*y are usually also more acceptable to
an irritated stomach, and may be retained, 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 aa
stimulants in low forms  of disease.   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 mor-
phia, 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 con-
trolling obstinate  sickness of the stomach.  When intended to act on the sys-
tem 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.  An embrocation for external use may be  made by
dissolving muriate or acetate of morphia in glycerin, which takes up about 5
per cent, of these salts at common temperatures, and more with the aid of heat.
(Journ.  de Pharm. et de Chim., xxvi. 90.)   Oleic acid has also been proposed
as a vehicle for morphia externally  used, as it dissolves  both the alkaloid and
its salts  perfectly in considerable proportion.   A liniment has been proposed,
consisting of 300 parts of oleic acid and 1 of morphia, scented with a little oil
of bergamot. (Ibid., xxvi. 302.)
  In over-doses, morphia and its salts produce the effects of narcotic poisons,
though not perhaps equally with a  quantity of opium,  equivalent in anodyne
effect.  The toxicological treatment is precisely the same as in the case of lauda-
num. (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 maybe
considered  about equivalent to a grain of opium of the medium strength.
  Off. Prep.  Morphias Acetas; Morphias Murias ; Morphise Sulphas.  W.

  MORPHIiE ACETAS.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Acetate  of Mor-
phia.
  "Take of  Morphia, in powder, freed from narcotina by boiling with Ether, 
PART II.
Morphia.
1149
 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.  Evaporate 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 powrder." U. S.                   •
   The London  College places this  salt in the catalogue of Materia Medica.
   " Take of Muriate of Morphia any convenient quantity. Dissolve it in four-
 teen times its weight of warm Water, and, when the solution is cool, add Aqua
 Ammonias gradually and with constant agitation, until there is a permanent
 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 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.   Concen-
 trate the solution over the vapour-bath  and set it aside to crystallize.   Drain
 and squeeze the  crystals, and dry them with a gentle heat.  Alore Acetate of
 Morphia may be obtained on  concentrating the mother liquor."  Ed.
   "Take of Morphia, in fine powder, one ounce [avoirdupois]; Rectified Spirit
 eight fluidounces; Acetic Acid of Commerce (sp. gr. 1-044) four fluidrachms
 and a half, or as much as is sufficient.  Pour the Spirit on the Morphia, and,
 applying heat, gradually add  the Acetic Acid until a neutral or slightly acid
 Bolution is obtained.   Let this be evaporated to the consistence  of syrup by a
 steam or water heat, and then set by for a few days, until it solidifies." Dub.
   In all these processes, morphia  is saturated with acetic acid  ; in  the U. S.
 and Dublin it is taken  already prepared;  in the Edinburgh, it  is procured by
 the decomposition of the muriate by means of ammonia.  Acetic  acid is  em-
 ployed in preference  to vinegar for saturating the morphia; because it  can
 leave no impurity in the resulting salt.  In the U. S. process, the solution of
 the morphia in the water is an indication that it is saturated.  A small excess
 of acid is attended with no  inconvenience, as it  is subsequently driven  off by
 the heat.   Care is required not to  employ too much heat in the evaporation ;
 as the acetate is easily decomposed, a portion of the acetic acid escaping, and
 leaving an equivalent portion  of uncombined morphia.  WTith attention  to
 arrest  the evaporation at a certain point,  the acetate may be obtained in  the
 Btate of crystals ;  but  the crystallization 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, pre-
 viously 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 mor-
 phia is saturated, it is necessary to employ litmus paper, the blue colour of
 which  should not be restored, if previously reddened by an acid.   Alcohol is
 employed as the solvent in the Dublin process.   If the morphia used in pre-
 paring 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 heat.   Under  these circumstances it dissolves only the mor-
 phia, 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 fas-
 ciculi.   It is readily dissolved by water, and less easily by alcohol.   As ordi-
 narily  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 U. S. Pharmacopoeia
 gives the following tests of its character.   " From its solution potassa throws
down a precipitate which is dissolved by an excess of the alkali.   It is affected
by heat, nitric  acid, and sesquichloride of iron, in the same manner as morphia. 
1150
Morphia.
PART II.
 When sulphuric acid is added to the  salt,'acetous vapours are  evolved "  In
 addition to these tests, the London College refers to the property posseted
 by this and other salts of morphia, when treated first with chlorine and then
 with ammonia, of presenting a brown colour, which disappears on the further
 addition of chlorine.  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 21^° 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 effects 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.
   Off.  Prep.  Liquor Morphias Acetatis.                             yy

   LIQUOR MORPHINE ACETATIS. Lond., Dub. Solution of Ace-
 tate of Morphia.
   "Take of Acetate of Morphia four drachms; Acetic Acid fifteen minims;
 Distilled Water  a pint [Imperial measure];  Proof Spirit half a pint\lmv>
 meas.].   Mix and dissolve." Lond.
   " Take of Acetate of Morphia eighty-two grains;  Rectified  Spirit five fluid-
 ounces; Distilled Water fifteen [fluid]ounces.  Having added the Spirit to
 the Water, dissolve the Acetate of Morphia in  the mixture, and, if the solution
 is not quite clear, pass it through a paper filter." Dub.
   The object of the spirit in these solutions  is to aid in their preservation;
jbut, notwithstanding this  addition, they become brownish by time; and it is
 best that they should be  prepared in small quantities at a time.   As the ace-
 tate often contains some uncombined morphia, in consequence of the partial
 escape of acetic acid during the evaporation in preparing it, the  London Col-
 lege very properly directs a little acetic acid for its solution.   The Dublin Col-
 lege less wisely wastes it by filtration.   Unfortunately the solutions of the two
 Colleges are of unequal strength, the  London  being about twice as  strong  as
 the Dublin.   Solution of acetate of morphia is liable to become yellow, and to
 suffer decomposition, when mixed with sweet spirit  of nitre; owing, as is sup-
 posed, to  the frequent presence of  nitric acid  in that preparation as found in
 the shops.  (E. Wood, Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xvi.  531.)  The dose of the
 London solution  is from 7*5 to 15 minims, equivalent to from one-eighth to
 one-quarter of a grain of the salt; that of the Dublin solution is from 15 to
 30 minims.   The latter was intended to have the same  strength as laudanum.
 The physician who prescribes  solution of acetate  of morphia should  either
order the precise strength, or designate, by the proper abbreviation, the College
whose preparation he prefers.
   Off. Prep. Syrupus Morphias Acetatis.                             W.

   MORPHINE  MURIAS.  U.S.,  Ed., Dub.   Morphia Hydrochlo-
ras.  Lond.   Muriate of Morphia.   Hydrochlorate of Morphia.
   "Take of Morphia, in powder, an ounce; Distilled Water half a pint; Mu-
riatic 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.
  The London College has transferred muriate of morphia to the Materia
Medica  list.
  "Take of Opium twenty ounces; Water eight pints  [Imperial measure]; 
PART II.
Morphia.
1151
  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.  Con-
  centrate 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 distilled 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 impure 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.                                                            l
   "The opium which yields the largest quantity of precipitate by carbonate of
  soda, according to the  formula [given in page 564], yields muriate of morphia
  not only in greatest proportion, but likewise with the fewest crystallizations "
  Ed.
   "Take of Morphia, in fine powder, one ounce [avoirdupois]; Pure Muriatic
  Acid four fluidrachms and a half, or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water
  two [fluid]ounces  and a half  Mix the Acid with the Water, heat to about
  200°, and add the morphia, constantly stirring, so  that a solution may be
  formed, having a slightly acid reaction.  Set this to cool for twelve hours, and
  let the crystals which separate be drained of the liquor which surrounds thein
 and dried on blotting paper.  The decanted liquor will, by further concentra-
 tion and cooling, give additional crystals."  Dub.
   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.
 (See Morphias  Sulphas.)  The  Dublin process differs from  that of the U. s!
 Pharmacopoeia only in employing heat in  effecting the solution of the morphia
 in the diluted acid,  so as to lessen the amount  of subsequent evaporation, and
 in directing  a slight excess of acid.   The Edinburgh process  is based upon the
 plan, originally suggested by Wittstock,  of  obtaining muriate of morphia im-
 mediately from opium  without  the use of  alcohol.   It is that of  Dr.  Wm.
 Gregory, which is an improvementeon Wittstock's.  The meconate and a little
 sulphate  of morphia extracted by water from opium are decomposed by chloride
 of calcium, yielding muriate of morphia in solution, and meconate and sulphate
 of lime as precipitates.    The remaining steps 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 College directs re-
 peated solution, clarification by marble and  muriatic acid, concentration, and
crystallization ; advising, when  the process is conducted  upon a small scale,
the use of anirnal charcoal  after two  crystallizations.   It prevents waste by
operating upon all the liquids expressed from the impure muriate of morphia, 
1152
Morphia.
PART II.
 except that separated by the first expression, in the same manner as upon the
 original solution.   Points deserving of particular notice in the process are, to
 obtain the  infusion of opium  as  concentrated  as possible  without  leaving
 morphia behind, so as to shorten the period of  evaporation; and to  add the
 chloride of  calcium 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 manufacturers, 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.
    Muriate of morphia procured by the process of the Edinburgh College 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  pre-
 pared 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.
    The late Dr. A. T. Thomson published a process for procuring muriate of mor-
 phia, which he found considerably more  productive than that of the Edinburgh
 College.   After macerating the opium in water, as directed by the College,
 for thirty hours, and expressing, he rubbed it in a  mortar with an equal weight
 of pure white sand, and enough  water to form the mixture  into a paste, which
 he placed in a percolator, and  subjected  to the action of distilled water till the
 fluid passed without colour and taste.  He then concentrated the liquor to the
 consistence of  a thin syrup, added diacetate of lead, diluted the solution with
 twice its bulk of distilled water, allowed it to stand for twenty-four hours, de-
 canted the supernatant liquid,  washed the precipitate with  warm water, added
 the washings to the decanted solution, and concentrated to one-half.   To free
 the liquid from any remaining acetate of lead, he added diluted sulphuric acid
 in  slight excess, decanted the  liquid from the precipitate,  washed the latter,
 added the washings to the solution, and boiled for  some minutes to drive off
 acetic acid.  To convert the sulphate of morphia now contained in the solution
 into muriate, he added a saturated solution of chloride of barium,  washed  the
 precipitate, evaporated the  conjoined washings and solution  to the point of
 crystallization, pressed the crystals, diluted and again evaporated the  mother
 liquor so long as it afforded crystals,  which were 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 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 consist of
 one equivalent of morphia  285,  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 percent, 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 yielding, in solution with nitrate  of silver, a precipi-
 tate insoluble in nitric or muriatic acid, but dissolved by an excess of ammonia,
 Potassa throws down from its solution a precipitate which is redissolved by an
 excess of the alkali.   The salt  is affected by heat, nitric acid, sesquichloride of
 iron, and chlorine followed  by ammonia, in  the  same manner as morphia.
Sugar  is said to have been used largely in the adulteration of this salt.   It may
be detected by the test of fermentation. 
PART II.
Morphia.
1153
    This preparation of morphia is  much  used in Great  Britain, but, in this
  country, less than either the  sulphate or acetate.   The dose, equivalent to a
  grain of opium, is about one-sixth of a grain.
    Off. Prep. Liquor Morphias Muriatis; Morphias Acetas;  Trochisci Mor-
  phias ; Trochisci Morphias et  Ipecacuanhas.                          t^t

    LIQUOR MORPHINE  MURIATIS.  Dub.   Morphlh Muriatis
  Solutio.  Ed.  Liquor Morphia Hydrociiloratis. Lond.   Solution
  of Muriate of Morphia.  Solution of Hydrochlorate of Morphia
    "Take of Hydrochlorate of Morphia four drachms; Distilled Water a pint
  [Imperial measure]; Proof Spirit half a pint [Imperial measure].  Mix and
  dissolve." Lond.
   ■ "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 °-entle
  heat." Ed.                                                        °
    "Take of Muriate of  Morphia ninety grains;  Rectified Spirit five fluid-
  ounces; Distilled Water fifteen [fluid]ounces.   Mix the Spirit and Water
  dissolve the  Muriate of Morphia in  the  mixture, and, unless the solution be
  quite clear, pass it through a paper filter." Dub.
    The use of the alcohol is to prevent spontaneous decomposition   It is ex-
  tremely unfortunate  that, in the solutions of the salts  of morphia  the same de-
  gree of strength should not have been directed by the different Pharmacopoeias.
  As they now are, the medical practitioner  and apothecary must be constantly on
  their guard to avoid the most serious results.  One  grain of  the muriate of
  morphia is  contained in  60 minims  of the London  solution, and in  106"66
  minims of the Edinburgh and Dublin solutions, which are identical.  The dose
  therefore, is from 7*5 to 15 minims of the London, and from  13 to 26 minims
  of the Edinburgh and Dublin solution, equivalent  to form one-eighth to one-
  quarter of a grain of the dry  salt.   The Edinburgh  and Dublin  preparation
  was intended to  have the medium strength of laudanum.
    Off. Prep.  Syrupus Morphias Muriatis.                           yy_

    MORPHUE  SULPHAS. U. S.  Sulphate of Morphia.
   "Take of Morphia, in powder, an  ounce; Distilled Water half a pint; Di-
 luted Sulphuric Acid a sufficient quantity.  Mix the Morphia yvith the Water,
 then carefully drop in the Acid, constantly stirring till the Morphia is saturat-
 ed 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 dis-
 solved 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, maybe 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 further preparation.   When impure morphia is em-
 ployed, the mother liquor should be mixed with alcohol, or boiled with puri-
 fied animal charcoal and  filtered, and then decomposed by ammonia,  which
 will precipitate the morphia.  This may 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 sul-
phuric acid, add purified animal charcoal, boil for a few minutes, and filter the
      73 
1154                   Morphia.—Mucilagines.               PART II.

solution at the boiling temperature.  Upon cooling, it deposits most of the sul-
phate; 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 wTater.   By exposure to a heat of 248°  F. they lose
9-66 parts of  the water, but cannot be deprived  of the remainder without de-
composition.   They  are said to consist of one equivalent of morphia 285, one
of sulphuric acid 40, and six of water 54, of which five are water of  crystal-
lization, and may be  expelled by heat.  The tests for it are those for sulphuric
acid and for morphia.   The dose is from an eighth to a quarter of a grain,
which may be given  in pill or solution.
  Off. Prep.  Liquor Morphias Sulphatis.                            W.

  LIQUOR  MORPHINE SULPHATIS. U.S.   Solution of Sulphate
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 frequently,
in all probability, from the mode  of preparing the sulphate.  As this salt was
formerly prepared, the quantity of water employed for the suspension of the
morphia was sometimes insufficient to hold the resulting sulphate  in solution;
and the consequence  was that, upon the addition of sulphuric acid, the  crystal-
lization of the sulphate took place before the whole of the morphia was satu-
rated by the acid.   A portion of uncombined morphia was therefore necessarily
mixed with the salt.   Under such circumstances, the addition of a little sul-
phuric acid usually remedied the defect, and rendered 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.
  Unfortunately, in  some parts of the Union, the formula of Magendie for this
solution, containing  16  grains in a fluidounce, is habitually employed under the
name of solution of sulphate of morphia.  This is the proper name of  the offi-
cinal solution, which  is much weaker; and the most dangerous results  may en-
sue from the  confusion.  Magendie's solution should never be prescribed or
sold unless under some  special designation.                           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 to
signify any bland, viscid, aqueous, vegetable solution, resembling that  of gum
in sensible properties.                                               W 
PART II.
Mucilagines.
1155
    MUCILAGO  ACACLE. U.S., Dub.   Mucilago. Ed.   Mistura
  Acacia. Lond.  Mucilage of  Gum Arabic.
    "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.                                                     8
    The London College takes ten ounces of powdered gum  arabic, and a pint
  [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water, and proceeds as above  The Edin-
  burgh 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 ounces (avoir-
  dupois) of the gum, and six [fluid]ounces of water,  dissolves the pm with
  occasional stirring, and strains through  flannel.
  >  The gum used for this purpose should be in the state of a coarse powder as
  it is more readily dissolved in this state than when finely pulverized  Straining
  is necessary to separate  the foreign substances which are often mixed with ram
  arabic.   This mucilage  is semitransparent, almost colourless if prepared from
  good  gum, viscid tenacious, of a feeble peculiar odour, and  nearly tasteless.
  I th° s.°!utl0n of Sum  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 ren-
  dered 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 solu-
  tion 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 or Dublin
  formula is preferable.  Mucilage is employed chiefly in the formation of pills
  and for suspending  or diffusing insoluble substances in water.   Physicians  in
  prescribing mucilage in  mixtures, should always recollect that it is a solution
  of definite strength, containing half an ounce of  the gum in each fluidounce
  Half a fluidounce is usually sufficient for a six or eight ounce mixture
   Off Prep.  Mistura Acacias; Mistura Amygdalarum; Mistura Cretas; Mis-
  tura Guaiaci.                                                     \xr   '
   MUCILAGO AMYLI. Ed., Dub.   Decoctum Amyli. Lond.  Mu-
 cilage of Starch.
   "Take  of Starch four drachms; Water a pint [Imp. meas.].  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, half an ounce [avoirdupois] of the former, and
 half a pint [Imp. meas.] of the latter;  both proceed  according to  the direc-
 tions 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 medicines given in the
 form of enema.  In consequence of its demulcent  properties,  it may be usefully
 employed 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.                                         ^

   MUCILAGO HORDEI.  Dub.  Mucilage of  Barley.
  "Take of ground  Pearl Barley half an ounce [avoirdupois] ; Water sixteen
[fluidOunces.   Triturate the Barley with the Water gradually added ;  then
boil for a few minutes."  Dub.
  This is intended simply as an emollient enema, or as a vehicle of other sub-
stances given in that form.
  Off. Prep. Enema Catharticum;  Enema Terebinthinas.              W. 
1156               Mucilagines.—Olea Destillata.            part ii.

   MUCILAGO  TRAGACANTHAS.  U.S., Ed.  Mucilage of Traga-
canth.
   "Take  of  Tragacanth an ounce; Boiling Water a pint.   Macerate  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.
   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.
   A part  only  of tragacanth is soluble in  water.  The remainder swells up
and forms a soft tenacious mass, which may be mechanically mixed yvith water,
but does not form a proper solution.   Hence trituration is  necessary to com-
plete 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.
From its great tenacity, it may be advantageously employed for the suspension
of heavy insoluble  substances, such as the metallic oxides, in water.
   Off. Prep.  Trochisci Ipecacuanhas; Trochisci Magnesias; Trochisci Mentha
Piperitas;  Trochisci Sodas Bicarbonatis.                            W.


                     OLEA DESTILLATA.

                            Distilled Oils.

   For an  account of the general properties of the volatile, or distilled oils, the
reader is referred to the head of Olea Volatilia 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 op Anise, from Anise; Oil of Caraway, from
Caraway;  Oil of Cloves, from Cloves; Oil of Wormseed, from Wormseed;
Oil of  Cubebs, from Cubebs;  Oil  of Fennel, from Fennel-seed; Oil or
Partridge-berry, from Partridge-berry [leaves];  Oil of Pennyroyal [Oleum
Hedeomas], from Pennyroyal;  Oil of Juniper, from Juniper [berries];  On
of Lavender, from Lavender [flowers]; Oil  of Peppermint, from Pepper-
mint; Oil of Spearmint, from Spearmint; Oil of Horsemint, from  Horse-
mint ; Oil of Origanum, from  Origanum [Marjoram]; Oil  of Pimento,
from Pimento;  Oil of Rosemary, from Rosemary [tops]; Oil of Savine,
from Savine ; Oil of Sassafras, from Bark of Sassafras Root; and Oil of
Valerian, from Yalerian."  U. S.
   The London  College gives no directions  for the preparation of  the volatile
oils, but places such as it recognises in the  Materia Medica catalogue.

                        YOLATILE  OILS.  Ed.
   "Volatile oils are obtained chiefly from the flowers, leaves, fruit, barks, and
roots of plants, by distilling them with water, in which they have been 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, an-
wer equally well if they have been preserved by beating them into a pulp with 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1157
 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 sta-
 tionary temperature with the aid of a thermometer.  On  the large  scale, heat
 is often applied by means of steam under regulated pressure.  In other opera-
 tions 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.
   "Thebest mode  of collecting the oil  is by means of  the refrigeratory de-
 scribed in the preface [seepage 833], 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 maybe
 readily obtained of excellent quality from the flowers of  Anthemis nobilis,
 Lavandula vera, and Ruta graveolens ; from the fruit of Anethum gra-
 veolens bruised,  Carum Carui bruised, Eugenia Pimenta  bruised, Fcenicu-
 lum officinale bruised, Juniperus communis bruised, Piper Cubeba ground,
 and Pimpinella Anisum ground; from the undeveloped dried flowers of Cary-
 ophyllus aromaticus ; from the tops  of Juniperus Sabina  and Rosmarinus
 officinalis; from the entire herb of Mentha piperita, Mentha Pulegium,
 Mentha viridis, and Origanum Majorana [vulgare ?]  ; and also from the
 bruised root of Sassafras officinale." Ed.

                              OILS. Dub.
   "The volatile or essential  oils maybe obtained by the following general
 process.  The substance from which the oil is to be extracted is macerated for
 twenty-four hours, with five times its weight of water, in a sheet-tin or copper
 still, and, a condenser  being then attached, half the water is drawn over by dis-
 tillation, on the surface of which the oil will be found to float, unless (which is
 rarely the case) it should  be heavier than water, yvhen it will  be  found at  the
 bottom of the receiver.  The oil having been separated, the aqueous product,
 which is a saturated solution of the oil in water, is to be returned to the still,
 and the distillation resumed,  and continued till the resulting liquid has the same
 volume as before.   The oil is again separated, the watery  product returned to
 the still, and the distillation resumed;  and this process is to be repeated until
 it ceases to afford  any  additional oily product.  The oil  thus  obtained is to be
 separated as completely as possible from water, and preserved in a well stopped
 bottle.
  "In this way volatile oils may be obtained from the entire herb of  Mentha
piperita, Mentha Pulegium, Mentha viridis ; from the seeds or fruit of
 Carum Carui, Cubeba officinalis, Eugenia  Pimenta, Fceniculum  offi- 
 1158                       Olea Destillata.                    part ii.

 cinale, Juniperus communis, Myristica moschata, Pimpinella Anisum •
 from the flowers of Anthemis nobilis, Lavandula vera; from  the  unde-
 veloped dried flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus ; from the tops of  Juni-
 perus  Sabina, Rosmarinus officinalis ;  from the bark of Cinnamomum
 Zeylanicum.
   " The water distilled over in the preparation of the several oils should be
 preserved for medical use." 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
 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  peppermint,
 spearmint, pennyroyal, and marjoram, are usually distilled while fresh; 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, re-
 quire t% 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, an-
 swers 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 temperature,
 and is at the same time liable to be partially decomposed.  Some oils,  how-
 ever, 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  chlo-
 ride 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.
 (See  page 115*7.)   Other oils again may be  volatilized with water at a  tem-
 perature 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 low a
 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 it in  vacuo.   Dr. Duncan stated that
 the most elegant volatile oils he had ever seen were prepared  in  this manner
 by Mr.  Barry, the inventor of the process.   The employment of steam  heat
 also prevents injury; and the best volatile oils are now prepared in Philadel-
 phia in  this way.  Steam can be  very conveniently applied to this purpose by
 causing it to pass through a coil  of leaden tube of an inch  or three-quarters
 of an inch bore, placed in the bottom of a common  still.   The  end at which
 the steam  is admitted enters the still at  the  upper part, and the other end at
 which the steam and condensed water escape, passes out laterally below, being
 furnished with a stop-cock, by which the pressure of the steam may be regulated,
 and the water drawn off  if necessary.   In some instances, it is desirable to
 conduct the steam immediately into  the still near the  bottom, by which the
 contents are kept in a state of brisk ebullition.  This method is used in the
 preparation of the oil of bitter almonds  and the oil of  mustard.   The  same
 method is applicable to  the preparation of the distilled waters.
   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 
 part ii.                     Olea Destillata.                        1159

 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 becom-
 ing burnt.   Enough water should always be added to cover the solid material,
 and prevent the latter accident.   Dried plants require  more water than the
 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 an influence over the quan-
 tity of water distilled, which depends more  upon the  extent of surface than the
 amount of liquid  submitted  to evaporation.   By employing  a high and nar-
 row vessel, we may obviate the disadvantage of an excess of water.  The broad
 shallow alembic, suitable for the distillation of alpohol and spirituous liquors,
 will not answer so well in this case.   Sometimes the  proportion of oil  in the
 substance employed 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  which
 comes over exceeds its solvent power.  This process is called cohobation.
   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 lat-
 ter, 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 maybe 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 better that the condensing tube
 should be straight, than spiral as in the  ordinary still.  It should be recollect-
 ed, moreover, that certain oils, such as those of anise and fennel,  become solid
 by a comparatively slight reduction of temperature; and that, in the distilla-
 tion 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  open-
 ing at the top of the receiver, the oil separates, and rising to the top occupies
 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 necessa-
 rily 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 instru-
ment called a separatory is usually employed for this purpose.  It consists of 
1160
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
 a glass funnel, bulging at the top, where it is furnished with  a stopper, and
 prolonged  at the bottom into a very narrow tube.  (Sec figure, page  815.)
 The lower  opening being closed, the mixed liquids are introduced and allowed
 to stand till they separate.   The orifice at the bottom is theu opened, aud 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 sepa-
ratory ;  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  suitable receptacle beneath
 the level of that  immersed in the liquid.   The oil at top  passes through the
 cord, and may thus  be yvholly 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 dissolve no more of the oil.   One or more volatile acids  are frequently
 found in the distilled water, as the  acetic, butyric, or valerianic; and Wunder
 has detected all  three of these  acids in the water distilled  from chamomile
 flowers.  (Journ. fur Prakt Chem. lxiv. 499.)
   According to Overbeck, all the volatile oils may be freed from colouring mat-
 ter by distilling them from an  equal weight of poppy-seed oil, and a saturated
 solution of  common salt.  (Archiv. der  Pharm. Ixxxiv. 149.)
   When first procured, the oils have a  disagreeable empyreumatic odour, from
 which they may be freed by allowing them to  stand for some  days in vessels
 loosely covered with paper.  They should then be introduced into small opaque
 bottles, which should be well stopped so as to exclude the air.   When altered
 by exposure to air, they may sometimes be restored to their original appearance
 and quality, by agitation with a little recently heated animal charcoal; and the
 same method may be employed for freeing them 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 upon a lump of sugar; or triturated with at
 least ten  times their weight of sugar, forming an oleosaccharum, and then dis-
 solved in water; or made into an emulsion with water, sugar, and gum arabic.
 They are often kept dissolved in alcohol under the  name of essences*  W.

  *  It is often important to know how many drops a volatile oil will yield to the flui-
 drachm, in other words the relation of a drop of the oil to a minim.   This varies ex-
 tremely according to  the circumstances elsewhere noticed as influencing the size of
 the drop; so that any results obtained are only approximate and relative.  At our
 request, Professor Procter tried the following oils, with the results stated in  the table
 below.  The columns of figures represent the number of drops in a fluidrachm of the
 oils respectively, the first column giving those obtained  by dropping the oils from the
 bottles in which they are commonly  kept, the second by dropping them from a minim
 measure.
Oleum Anisi		85- 86
(<	Carui	106-108
1!	Caryophilli	103-103
((	Chenopodii	97-100
U	Cinnamomi	100-102
(I	Cubebse	86- 96
Oleum Rosmarini  104-105
   "   Sabinas     102-108
   "   Sassafras   102-100
   "   Tanaceti    92-111
   "   Valerianas  116-110
Creasotum         95- 91
                          Oleum Foeniculi   103-103
                            "   Gaultherias 102-101
                            "   Hedeomas    91- 91
                            "   Menthas Pipe-
                                  ritas      103-109
                            "   Menthas Viri-
                                  dis        89- 94
  Enfeurage. This  term is applied by the  French to the  impregnation of fixed oils
and fatty matters with the odour of certain sweet-scented plants, such as jasamine,
tuberose, and mignonette, the oils  of which are so delicate and fugitive that they can-
not well be separated by distillation.  The process consists in exposing the fatty mat-
ter, placed in layers, in suitable frames, to the exhalations from the flowers, which are 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1161
    OLEUM ANETHI.  Lond., 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.
    Off. Prep. Aqua Anethi.                                         yy-

    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 percent.
 The oil employed in this country is  imported.   It is colourless or yellowish,
 with the peculiar odour and taste of the seed.   At 50° it  crystallizes in flat
 tables, and does not melt under 62°.  Its sp. gr. increases with age, and is va-
 riously given from 0-9768  to 0'9903.  It is soluble in all proportions in alco-
 hol of 0-806; but alcohol of 0-840 dissolves at 11° only 42 per cent.  It con-
 sists of two oils, one solid at  ordinary temperatures and heavier than water
 (stearoptene), the other liquid and more volatile (eleoptene), both of which are
 said to have the same atomic constitution, and to consist of carbon, hydrogen,
 and oxygen  (C,0H12OJ. It absorbs oxygen  from the air, and becomes less "dis-
 posed to concrete.  Oil of anise, in consequence of its high price,  is frequently
 adulterated yvith spermaceti, wax,  or camphor.   The first two may be detected
 by their insolubility in cold alcohol, the last by its odour. In one instance, as
 much  as 35 per cent, of spermaceti was found.   Prof. Procter has met with a
 parcel, of which not less than five-sixths were alcohol.  (Am. Journ. of Pharm.
 xxvii. 513.)   The dose  of the oil is from five to fifteen drops. Its comparative
 mildness adapts it to infantile cases.  We are  informed that theN oil of anise
 has, in this country, been almost entirely superseded by the oil of star aniseed
 (oleum badiani), which closely resembles it  in flavour.  (Seepage 106.)
   Off. Prep. Essentia  Anisi;  Extractum Rhei Fluidum ; Extractum Spige-
 lias  et Sennas Fluidum; Spiritus  Anisi;  Syrupus Sarsaparillas  Compositus;
 Tinctura Opii Ammoniata; Tinctura Opii Camphorata;  Trochisci Glycyrrhizas
 et Opii.                                                            yy

   OLEUM ANTHEMIDIS. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Oil of Chamomile.
   This is seldom prepared  or used in this country.   Baume obtained thirteen
 drachms of the oil from eighty-two pounds  of  the flowers;  according to Mr.
 Brande, the average product of 100 pounds is two pounds, twelve ounces.   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
 brownish on  exposure.   The sp. gr. of the English oil  is said  to be  0-9083.
 According  to M. Gerhardt, oil of chamomile is a mixture of a carbohydrogen
 (C2oHjo)  with an  oxygenated oil (C10IL03). (Chem. Gaz. vi. 483.)   It has
 sometimes been used in  spasm of the stomach, and as an adjunct to purgative
 medicines.   The dose is from five to fifteen drops.
  On the continent of Europe, an oil extracted from Matricaria Chamomilla
 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.

absorbed, and give their characteristic odour to the fat.  Another plan is to expose al-
ternate  layers of the flowers, and of cotton  impregnated with bland fixed oil, to the
sun, and afterwards to express the oil from the cotton.  For remarks on this process, aa
conducted in the South of France, see  a communication from  Mr. Daniel  Hanbury in
the London Pharm. Journ.  and Trans,,  copied into  the Am. Journ.  of Pharm. (xxix.
551).—Note to the eleventh edition. 
1162
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
   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 im-
part flavour to  medicines, and to correct their nauseating and griping effects.
The dose is from one to ten drops.
   Wheivoil of caraway is distilled from hydrated phosphoric acid, the distilled
liquor being poured back  into the retort until it ceases to have the smell  of
caraway, an oily liquid is obtained, having  a very disagreeable odour, and a
strong taste. This product, to which the name of carvacrol has been applied,
has been found to give immediate relief to toothache, when inserted on cotton
into the cavity of>a carious tooth.  (See Am. Journ. of Med, Sci.,~N. S. xv. 532.)
   Off. Prep. Aqua Carui;  Confectio Scammonii; Confectio Sennas; Essentia
Carui; Extractum  Spigelias  et Sennas  Fluidum ; Pilulas Aloe's Compositas;
Pil.  Rhei Compositas; Spiritus Juniperi Compositus.                  W.

   OLEUM CARYOPHYLLI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Oil of Cloves.
   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.   Professor Scharling  has found advantage from the applica-
tion of super-heated steam to the distillation of this oil.  (Pharm. Journ, and
Trans., xi.  469.)   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
markets,  the reduced  price  and  superior  freshness of the  drug  have ren-
dered the distillation of oil of cloves profitable in this country; and the best
now sold 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 vari-
ously 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 essential 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 yvith oil of pimento and with  co-
paiba.  When pure it sinks in distilled water.   According to Zeller, its cha-
racter of congealing entirely into a crystalline mass with the alcoholic solution
of potassa,  losing  at the same time its peculiar odour, affords a sufficient cri-
terion of its purity.
   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 dis-
tilling the oil from  a solution of potassa.  The lighter comes  over, the heavier
remains combined with the potassa, from which it maybe separated by adding
sulphuric acid, and again  distilling.   Light oil of cloves is colourless, 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 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1163
 the odour and teste of cloves, is of the sp. gr. L079, boils at 470°, and forms
 soluble and crystallizable salts with  the  alkalies.   Hence it  has been called
 eugenic or caryopjhyllic acid,   It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen •
 the formula, according to Ettling, being Ca4H„Ov
   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.  Confectio Aromatica;  Confectio Scammonii;  Pilulas  Colocyn-
 thidis  Compositas.                                                   -yy

   OLEUM  CHENOPODII.  U. S.  Oil of Wormseed.
   This oil is peculiar to the United States.  The best is prepared in the vicin-
 ity of  Baltimore. (See page  220.)  It is of a light-yellow colour  when re-
 cently distilled, but becomes deeper yellow, and even brownish by age.  It has
 in a high degree the peculiar flavour of the plant.  When freshly prepared, it
 has the sp. gr. 0"908, which, according to Mr. S. R.  Garrigues, is increased'by
 time to 0-960. A portion examined by him, which  was of a brownish-yellow
 colour, had  the sp. gr. 0-959 at 61°  F., boiled at 374°,  and was freely soluble
 m alcohol and ether.  He found it to consist of two distinct oils, separable by
 distillation ; one  of  which consists of carbon and  hydrogen exclusively,  and
 reacts with muriatic acid in a manner analogous to oil of turpentine ; the other
 is heavier, and consists of carbon, hydrogen, and  oxygen. (Am. Journ, of
 Pharm., xxvi 405.)  Wormseed oil 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.  The case of a child, six
 years old, is recorded in the Boston Med. and Surg. Journ.  (xiv.  373), in
 which  death is supposed to have resulted from the use of overdoses.     W.

   OLEUM  COPAIBSE. U.S., Lond., Ed.    Oil  of Copaiba.
   "Take of Copaiba two pounds; \Nater four gallons. Add the  Copaiba to the
 Water in  a tinned still, and, having adapted a proper refrigeratory, distil three
 gallons.   Separate the Oil which comes over from the water, return the latter
 to the Copaiba, and again distil three gallons.  Lastly, separate the Oil obtained
 in the second distillation, add to it that first obtained, and keep the whole  in a
 well stopped bottle." U. S.
   "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.
   The oil constitutes from one-third to one-half or more of the copaiba. From
 one specimen of recent copaiba as much as  80 per cent, of oil has been obtained.
 (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxii. 289.)  It is prepared largely in Philadelphia by
 the application of steam heat.  (See page 1158.)  As it first comes over it is
 colourless, but the latter product is of  a fine greenish hue.  By redistillation
 it  may  be rendered wholly colourless.   It has the  odour and taste of copaiba,
 boils at about  470° (Christison), is soluble in ether and  alcohol, absorbs muri-
 atic acid gas and forms  with it  crystals of artificial  camphor, and yvhen pure
 consists exclusively of carbon and  hydrogen, being  isomeric with pure oil of
 turpentine. From the want of oxygen, it answers even better than naphtha for
 preserving potassium, a fact first observed by Mr.  Durand, of Philadelphia.
  Its effects on the system are those  of copaiba.   From  the experiments of C.
Mitscheriich it is one of the least injurious to the animal system of the volatile
oils; six drachms of it  having been introduced into the stomach of a rabbit
without causing death.  Externally applied it produces much less  irritation than 
1164
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
the oil of turpentine.  It may be given for the same purposes as copaiba in the
dose of ten or fifteen drops; and may be  administered in emulsion, or  simply
dropped on sugar.                                                   ^y J

   OLEUM CUBEBSE.  U.S., Ed., Dub.   Oil of Cubebs.
   This oil is obtained from cubebs, by grinding them, and then distilling with
water.  From ten pounds 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 approaching 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 crys-
tals, which are thought to be a hydrate  of the oil.   It consists of  carbon and
hydrogen, and its formula is stated to be  C15Hi2.
   The oil has the medicinal properties of cubebs, but it is probably not the sole
active ingredient; as it is much less pungent than the fluid extract or oleo-resin.
It may, however, often be advantageously 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 gelatin.                                                yy

   OLEUM FUNICULI.  U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.   Oil of Fennel.
   Fennel seeds yield about 2-5 per cent., or, according to Zeller, from  3-4 to
3-8 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 eleoptene); 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, C13Hb03.   The dose is  from five  to fifteen  drops.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Foeniculi;  Confectio  Piperis Nigri;  Essentia Foeniculi;
Extractum Rhei Fluidum; Extractum Sennas Fluidum; Spiritus Juniperi Com-
positus.                                                             "\y

   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 Pharmacopoeia to be prepared from the leaves of
Gaultheria procumbens; but the whole  plant is usually employed.  It has been
obtained by Prof. Procter from the bark of Petula lenta  or sweet birch, and
has been supposed to exist also in  the root of Polygala paucifolia, and the
roots and stems of Spiraea ulmaria, Spiraea lobata,  and Gaultheria hispidula,
which have its peculiar flavour.
   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 sweetish,
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.  Prof. Procter proved it to possess acid
properties, and to be closely analogous to  salicylous acid, one of the results of
the decomposition of  salicin by sulphuric  acid and bichromate of potassa, and
an ingredient in the oil  of Spiraea ulmaria,  (See Salix.)  By M. Cahours it 
 part ii.                     Olea Destillata.                        1165

 has since been shown to have the same composition as'salicylate of methylene •
 and a product having its properties was obtained by distilling a mixture of pyr-
 oxylic spirit, salicylic acid, and sulphuric acid.  (Ibid., xiv. 211, and xv.  241.)
 Dr. T. J. Gallaher, of Pittsburg, Pa., records the case of a boy, nine years old,
 who took about half an ounce of this oil, yvith the effect of producing severe
 vomiting, purging, epigastric pain, hot  skin, frequent pulse,  slow and  laboured
 respiration, dulness of hearing, and, notwithstanding excessive gastric irritabil-
 ity, an uncontrollable desire for food. After two or three days of great danger,
 he began to improve, and in two weeks was entirely restored to health. (Med,
 Examiner, N. S., viii.  347.)   Oil of gaultheria is chiefly used, on account of
 its pleasant flavour, to cover the taste of other medicines.
    Off. Prep. Syrupus Sarsaparillas Compositus.                       "vy.

    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 fla-
 vour to mixtures.   It is also much employed as a  domestic remedy in amenor-
 rhcea.  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.   Zeller
 gives  as the product of the fresh ripe fruit 1-3 per cent., of  that a year old
 0-86 per cent. (Cent. Blatt, Marz, 1855, p. 207.)   The berries are most pro-
 ductive when bruised.  The oil of juniper consumed in this country is brought
 from Europe, and is believed to be procured chiefly from the tops of the plant, £
 being sold for a price yvhich is altogether incompatible with  the idea that it is
 prepared from the fruit alone.  It is colourless, or of a light greenish-yellow,
 with a terebinthinate odour, and 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 carbohydrogen, and is  said to have the same composition as
 oil of turpentine (C10H8); but it does not form a solid compound 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 con-
 siderably less than that of the unadulterated oil of juniper.
   The oil is stimulant, carminative, and diuretic;  and many be employed ad-
 vantageously in debilitated dropsical cases,  in connexion with other medicines,
 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.
   Off. Prep.  Spiritus Juniperi Compositus.                          W.

   OLEUM LAVANDULA.  U. S, Lond.,  Ed., Dub.   Oil  of La-
 vender.
  This oil  is usually distilled from  the flowers and flower-stems conjointly,
though of finer quality when obtained from the former exclusively.  Dried la-
vender flowers are stated to yield  from 1 to 1*5 per cent, of oil.   According
to Zeller, the fresh flowers yield 1*03,  the dried 4-3, the whole fresh  herb in
flower 0-76 per cent.  The oil is very fluid,  of a lemon-yellow colour, with the
fragrance of the flowers, and an  aromatic, burning taste.   That met with in 
1166
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
   commerce has the sp. gr. 0-898 at 68° F., which is reduced to 0-877 by rectifica-
   tion. (Berzelius.)  According to Brande, the sp. gr. of the oil obtained from
   the yvhole herb is 0-9206.   Alcohol of 0-830  dissolves oil of lavender  in all
   proportions ;  that .of 0-877, only 42 per cent.  (Berzelius.) Proust states that
   when allowed to stand  in  imperfectly stopped bottles, it  lets fall a crystalline
   deposit, which often amounts to one-fourth of its weight.  It is said that the
   portion of oil first distilled is most fragrant,  and is often kept separate and
   sold at a higher price.   Oil of lavender is used chiefly as a perfume, though pos-
   sessed of carminative and stimulant properties, and sometimes useful in cases
   of nervous languor and headache.   The dose is from one to five drops.
     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 common oil of lavender, and is somewhat analogous to
   that of oil of turpentine, with which it is said to be often adulterated.   It is
   used by artists in the preparation of varnishes.
     Off. Prep.  Linimentum Camphoras  Compositum;  Tinctura Ammonia
   Composita; Tinctura Lavandulas Composita.                         "w

     OLEUM MENTHA  PIPERITA.  U. S., Lond., Ed., 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. Zeller gives as the product of the fresh herb from
   0-37 to 0-68 per cent, of the dried 1-14 per cent.  The yield is generally less
   than 1  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 composition as the oil, viz., C21H20O2.  Berzelius  states that  at 8°
   below zero the oil deposits  small capillary crystals.  This  oil is frequently adul-
   terated with alcohol, and occasionally, there is reason to believe, with oil of
   turpentine.  This is detected by its  odour, by its deficient solubility in cold al-
   cohol,  and by imparting the property of exploding with iodine.   It is stated
   by the Messrs. Hotchkiss that, in much  of the land  under culture with pepper-
   mint in this country, other  oil producing plants are  carelessly allowed to grow,
   which, being gathered and distilled with the peppermint, contaminate the pro-
   duct. (Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxvii. 222.)  Such impurities may be detected
   by the altered odour  of the oil.  Much of the  oil used in  the U.  States is
   produced in Michigan.  (Ibid. xxix. 312.)
    Oil of peppermint is stimulating and carminative, and is much used in  flatu-
   lence, nausea, spasmodic pains of the stomach and  bowels,  and as a corrigent or
   adjuvant of other medicines.  The dose is from one  to three drops, and is most
  conveniently given rubbed with sugar and then dissolved in water.  The oil is
  frequently employed, dissolved in alcohol, in the form of essence of peppermint,
  which is an officinal preparation. (See Tinctura  Olei Menthse Piperita;.)
     Off. Prep.  Aqua Menthas Piperitas;  Essentia Menthas Piperitas; Pilulas
  Rhei Composites; Spiritus Menthas  Piperitas;  Tinctura Olei Menthas Piperi-
  tas ; Trochisci Menthas Piperitas.                                     \y#

     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 
 part ii.                    Olea Destillata.                       1167

 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 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 C35Ha80, as representing its composi-
 tion.  It is used for the  same purposes as the oil of peppermint, in the dose
 of from two to five drops.  An essence of spearmint, prepared by dissolving
 the oil in alcohol, is officinal.  (See Tinctura Olei Mentha;  Viridis.)
    Off. Prep.  Aqua Menthas Viridis; Essentia Menthas Viridis; Spiritus Menthas
 Viridis; Tinctura Olei Menthas Viridis.                               W.

    OLEUM  MONARDA. U.  S.  Oil of Horsemint.
   This is prepared by our distillers from the fresh herb of Monarch punctata.
 It has a reddish-amber colour, a fragrant odour, and a warm, very pun gent taste.
 At 40°  F.,  or lower, especially  in the presence of moisture, it is gradually
 transformed by oxidation Into a crystalline body, having the odour and  taste of
 the oil.  This appears to be analogous in constitution to camphor, being the ox-
 ide of a carbohydrogen  radical  (C10H7), three eqs. of which with one eq.  of
 oxygen form  the liquid oil. (C. T. Bonsall,  Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxv.  200.)
 Applied to the skin, monarda oil is powerfully rubefacient, quickly producing
 heat, pain, redness, and even vesication.   It has been employed externally  in
 low forms of fever, cholera 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 carmina-
 tive, in the dose of two or three drops mixed with sugar and water.     W.
   OLEUM  ORIGANI.  U. S, Ed.   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 propor-
 tion 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 yellow ; but
 if too much heat is used in the distillation, it is said to be reddish, and  it ac-
 quires the same tint by age.  It  may be obtained colourless by rectification.
 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 CsnH400.  According to Lewis,
 its sp. gr. is 0-940, according to  Brande 0-909.   It is sometimes 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 employed internally.
 The oil commonly sold as  oil of origanum has been ascertained by Mr. Daniel
 Hanbury to be oil of thyme ( Thymus vulgaris), and is prepared in the south
 of France.  As it reaches this country it is generally largely adulterated with
 oil of turpentine.
   It can scarcely be doubted  that the oil directed by the Edinburgh College
 from Origanum Major ana, or sweet marjoram, was intended  for that of Orig-
 anum 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
 Oleum Origani.  The oil of sweet marjoram is obtained from  the  plant by
 distillation, 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
deposit a substance resembling camphor.  It is not used in this  country.
  Off. Prep.  Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum.                    W. 
1168
Olea Destillata.
PART II.
   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, is brownish-red, and has the odour and taste of pimento, though
 warmer and mdre pungent.  It is said, when freshly distilled, to be colourless
 or yellowish.  Nitric acid reddens it.  Its sp. gr. is stated at 1-021, but varies.
 It consists, like 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 from 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 carbohydrogen.   The heavy has the acid property of forming crystalline
 compounds  with the alkalies.   They are analogous to the light and heavy oils
 of cloves.   The  oil of pimento is  given  for the same purposes as the other
 stimulant aromatic oils.   The dose is from three to six drops.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Pimentas;  Essentia Pimentas.                    W.
   OLEUM PULEGII.  Lond., Ed.   Oleum  Mentha Pulegii. Dub.
 Oil of European Pennyroyal.
   About 1 part of this oil on  an average is obtained from 100 parts of the
 plant.  Zeller gives 0-43  per cent, as the product of the  dried herb.   The oil
 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.
   Off. Prep. Aqua Pulegii; Essentia Alenthas Pulegii; Spiritus Pulegii. W.

   OLEUM ROSMARINI.   U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.    Oil of Rose-
 mary.
   The fresh leaves of rosemary yield, according to Baume,  0-26 per cent, of oil;
 but the product  is  stated much higher  by others.   According to  Brande,
 a pound of the fresh herb yields about a drachm of the oil, which is about one
 per cent,; and Zeller gives very nearly the same product for  the dried herb.
 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 requires  for solution at
 64°, forty  parts  of  alcohol of 0-887.  (Berzelius.)   Kane gives  its  sp. gr.
 0-897, its boiling point 365°, and its composition C45H3802.   Kept in bottles
 imperfectly stopped, it deposits a stearoptene analogous to camphor, some-
 times 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
 oil of turpentine, which may be detected  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 stimulant, but is employed chiefly as an in-
 gredient of rubefacient liniments.   The dose is from three to six drops.
   A case of death is recorded, in a child four or five years old, from a mixture
 of six measures of this  oil, and two of oil of wormseed, given in repeated doses
 of a tablespoonful. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxiii.  286.)
   Off. Prep. Essentia Rosmarini;  Linimentum Opii;  Linimentum Saponis
 Camphoratum; Spiritus Ammonias Aromaticus; Spiritus Rosmarini; Tinctura
 Lavandulae Composita; Tinctura Saponis Camphorata,                W.

   OLEUM  RUTA.  Lond., Ed.   Oil of Rue.
  Rue yields a very small proportion of a yellow or greenish oil, which becomes
brown yvith age.   According to Zeller, the product of the fresh  herb  is  0-28 
PART II.
Olea Destillata.
1169
  per cent,, of the seeds about 1 per cent.  The oil  has the  strong unpleasant
  odour of the plant, and an acrid taste.   Kane gives its sp.  gr. 0-837, its boil-
  ing point 446°, and  its composition C^II^O,.  Gregory considers it  as  hy-
'  drated oxide of rutyl or rutylic aldehyd (C20Hlf)O,HO = C3l,H20Oa), associated
  with a carbohydrogen. (Handbook of Organic Chemistry, 4th ed., p. 275 and
  342.)  When treated with nitric acid, it yields, among other products, pelar-
  gonic acid,  which is used in the preparation of a, fruit  essence, denominated
  pelargomc ether.  (See Fruit Essences, in Part III.)   It is stimulant and  an-
  tispasmodic, and has  been given in hysteria, convulsions,  and amenorrhcea.
  The dose is from two  to five drops.                                   yy

    OLEUM SABINA.  U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.   Oil of Savine.
    According to the more recent authorities, the proportion of volatile oil  ob-
  tained from savine varies from less than 1 to 2-5 per  cent.   The  oil is neariv
  colourless or yellow, limpid, strongly odorous, and of a bitterish, extremely acrid
  taste.  Kane gives its sp. gr. 0-915, its boiling point 315°, aud its composition
  C10HS, 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 purposes 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  SASSAFRAS.  U.S., Ed.    Oil of Sassafras.
    The proportion of oil yielded by the root of sassafras is variously stated from
  Jess than 1 to somewhat more than 2 percent.  The bark of the root  directed
  by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, yvould 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 teste.   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 turpen-
  tine existing as an adulteration in the oil of sassafras.   Nitric acid colours it
  red, and fumiug nitric  acid inflames it more  readily than  most other oils   It
  has the property of dissolving caoutchouc.  When  kept for a long time it de-
  posits transparent crystals, having the same odour as the liquid oil.  By treat-
  ing the oil with chlorine, neutralizing with  lime, and  distilling, a product is
  obtained identical in properties and composition with common camphor  (See
 Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxvi. 166.)   Mr.  E. S. Wayne, of  Cincinnati has
 shown that the oil forms an insoluble compound with lead;  a  property which
 renders leaden vessels,  or those containing  lead, unsuitable recipients  for  it
 (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii. 521.)  Oil of sassafras is stimulant, carmina-
 tive, and supposed to be diaphoretic; and maybe employed for the same purposes
 as the bark from which it is derived.   The dose is from two to ten drops.
   Off. Prep. Syrupus Sarsaparillas Compositus.                       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.  Separate 'the
Oil from the  other matters, and keep it in well stopped bottles."  U S.
  The Dublin College  has transferred&he oil of amber from the preparations
to the Materia Medica  list.
       74 
1170                         Olea Destillata.                    part ii.

   The amber in this  process  undergoes decomposition, and affords,  among
other products, an empyreumatic oil, which floats in the receiver upon the sur-
face 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
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 swelling
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 occasionally em-
ployed 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.  (Pereira.)
   Off Prep.  Oleum Succini Rectificatum.                            yy

   OLEUM   SUCCINI RECTIFICATUM. U.S.   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.
   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 U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   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
(Bight parts of alcohol of  the sp. gr. 0*847 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
carbohydrogen, consisting, according to Dr.  Dopping, of 88-46 parts  of car-
bon and 11*54 of  hydrogen in  100.  (Chem. Gaz., Nov. 1845, p.  447.)  It is
said to be sometimes adulterated with oil of turpentine, which may be detected
by passing muriatic acid gas through the suspected oil. If pure it will remain
wholly liquid; while oil of turpentine if present will give rise to the formation
of solid artificial camphor.  (Pharm. Journ.  and Trans., xiii.  292.)
   Medical Properties  and Uses.   Rectified oil of amber is  stimulant and
antispasmodic, and occasionally promotes the secretions, particularly that of
urine.   It has been employed with advantage in amenorrhcea, and in various
spasmodic 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 consider-
ably employed as  a liniment in chronic rheumatism and palsy, and  in certain
spasmodic disorders, as  hooping-cough  and infantile convulsions.   In  the
latter  affection  it should be rubbed along the spine, and was highly recom-
mended by the late Dr. Joseph  Parrish, mixed with an  equal measure of lauda-
num, and diluted with three or four  parts of olive oil and of brandy.    W. 
 part II.                    Olea Destillata.                        1171

   OLEUM  TABACI. U.S.   Oil of Tobacco.
   "Take of Tobacco, in coarse  powder, a pound.  Put  the Tobacco into  a
 retort of green glass, connected  with  a refrigeratory, to which  a tube is at-
 tached for the escape of the incondensible products; then, by means of a sand-
 bath, heat the retort gradually to dull  redness, and maintain that temperature
 until empyreumatic oil ceases to come over.  Lastly, separate the dark oily
 liquid in the receiver from the watery portion, and keep it for use." U S.
   This is a black, thickish liquid, of a strong, characteristic odour, identical
 with that of old tobacco pipes, and in  no degree resembling that of undecom-
 posed tobacco.  It  may be obtained colourless  by rectification,  but soon be-
 comes yellowish, and  ultimately  brown.  It probably contains  a portion of
 nicotia volatilized unchanged, and is a powerful poison, unfit for  internal use,
 and when employed externally requiring much  caution.  Mixed with simple
 ointment or lard, in the proportion of tyventy drops to an ounce, it has been
 used as an application  to indolent tumours, buboes, ulcers, and obstinate cu-
 taneous  eruptions;  but, in all cases where the cuticle is wanting, it should be
 employed with reserve,  and its effects carefully watched.                 W.

   OLEUM TEREBINTHINA PURIFICATUM.  Ed.  Purified Oil
 of Turpentine.
   "Take of Oil of Turpentine one pint; Water four pints.  Distil as long as
 Oil comes over with the Water." Ed.
   Oil of turpentine becomes impure by exposure, in consequence of the absorp-
 tion 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 Tere-
 binthinse.)   The process for distilling it is attended with some danger, in
 consequence of the great inflammability of the vapour, and its rapid formation,
 which causes the  liquor to boil  over.   In  this country,  the apothecary can
 almost always purchase the  oil sufficiently pure for  medical use,  without  the,
 necessity of rectifying it.  The presence of a little resin does not interfere with'
 its efficiency as a medicine.                                          "Vy.

   OLEUM VALERIANA.  U.S.   Oil of Valerian.
   This was introduced for the first time as an officinal into the U. S. Pharma-
 copoeia of 1850.  It is obtained from  the root of Valeriana officinalis by  the
 usual process of distillation with water. According to Zeller, the dried root of
 the best quality yields 1-64 per cent, of the oil.  Very good oil has been dis-
 tilled from the root cultivated in this  country.   As first procured, it is of a
 pale-greenish colour, of the sp. gr. 0-934, with a pungent odour  of valerian,
 and an aromatic taste.   Upon exposure, it becomes yellow and viscid.  It is
 a complex substance, containing 1. a carbohydrogen isomeric with pure  oil of
 turpentine; .2. a small  proportion of stearoptene of an odour resembling that
 of camphor and pepper, and formed probably by the combination of water with
 the preceding constituent; 3. a peculiar oxygenated oi^ called valerol (C2nHI20,
 Kane's Chemistry), which, by the agency of the air, is converted into valerianic
 {valeric)  acid and a resinous matter; and 4. valerianic  acid, which always
exists in the oil  in small proportion, but is increased by exposure.  The con-
version of valerol into valerianic acid, through the agency of atmospheric oxy-
gen, is very much promoted by the presence of caustic  alkalies, which combine
with the  acid when formed, to produce valerianates.   The oil of  valerian ex-
ercises the same influence as the root on the nervous system, and is frequently
administered as a substitute for it in the dose of four or five drops.     W. 
 1172                  Olea Destillata.—Pilulse.                part ii.


                               PILULE.

                                  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 immedi-
 ately 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 yvanting.
 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 a 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 powders
 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 sto-
 mach, and if metallic substances are mixed yvith it, the  mass does not work
 well.   A mixture of syrup and poyvdered gum arabic is  not  subject to the same
 inconveniences, and is an excellent material for the formation of pills.   Honey
 has been highly recommended.   Conserve of roses and molasses are among the
 best excipients, vriien  the pills are to  be long kept.  For the same purpose of
 keeping the pill soft,  the addition of  a small portion of some fixed oil or deli-
 quescent salt has been recommended.  Many powders require only water. Such
 are all those which contain ingredients capable of forming an adhesive or viscid
 solution with that liquid.  Care should always be taken that the matter added
 be not incompatible with the main constituents of the  pill.
   The materials should be accurately mixed together, and beat in a mortar 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 often convenient 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 becomes  dry;  or more
 effectually by keeping it in glass or well  glazed jars, accurately closed with
 varnished bladder.
   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
 fingers.  M. Mialhe describes a little instrument for rolling pills, composed of

  * The common pill-machine is too well known to require  description.  In the Am.
Journ. of Pharm.  (xxiv. 315) the reader will  find the  description of a rotary pill-
machine, calculated to prepare large numbers of pills  in a short time ; and in the same
Journal (xxvi. 118) of another, which is  considered an improvement on the first. 
PART II.
Pilulse.
1173
 two circular plates, one about 12, the other 6 inches in diameter; the former
 having a ledge at the border one-third of an inch high, the latter with a similar,
 ledge, varying, according to the size of the pills, from less than a line to nearly
 two lines,  and with a strap on the back by which it can be fitted to the hand.
 This is  to be moved  in a rotary manner upon the  larger plate, holding the
 divided portions of the pill mass.  (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim,, xvii. 218.)
 In order to prevent the adhesion of pills 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, powdered liquorice root,
 or starch may be used.  Carbonate of magnesia is sometimes incompatible with
 one of the ingredients  of the pills;  and liquorice root will generally be found
 the best,   The powder of  lycopodium is much employed in 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 yvith gelatin, which answers'
 the purpose of concealing their taste and odour, and counteracting  deliquescence
 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 prepared about
 fifty pills in this way, proceeds to complete  the  operation by holding the pin
 in the flame of a taper  so as to melt the gelatin near  its point, and then with-
 drawing it from the pill so as to close up the orifice.   The purest glue  should
 be selected for this purpose, melted yvith the addition  of two or three drachms
 of water to an ounce of the glue,  and kept liquid by  means of a salt-bath.
   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. et de Chim., x. 32.) M. Calloud has found that a better powder for the
 purpose, because less disposed to attract moisture, is made by boiling one part of
 flaxseed and three parts of white sugar with sufficient water till a thick muci-
 lage is formed, evaporating this  carefully to dryness, and then pulverizing.
 (Ibid., xxiii. 301.) The same writer has since suggested, as still more effective,
 a  powder made by forming a mucilage with one part of tragacanth and two
 of water, pressing this through linen, mixing it with twenty parts of sugar of
 milk, spreading the paste thus made in thin layers to dry, and then powdering.
 The pills may be simply moistened with water, and then shaken in the  powder.
 M. Lhermite proposes first to agitate the pills in a mortar with a little con-
 centrated solution of gum, and afterwards to put them into a box containing
 dry and very finely powdered sugar, to which a rotary motion is given.   If the
 coating be not sufficiently thick, the process may be repeated. (Ibid. xxv. 460.)
 Still another method, proposed by Mr. E. K. Durden, is  to  cover  the pills
 with collodion, which completely conceals the taste. The solution employed by
 Mr. Durden had the sp.  gr. 0-810 ; and two dippings gave a sufficient coating.
 (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi.  183.)   It is, however, yet to be determined
whether a coating of collodion would yield readily to the solvent powers of the
gastric juice. M. Blancarcl covers pills with a solution  of Tolu balsam in ether;
but Mr. H. C. Baildon objects to this,  that it takes too long to dry, and sug-
gests as a substitute a solution of a drachm of the balsam in three drachms of 
1174                            Pilulse.                         part II.

chloroform, which dries sufficiently in twenty minutes. (Am. Journ. of Pharm.
xxix. 350.)   A solution of mastic in ether has also been used.
   Pills which are to be long  kept should be yvell  dried, and put into bottles
with accurately fitting stoppers.   Though the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, in almost
every instance, orders the mass to be divided into pills; yet it should be under-
stood rather as indicating the number of pills to be made from a certain quan-
tity of the mass, when particular directions are not given by the physician, than
as requiring the division to be made immediately after the materials have been
mixed.   It  will be found  convenient by the apothecary to retain a portion of
the mass undivided, especially when it is desirable to keep the pills soft.   W.

   PILULA  ALOES.  U. S., Ed.  Pilula  Aloes cum Sapone.  Lond.
Aloetic Pills.   Pill of Aloes with Soap.
   "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 London College takes equal parts of  extract of Barbadoes aloes, soft
soap, and liquorice (extract), and a sufficiency of molasses, beats the aloes
with the soap, then adds the other ingredients,  and beats the whole together.
   The  Edinburgh College  directs equal quantities of  Socotrine or East In-
dia 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 of the U. S. pills, containingten 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  ALOE'S COMPOSITA. Dub.   Pilula Aloes Compo-
sita. Lond.  Compound Pills of Jiloes.
   "Take of  Aloes, in powder, an ounce; Extract of Gentian half an  ounce;
Oil of  Caraway forty minims; Molasses  a  sufficient  quantity.  Beat them
together, so that they may be intimately mixed  in a  mass  fit for forming
pills." Lond.
   The Dublin College  directs two ounces [avoirdupois] of hepatic aloes, an
ounce [avoird.] of extract of gentian, a fluidrachm of oil of caraway,  and an
ounce [avoird.] of molasses.
   A reaction takes place between  the aloes and  extract of gentian when rubbed
together, which renders the mass so soft as sometimes to require the addition of
a light powder.  This combination is well adapted as a laxative to the costive-
ness of sedentary  and dyspeptic persons.  The dose is from five to twenty grains,
according to the  degree of effect desired.*                              W.

  * The following is the formula for the aloetic pills usually called dinner pills, or Lady
Webster's pills.  They are the pilulse stomachicse 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 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 formulae for the
compound aloetic preparations commonly called Hooper's and Anderson's pills.
  " Hooper's female pills.  R. Aloes Barbadensis ^viij., Ferri Sulphatis Exsiccati Jij.,
■"Jiss.,  vet Ferri Sulphatis Crystal, ^iv., Extracti Hellebori gij., Myrrhas gij.,  Saponis
3ij., Canella? in pulv. tritas Jj., Zingiberis in pulv. trit. t^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.  Aloes Barbadensis ^xxiv., Saponis Jiv., Colocynthidis 
PART II.
Pilulse.
1175
   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 Ed, College takes equal parts of Socotrine or East India aloes, assafe-
tida, and Castile soap, and beats them into a mass with conserve of red roses.
   These pills are peculiarly adapted, by the stimulant and carminative proper-
ties of the assafetida, to cases of costiveness attended with flatulence and debil-
ity 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 Iron.
   "Take of Sulphate  of Iron three parts; Barbadoes  Aloes two parts; Aro-
matic Poyvder  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 sulphate  of iron.  This
combination is useful in constipation with debility of stomach, especially when
attended with amenorrhcea.   The dose is  from one to three  pills.       W.

   PILULA  ALOES ET MYRRHA.  U. S., Ed.    Pilula  Aloes
cum Myrrha. Lona\  Pilule Aloes cum  Myrrha.  Dub.   Pills of
Aloes and Myrrh.
   "Take of Aloes, in powder, two ounces; Myrrh, in powder, an ounce; Saf-
fron 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  London College takes  half an ounce of Socotrine  or  hepatic  aloes,
two drachms, each, of saffron,  myrrh^and Soft soap, and a sufficiency of mo-
lasses, and beats them together; the Edinburgh  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; the Dublin takes two ounces of hepatic aloes,
an ounce of myrrh, half an ounce of saffron, and  two ounces and a half of
molasses;  rubs the first three ingredients  together and sifts them;  then adds
the molasses, and beats the whole into a uniform mass.
   This composition has been long in use, under the name of Bufus1s pills.   It
is employed, as a #arm stimulant cathartic, in general debility 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  ASSAFCETIDA.   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 con-
venient 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.   Pilula
Hydrargyri Chloridi Composita. Lond.   Compound Calomel Pills.
Compound Pill of Chloride of Mercury.

§j., Gambogias ^j., Olei Anisi f§s3.  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 pro-
per consistence to divide into pills, each containing three grains." (Ibid.) 
1176
Pilulse.
PART II.
  "Take of Chloride of Mercury [calomel], Oxysulphuret of Antimony, each,
two drachms;  Guaiacum [resin], in powder, Molasses, each, half an ounce.
Rub the Chloride with the Oxysulphuret, then with the Guaiacum and Molasses,
so as to form a mass." 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 about half the quantity of the active ingredients, and a fluidrachm
of castor oil instead of the molasses.
  Wre 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 antimonial 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, resulting in the production of
chloride of antimony and sulphuret of mercury. (Annal. 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 treatment 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 indi-
cations  is so variable, that such a combination as the above is scarcely a proper
subject for officinal direction.                                       W.
   PILULA  CAMBOGIA  COMPOSITA. Lond.  Piluljj Cambogls.
Ed.   Compound Pill of Gamboge.
   "Take of Gamboge, in powder, two drachms; Socotrine or Hepatic Aloes, in
powder, three drachms; Ginger, in powder, a drachm; Soft^a^ half an ounce.
Mix the powders together;  then add the Soap, and beat tiie whole  together so
 as  to form a mass." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College takes of gamboge, East India or Barbadoes aloes,
 and aromatic powder, each, one part, and of Castile soap two parts; pulverizes
 the gamboge and aloes separately, mixes all the powders, adds the soap, and
 then a sufficiency of syrup; and beats the yvhole into a proper pill mass.
   This is an active purgative pill, and may be given in the dose of ten or fifteen
 grains.   The formula is that of Dr. George Fordyce simplified.       W.
    PILULA CATHARTICA  COMPOSITA.  U.S.  Compound Ca-
 thartic Pills.
    "Take of Compound Extract of Colocynth, in powder, half an ounce; Ex-
 tract of Jalap, Mild Chloride of Mercury [calomel], each, three drachms; Gam-
 boge, in powder, two scruples.  Mix them together;  then with water form 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. Pharmacopoeia.   It was intended to combine smallness of bulk with effi- 
PART II.
Pilulse.
1177
 ciency and comparative mildness of purgative action, and a peculiar tendency
 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 small-
 ness of bulk is accomplished by employing extracts and the more energetic ca-
 thartics ; 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 cathar-
 tics 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 physi-
 ological principles.   Cathartic medicines act on different parts of the aliment-
 ary 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 ob-
 vious 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 to-
 gether in proportions corresponding with their respective doses, so that an ex-
 cess of  any  one ingredient is guarded against, and violent irritation from this
 cause prevented.  The name of the preparation may at first sight seem objec-
 tionable, as  it might be applied to any compound  pills  possessing cathartic
 properties; but, when it is considered that the ingredients cannot all be expressed
 in the title, that no one is sufficiently 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. It
 is highly important, for the efficiency  of these  pills, that they be prepared in
 exact compliance with the directions, and that the compound extract of colo-
 cynth and the extract of jalap used be of good quality.  When they fail, the
 result is generally ascribable to the substitution of jalap for the extract, or to
 the  use of a compound extract of colocynth made with nearly inert scam-
 mony, inferior aloes,  and insufficient colocynth, and altogether badly prepared.
   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 colocynth,
 three of extract of jalap, three of calomel, and two-thirds of  a grain of gam-
 boge.  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.                            yy,

   PILULA COLOCYNTHIDIS COMPOSITA. Lond.  Pilule Col-
 ocynthidis. Ed.    Pilule  Colocynthidis Composite. Dub.   Com-
pound Pill of  Colocynth.
   "Take of  Extract of Colocynth a drachm;  Extract of Aloes, in  powder,
six drachms; Scammony, in  powder,  two  drachms; Cardamom, in  powder,
halfa drachm; Soft Soap a drachm and  a half  Mix the powders together;
then add the other ingredients, and beat all together so as to form a  mass."
Lond,
  "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; 
1178
Pilulse.
PART II.
 Rectified Spirit a sufficiency.  Pulverize the Aloes, Scammony, and Sulphate of
 Potash together; mix with them the Colocynth previously reduced to line pow-
 der; 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 Pulp of Colocynth, in fine powder, one ounce [avoirdupois]; Her).
 atic Aloes, in fine powder,  two ounces [avoird.]; Scammony, in fine powder,
 Castile Soap, of each, one ounce [avoird.];  Oil of Cloves  one fluidrachm';
 Treacle [molasses]  ten drachms [Dub. weight].   Reduce the  Soap to a fine
 powder, and mix it with the  Colocynth, Aloes,  and Scammony; then rub all
 together with the Oil of Cloves and Treacle,  and beat them into a mass of a
 uniform consistence." Dub.
   The London preparation is only another form of the compound extract of
 colocynth, for which it was intended as a substitute; the ingredients, the pro-
 portions, and the dose being essentially the same. (See Extractum Colocyn-
 thidis Compositum.)  The Edinburgh and Dublin preparations are imitations,
 differing in the proportions of their ingredients, and in containing colocynth in
 substance instead of the extract of colocynth.   Sulphate of potassa is used by
 the Edinburgh College to promote the more complete division of the aloes and
 scammony; rectified spirit, because it is believed to be retained by the mass more
 firmly than water, and thus to preserve the due consistence longer.   The prepa-
 ration is actively cathartic  in the dose of from five to twenty grains.*
   Off. Prep.  Pilulas Colocynthidis et Hyoscyami.                    TV

   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 neces-
 sary; 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  extract of hyoscyamus,  without losing any of their purgative
 power.   The dose is from five to twenty grains.                       W.

   PILULA CONII  COMPOSITA. Lond.   Compound Pill of Hem-
 lock.
   "Take of  Extract of Hemlock five drachms; Ipecacuanha, in  powder, a
 drachm; Molasses  a sufficient quantity.  Beat them together so as to form a
 mass."  Lond.
   An anodyne and expectorant combination, useful  in chronic bronchial dis-
 eases.   The dose is five  grains three times a day.                      W.

   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.

  * For some observations relative to the  present simple extract of colocynth of the
London College, employed  in making these pills, suggesting that there may have been
an error in the last edition of the Pharmacopoeia in reference to this  extract, see Ex-
tractum Colocynthidis, at page  1027.—Note to the tenth edition.
  As colocynth differs extremely in quality, and the pills, therefore, prepared from it
by the officinal method, must be of variable strength, Mr. T. Southall has suggested
that the powdered resin of colocynth should be substituted for the extract. The resin
is prepared by digesting the extract in two or three times its weight of rectified spirit
 (Alcohol, U. S.), filtering the solution, and evaporating to dryness.  (Pharm. Journ. and
 Trans, xiv. 321.)— Note to the eleventh edition. 
PART II.
Pilulse.
1179
   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 chemi-
 cally with the copaivic acid or hard 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.   Varieties of copaiba, therefore,  are solidifiable by mag-
 nesia, directly in  proportion to the hard resin they contain, and inversely in
 proportion to the volatile oil;  the soft resin being  indifferent.  According to
 Guibourt,  copaiba, not solidifiable by magnesia, may be made so by adding
 one-sixth of Bordeaux or common European  turpentine.   The magnesia em-
 ployed  should not have been allowed to  become  hydrated  by exposure to a
 moist air or otherwise.  In the preparation of the pills of copaiba, care should
 be taken to divide the mass before it has become too hard.   The advantage 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., Se ser., i. 310.)                                  yy.

   PILULA CUPRI AMMONIATI. Ed.  Pills of Ammoniated Cop-
 per.
   "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.                                                           yy.

   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. 
   1180                            Pilulse.                        PART II.

      PILULA  FERRI CARBONATIS.  U. S, Ed.  Pills of Carbonate
^  of Iron.   Vallet'1 s Ferruginous Pills.
      "Take of Sulphate  of Iron eight ounces; Carbonate of Soda ten ounces;
   Clarified Honey three ounces; Sugar, in powder,  two ounces; Boiling Water
   two pints; Syrup a sufficient quantity.  Dissolve the  Sulphate of Iron and
   Carbonate of Soda, each, in a pint of the Water, a fluidounce of Syrup having
   been previously added to each pint;  then mix the two solutions, when cold, in
   a bottle just large enough to hold 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 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 to drain,
   and  afterwards express as  much of the water as  possible; then immediately
   mix the precipitate with the Honey and Sugar, and, by means  of a water-bath,
   evaporate the mixture,  constantly stirring,  until it is  so far concentrated as to
   have a pilular consistence on cooling." U.  S.
      "Take of the Saccharine Carbonate of  Iron four parts; Conserve of Red
   Roses one part.  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 ferruginous
   preparation, in which the iron is protected  from further oxidation by the same
   means.   The salts  employed are the  same as those used for obtaining the
   officinal subcarbonate of iron ; but, in forming that preparation, the carbonate
   which is  at first precipitated absorbs oxygen, and loses  nearly all its carbonic
   acid in the processes of  washing and drying.   When,  however, as in the U. S.
   formula, above  given, the reacting salts are dissolved  in weak syrup instead of
   water, and the washing  is performed with  weak syrup also, 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 unal-
   tered, and to bring it to the pilular consistence, and this is effected by admix-
   ture with honey and sugar, and  evaporation by means of a  water-bath.  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 process
   is that of M. Vallet, of  Paris, after whom the preparation is popularly called.
   The Edinburgh pill of carbonate of iron is made from  the saccharine carbonate,
   which is  brought to the pilular consistence by being mixed with conserve of
   roses.  This mode of making it 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 and sugar.   (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 corresponding pill, obtained from the sac-
   charine carbonate, may be supposed to contain one-third of ferruginous matter.
     Medical Properties.  The U. S. pill of carbonate of iron, or Vallet's ferru-
   ginous mass, is admirably adapted to cases in which  chalybeate preparations
   are  indicated.   It is considered particularly  useful in chlorosis, amenorrhcea,
   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 
  PART II.       /                Pilulse.                           1181

  continued for a month or six weeks, if improvement take place.   As 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, according to
  the views  of the  prescriber.  There is  little doubt that,  when the alterative
  effects of iron are indicated, Vallet's preparation is one of the best that can be
  employed. Its chief merits are its unchangeableness and ready solubility in acids.
  For further information respecting it, see the favourable report made on Vallet's
  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 Professor Procter,  in the same journal (x. 272).
    Blaud's ferruginous pills, celebrated in France as a remedy in chlorosis, are
  prepared froni  equal weights  of sulphate  of iron and carbonate of potassa,
  made into a pilular mass  with mucilage of tragacanth  and poyvdered liquorice
  root.   They contain, as the result of the double decomposition, carbonate of
  protoxide  of iron, and sulphate of potassa.                            B.

    PILULA  FERRI  COMPOSITA. U. S.   Pilula Ferri Compos-
  ita. Lond.   Compound 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 London  College are essentially  the same as the  above,
  a drachm  of molasses being  substituted for the indefinite  quantity of  syrup'
  and the previous heating of  the mortar ordered.   The London preparation is
  not divided into pills.
   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, whieh 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 Pharmacopoeia, the ope-
 rator should first dissolve the  sulphate of iron,  finely powdered, in the  syrup,
  with a moderate heat, then add the carbonate of soda, stirring till effervescence
 ceases, and lastly incorporate the myrrh.  From two to six pills may be given
 at a dose, three times a day.                                         W.

   PILULA FERRI IODIDI. U. S.   Pills of Iodide of Iron.
   "Take of Sulphate of Iron a drachm;  Iodide of Potassium four scruples;
 Tragacanth, in powder, ten grains; Sugar, in powder,  halfa drachm.   Beat
 them with Syrup so as to form a mass, to be divided into forty pills."  U. S.
  These pills are formed on  the plan proposed by M. Calloud.  The iodide of
 iron results from a  double decomposition between crystallized sulphate of prot-
 oxide of iron and iodide of potassium;  and sulphate of  potassa is at the same
 time formed, which, consequently, is an ingredient  in the pill.   There is also
 present some iodide of potassium, from the fact that it  is taken in a quantity
 more than sufficient to  decompose  all the sulphate of ironv  In forming the
 pill, the sulphate and iodide should be rubbed together till they are thoroughly
 mixed ; after which the sugar and tragacanth should be incorporated, and lastly
 the syrup.  The sugar is intended to protect the  iodide of iron from oxidation.
  This pill is a new officinal  of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850.  It was con-
sidered desirable to have a pill of iodide  of iron; and,  as the officinal iodide
does not  keep well, and is not readily made into pills, it was thought by the 
1182
Pilulee.
PART II.
revisers of our national standard that the process of Calloud, by double decom-
position,  would furnish a convenient extemporaneous pill, which would not be
injured by the presence of a little sulphate of potassa.   But the presence also
of iodide of potassium renders it still more complex, and forms an objection
to it.  This pill should never be kept, but made only when wanted for immedi-
ate use.  It is rather friable in its consistence, and exhales iodine slightly when
made for some time.   As  its taste  is styptic and rather acrid, it may be pre-
sumed to create  some irritation of the stomach before it is dissolved. When
freshly prepared, each pill contains a little over a grain and a half of iodide of
iron.  The therapeutic applications of this pill are the same as those of iodide
of iron.  (See Ferri Iodidum, page 1060.)  For several formulas for making
pills of iodide of iron from the solid iodide directly, see the same page.   B.

   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 sulphate of iron with
the confection of roses, by the tannic acid of which it must be decomposed.
The dose is from five to twenty grains.                              W.

   PILULA GALBANI  COMPOSITA. U.S.    Pilula  Galbani
Composita.  Lond.    Pidul^; Assafcetidje. Ed.    Pilule Assafgjiti-
dje  Composite. Dub.   Compound Pills of Galbanum.
   "Take of Galbanum, Myrrh, each, six  drachms; Assafetida two drachms;
Syrup a sufficient quantity. Beat them together,  so as to form a mass, to be
divided into two hundred and forty pills."  U. S.
   The London College beats together into a  mass two drachms of prepared
galbanum, three drachms, each, of myrrh  and prepared sagapenum, a drachm  *
of prepared assafetida, two drachms of soft soap, and a sufficient quantity of
molasses.   The Edinburgh College takes of assafetida, galbanum, 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.   The Dublin College
takes two ounces of assafetida, and an ounce, each, of  galbanum, myrrh, and
molasses, heats them in a  capsule, by means  of a steam or water bath, and
stirs the mass until it assumes a uniform consistence.
   This compound is given as an antispasmodic and emmenagogue in chlorosis
and hysteria.   The dose is from ten to tyventy grains.                W.

   PILULA HYDRARGYRI. U.S., Ed., Dub. Pilula Hydrargyri.
Lond.  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-half only
of the quantity of materials being used.  The Dublin process differs only in
about doubling the quantity of the materials.   Neither of these Colleges orders
the mass to be divided  into pills.   The Edinburgh process corresponds  with
that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that the relative quantity of the ingre-
dients 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 or blue
mass.  The mercury constitutes one-third of the mass; and consequently the
pill  of our Pharmacopoeia, which weighs three grains, contains one grain of
the metal. 
PART II.
Pilulse.
1183
  The precise condition of the mercury in this preparation is somewhat uncer-
tain.   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 par-
ticles, 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 prot-
oxide of mercury is asserted to have been actually extracted from old mercurial
pill.   Nevertheless, it scarcely admits  of dispute, that the metal, quite independ-
ently of oxidation out of  the body, is capable of producing the peculiar mer-
curial effects when introduced into the stomach, probably undergoing chemical
changes there.   According to M. Mialhe, mercury is slowly converted  into cor-
rosive sublimate in the stomach, under the combined agency of air and chloride
of sodium.   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 disappear.  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 knoyyn to be completely ex-
tinguished, 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.   Some prefer for
the purpose powdered marshmallow root.  Mr. W. Wr. Stoddart has found that
the extinguishment of the mercury, in the officinal process, is very much has-
tened  by rubbing it first yvith the powdered liquorice root,  moistened with a
little distilled water or rose water, and afterwards incorporating the confection.
(Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxviii.  162.)  As the trituration requires to be long
continued, and  renders the process very laborious, it is customary to prepare
the mass by machinery.  At Apothecaries' Hall, in London, the trituration is
effected by the agency of  steam.   The machine there employed consists of  "a
circular  iron trough for the reception of  the materials, in which revolve four
wooden  cylinders, having also a motion on their axis."   A machine for pre-
paring blue mass, capable  of being worked by the hand or by steam-power, has
been invented by Mr. J. W. W. Gordon, of Baltimore, and, having been found
to answer well,  is in extensive use.   It is described and figured in the Ameri-
can Journal of Pharmacy (xxi.  6).*  Formerly much of the blue mass used
in this country  was imported;  but at present the market is chiefly supplied by
our own druggists.  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, f

  * Mr. James Beatson, Apothecary of the U. S. Naval Hospital at  New York, found
great advantage in the following mode of preparing the mercurial pill, which, while
much easier than the officinal method, yields the same results.  Instead of mixing  the
mercury with the confection, he first rubs it with the honey directed in the preparation
of the  confection, until the globules disappear, then adds the heated rose water and
sugar,  and lastly the powdered red  roses and liquorice root in succession, all in  the
officinal proportions. For the quantity of the material directed in  the U. S. process for
confection of roses, he employs 32 ounces  of mercury. (Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxiv. 204.)
  t The mercurial pill is very apt to contain less than the due proportion of the metal.
This was frequently the case with the mass as formerly imported.   The fraud may be 
1184                            Pilulse.                         part n.

   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 exer-
cising the peculiar influence of the remedy upon the system with less irritation.
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 absorption before a suf-
ficient quantity has been administered to act as an irritant.  With a viewHo the
alterative effect upon the digestive organs, one pill may be given every night,
or every other night, at bedtime, and followed in  the morning, if the bowels
should not be opened, by a small dose  of laxative medicine.  From  five  to fif-
teen grains of the mass are occasionally given  as a cathartic, in cases requirinsr
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 purga-
tive.  The blue  mass may often be administered with  advantage, suspended
in water by the intervention of thick mucilage; and it forms an excellent addi-
tion to  the chalk mixture in diarrhoea, particularly that of children, when the
biliary secretion is deficient, or otherwise deranged.                     W.

   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 yvith calomel.*  Mucilage of  gum  arabic alone does
not form a sufficiently plastic mass; but gum and syrup united, as in the  offici-
nal formula, answer admirably well, forming a mass which is easily made into
pills, and which readily yields to the solvent power of the stomach.     AY.

detected by the following plan of estimating the proportion of mercury, suggested by
Prof. Reid, of New York, and modified by a committee of the Philadelphia 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 uncondensed 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  expel-
led, serves to wash out any mercury that may be  condensed upon its sides.  The al-
cohol is poured off from the  condensed  mercury, which  is then washed with fresh
alcohol,  dried, and weighed. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvii. 151 and 309.)
  * In order to test the point of this presumed incompatibility, Prof. Procter, at our re-
quest, made some experiments, from which it resulted that a hot solution of pure white
Castile soap, allowed to cool, produces no change in calomel with which it is agitated;
but that, if the same solution is heated with calomel, a somewhat vigorous  reaction
takes place, resulting, by double decomposition, in the production of chloride of sodium,
and oleo-margarate of the protoxide of mercury.  But the experiment does not decide,
whether long contact between calomel and soap, as in the form of pill, might not be fol-
lowed by the same effects as when heat is employed.   There can be no doubt of the in-
compatibility of calomel and common soap with an excess of alkali.—Note to the tenth
edition. 
PART II.
Pilulse.
1185
   PILULA  IPECACUANHA  CUM  SCILLA. Lond.    Pill of
Ipecacuanha with Squill.
   "Takeof Compound Powder of Ipecacuanha [Dover's powder] three drachms ;
Squill, recently powdered, Ammoniac, in powder, each, a drachm; Molasses a
sufficient quantity.  Beat them together so as to form a mass." 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 Ipecacu-
anha 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 ipecacuan and
opium," to designate the preparation which  they now call "compound powder
of ipecacuanha."   These pills are narcotic and sudorific.  The quantity 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.   Piluljs Opii sive Theraic2e.  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." Ed.
   The process of the U.  S. Pharmacopoeia is designed merely to furnish a  con-
venient 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 than to
give a due consistence, and is therefore  in small proportion.  Each pill  con-
tains 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
Pilulse Saponis Compositse of the other Pharmacopoeias, but the name given
to the preparation indicates that there could be no intention to conceal its na-
ture ; while the direction to divide the mass into pills of five grains, each con-
taining 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 proba-
bly was merely to separate the particles  of opium by the intervention of sul-
phate 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.
  As hard old opium pills are sometimes preferred, in cases of irritable sto-
mach, in consequence of  their slow solution, it is proper for the apothecary to
keep some in this state to meet the prescription  of the physician.
  Of either of the  officinal pills above directed, one is a medium dose in refer-
ence 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, 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
      75 
1186
Pilulse.
PA1IT II.
proportion Of opium to the acetate varying in different cases.   Besides, to have
two preparations under the same name, one containing twice as much opium as
the other, must lead to confusion, and is altogether objectionable.  The tannic
acid of the confection of roses decomposes a portion of the acetate; but the re-
sulting 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; Honey a sufficient quantity. Mix together the Sulphate of Quinia
and the Gum; then beat them with the Honey so as to form a mass, to be
divided into four hundred and eighty pills." U. S.
   As  the pills made as here directed are apt to become  hard, and of difficult
solubility when long kept, various other excipients have been recommended to
obviate this disadvantage, as honey alone, and confection of roses.  Mr. Edward
Parrish  has long been in the habit of preparing pills of sulphate of quinia, by
taking 20 grains of the salt, adding 15 drops of aromatic sulphuric acid, and
triturating with  a  spatula  until the mixture  assumes a pilular consistence.
Though at first  liquid, the mixture soon thickens, and finally becomes quite
solid.   The officinal sulphate is thus, rendered  more soluble by combining with
an additional eq. of sulphuric acid.  The advantages of this process are the solu-
bility of the resulting pill, and the smallness of its bulk.  A five-grain pill made
in this way is not inconveniently large. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxv. 292.)
   Each  of the officinal pills 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. Pharmacopoeia, 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 pills soft.   The U. S. formula is decidedly pre-
ferable.   According to both, each pill contains three grains of rhubarb.   W.

   PILULA  RHEI  COMPOSITA.  U. S, Ed., Dub.   Pilula  Rhei
Composita.  Lond.   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 fluidrachm.  Beat
them with water so as to form a mass, to be divided into two hundred and forty
pills." U.S.
   The London College takes half of the above quantities of powdered rhubarb,
aloes,  and myrrh; mixes them; then adds half a drachm of soft soap, fifteen
minims of oil of caraway, and sufficient molasses; and beats them all together.
The Edinburgh College takes of rhubarb twelve parts, aloes nine parts, myrrh
and Castile soap, each, six parts, oil of peppermint one part,  and conserve of 
PART II.
Pilulse.
1187
 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
 od of peppermint, when preferred.  The Dublin College uses the same ingre-
 dients, iu the same relative proportions, except that sixteen parts of molasses
 are employed instead of five of conserve of roses. The proportion of molasses
 ("treacle, ' Dub.) is so large that we suspect some error of the press.
    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, maybe taken
 twice a day.                                                  J   w

    PILULA RHEI ET  FERRI. Ed.  Pills of Rhubarb  and Iron.
    "date 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 SAPONIS COMPOSITA. U.S., Dub.  Pilula Saponis
 Composita.  Lond.   Compound Pills of Soap.
    "Take of  Opium, in powder, half an ounce; Soap two ounces.  Beat them
 with water so as to form a pilular mass."  U S.
    The London College takes of opium and liquorice root, each, in powder  two
 drachms, of  soft soap six drachms, and beats them into a mass;  the Dublin
 takes of  opium, in fine powder, half an ounce [avoird.], Castile soap  two
 ounces [avoird.], and of distilled water half a fluidrachm or a sufficiency re-
 duces the soap to fine powder, adds the opium and water, and beats into a mass
    This preparation is useful by affording the opportunity of conveniently ad-
 ministering opium, in  a pilular and readily soluble form, in small fractions of
 a grain.  The name adopted in the Pharmacopoeias was  probably intended to
 conceal the nature of the preparation from the patient.   If soft soap be used
 as directed by the  London College, the resulting preparation has rather  the
 consistence of a paste than of  a  mass suitable for forming pills. (Geo.  Whip-
 ple, Pharm. Journ. and  Trans., xiv. 492.)  One grain of opium is contained
 in  five of the  mass.                                               w

    PILULA  SCILLA COMPOSITA.  U.S., Dub.  Pilula Scilla
 Composita.  Lond. Pilule Scilla. 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, ex-
 cept that it substitutes soft soap for Castile  soap, and a drachm of molasses
 for the sufficiency of syrup; and completes the process in the same manner, but
 without dividing  the mass.  The Edinburgh College takes of squill, in'fine
 powder, five parts; ammoniac, ginger, in fine powder, and Spanish  soap, each,
four parts; conserve of red roses  two parts; mixes the powders;  then adds the
 other ingredients; and beats them into a uniform mass, which  is divided into
 five-grain  pills.  The Dublin  College reduces two ounces [avoirdupois] of
 Castile soap to fine powder, adds half an ounce  [avoird.]  of finely powdered
 opium, and half a fluidrachm or as much  as may be sufficient of distilled
 water, and beats the mixture into  a uniform mass.
  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 may be 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. 
1188
Pilulse. —Plumbum.
PART II.
   PILULA STYRACIS COMPOSITA. Lond.   Pilule  Styracis.
 Ed.   Compound Pill of Storax.
   "Take of Prepared Storax six drachms; Opium, in powder, Saffron, each
 two drachms.  Beat them together,  so as to form a mass." Lond.
   The Edinburgh College takes of  opium and saffron, each, one part, and of
 extract 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., Dub. Liquor Plumbi
 Diacetatis. Land.   Plumri Diacetatis Solutio.  Ed.   Solution of
 Subacetate of Lead.
   "Take of Acetate of Lead sixteen ounces; Semi vitrified 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 the 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 ;  Distilled Water six
pints [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 [Imp. meas.]; lastly filter. Let it be kept in well stopped bottles." 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 [Imp. meas.].   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 [Imp.
 meas.] ;  and then filter.  Preserve the solution in well closed bottles." Ed.
   "Take of Acetate of Lead six ounces [avoird.];  Litharge, in fine powder,
four ounces [avoird.]; Distilled Water two pints [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the
 Acetate of Lead  in the Water, and, when the solution is raised  to its boiling
 temperature, add the Litharge in successive portions, and boil gently for half an
 hour.  Add now as  much distilled water as will supply what has been lost by
 evaporation, and filter through paper into a bottle, which should be furnished
 with an air-tight stopper.   The sp. gr. of this solution is 1-066." 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 proportion 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,  according to
 the highest chemical  authorities, with two additional equivalents  of protoxide, 
PART II.
Plumbum.
1189
 forming a trisacetate; when the two substances are mixed in proportions cor-
 responding with their equivalent numbers, that is, in the proportion 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 produced.  In all the
 officinal processes, the proportions  appear to have been arranged in reference
 to this result.   In executing the process, the litharge  should be  employed in
 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.
   In former editions of the London and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, a different
 process was directed, consisting in boiling  litharge with distilled vinegar, the
 former being in much larger  proportion than  necessary to form the neutral
 acetate.   A diacetate was thus produced; but, as the vinegar was of uncertain
 strength, there was necessarily more or less inequality of strength in the prepa-
 ration.  This process, therefore, has been abandoned.   The solution prepared
 from litharge and distilled vinegar has a pale greenish-straw colour, owing to
 impurities in the vinegar.  Made with common vinegar it is brown.
   Properties.   The  solution  of subacetate  of lead of  the Pharmacopoeias is
 colourless, and of a sweetish, astringent taste.   When concentrated by evapo-
 ration, it deposits on cooling crystalline plates, which, according to Dr. Barker,
 are flat rhomboidal prisms, with.dihedral summits.   It has  an alkaline reac-
 tion, tinging the syrup of violets green, and reddening turmeric paper.   One
 of its  most striking properties is the extreme facility with which it is decom-
 posed.   Carbonic acid throws down a white precipitate of carbonate of lead;
 and this happens 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 atmo-
 sphere.  It affords precipitates also with the alkalies, alkaline earths, and their
 carbonates, with sulphuric and muriatic acids free or combined, with hydrosul-
 phuric acid and the hydrosulphates, with the soluble iodides and chlorides, and,
 according to Thenard, with solutions of all the neutral salts.   Solutions  of
 gum, tannin, most vegetable colouring principles, and many animal substances,
 particularly 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
 alkaline  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 should be removed as fast as they become dry.   It
 always, however, requires to be diluted.  From four fluidrachms to a fluidounce,
 added to a pint of distilled water, forms a solution  sufficiently strong in ordi-
 nary 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.   The solution  has the common name  of Goulard's ex-
tract, derived from a surgeon of Montpellier, by whom  it was introduced into
general notice, though previously employed.
   Off.  Prep. Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis ;  Ceratum Saponis; Liquor Plumbi
Subacetatis Dilutus.                                                 W. 
1190
Plumbum.
PART II.
   LIQUOR PLUMBI SUBACETATIS DILUTUS. U.S.   Liquor
 Plumri  Diacetatis  Dilutus. Lond.   Plumbi  Subacetatis  Liquor
 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 spir-
 it ; the Dublin, two fluidounces  of  the solution, with half a gallon  [Imp
 meas.] of distilled water,  and two fluidounces 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 en-
 ables the apothecary to furnish clear lead-water when it  is called for.' The
 strength of the U.S.  preparation, though double what it formerly was,  might
 be still further increased with propriety.  The London preparation is much too
 feeble.  The Dublin solution  is about one-third  stronger than that of our own
 Pharmacopoeia.  The old French Codex directed two drachms of the strong solu-
 tion 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 proportion of
 proof spirit added by the British Colleges can have little effect.  The prepara-
 tion should be as much  as possible excluded from the air.              W.

   PLUMBI IODIDUM.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.   Iodide of Lead.
   "Take  of Nitrate of Lead, Iodide of Potassium, each, four ounces;  Distil-
 led Water a sufficient quantity.   With the aid of heat,  dissolve  the Nitrate
 of Lead in  a  pint and  a half, and the Iodide of Potassium in half a pint  of
 Distilled Water, and mix  the solutions.  Having allowed the insoluble matter
 to subside, pour off the  supernatant liquid,  wash the precipitate with  Distilled
 Water, and dry it yvith  a  gentle  heat." U S.
   "Take of Acetate of Lead eight ounces;  Iodide of Potassium seven ounces;
 Distilled Water  a gallon  [Imperial  measure].   Dissolve  the Acetate  in six
 pints of the Water, and filter; and to these add the Iodide of Potassium pre-
 viously dissolved in two pints of the Water.  Wash the precipitate with cold
 distilled water and dry it.   Let it be kept excluded from the light."  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 gallons 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 crys-
 tallize  on cooling." Ed,
  The Dublin process differs from that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia simply in
 the use of a much larger proportion of water of solution, and in directing the
 two solutions to be cold before being mixed.
  In the U. S. process the nitrate 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 nitrate of potassa thus formed re-
 mains in solution, while the iodide of lead is precipitated.  The saturating pro-
 portions of nitrate of lead  and iodide of potassium are 165-6 of the former and
 165-5 of the latter, or almost precisely equal quantities.  The proportions should
be as nearly as possible those of  exact saturation.  An excess of the iodide of
potassium, independently of the waste, has the disadvantage of holding a portion
 of the  iodide of lead iu  solution; while, according to  Christison, an excess of
lead over the iodine disposes to  the formation of the lemon-yellow insoluble 
PART II. •
Plumbum.
1191
 oxyiodide of lead.  By the use of equal quantities of the two  salts, these dis-
 advantages are avoided.  As iodide of lead is slightly soluble in cold water, it
 is desirable to use as little of the menstruum  as  will answer; and hence the
 comparatively small proportion of water employed in the U. S. process.
   The Edinburgh and Dublin  processes are based upon the  same principle as
 that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   In both,  however,  an  unnecessarily large
 proportion of water is employed.  The iodide of potassium of commerce is apt
 to be contaminated with carbonate of potassa,  which occasions a precipitation
 of carbonate of lead.  It is to free the precipitated iodide of lead from this im-
 purity, and from  any oxyiodide that may be formed by an accidental  excess of
 lead,  that the Edinburgh College directs it to be boiled with water acidulated
 with  acetic acid, which dissolves any carbonate  or oxide of lead present, as well
 as the iodide, and deposits only the last upon  cooling.   But some waste is in-
 curred in this operation; and it would be  better to ascertain beforehand that
 the materials employed are pure.
   In the process  of  the London College, acetate of lead is used instead of the
 nitrate.  In the Pharmacopoeia of 1836, an excess of the acetate was  directed;
 but the error was corrected in the last edition.   There are, hoyvever, other objec-
 tions to this process. Acetate of lead is very liable to contain an excess of the
 oxide, and, as iodide of potassium is often impure, it follows that a portion of
 oxyiodide of lead will be very apt to form, even when the two materials are used
 apparently in mutually saturating proportions. 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 that salt before mixing  it with the iodide of potassium.
   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. 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 con-
 tact.   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., Se ser., xi.  274.)
   From the above remarks it would appear that the process of the U. S. Phar-
 macopoeia is on the.whole to be preferred, and especially over that in which the
 acetate of lead is used, as the nitrate is more easily obtained pure.    Some in-
 teresting experiments have been made by M. T. Huraut, of  Paris,  on the dif-
 ferent methods of preparing iodide of lead.  It may be obtained by the reaction
 between any of the soluble iodides and the soluble salts of  lead.   It resulted
 from  his observations that of  the two  salts of  lead employed, the nitrate was
 to be preferred, and of the various iodides, though iodide of potassium yielded
 a very handsome  product, yet iodide of calcium  afforded one  not inferior in
 quality, and  somewhat  greater in quantity.   Upon a small  scale,  as the pro-
 cess is performed  by  the apothecary, the difference  would be of little or no con-
 sequence; but it might be important to the manufacturer. (See Am. Journ. of
 Pharm., xxi. 228.)
  As obtained by the U. S., London, and Dublin processes, iodide of lead is in
the form of a bright-yellow, heavy, tasteless, inodorous  powder.  It is soluble
in 1235 parts of cold water (Soubeiran, Trait,  de Pharm.), and 194 of boiling
water, which, on  cooling, deposits it in minute, shining, golden-yellow, crystal-
line 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 
1192
Plumbum.—Potassa.
♦ PART II.
 violet in consequence of the disengagement of the iodine.  It consists of one
 equivalent of iodine 126-3, and one of lead 103-6 = 229-9. As a test of its pu-
 rity, the Edinburgh College states that five grains are entirely dissolved, with
 the aid of heat, by a fluidrachm of pyroligneous acid, diluted with a fluidounce
 and a half of distilled water; and golden crystals are copiously deposited when
 the solution cools.  According to the London Pharmacopoeia, 100 grains of it
 dissolved at a boiling heat in nitric acid diluted with two parts of  water, will'
 after the expulsion of the iodine, yield with sulphate of soda, a precipitate of
 sulphate  of lead weighing 66  grains.  It should be kept excluded from the
 light.  It is stated by Englehardt that iodine is separated from iodide of lead
 by the perchlorides of iron and copper, while the other metallic chlorides,
 whether bichlorides,  sesquichlorides,  or protochlorides,  have no such effect'
 producing compounds of iodides of the metal employed with chlorides of lead'
 (Chem.  Gaz., Jan. 15, 1856, p. 24.)
   Medical Properties and Uses. This  compound is supposed to have the re-
 solvent 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  j
 without inconvenience.
   Off. Prep.  Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi.                             W.
                                                                          "i

                              POTASSA.

                      Preparations of Potassa.                       *

   LIQUOR POTASSA.  U. S., Lond.    Potassa Aqua. Ed.  Po-  i
 iassm Caustics Liquor. Dub.  Solution of Potassa.
   " Take  of Carbonate of Potassa a pound; Lime half a pound; Boiling Dis-  *
 tilled Water a gallon.   Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in half a gallon of  1
 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.   The specific gravity of this solution is 1-056."  U. S.
   "Take of Carbonate of Potassa fifteen ounces; Lime eight  ounces;  boiling
 Distilled Water  a gallon [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the Carbonate in half a gal-
 lon 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 li-
 quors 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.  The specific gravity is  1-063."  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 yvith  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 
PART II. „
Potassa.
1193
     the whole into a deep narrow glass vessel for  twenty-four hours; and then
     withdraw 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,
        "Take of Pure Carbonate of Potash one pound [avoirdupois]; fresh-burned
     Lime ten ounces [avoird.]; Distilled Water one gallon  and seven  ounces
     [Imp. meas.].   Slake the Lime with seven  ounces of the Water.  Dissolve the
     Carbonate  of  Potash in the remainder of  the Water, and, having raised the
     solution to  the boiling point in a clean iron vessel, gradually mix with it the
     slaked Lime, and continue the ebullition for ten minutes with constant stirring.
     Remove the vessel now from the  fire, and when, by the subsidence of the insolu-
     ble matters,  the supernatant liquor has become  perfectly clear, transfer  it by
     means of a  syphon to a green glass bottle, furnished with an air-tight stopper.
     The specific gravity of this solution is 1-068." 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 yvhich take place are most  intelli-
     gibly explained by supposing the occurrence of a double decomposition.  The
     lime of the  hydrate of lime, by its superior affinity, combines with the carbonic
     acid, and precipitates as carbonate of lime ;  while the water of the hydrate of
     lime unites with the  potassa, and remains in solution as hydrate  of  potassa.
     The proportion indicated by theory for this decomposition would be 69-2 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 formulas
     the alkaline salt is treated with half its weight of lime;  in the London,  with
j*;^   eight-fifteenths ; and in the Dublin, with five-eighths ; proportions, the lowest
^^ of which  exceeds the theoretical quantity.  The proportion  of water employed
 K has a decided influence on  the result. If the yvater be deficient in quantity, the
Ip-  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
$p/  the carbonate  than  if the solutions were  more  dilute.   Taking the lime  at
     three ounces in each  formula, the quantity of water directed in  ounces is ex-
p£   pressed by the following numbers nearly;  61 £ Ed,  60^ U. S., 54 Lond., and
£'..   45 Dub.  Straining must  not be used ; as it causes a prolonged contact yvith
f -'.   the air, and risk of  the absorption of  carbonic acid,  and is  apt, moreover,  to
■     introduce organic matter from the strainer into the solution.  The direction to
P;   keep the  solution in  green glass bottles  is judicious;  as white flint glass is
     slightly acted on,  and contaminates the solution with lead.
       As the  solution of potassa is made  by the manufacturing chemist in  con-
     siderable  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;  allow-
     ing 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 indications.
    In conducting the process, several advantages are gained by keeping the solu- 
1194
Potassa.
part it.
 tion constantly boiling.   One is that the carbonate of lime formed is  in this
 way rendered granular and heavy, and more disposed to subside ; another, that
 it prevents the precipitated carbonate from coalescing into a mass at the bot-
 tom 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 those introduced into the last edi-
 tions of the Edinburgh  and Dublin Pharmacopoeias.
   According to Prof. Wohler, solution of pure hydrate of potassa for analytic
 purposes may be conveniently obtained by exposing for half an hour to a mode-
 rate red heat, in a copper  crucible, one part of pure nitre, and two or three
 parts of  copper cut into small pieces.  The resulting mass, consisting  of hy-
' drate of potassa and black oxide  of copper, is treated with water, and the solu-
 tion poured into a narrow cylindrical vessel, where it  is left until it gets per-
 fectly clear by the deposition of  the oxide  of copper.   It  is then drawn off,
 and kept in well stopped bottles.  (Chem.  Gaz.,~Nov. 15, 1853, p. 429.)  Graf
 and Riegel assert that hydrate of potassa, thus obtained, contains nitrate and
 nitrite  of potassa;  but  Dr. A. Geuther found it perfectly pure, when the  pro-
 cess was properly conducted. (Chem. Gaz., June 1, 1856.)   A pure hydrate
 may also be obtained by the process of Dr. Mohr, of Coblentz, which consists
 in precipitating solution of sulphate of potassa with caustic baryta, obtained
 from the nitrate.   Thus  procured, the alkali is  entirely free from  chlorine,   \
 silica, and sulphuric acid.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xvi. 310.)             i
   Properties, dec.   Solution of potassa is a limpid, colourless liquid, without  j
 smell, of an acrid caustic  taste, and alkaline reaction.   It acts rapidly on ani-  A
 mal and  vegetable substances, and, when  rubbed between the fingers, produces "M
 a s,oapy feel, in consequence of a partial  solution of the cuticle.  It dissolves M
 gum, resins, and extractive matter, and forms soap with oily and fatty bodies. "M
 The U. S., Lond., and Ed. solutions  are  never  pure, but contain  either unde-  J
 composed carbonate, or free lime, in  addition to minute portions  of sulphate
 of potassa, chloride  of potassium, silica,  and alumina;  impurities usually   ';
 present in the carbonate of potassa from pearlash, which is used in their pre-  j|
 paration.   The Dublin solution, being obtained from pure carbonate of po-  <^
 tassa, is purer.   Undecomposed carbonate may be detected in the manner ex-
 plained in the preceding paragraph, and free lime, by the production of a milky  *J
 appearance on the addition of  a few  drops of carbonate  of potassa, which
 precipitates the lime as a carbonate.  W^hen  saturated with nitric  acid, the
 solution  should give little or no precipitate with carbonate of soda, chloride
 of barium, or nitrate of  silver.   The presence of lead is detected by a black
 precipitate produced by hydrosulphuret of  ammonia.   When solution of po-
 tassa is used as  a test for diabetic urine, it should be free from lead, the presence
 of which renders the indications of the test  ambiguous. (See Wood's Practice
 of Med.,  4th ed., ii. 586.)  With  chloride of platinum it produces a yellow pre-
 cipitate, showing that the alkali present is potassa.  It is incompatible with acids,
 acidulous salts, and all metallic and earthy preparations held in solution by an
 acid ; also with all ammoniacal salts, and with calomel and corrosive sublimate
 The officinal solutions of  potassa vary in strength ; the U. S. solution having
 the  sp.  gr. 1-056 ; the London, 1-063; the Edinburgh, 1-072 ; and the Dublin,
 1-068.   These  solutions are quite dilute ; that of  the London College, which
 is of medium strength, containing only 6-7  per cent, of potassa.  On account
 of  its strong attraction for carbonic acid, solution of  potassa should be care-
 fully preserved  from contact yvith the air.   In consideration of the change to
 which it is liable by keeping, Prof. Procter is in the habit of making it extem-
 poraneously, by dissolving half a drachm of good, white  potassa iu a fluid- 
PART II.
Potassa.
1195
 ounce of water, which gives a solution of about the same strength as the offi-
 cinal.                                                               j>
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Solution of potassa is antacid, diuretic, and
 antilithic.  It has been much employed in calculous complaints, under the im-
 pression that it has the property of dissolving urinary concretions in the kid-
 neys 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 superabundant  secre-
 tion 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 cal-
 culi  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 cutaneous
 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 in-
 creased 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
 maybe given in sweetened water or some mucilaginous fluid.   Yeal 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 sto-
 mach.  Oils and  the  milder acids, such-  as vinegar and lemon-juice, are the
 antidotes  to its poisonous action.   They operate by neutralizing the alkali.
   It is employed pliarmaceutically  in the preparation of Oxide  of Antimony,
 Precipitated Sulphuret of Antimony, Ethereal Oil, Hydrated Peroxide of  Iron,
 Magnetic Oxide of Iron, and Oxide of Silver.
   Off. Prep.  Potassa ; Potassa cum Calce.                           W.

   POTASSA.  U.S., Ed.   Potassa  Hydras. Lond.  Potassa Caus-
 tica. Dub.  Kali Purum.   Potassa.   Hydrate of Potassa.   Caustic
 Potassa.
   " Take  of Solution of  Potassa a  gallon.  Evaporate  the Solution 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 bottles."
 U.S.                                            'IF
   The London formula is essentially the same as the above.
   "Take  any convenient quantity of Aqua Potassas; evaporate it in a clean
 and covered iron vessel, increasing gradually the heat, till an oily-looking fluid
 remains, a drop of yvhich, when removed on a  rod, becomes hard on cooling.
 Then pour out the liquid upon a bright iron plate, and  as  soon as it solidi-
 fies, break  it quickly, and  put it into glass bottles secured  with glass stoppers."
 Ed,
 ^  "Take of Solution of Caustic Potash any convenient quantity. Boil it in a
silver or bright iron vessel, until its  water has been evaporated away, and  then
raise the temperature until ebullition ceases, and a liquid is obtained which flows
like oil.   Pour this out upon a silver or iron dish, and, the moment it has set, 
1196
Potassa.
PART II.
 break it into fragments, and enclose these in a green glass bottle, furnished with
 an air-tight stopper." Dub.
   The  concrete alkali, obtained by these processes, is the hydrate of potassa,
 sufficiently  pure for medicinal purposes.   The solution of the alkali freed from
 carbonic acid having been obtained by another formula  (see Liquor Potaxsv)
 the formation of the present preparation requires merely the evaporation of this
 solution, until the whole of  its uncombined water is driven off.  The evapora-
 tion must 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 or
 dish, 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 formulas.   These should be made of iron and
 have a  cylindrical shape, which is the  most convenient form  of the alkali for
 surgical use.   Green glass bottles with ground stoppers are best adapted  for
 preserving  this preparation; as white flint glass is slightly acted on.
   Properties, dbc. In its officinal 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 and very deli-
 quescent, and dissolves in less than  its weight of water, leaving but a slight
 residue. Its aqueous solution agrees in properties with Liquor Potassas.   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 accu-
 rately stopped bottles.   In the state here described, the alkali is united with
 water, forming hydrate of potassa.   As obtained by the U.  S., London, and
 Edinburgh  formulas, it contains various impurities,  which, however, do not in-
 terfere  with its medicinal value; such as chloride  and  teroxide of  potassium,
 sesquioxide of iron, lime, silica, alumina, sulphate of potassa, and a portion
 of the alkali still in a carbonated state.  The insoluble impurities, according
 to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, should not exceed 1-25 per cent.   The Dub-
 lin alkali, being  obtained from  a solution  derived  from  pure  carbonate  of
 potassa, is  purer than that of the  other Pharmacopoeias.   Officinal  potassa
 may be rendered nearly pure by digestion in alcohol, which  takes up only the
 hydrated alkali, evaporating the solution to dryness,  and fusing the dry mass
 obtained.   Hydrate of potassa, when thus procured, is called alcoholic potassa.
 It is generally in flat white  pieces, which  are dry, hard, brittle, and  extremely
 caustic.   Its other properties are similar to those of the impure hydrate above
 described.   According  to Mr. H.  Wurtz,  of New  lrork, alcoholic potassa
 usually  contains a trace  of silicate of potassa, which appears to be taken  up
 by the  alcohol.   The source of  this is the carbonate of potassa employed,
 which may  be freed from this impurity by evaporating its aqueous solution, in
 a sheet  iron dish, to dryness, and adding, from time to time, lumps of carbonate
 of ammonia.   The silicate is thus converted into the carbonate ; and, on dis-
 solving  the residue, the silica appears in flakes, which may be separated by fil-
 tration. (N. Y. Journ. of Pharm., F'eb. 1852.)  Potassa may be discriminated
from  the other fixed alkalies (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 chloride  of platinum.  The officinal potassa, apart from
impurities,  consists of one eq. of dry potassa 47'2, and one of water 9=56*2.
Dry potassa is composed of one eq. of potassium  39*2, and one  of oxygen
8=47'2. (See Potassium.)                                            B. 
PART II.
Potassa.
1197
   Medical Properties and Uses.  This is the old causticum  commune  acer-
 rimum, or strongest  common caustic.   It is  a 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 nitrate  of silver or lunar caustic, to which it is, therefore, pre-
 ferred in 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 destruction of the lining membrane, as
 to open a  passage for  the urine into  the cellular tissue.   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 opening in
 its centre corresponding with the intended size of the issue, and then to rub upon
 the skin, within the opening, a piece  of the caustic previously moistened at one
 end.   The application is to be 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 employed for forming solu-
 tions of potassa  of definite strength, whether for medicinal or pharmaceutic
 use.  A solution of one drachm  and a half of caustic potassa in  two fluid-
 ounces  of distilled water, was highly recommended by the late 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 powerful rubefacient effect.*
   The  U.  S. Pharmacopoeia  employs caustic potassa  in the  preparation of
 Ether, and Black  Oxide of Mercury.
   Off. Prep. Potassa  cum Calce; Potassii  Iodidum.                  W.

   POTASSA  CUM CALCE. U. S., Lond., Ed.   Potassa Caustica
 cum  Calce. Dub.   Potassa with Lime.
   "Take of Potassa, Lime, each, an ounce.  Rub  them together, and keep
 the mixture in a well stopped bottle." U S.
   The London and Dublin formulas  are the same as the above.
   "Take any convenient quantity of Aqua Potassas; 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.
   The U. S., London,  and Dublin preparation is a  mixture of equal parts of
 hydrate of potassa and lime.   The Edinburgh College employs 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 U. S., London,  and Dublin preparation is a  powder, sometimes called
 Vienna caustic.   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 fif-
 teen minutes, and is conveniently limited in its operation  by a piece of adhesive
 plaster, in the manner  explained under potassa.   The Edinburgh  preparation

  * At the suggestion of Dr. Maunoury, of Chartres, M. E. Robiquet has prepared a
 paste consisting of  gutta percha and caustic potassa, which offers many advantages of
 manipulation, in the application of the latter substance.  It  is prepared  by simply
 melting together equal weights of the two substances.  The resulting paste can be
 moulded into any form that may be  thought desirable, either of cylinders, plates, or
lozenges, and retains its form indefinitely, even when introduced into cavities.  All that
is necessary, before applying it, is to dip it into alcohol for a few seconds.  The resulting
eschars are very precise in their form, which maybe whatever the surgeon may choose.
 (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim. xxx. 275.)—Note to the eleventh edition. 
1198
Potassa.
part n.
 is in the form of a firm pulp, formerly called causticum commune mi/ius or
 milder common caustic.  Potassa with lime is a more manageable caustic than
 the officinal  potassa, on account of 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.  Dr. Filhos has improved this 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 nor-
 tions; 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.  M. E. Robiquet  has modified the caustic, by fusing the potassa
 and lime at a higher heat, running the fused mass into iron moulds, and quickly
 coating the sticks, when cold, with melted gutta percha.  The higher heat em-
 ployed renders the caustic harder and more homogeneous.              B.

  'POTASSA  ACETAS. U. S,  Lond.,  Ed., Dub.  Acetate  of Po-
 tassa.
   "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 saturated;
 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  Acetic Acid twenty-six fluidounces [Imp.  meas.]; Carbonate of
 Potassa a pound, or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water twelve fluidounces
 [Imp. meas.].  To the Acid, mixed with the Water, gradually add the Carbo-
 nate 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  [acetic acid, sp.gr. 1-034] 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 accom-
 plished.  Evaporate the solution 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 Pure Carbonate of Potash  one pound [avoirdupois];  Acetic Acid
 of Commerce (sp.gr. 1-044) two pints  [Imp. meas.].  To the Acid, placed in
 a porcelain capsule, gradually add the Carbonate of Potash, and, when efferves-
 cence has ceased, boil for a couple of minutes.   Add now, if necessary, a few
 drops of the  same Acetic Acid,  so  that the solution may  have a  slightly acid
 reaction; and, having evaporated to dryness, melt the residue, by the cautious
 application of heat,  in a clean pot  of cast iron.  The liquefied salt is now to
 be  removed from the fire, and when, upon  cooling,  it has solidified, it should
 be  quickly broken into fragments of a  suitable size, and enclosed in a bottle,
 furnished with an air-tight stopper." Dub.
   The process for  forming  this acetate  is a case  of single elective  affinity.
 The form of acid for generating the salt directed in the several Pharmacopoeias
is officinal acetic acid;  the pyroligneous acid of the Edinburgh College  being
equivalent to that acid.  Distilled vinegar should never be employed to form
this salt, on account  of its containing organic matter, which gives the solution,
when concentrated, a reddish or brownish colour.  When  acetic acid is used a 
PART II.
Potassa.
1199
 colourless solution is obtained.  This is evaporated to dryness, according to the
 U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, and to such an extent as to concrete into a
 mass when cold, according to the  Edinburgh.  The Dublin College fuses the
 dry salt, and obtains it as a solid mass on cooling.  When fusion is resorted to
 great care must be taken not to use too high a heat;  otherwise  part of the
 acetic acid will be decomposed, and a colourless salt will not be obtained.  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 predominate, it will react upon the acetic acid
 when the solution  is concentrated,  and give rise to discoloration.
   Acetate of potassa may also be  obtained 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 con-
 tain a little lead.   Another  method by double  decomposition  is between ace-
 tate of lime and sulphate of potassa.
   Properties, dec. Acetate of potassa when pure is a white salt, perfectly  neu-
 tral to test paper, unctuous to the  touch, and of 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 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 deliquescent, and, if exposed to
 the air, becomes converted into a liquid of an oleaginous appearance.  It is on
 account of this property that it must always be preserved in well stopped bot-
 tles.   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 decomposed into acetone and carbonate
 of potassa; the acetic acid being resolved into this volatile liquid and carbonic
 acid.  When treated with sulphuric acid, acetous vapours are copiously evolved,
 and sulphate of potassa is formed.  One hundred grains of the salt, decomposed
 by sulphuric acid, furnish a salt (sulphate of potassa), which, after exposure to
 a strong heat, weighs 88-8 grains. (Lond. Pharm.)  The most usual impurities
 contained in it are  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 a soluble chloride, by nitrate of silver
 added to a dilute solution.   If the nitrate be added to a concentrated solution,
 crystals of acetate of silver will be precipitated, soluble in water or dilute nitric
 acid.  With chloride of  platinum  it  yields a yellow* precipitate, showing it to be
 a salt of potassa.   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 sul-
 phuretted hydrogen 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 subjected to adulteration. Acetate of potassa
is incompatible with the mineral  acids, which  expel the acetic acid; with the
sulphates of soda and magnesia; with corrosive sublimate and nitrate of silver;
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*2, and two of water 18=116-2. 
1200
Potassa.
PART II.
    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 eifect.
 The late Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, considered it to be a medicine of great eflh
 cacy, and one of our best saline  deobstruents.   Dr. J. A. Eastern, of Glasgow,
 has found it a useful remedy in several skin diseases, such as psoriasis, eczema'
 and lepra.  Cases which had resisted the ordinary  remedies were cured, after a
 treatment occupying from three  weeks to two months.   The dose given by Dr.
 Easton was half a drachm, three times a day, dissolved in water.  The remedy
 seemed to act through the kidneys, the urine being remarkably increased, both
 in its aqueous and solid contents.  The late Dr. Golcling Bird, treated a'lar"-e
 number of cases of acute rheumatism with remarkable  success with this saft.
 The  pain of the disease declined  as soon as the urine became alkaline, and rose
 in specific gravity.  The dose given,  in twenty-four hours, was half'an ounce
 in divided doses, largely diluted with water.  (Braithwaite's Betrospect, Am.
 ed., July,  1854, p. 43.)  Acetate of potassa may  be made extemporaneously
 in the liquid form by saturating distilled vinegar  with  carbonate of potassa.
 Two drachms of the carbonate, saturated with vinegar, will sometimes produce
 in hydropic cases ten or twelve stools, and a copious discharge of urine.   (Dun-
 can.) 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 Wohler have shown that the acid of these salts undergoes
 decomposition in the digestive 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. Pilulas Rhei; Tinctura Ferri Acetatis.                   B.

   POTASSA  CARBONAS.  U. S, Lond., Ed.  Potass^ Carbonas
 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 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.
   The London  College, in its Pharmacopoeia of 1851, has  placed this salt in
 the Materia Medica list.  The Edinburgh College  also includes it in the Ma-
 teria Medica list, designating it by this note.  " Carbonate of potash not quite
 pure, obtained by lixiviating, evaporating, and  granulating by fusion and re-
 frigeration the potashes [pearlash] of commerce."
   "Take of Pearlash ten pounds [avoirdupois]; Distilled Water one gallon
 [Imp. meas.].  Pour the Water on the Pearlash, and macerate for a week, oc-
 casionally stirring the mixture.   Filter through  calico, and, having evaporated
the solution nearly to dryness, reduce the heat, and stir constantly with an iron
rod, until granular crystals are obtained.  Let these be immediately enclosed in
 well stopped bottles."  Dub.
   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 Potassae Carbonas Dnpurus.)  By dissolv-
ing it in a due proportion of water, and filtering  the solution, the insoluble im-
purities 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 supe- 
PART II.
Potassa.
1201
 rior affinity of this salt for the water.  The proper way of conducting the puri-
 fication 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 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 process of
 the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.  The prolonged contact of the water with the salt,
 and the occasional stirring of the mixture, ordered by the Dublin College, are
 useful directions.  In no case should the undissolved residue be washed with a
 fresh portion of water; as, by such a proceediug, the foreign salts, which it is
 the object of the process to separate,  would be dissolved.   Iron vessels are di-
 rected, because this metal is not acted on by the alkali, while glass is attacked
 by it  In granulating the salt by stirring, it is better, as recommended by the
 Dublin College, when the solution is brought nearly to dryness, to keep it on
 the fire at a reduced heat 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 resulting salt is not  so pure as when  obtained in the way just de-
 scribed, is to dissolve the pearlash in more than its weight of water, to evaporate
 the solution till it has the sp. gr. 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.
   Properties, &c.  Carbonate of Potassa, as found in the shops, is in the form
 of a coarse granular white powder, having a nauseous, alkaline taste, 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 account of this property, carbonate of po-
 tassa 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  16 per
 cent, of water; and, when decomposed by dilute  sulphuric acid, evolves 26*3
 per cent,  of  carbonic acid. (Lond. Pharm.)  It should be completely soluble in
 water; but, generally, a small insoluble portion is left of earthy  matter.   The
 usual impurities are earthy matter, sulphate of potassa,  chloride  of potassium,
 and silica in the state of  silicate of potassa.  When dissolved  in water  and
 treated with nitric acid in excess, 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.  The nitric solu-
 tion is also precipitated by carbonate of soda, if earthy matter be present.  If
 the indications of these tests are decided, the salt is below the officinal standard
 of purity.  It is incompatible wdth acids and acidulous salts, muriate and acetate
 of ammonia, lime-water, chloride  of calcium, sulphate of magnesia, alum,  tartar
 emetic, nitrate of silver, ammoniated copper and ammoniated iron, sulphate of
 iron and tincture of chloride of iron, calomel and corrosive sublimate, acetate
 and subacetate of lead, and sulphate of zinc.   It is not decomposed by tartrate
 of iron and potassa.
   exposition.   Carbonate of potassa,  after exposure to a red heat, is  an-
 hydrous, consisting of one eq. of carbonic acid 22,  and one of potassa 47*2 =
 69-2.  Obtained by the officinal  formulas, it is, according to Mr. Phillips, a
sesquihydrate, containing 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, thou<tii 
1202
Potassa.
PART II.
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, a diuretic in dropsy, and an antilithic
in gravel attended with red deposits in the urine; but the purpose to which it
is most commonly applied is the formation of the neutral mixture and  effer-
vescing draught. (See Liquor Potassae Citratis.)   It is  also used with ad-
vantage in some cases  of jaundice, in which it probably operates by entering
the circulation, and directly exciting the hepatic function.  It has enjoyed con-
siderable popular reputation  mixed with cochineal  in hooping-cough, and  is
supposed by some, in common with other alkaline remedies, to operate favour-
ably in  pseudo-membranous inflammations of the mucous tissues.  It is con-
sidered among the most effectual remedies in  obstinate cutaneous eruptions, in
which it is employed both internafly 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 a local remedy in cutaneous affections, carbonate of potassa is used in
the form of 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 oint-
ments, by rubbing from ten grains to a drachm with an ounce of lard.
   A  solution of the salt,  on exposure to air, or on the addition of an acid,
deposits flocculi consisting of  hydrate of silica, resulting from the decom-
position of  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 used in the formulae for Precipitated  Sulphuret of
Antimony, and Spirit of Nitric Ether.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Aloes Compositum; Enema Aloes; Extractum Spi-
gelias et Sennas Fluidum ; Liquor Potassas; Liquor Potassas Arsenitis; Liquor
Potassas Carbonatis ; Mistura  Ferri Composita; Potassas  Acetas;  Potassas
Bicarbonas ;  Potassas Sulphas ;  Potassas  Tartras ;  Potassii Bromidum; Po-
tassii Cyanuretum ;  Potassii Iodidum ; Potassii  Sulphuretum ;  Spiritus Am-
monias Aromaticus; Spiritus Ammonias Foetidus.                     W.

   POTASSA  CARBONAS  PURUS.  U.S.  Potass^  Carbonas
Purum. Ed., Dub.   Pure Carbonate  of Potassa.   Salt of Tartar.
   "Take of Bicarbonate of Potassa apound.   Put the Bicarbonate, previously
powdered, into a capacious iron crucible, heat gradually until  the  water of
crystallization is driven off, then  raise the heat to redness, and maintain that
temperature for half an hour.  Having taken the  crucible from the fire, and
allowed it to cool, remove its contents, dissolve them in Distilled Water, filter
the solution, and complete the process by evaporating and  granulating as
directed for Carbonate of Potassa."  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 stir-
ring, lixiviating the product with Distilled Walter, 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 white Bitartrate of Potash two pounds [avoirdupois]; Sesquicar- 
 part ii.                         Potassa.                           1203

 bonate of Ammonia half an ounce [avoird.]; Distilled Water three pints [Imp.
 meas.].  Place the Bitartrate of Potash in an iron pot or crucible, and, con-
 stantly stirring it with an iron rod, expose it to a red heat until vapours'cease
 to be evolved.  Reduce the residuum to a coarse powder, and having boiled it
 for twenty minutes with one quart  [two pints,  Imp. meas.] of the Water, filter
 through paper, washing the  filter and its  contents with the residual pint of
 Water, in which the Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia has been first dissolved. The
 filtered solution is now to be  evaporated to dryness, and, a low red heat being
 finally  applied, the product  is to be rapidly  reduced to  powder  in  a warm
 mortar, and enclosed in well stopped bottles."  Dub.
   In the  U S. process for pure carbonate of potassa, the bicarbonate is ignited,
 whereby it loses its water of crystallization, and second equivalent of carbonic
 acid, and is reduced to the state of carbonate.   As  the bicarbonate  is a very
 pure salt, so the carbonate, obtained from it, is also very pure.
   The  first process of the Edinburgh College is  the same as the above;  the
 second  directs the pure carbonate to be obtained"from bitartrate of potassa, by
 first purifying it by solution and crystallization, and then incinerating it. The
 tartaric acid, which consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, is decomposed,
 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 the bitartrate.   These are carbonate of lime,
 arising from the decomposition of tartrate of lime, alumina, and minute portions
 of the  oxides of iron  and manganese; but, being all insoluble in water, they
 are left behind when the mass is acted on by that liquid, the alkaline carbonate
 being taken up.   Some silicate  of potassa is sometimes dissolved, derived from
 silica, either originally in the bitartrate, or derived from the earthenware  or
 porcelain crucible, in which the ignition is performed.  The Dublin process is
 the same as  the  second Edinburgh, with the additional step  of washing the
 filter and its contents with a  solution of sesquicarbonate of ammonia.  This
 addition to  the filtered solution of the carbonate of potassa supplies any defi-
 ciency in  its carbonic  acid which may have been caused by the previous igni-
 tion ; while, by the  evaporation to dryness, and final exposure to a  low  red
 heat, the  whole of the ammonia is  expelled.
   Pure carbonate of potassa may  also be obtained by deflagrating a mixture
 of two parts of bitartrate of potassa,  and one of nitrate of  potassa.  This
 process has  been objected to on the ground that it gives a carbonate, apt  to
 contain a little of the poisonous cyanuret of potassium.  But this objection
 is unfounded.  It is true, as Engelhardt and Wicke have proved, that the  de-
 flagrated  mass contains cyanate of potassa; but  this is entirely decomposed
 into ammonia and carbonate of potassa, by the subsequent operations  of solu-
 tion and evaporation to dryness, to which the mass is subjected.
   Properties, die.  Pure carbonate of potassa, obtained from the bicarbonate
 or  cream  of tartar, differs from the same salt procured from pearlash, in con-
 taining  no impurities.   With the tests mentioned under the carbonate  it gives
 negative indications, showing the entire absence of foreign substances.  When
 obtained from cream of tartar, it was formerly called salt of tartar, in allusion
 to its source; but at present this name is usually 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, in ordinary cases, every medicinal purpose that could be expected
from the use of the purer salt.
  Medical Properties and Uses.  These are the same with those of the car-
bonate of potassa described in the  preceding article.   The pure carbonate,  on 
1204
Potassa.
part ii.
 account of its freedom from silica, furnishes the best material for forming the
 solution of citrate of potassa, or neutral mixture.
   Off. Prep. Decoctum Aloes Compositum; Liquor Potassas Arsenitis; Mis-
 tura Ferri Composita; Potassas Acetas; Potassas Carbonatis Liquor; Potassas
 Causticas Liquor ; Potassii Iodidum.                                 j3#

   LIQUOR POTASSA  CARBONATIS.  U. S., Lond.  Potassa
 Carbonatis Liquor.  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
 [Imp. meas.].   Dissolve and filter.- The specific gravity is U473." Lond.
   "Take of Pure Carbonate of Potash  ten ounces [avoirdupois];  Distilled
 Water one pint [Imp. meas.]. Dissolve and filter. The specific gravity of this
 solution is 1-310."  Dub.
   This is a solution of carbonate of potassa in water,  and furnishes  a conve-
 nient form for the administration of the salt.  An ounce is dissolved in a fluid-
 ounce of water in the U. S. formula, and in an Imperial fluidounce in the  London.
 In the Dublin solution, half an ounce avoirdupois is dissolved in an  Imperial
 fluidounce.   This statement in relation to the British solutions will be under-
 stood, when the fact is adverted to that the Imperial pint contains twenty fluid-
 ounces.  The London solution is somewhat stronger  than that of the U. S.
 Pharmacopoeia, because the Imperial fluidounce weighs a little less than a fluid-
 ounce, wine measure.   The Dublin process  differs in using the pure carbonate,
 and in furnishing a solution considerably less than half as strong as the U. S.'
 and  London solutions.  Solution of carbonate  of potassa should be colour-
 less and inodorous, and possess the alkaline qualities of the salt from  which it
 is made.  The  dose of the U. S. or London solution is from  ten minims to a
 fluidrachm, diluted with water or other bland liquid.                   B.

   POTASSA BICARBONAS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Bicarbonate
 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.
   In the London Pharmacopoeia of  1851, bicarbonate of potassa is placed in
the list of the Materia Medica.
   "Take of Carbonate of Potash from Pearlash one  pound [avoirdupois];
Distilled Water one quart [two pints, Imp. meas.] ; Muriatic Acid of Com-
merce one pint and  a half [Imp. meas.];  Water three pints [Imp. meas.];
Chalk, in small fragments,  one pound [avoird.], or a sufficient quantity.  Di-
lute the Muriatic Acid with the Water, and having dissolved the Carbonate of
Potash in the Distilled Water, filter the solution into a three-pint bottle, capa-
ble of being tightly closed by a cork, traversed by a glass tube sufficiently long
to pass to the bottom of the solution. A second bottle, in the bottom of which
a few holes are  drilled,  and the mouth of which admits of being closed by a
cork, also traversed  by a glass tube, having been  filled with the Chalk, and
placed in a glass or porcelain jar of the same height with  itself, but of some-
what larger diameter, the exterior ends of  the two tubes are to be connected
air-tight by a tube of vulcanized  Indian rubber.  The cork of the bottle con- 
PART II.
Potassa.
1205
 taining the Carbonate of Potash being  placed  loosely, and  that of the other
 bottle tightly in its place, and the Muriatic Acid having been poured into the
 jar in which is lodged the perforated bottle containing the Chalk, the liberation
 of carbonic acid commences, and as soon as it is judged that a sufficient amount
 of it has been  developed to expel completely the  air from the apparatus, the
 cork of the Carbonate of Potash bottle is to be forced into it quite tight, and
 the process is to be abandoned to itself  for a week.  At the end of  this time
 numerous crystals of the Bicarbonate of Potash will have  formed, which are
 to be removed, shaken in a capsule with twice  their bulk of  cold water, which
 is to be rapidly decanted, next drained, and finally dried on bibulous paper by
 mere exposure to the atmosphere.   The mother liquor, if filtered, and concen-
 trated to one-half,  at a temperature not exceeding 110°, will yield additional
 crystals.   The tube immersed in the solution of Carbonate of Potash will have
 to be occasionally cleared of the crystals with which  it is liable to become
 plugged,  else the process will be suspended." 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 powder;
 mix it with the Carbonate of Potash; triturate them thoroughly together, add-
 ing by degrees a very little water, till a  smooth and uniform  pulp  be formed.
 Dry this gradually at a temperature not exceeding 140°, triturating occasion-
 ally towards the close;  and continue the desiccation till a fine powder be ob-
 tained,  entirely free of ammoniacal odour."  Ed.
   In these processes, the carbonate 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. 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 ab-
 sorbed.   In the U.  S. formula the distilled water taken is about  three times
 the weight of the carbonate.  As the bicarbonate of potassa requires four times
 its weight of water to dissolve it, the quantity  of water ordered in the U. S.
 formula 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
 solution of the whole of the new salt is not intended in the Dublin process,
 which proceeds on the plan of  forming crystals of bicarbonate at once  in  the
 original solution, without concentration  by heat. The filtration directed in the
 IT. S. formula is  ordered on the presumption that the whole of the bicarbonate
 formed is dissolved; and is intended to separate silica, which is always deposited
 during the progress of the saturation, when carbonate of potassa from pearlash
 is employed.   On a small scale the saturation  of the carbonate is best  con-
 ducted 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 ob-
 structed by the crystals formed.   On a large scale the saturation is performed
 in strong  vessels, into which the carbonic acid is driven under pressure.   Sul-
 phuric acid is always used by the manufacturing  chemist for  generating the
 carbonic acid; but in 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
 Dublin  process dilute muriatic  acid is used for  the extrication of the carbonic
 acid, which is effected in  a self-regulating generator of that gas.
   In the  Edinburgh process, carbonate  of ammonia is thoroughly incorpor-
ated 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 
1206
Potassa.
PART II.
carbonic acid, the  carbonate of ammonia is totally decomposed; its carbonic
acid generating the bicarbonate by uniting with the carbonate, and its ammo-
nia being evolved during the drying of the pulp, which is then reduced to a fine
powder. This process is alleged by Dr. Christison to be superior to the other,
"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 po-
tassa 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 carbon-
aceous mass, after having been slightly moistened with water, was subjected 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  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 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
ser., iv. 464.)  The bisalt is also produced when the carbonate is treated with
weak lemon-juice, in forming the citrate. (See page 1209.)
   According to Berzelius, the cheapest method of obtaining the bicarbonate of
potassa is to suspend a concentrated solution of the purified carbonate, contained
in a stoneware dish, within a cask over a liquid undergoing the vinous fermenta-
tion.  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  may prepare this salt with  great facility by suspending
the alkaline solution in the fermenting tun.    The salt in  powder called sal
aeratus, made principally in New England, is, we believe,  prepared in this way.
In composition it is between a carbonate and bicarbonate.
   Properties, die.   Bicarbonate of potassa is in transparent, colourless, crys-
tals, 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 converted into sesqui-
carbonate.  It is insoluble in alcohol.  Exposed to a red heat, it loses 30-7 per
cent., comprising half its carbonic acid and the whole of its water of crystalliza-
tion, and returns to the state of carbonate, which, when  thus obtained, is free
from silica, and otherwise very pure.  This method is now adopted in the U. S.
Pharmacopoeia for obtaining the  pure carbonate, and forms the first process of
the Edinburgh.  Treated with nitric acid in excess, it should give a clear solu-
tion, the transparency of which is not disturbed by chloride of barium, and but
slightly by nitrate of silver.   When a perfect  bicarbonate,  its solution, unless
heated, does not precipitate a solution of sulphate of magnesia.  This negative 
PART II.
Potassa.
1207
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 produces a
white haze merely wdth 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 bicarbonate.  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
47-2, and one of water 9=100-2.
   Medical Properties.  The medical properties of this salt are similar to  those
of the carbonate, to which it is preferable from its milder taste, and greater ac-
ceptability to the stomach.  The dose is from twenty grains to a drachm. Dr.
Garrod, of London, has had great success in the treatment of acute rheumatism
by the use of two-scruple doses of this salt, given in weak solution, every two
hours, day and night, and continued for a few days  after the articular affection
and febrile disturbance have subsided.  The salt probably acts by rendering the
secretions  alkaline, and  by increasing the alkalinity of the blood.  For this
purpose it is much better than the carbonate, which is not well borne by the
stomach when continued for any length of time.
   Off. Prep. Liquor Potassas Citratis; Potassas Aqua Effervescens;  Potassas
Carbonas Purus;  Potassas Citras; Pulveres Effervescentes; Pulveres Efferves-
centes Citrati.                                                        B.

   POTASSA AQUA EFFERVESCENS.  Ed.   Effervescing Water
of Potassa.
   "Take of Bicarbonate of Potash  one drachm; Distilled Water one pint
[Imp. meas.].   Dissolve the Salt in the Water, and transmit through the so-
lution carbonic acid gas under strong pressure." Ed.
   This  preparation may be considered as bicarbonate  of potassa dissolved in
carbonic acid water.  It is, however, altogether superfluous in this country, 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«brisk-
er preparation.  This solution has the general sparkling qualities and acidulous
taste of carbonic acid water; the alkaline taste being  covered in a great mea-
sure by the large excess of carbonic acid.  The after-taste is more purely saline
than that of the corresponding preparation made with soda. (See.Sodee Aqua
Effervescens.)                                                        B.
   POTASSA CITRAS. U. S.   Citrate of Potassa.
   "Take  of Citric Acid ten ounces; Bicarbonate of Potassa fourteen ounces;
Water a sufficient quantity.  Dissolve the Citric Acid in two pints of Water,
add  the Bicarbonate gradually, and, when effervescence has ceased, strain, and
evaporate to dryness, stirring constantly, after a pellicle has begun to form, un-
til the salt granulates; then rub it in a mortar, pass it  through a coarse sieve,
and  put it in bottles, which should be kept closely stopped."  U. S.
   Citrate of potassa was first recognised as  officinal  in  the  U. S. Pharmaco-
poeia of 1850.  It  was known formerly by the name of salt of Biverius. In
the above formula, mutually saturating proportions of the acid and bicarbon-
ate were intended to be employed; the latter  ingredient being preferred, to the
carbonate on account of its greater purity.  The potassa of  the bicarbonate
unites with the citric acid, to  form the citrate  of potassa, and the carbonic acid
escapes, producing effervescence.  The resulting solution is directed to be evapo- 
1208
Potassa.
PART II.
 rated to dryness, as affording the most convenient form for use.  The granulation
 ordered has a tendency to retard the deliquescence of the citrate.
    Citrate of potassa is crystallizable ; but, as procured by the above process  is
 in the form of a white granular powder.   It is inodorous, of a saline, slightly
 bitterish, not unpleasant taste,  deliquescent,  very soluble  in  water' without
 residue, and insoluble in alcohol.  It is stated in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia that
 its solution does not change the colour of litmus;  but we have found a carefully
 prepared specimen slightly to redden the  paper; and the acid used in the pro-
 cess  is theoretically  in slight excess.   By a red heat with exposure to the air
 the salt is decomposed, leaving  a residue  of pure  carbonate  of  potassa.  The
 presence of tartaric acid would be  indicated by a precipitate of bitartrate of
 potassa on the addition of muriatic  acid.
   Medical Properties.  This salt is a grateful refrigerant diaphoretic, and has
 long  been used in the fevers of this countiy, in the  extemporaneous'forms of
 neutral mixture and effervescing draught.   As these require time and a some-
 what careful manipulation in their preparation, it has been found more conve-
 nient to keep the citrate of potassa  ready made, and dissolve it in water when
 wanted for use.  This, solution will no doubt produce the essential diaphoretic
 and  refrigerant effects of the  neutral  mixture or  effervescing draught; but is
 less agreeable to the stomach and palate, because destitute of the carbonic acid
 contained in these preparations.  The dose of the citrate is  from twenty to
 twenty-five grains. (See the next article.)                            W.

   LIQUOR POTASSA CITRATIS.  U. S.   Solution  of Citrate of
 Potassa.  Neutral Mixture.
   " Take of fresh Lemon-juice half a pint; Bicarbonate of Potassa a sufficient
 quantity.  Add the Bicarbonate 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; Bicarbonate of Potassa a sufficient quantity.  Rub the Citric Acid with
 the Oil of Lemons, and afterwards with the Water till it is dissolved; then add the
 Bicarbonate of Potassa gradually till the Acid is perfectly saturated; lastly, filter.
   "Solution of Citrate of Potassa prepared according to these formulas contains
 free carbonic acid, which is deemed a desirable ingredient.  It may also be pre-
 pared by dissolving six drachms of Citrate of Potassa in half a  pint of Water;
 but, made in this way, contains no carbonic acid."  U. S.
   The first two 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 bicarbonate 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 prepared with
 the pure acid it is colourless.   In the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850,  bicar-
 bonate of potassa was substituted  for the  carbonate before  used.  As the
 preparation was formerly made, a flocculent precipitate  was apt to exhibit
 itself in small quantity, owing to the  silicate  of potassa generally present as an
 impurity in the carbonate.   This gave up its base to the citric acid, and the
 silica was deposited in the state of a hydrate.  The bicarbonate is free from this
 impurity, and consequently hydrated  silica is not thrown  down ; nevertheless,
 the solution is still directed to be filtered;  a direction which may be useful,
 when fresh-lemon-juice is used, by separating the  undissolved matters of the
juice,  and m the other case is only surplusage. About 48 grains of the crystals
 of the bicarbonate,  33 grains of the  pure  and  perfectly dry carbonate, or 45 
PART II.
Potassa.
1209
  grains of the hydrated carbonate found in the shops, are sufficient to saturate a
  fluidounce of good lemon-juice; but the strength of the juice is variable, and the
  carbonate 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 inequality of strength in the lemon-juice renders the neutral  mixture
  prepared with it more or less uncertain ; though, if  the apothecary select ripe
  and sound fruit, and express the juice himself, the preparation will be found to
  approach sufficiently near a uniform standard for all practical purposes.  Never-
  theless,  if the physician wish absolute precision, he may  order the neutral mix-
  ture 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; saturate the solution with good  fresh lemon-juice, and strain ; and
  lastly add enough water to make the mixture measure six fluidounces.  A fluid-
  ounce of this solution may be given for a dose.
    In regard to the mode of making the neutral mixture, by simply dissolving
  the citrate of potassa in water, as  permitted in the  third U. S. process above
  given, the preparation may be  improved in flavour, and rendered more agree-
  able to the stomach, by rubbing a drop or  two of oil of lemons with the  six
  drachms of citrate  before dissolving it, and  substituting carbonic acid water
  for pure water  as the menstruum.
   Effervescing Draught. Under this name, the citrate of potassa is often pre-
 pared extemporaneously, and given in the state of effervescence.  The most con-
 venient mode of exhibition is to add to a fluidounce of a mixture consisting 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  bicarbonate.
 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  mentioned 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 bicarbon-
 ate in the preparation of  the effervescing draught, because it will always effer-
 vesce 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.
   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 remittent
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 poyvers of the salt its own cordial  influence over the stomach.  No 
1210
Potassa.
part n.
 preparation with which we are acquainted is equally efficacious in allaying irri-
 tability 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 ex-
 cellent adjuvant in fevers with nervous disturbance.  Should the solution irri-
 tate the  bowels, as occasionally happens, it  maybe  combined with a  little
 laudanum or solution of sulphate of morphia.  Sugar may be added if desired.
   The dose of the officinal solution is  a tablespoonful or half a fluidounce
 which should be somewhat diluted when taken.  The whole of each effervescing
 draught,  prepared as above stated, is to be taken at once.  Each dose  should
 be repeated every hour, two, or three hours, according to the urgency of the
 symptoms.                                                          yy

   POTASSA  NITRAS PURUM. Dub.  Pure Nitrate of Potassa.
   " Take of Commercial Witre four pounds [avoirdupois]; Distilled Water five
pints [Imp. meas.], or a sufficient quantity. Having dissolved the Nitre in two
 pints of the Water at a boiling temperature, let the heat be withdrawn, and the
 solution be stirred constantly as it cools, in order that the salt may be obtained
 in very minute crystals.   These, deprived as much as possible of the uncrystal-
 lized solution by decantation and draining, are to be washed in a glass or earth-
 enware percolator with the  remainder of the Water, or until the liquid which
 trickles through  ceases to give a precipitate when  dropped  into a solution  of
 nitrate of silver.  The contents of the percolator should now be extracted, and
 dried in an oven."  Dub.
   The purified nitre of commerce is sufficiently pure for medicinal use; so that
 this formula of the Dublin College  is quite  unnecessary.   The properties  of
 nitre, and the manner in which it is  purified, have been fully explained under
 another head.  (See Potassae Nitras.)                                 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 pre-
 serve it in well-closed bottles." Ed,
   When the mixture, indicated in this formula, is thrown into a red-hot cruci-
ble, 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 evolu-
tion of sulphurous acid  gas. The product of the deflagration is a grayish-white
friable mass, intermixed apparently with nndecomposing sulphur.
  The nature  of  this preparation has not been well determined.  On the sup-
position that it is sulphate of potassa, mixed with  a portion of sulphur, as the
Edinburgh name implies, its formation may be thus explained.  By the com-
bined influence of the sulphur and heat, the nitric  acid of the nitre is totally
decomposed, and is thus enabled to furnish sufficient oxygen to convert a por-
tion of the sulphur into sulphuric acid, which, as soon as formed, combines with
the base of the nitre,  to form  sulphate of potassa.   This is left mixed with a
portion of sulphur which has escaped combustion ;  but the greater part of the
latter undergoes combustion, and is dissipated as sulphurous acid fumes.
   Supposing the saline matter to be a sulphate containing a little free sulphur,
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 
PART II.
Potassa.
1211
 than it ought to be, even supposing that the residue consisted of nothing but
 sulphate of potassa.
   Dr. Duncan was of opinion that this  preparation could not be viewed as a
 sulphuretted sulphate, and for the following satisfactory reasons.   In the first
 place, it is more soluble in water than  sulphate of potassa,  and forms a yellow-
 ish  solution,  the water  leaving undissolved  only a small residue of a black
 colour, which is not sulphur.   In the second place, it exhales during solution a
 sulphurous smell, and its taste is sulphurous.   These facts  seem to show that a
 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 precipitated by the salts of lead. These
 characters are inconsistent with the  opinion of Mr. John Mackay, of Edin-
 burgh, that the preparation  contains sulphuret of potassium. (See Pharm.
 Journ. and Trans,  for Jan. 1842.)
   Properties,  &c. This salt has an acid and sulphurous taste, and an acid re-
 action with test paper.   When pulverized, it  yields  a pale  yellowish-white
 powder.  It is soluble in eight times its weight of cold water.  It is not a uni-
 form preparation; different specimens, prepared with equal care,  exhibiting
 some difference in properties.   It was called  by the earlier chemists sal poly-
 chrestus 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 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 con-
 tain a portion  of  neutral  salt.   The dose is from half a drachm to  a drachm.
                                                                     B.
   POTASSA BISULPHAS. Ed., Dub.   Bisulphate of Potassa.
   " Take of the residuum of the preparation of Pure Nitric Acid two pounds;
 Sulphuric Acid (commercial) seven fluidounces and one fluidrachm [Impe-
 rial  measure];  boiling Water six pints [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the salt in
 the Water, add the Acid, concentrate the solution, and set  it aside to cool and
 form crystals."  Ed.
   "Take of Sulphate of Potash, in powder, three ounces [avoirdupois]; Pure
 Sulphuric Acid one fluidounce [Imp. meas. ].  Place the Acid and Salt in a small
 porcelain capsule, and to  this apply a heat capable of liquefying its contents,
 and  which should be continued until acid vapours cease to be given off.   The
 Bisulphate, which  concretes as it cools, should be reduced to a fine powder, and
 preserved in a well stopped bottle."  Dub.
   In explaining the Edinburgh formula, it is only necessary to recall to the
 reader's attention a part of the explanations given under the head of Nitric
 Acid.  (Seepage 42.) It was  there stated that, for the  decomposition of nitre
 on the small scale for the purpose of obtaining nitric acid, it is necessary to use
 two eqs.  of sulphuric acid  to  one of the  salt.   Consequently, 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 evapo-
 rated, in order to obtain the salt in crystals.   But  Mr. Phillips states that,
 when bisulphate of potassa is dissolved in water, and the solution is allowed to
 crystallize, some sulphate and  much sesquisulphate are obtained instead of bi-
 sulphate, 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, and, conse-
 quently, the real bisulphate is  obtained in crystals.  In the Dublin process,
 which is  a new one of the Pharmacopoeia of 1850, sulphate of potassa is mixed
with more sulphuric acid than is necessary to convert it into bisulphate, and 
1212
Potassa.
PART II.
 the mixture is exposed to a liquefying heat, which is continued so long as acid
 vapours are given off.  The portion of acid, more  than sufficient  to  form a
 bisulphate, is thus driven  off; so, that the saline matter left is the salt under
 consideration, which, after concreting, is reduced to fine poyvder.
   Properties, dec.  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 extreme-
 ly acid taste.   It is soluble  in twice its weight of cold, and 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, and
 is reduced to the neutral sulphate.    From its excess  of  acid,  it acts'pre-
 cisely 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*2, and two of water 18=145-2.
   Medical Properties and Uses.   Bisulphate of potassa unites the properties
 of an aperient and tonic, and may be given in constipation with languid appe-
 tite, such as often occurs in convalescence.  Dr. Paris states that it forms a grate-
 ful adjunct to rhubarb.  It answers,  also, according to Dr. Barker, for prepar-
 ing an aperient effervescing draught at little expense.   Equal weights, a drachm
 for instance, of the bisulphate and of carbonate of soda, may be dissolved sepa-
 rately, each in two fluidounces of water,  then mixed,  and taken in the state of
 effervescence.   The dose of the bisulphate is one or tyvo drachms.       B.

   POTASSA TARTRAS. U.S., Lond., Ed.,  Dub.   Tartrate  of Po-
 tassa.   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 satu-
 rated, 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.
   In the London Pharmacopoeia of 1851 this salt has been transferred from
 the Preparations to the catalogue of  the  Materia Medica.
   " Take of Bitartrate of Potash three pounds; Carbonate of Potash sixteen
 ounces, or a sufficiency; boiling Water six pints [Imp. meas.].   Dissolve the
 Carbonate in the Water, add the Bitartrate till the  liquor is neutralized, boil
 and filter.  Concentrate the liquor till a pellicle forms on its surface, and then
 set it aside to cool and crystallize.  The residual liquor will yield more crystals
 by farther concentration and cooling." Ed.
   "Take of Carbonate of Potash from Pearlash eight ounces [avoirdupois];
 white Bitartrate of Potash, in fine powder, one pound [avoird.], or a sufficient
 quantity; Distilled Water half a  gallon [Imp. meas.].  Dissolve the Car-
 bonate of  Potash  in the Water, and  to  the solution, while boiling  hot, grad-
 ually add the Bitartrate, until the liquid, after the ebullition has been continued
 for a couple of minutes, ceases to change the colour of blue or reddened litmus.
 Filter through calico, and, having evaporated the  clear liquor until a pellicle
forms on its surface, set it by to crystallize.  After twelve hours pour  off  the
 liquid, and, having dried the crystals on bibulous paper, preserve them  in a
well stopped bottle." 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 eflervescence, and 
PART n;
Potassa.
1213
 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 stir-
 ring, and the  addition continued  so long  as effervescence takes placed 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  precisely the propor-
 tions applicable to  all cases.  It  is necessary that the solution should be ex-
 actly neutral, or a little alkaline ;  and hence, if inadvertently too much bitar-
 trate 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  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 favourably,  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,  dec.   Tartrate of potassa, prepared according  to the officinal
 processes,  is in white  crystals, which are neutral to test paper,  slightly  deli-
 quescent,  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 alco-
 hol.  Exposed to heat it undergoes fusion, swells up, blackens, and is decom-
 posed ; being converted into carbonate of potassa.   For medical use it should be
 crystallized; but, as it ordinarily occurs in the shops, it  is a white granular
 powder, obtained 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 obtained by evaporation
 to dryness, it is liable to contain an excess of  carbonate  or bitartrate of po-
 tassa, 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.  Chloride of barium or acetate of lead occasions a white  pre-
 cipitate of tartrate of baryta or lead, distinguishable from the sulphate of those
 bases by being wholly soluble in dilute nitric acid.   Tartrate of potassa is com-
 posed of one eq. of tartaric acid 66, and  one  of potassa 47-2=113-2.   Ac-
 cording to Berzelius, the crystals contain no water of crystallization.
   Medical Properties.  Tartrate of potassa is a mild cooling purgative,  ope-
 rating, like most of the neutral salts, without much pain, and producing 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. U.S.  Bromide of Potassium.
   "Take of Bromine two ounces; Iron Filings an ounce; Carbonate of Potassa
 two ounces and a drachm, or a  sufficient  quantity;  Distilled  Water four
pints.   Add first the Iron Filings, and afterwards the Bromine, to a pint and 
1214
Potassa.
TART II.
a half of the Distilled Water, stirring the mixture frequently with a spatula
ior half an hour.  Apply a gentle heat, and, when the liquor assumes a green-
ish colour, add gradually the Carbonate of Potassa, previously dissolved in  a
pint and a half of the Distilled Water, until it ceases to produce a precipitate'
Continue the heat for half an hour, and then filter.  Wash the precipitate with
the remaining pint of Distilled Water, boiling hot, and filter.  Mix the filtered
liquors, and evaporate so that crystals may form.   Lastly, pour off the liquid
and dry the crystals on bibulous paper."  U. S.
   Li 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 bro-
mide 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, &c.   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 alcohol.  When
heated it decrepitates, and, at a  red heat,  fuses without decomposition.   The
following characters are given of the salt in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.   "Its
aqueous solution does not affect the colour of litmus or turmeric,  and is not pre-
cipitated by chloride of  barium.   When  mixed with starch, and treated with
sulphuric acid, it becomes yellow.  The salt, when subjected to heat, does not
lose weight.   Ten grains of it require, for  complete precipitation, 14-28 grains
of nitrate of silver, and the precipitate formed has a yellowish  colour."   The
object of adding sulphuric acid 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 chlorine water, and then to introduce a piece
of starched white paper.    If iodine be present, the starch will become violet, or
faintly blue.   The same  test is used by Dr. A. B. Garrod, of London, who has
called attention to  the frequently impure state of this  salt from the presence
of iodide of potassium.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Nov. 1857.)  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 A, and one of potassium 39-2 = 117-6.
   Medical Properties.   Bromide  of potassium is deemed alterative and re-
solvent.   In 1828,  Pourche used it with benefit, both internally  and  in the
form  of ointment, in the treatment of bronchocele and scrofula.  Favourable
results were obtained by the late Dr. T.  Williams, of  London, from its use as
an internal remedy in enlarged spleen.  According to Ricord, it produces effects
in secondary syphilis similar to those of  iodide of potassium,  but  acts more
slowly.   The same  view is taken of its slow action  in syphilis by Dr.  John
Egan.  This surgeon, after experimenting with bromide of potassium for four
years in the Westmoreland Lock Hospital, found its effects, in secondary and
tertiary syphilis, slow and unsatisfactory, when compared with those  of the
iodide.   While the  latter generally increased the appetite and improved di-
gestion, the bromide not  unfrequently produced nausea and derangement of the
digestive organs.  M. Huette,  from extensive trials of the remedy in the same
stages of syphilis, found it inefficacious ; exhibiting, in its effects, a marked con-
trast to iodide of potassium, which rapidly relieved the cases in which the brom-
ide had failed.  (Ann. de Therap., 1851, p. 216.)  Given in large doses  (from
two to five drachms  daily), it produces headache, followed by a peculiar intoxi- 
PART II.
Potassa.
1215
cation, with torpor and drowsiness, slowness of the  pulse, temporary dulness
of sight and hearing, and weakness of the intellectual faculties.   In one case,
observed by M. Rames, the insensibility was so complete that the puncture' of
the skin with  a suture needle was not felt, and the titillation of the conjunct-
iva and fauces with a feather produced neither winking nor desire to vomit.
(Journ. de Pharm., Dec.  1849.)   Anaesthesia of the fauces, produced by the
bromide, was subsequently observed by M. Huette, who also noticed in it the
property of inducing more or less torpidity of the genital organs.   Its powers
as an anaphrodisiac have been confirmed by Dr. Thielmann, of St.  Petersburg,
and M.  Trousseau, of Paris.   It is efficacious in the painful erections occurring
in gonorrhoea.  By M. Ozanam, of Paris, it has been successfully used in four-
teen cases of pseudo-membranous affections, two of which were croup.  It has
been given with good effect by Mr. Spencer Wells, of London, in cancerous tu-
mours, in  the dose of from five to ten grains, with one, two, or three drachms
of cod-liver oil, three times a day. (Med. Times and Gaz., July, 1857, p. 31.)
   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.   When used as an an-
aphrodisiac, the dose is two  or three grains every two  hours.   The  oint-
ment may be  made by mixing from a scruple to two  drachms  of the  bro-
mide 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.   Cy-
anide of Potassium.
   "Take  of Ferrocyanuret of Potassium, dried, eight ounces;  Carbonate of
Potassa, dried, three ounces.  Mix the salts intimately, and throw  the mixture
into adeep iron crucible previously heated to redness ;  maintain the tempera-
ture till effervescence ceases,  and the fused  mass concretes, of a pure white
colour, upon a warm glass rod dipped into it; then pour  out the  liquid care-
fully into a shallow dish to solidify, stopping before the salt becomes contami-
nated with the precipitated  iron.  Break up the mass while yet warm,  and
preserve it in well stopped bottles." U S.
   The above process for  obtaining this  cyanuret, which is that  of F. & E.
Rodgers,  though generally  known under the  name of  Liebig,  was substi-
tuted in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of  1850, for  the process in which the  fer-
rocyanuret is ignited without addition.   It  furnishes a  large product, but a
considerable part of it is the impurity, cyanate of potassa.   The reaction takes
place between two eqs. of ferrocyanuret of potassium and two 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 occupies the lower part of the fused liquid;  and, if the latter be care-
fully poured out to solidify, the portion contaminated with the iron may be left
behind.  The reaction is explained by the following equation ;—2(2KCy,FeCy)
and 2(KO,COSi)=5KCy and KO,CyO and 2Fe and 2C02.  Dr. Wittstein gives
the reaction differently, to  explain the larger proportion of cyanate of potassa
formed than the above equation calls for.   He conceives that the product con-
sists  of  seven eqs. of cyanuret of potassium, and three of cyanate  of potassa.
MM. Fordos and Gelis,  in an able paper  contained  in the Journal de Phar-
macie for Aug. 1857, have  pointed  out numerous causes which concur in
rendering the salt, as obtained by the use of carbonate of potassa, quite  im-
pure.  The commercial cyanuret, which is obtained by this process, was found
by these writers to be very impure, only containing from 36 to 55  per cent, of 
1216
Potassa.
PART II.
the pure salt.  The cyanate of potassa may be readily detected by saturating
the product with an acid, which will cause an effervescence of carbonic  acid
and the generation of a salt of ammonia.
   In the process in which the ferrocyanuret of potassium is ignited alone (formit
U. S. process), 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,
wdiich 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, contaminates the cyanuret, as obtained by this process;
but the quantity is too small to interfere with its medicinal action.  The decom-
position here referred  to takes place between one eq. of cyanuret of potassium
and four of w*ater, and is represented by the following equation, in which the
cyanogen is expressed by its full symbol NC2, and formic acid byC^HOg;—K,NCa
and 4HO=NH3 and KO, C2H03.  This decomposition is avoided by exhausting
the black mass with boiling alcohol  of 60 per cent, (sp.  gr. 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, which is that of Robiquet,
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 ferro-
cyanuret, to which a tube is attached for collecting the gaseous products.  When
these cease to be disengaged, the heat is gradually raised to a very high  tem-
perature, at which it is kept for a quarter  of an hour;  after which the tube is
closed with luting, and the whole left undisturbed until  quite cold.   When
the calcination is thus conducted, the retort, upon  being broken, will be found
to contain a black matter, covered with a  fused layer  of  pure cyanuret of po-
tassium, 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 of potassium, 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.
   According to MM. Fordos and Gelis, the French Codex process should super-
sede the carbonate of  potassa process;  as  it gives  a product  far purer, and in
larger proportion to the materials employed, estimated by the pure product.
The same process is preferred by Mr. Donovan, who has modified it by substitut-
ing for the stoneware retort, an iron mercury bottle, which,  when cold,  must be
cut in two by a chisel  and heavy hammer to get  out the product.  The same
recommendation of iron over  stoneware vessels, is made by MM. Fordos and
Gelis, who found that  the latter, at the high heat employed, yvere acted on.
   The  process of Wiggers consists  in  disengaging hydrocyanic acid from a
mixture of ferrocyanuret of potassium  and sulphuric acid,  and passing it into
a cooled receiver, containing an alcoholic solution of hydrate of potassa.   The
contents of the receiver ultimately form a solid magma of the cyanuret, which
is drained, washed several times with strong alcohol, pressed between folds of
bibulous paper, and dried as quickly as possible. 
PART II.
Potassa.
1217
   Cyanuret of potassium may be formed by passing a current of strongly heated
 nitrogen over charcoal, impregnated with  carbonate of potassa, and heated to
 white redness.  (See page 624.)
   Properties.   Cyanuret of potassium, as prepared by the U. S. formula, is in
 white, opaque, amorphous masses, having a sharp, somewhat alkaline and bitter-
 almond taste, and an alkaline reaction.  If yellow it contains iron.   It is deli-
 quescent in moist air, very soluble in wrater when reduced to powder, and sparingly
 soluble in strong alcohol.   The salt and its solution, when exposed 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 energetic poisonous properties.
 He thinks, therefore, that the bad effects of opening the  containing bottle, in
 dispensing the medicine, have been exaggerated.   Unfortunately, the salt varies
 in quality, independently of the effects of time and exposure. Dr. David Stewart,
 of Baltimore, examined six samples of this cyanuret, on  sale, and found them
 to vary considerably in purity.  Besides water, the usual impurities are hydrate,
 carbonate, cyanate, and formiate of potassa.   They sometimes amount to half
 the weight of the cyanuret, consisting principally of the carbonate.   From the
 extensive use at present made of cyanuret of potassium  in electro-metallurgy
 and photography, it is of importance to have a reliable test of its purity.  Such
 a test has been discovered by MM. Fordos and Gelis, founded  on the fact that
 two eqs. of iodine rapidly react with one of the cyanuret, so as to form one eq.
 of iodide  of potassium, and one of iodide of cyanogen;—KCyand 2I=KI and
 Cyl.   Accordingly, a tincture of iodine of knoyvn strength is  gradually added
 to an aqueous solution of a given weight of the cyanuret to be tested, until it
 assumes a permanent  yellowish tinge; and  the amount of iodine  expended
 indicates  the proportion  of cyanuret in  the specimen.    A necessary prelimi-
 nary step, before using  the  tincture, is to add sufficient  carbonic acid yvater to
 the solution of the cyanuret, to convert  any hydrate or carbonate of  potassa
 present into bicarbonate, in which  state neither has any action ou the iodine.
 (Chem. Gaz., Oct. 15,1852, p. 387.) This test is applicable to other cyanogen
 compounds. (Seepage 849.)  Mr. Thornton J. Herapath's test for commercial
 cyanuret of potassium,  is a standard solution of ammonio-sulphate of  copper,
 the blue colour of which is destroyed by a solution of the cyanuret.   The cop-
 per solution is added to  one of the cyanuret of known  strength, until a faint
 blue coloration is produced; and the richness of the sample in pure cyanuret
 is in proportion to the  quantity of the copper solution  required.  (Chemist,
 April 1856, and Feb. 1857.)  Applying this test to five samples, Mr. Hera-
 path found the proportion  of pure  cyanuret to vary from 41 to 65 per cent.
 Cyanuret  of potassium yields with nitrate of silver a precipitate of cyanuret of
 silver, which is wholly soluble in ammonia.   It consists  of one eq. of cyanogen
 26, and one of potassium 39'2=65*2.
  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 Dilutum.)  Since the last edition of this work was published,
 three fatal cases of  poisoning by this salt have  occurred in the United  States.
 The first case, reported by Dr. C. E. Ware, of Boston, was that of a woman wh&
 took, by mistake,  a teaspoonful of a solution, containing about seven grains. ©£
 the salt.  The second and third cases occurred in Baltimore, and arose from the
 mistake of an apothecary in putting up cyanuret of potassium for chlorate of
 potassa in a mixture.  A dose of the mixture destroyed a child, and, likewise,
 the apothecary, who, to show his confidence in the correctness yvith which, it
had been  compounded,  swallowed  a portion  of it himself.  The grounds- on
which this cyanuret was proposed as a substitute for hydrocyanic acid by Robi-
       77 
1218
Potassa.
PART II.
quet and Yillerme, were its uniformity as a chemical product, and its less liability
to undergo decomposition. The dose is the eighth of a grain, dissolved iu half
a fluidounce of distilled yvater, to which may be added half a fluidrachm of syrup
of lemons, if the prescriber wishes to set the hydrocyanic acid free.  The spu-
rious cyanuret, formed by calcining dried  muscular flesh with potash, consists
princially of carbonate of potassa, and is but slightly poisonous.  (Orfila.)  A
solution of cyanuret of potassium, 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 admira-
ble 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., Dub.   Iodide of Potas-
sium.
   "Take of Potassa six ounces; Iodine, in powder, sixteen ounces; Charcoal,
in fine powder,  two ounces; Boiling Water three pints.  Dissolve the potassa in
the Water, add the Iodine gradually, stirring after each addition until the solu-
tion becomes colourless, and  continue  the additions until  the liquid remains
slightly coloured from excess of Iodine.   Evaporate the solution  to dryness,
stirring in the  Charcoal towards the close, so that it may be intimately mixed
with the dried  salt.  Rub this to poyvder, and heat it to dull redness in an iron
crucible, maintaining that temperature for fifteen minutes; then, after it has
cooled, dissolve out the  saline matter with pure water, filter the solution, evapo-
rate, and set  aside to crystallize.  An additional quantity of crystals may be ob-
tained from the residual liquid by evaporating and crystallizing as before." U. S.
   In the London Pharmacopoeia of 1851, iodide of potassium has been trans-
ferred from the preparations to the list of  Materia Medica.
   "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 care-
fully, filter the  product, and wash the  powder on the filter with a little water.
Concentrate  the liquor at a temperature short of ebullition,  till a dry salt be
obtained, which is to be purified from a little red oxide of iron and other im-
purities, 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 concen-
trating  and cooling the residual liquor." Ed
   " Take of  Pure Iodine, reduced to powder, four ounces and a half [avoir-
dupois] ; filings, or thin turnings of wrought Iron, separated from impurities by
a magnet, two  ounces [avoird.]; Pure Carbonate of Potash two ounces and a
half [avoird.], or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water three pints and a half
[Imp. meas.].   Heat gently  five ounces of the Water with the Iron and three
ounces of the Iodine, for twenty minutes, and then boil until the solution loses
its red colour.   Filter this through paper, washing the filter with five ounces
of Water at a boiling temperature, and, in the solution thus obtained, dissolve,
by digestion and shaking, the remainder of the Iodine.  To the Carbonate of
Potash, dissolved in  a quart [two pints Imp. meas.] of the Water, and heated
to 212° in a large porcelain capsule, add the solution of Iron and Iodine, and
boil  until effervescence ceases, adding, if uecessary, a little more Carbonate of
Potash, so that the liquor may be very slightly alkaline.  Filter now, washing
the precipitate  with the remaining pint of water  boiling hot, and, having eva- 
PART II.
Potassa.
1219
  porated the liquid till a pellicle begins to appear on its surface, let it be set by
  that crystals may form.   These, when dried on blotting paper, should be pre-
  served in a bottle furnished with a perfectly tight stopper.   The liquor from
  which the crystals have separated will, by further evaporation and  cooling-
  afford an additional quantity of the salt." Dub.
    In the process newly adopted in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of 1850, an aque-
  ous solution of potassa is treated with iodine in slight excess.  The result of
  thus saturating potassa with iodine is the formation of two salts, iodide of po-
  tassium and iodate of potassa.   Six eqs. of iodine react with six of potassa,
  and  there are formed five eqs. of iodide of potassium, and  one  of iodate of
  potassa (6KO and 6I=5KI and  KO,lO,).   By evaporating the solution to
  dryness the  mixed salts are obtained; and, if the dry mass be exposed to a red
  heat, the iodate will be converted  into iodide of potassium, thus removing this
  impurity from the iodide.   In  the formula the mixed salts, towards the close
  of their evaporation to dryness, are directed to be mixed with powdered char-
  coal, according to the plan of  Mr. Scan Ian, which facilitates the deoxidation
  of the iodate.  This  being accomplished by a dull red heat, the iodide of po-
  tassium is dissolved out of the mass, and the solution set aside to crystallize.
  _  The first  step  of the  Edinburgh process is to  form iodide of iron in solu-
  tion, precisely as  is done in the formula for that compound; and the second to
  decompose 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 jodide of potassium is separated by filtration and washing from the precipi-
 tated carbonate, and evaporated to dryness.   The dry salt is then freed from
 iron  and other impurities by solution in boiling water or alcohol, filtration, and
 crystallization.   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 yveight of the iodine  em-
 ployed, and  pressed a second time.  Proceeding thus, less water is  used, and
 less evaporation is necessary.  The solution obtained by them is evaporated to
 dryness, and the dry salt  is carefully fused in an iron pot, in order to free it
 from colour.  It  is then dissolved, and the solution, by filtration, concentra-
 tion,  and cooling, furnishes a perfectly pure iodide nearly to the last.
   The Dublin process  is similar to that of the Edinburgh College.  Two-thirds
 of the iodine are gently heated with the iron  mixed with a  portion  of  water,
 and the filtered solution of the  iodide of iron formed is  shaken with the re-
 maining third of the iodine until  it is dissolved.   There is thus formed what
 may be called a superiodide of iron, which is mixed in  the usual way with  the
 carbonate of potassa,  and the mixture boiled until  effervescence ceases.  Lie-
 big considers it an improvement on this process, to use a solution of caustic
 potassa,  and to dissolve the reserved third of iodine in it.  The ioduretted al-
 kaline solution is then added to  the solution of iodide of iron in a quantity not
 quite  sufficient fully to  precipitate it; and  the precipitation is completed by the
 careful addition  of carbonate of potassa.   The Dublin College very properly
 orders the use of pure  carbonate of potassa in this  process, in accordance with
 the practice of the Messrs. Smith.
  Properties, dec.   Iodide  of potassium,  sometimes incorrectly called hydrio-
 date of potassa, is in opaque, white or transparent crystals, permanent  in a
 dry air, slightly deliquescent in a  moist one, and having a sharp saline taste.
 It does not change the colour of litmus, and has little or no effect on turmeric.
According to the Alessrs.  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 in from six to eight parts of recti- 
1220
Potassa.
PART II.
fied spirit.  Its solution is decomposed by the addition of a few drops of sul-
phuric acid, hydriodic acid being generated, which  speedily undergoes decom-
position, with evolution of iodine; and, if starch be added after the lapse of a
few minutes, a blue colour is produced.  The  starch  test will not  give the
characteristic blue colour immediately, if added simultaneously with  the acid,
unless the iodide of  potassium  contains iodate of  potassa, which  impurity
causes an immediate liberation of iodine.   The  blue colour being produced by
the starch and acid, if simultaneously added, is,  therefore, a  sign of impurity.
A very delicate test of iodide of potassium, and other soluble iodides, is that of
M. Grange.   It consists in pouring  a little of the liquid to be examined into
a test-tube, adding a few drops of solution of starch, and passing through the
mixture a few bubbles of fuming nitrous acid.  The liquid immediately assumes
a pale-rose colour, inclining to violet, when containing l-200,000th of its weight
of the iodide, and a bright blue colour, if l-100,000th  is present. (Seepage
426.)  " When tartaric acid is freely added  to a strong solution of the iodide,
it occasions a white crystalline precipitate; and the supernatant liquid, if mixed
with starch, becomes first  purple, and  finally blue.   Chloride of platinum co-
lours  its  solution reddish-brown, without causing a precipitate; chloride of
barium but  slightly affects it;  and  sulphate of iron occasions no change."
( U. S. Pharm.)   The non-action of the last test shows the absence of carbon-
ate of potassa.  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  a dull red heat iodide of potassium fuses, and on cooling
concretes into a crystalline pearly mass, without loss of weight; but at  a full
red heat it is slowly volatilized without decomposition.  The most usual im-
purities contained in this salt are the chlorides of potassium and sodium, bro-
mide of potassium, and carbonate and iodate of potassa.   The presence of a
chloride may be determined by 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 ammonia, the latter will dissolve any chloride which may have been thrown
down,  and will yield it again  as a white  precipitate on being saturated with
nitric acid.   If, on the other hand, the iodide of potassium be pure, the am-
monia will take up only a  minute quantity of iodide of silver, and the addition
of nitric acid will scarcely disturb the transparency of the solution.  The iodide
of silver precipitated from 10 grains of iodide of potassium weighs, when washed
and dried, 14-1 grains.  When acetate of lead is added to a solution  of iodide
of potassium, a yellow precipitate of iodide of lead  is thrown down, soluble in
boiling water.   The low price of bromide  of potassium, compared with that of
the iodide, has caused the  former to be used to adulterate the latter.  When
bromide of potassium is sold  for  the  iodide, the fraud may be detected by the
fact that the addition  of sulphuric acid produces copious reddish fumes, instead
of the purple ones, arising from the iodide.   In order  to  detect bromine, M.
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 being shaken
together and left at rest.   If bromine be  present, the ether yvhich rises to the
surface, will be tinged of a reddish-yellow colour.   Carbonate  of potassa may
be discovered by lime-water, which causes a  milkiness (carbonate of lime), and
by tincture of iodine, the colour of which is destroyed.  The iodate may  be de-
tected 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 
PART II.
Potassa.
1221
 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 mutual action, will instantly develope free iodine.
 (Pereira.)  Mr. William Copney has pointed out an excellent test for detecting
 carbonate and iodate of potassa, in the use of protiodide  of iron,  in the form
 of the London syrup of iodide of iron, recently prepared. (See page 1061.)  A
 drop of the syrup is added to a solution of the suspected iodide of potassium.
 A bluish precipitate indicates the carbonate; a red one, the iodate;  and a blue
 precipitate, followed by a red one, both impurities.   Carbonate of potassa is
 generally present in the proportion of from one  to ten per cent.  Dr. Christi-
 son has detected 741 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.   As
 iodide of potassium is soluble in rectified spirit, anything left undissolved by
 this menstruum is impurity.   The  amount  of impurity in this salt, without
 ascertaining its nature, may be determined by the method  of Marozeau, which
 consists in adding a solution of  corrosive sublimate to one of the iodide to be
 examined, the salts  being taken in the proportion of four eqs. of the iodide to
 one of the bichloride.   If the iodide be pure, its excess will be just competent
 to redissolve all the red iodide of mercury formed by the addition of the corro-
 sive sublimate  solution.   If impure, a reddish  colour from undissolved red
 iodide will appear before  the whole  of  the latter solution is added.   Accord-
 ingly, if the solution of corrosive sublimate be brought to a determinate weight,
 and gradually added to the solution of the iodide,  until the reddish colour
 ceases to disappear upon  stirring, the  proportion expended will represent the
 pure iodide, and that  unexpended, the impurity, in  the  specimen examined.
 (See  the paper of  Mr. J. M. Maisch,  in  the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvi.
 293.)   Iodide of potassium consists of one eq. of iodine 126-3, and one of
 potassium, 39-2=165-5.   It contains no water of crystallization.
   Prof.  Procter has given a paper on the incompatibles of iodide of potassium,
 in relation to the mercurial preparations.   He finds it incompatible with calo-
 mel, the black and  red oxides of mercury, turpeth  mineral, white precipitate,
 blue mass,  and metallic  mercury.   These  experiments  serve  to confirm the
 observation of M. Melsens, that  iodide  of potassium, given in connexion with
 the insoluble  preparations of mercury,  renders them soluble and much more
 active.  (See Am. Journ.  of Pharm., xxvi. 222.)
   Medical Properties, dec.  The general therapeutic properties of the prepa-
 rations of iodine, of which iodide of potassium  is the most  important, have
 been given under the head of iodine.   By most practitioners the preparation
 under notice is preferred for producing  the constitutional effects of iodine.   It
 certainly produces very marked  effects  on the secretions,  which it  uniformly
 increases, and into which it readily passes.   It has a tendency to irritate the
 mucous membrane of the air-passages,  as shown by its sometimes occasioning
 an affection like cold in the  head.   When long continued in  large doses, it
 occasionally produces a tender, enlarged, lobulated, and fissured tongue, con-
 stituting a true chronic glossitis.   Mr. Langston Parker,  of  England, has
 reported several cases of this  kind, in  which the iodide  had  been taken for
 years.   Its obvious  effects on the  system are very variable, arising probably
 either from peculiarities of constitution, or  from the unequal  quality of the
 medicine itself.  Thus it produces nausea, pain in the stomach, and diarrhoea,
 in moderate  doses,  in  some cases;  and is borne in  large doses without in-
convenience in others.  It generally increases the appetite and flesh.   The
general character of its action is to remove  abnormal tissue, eliminating the 
1222
Potassa.
PART II.
material for the most part by the channel of the kidneys.   There are but few
diseases in which it has not been tried.   Its use in scrofulous  affections, com-
bined with iodine, has been explained under the head of iodine.  It has been
recommended by M.  Oke in chorea, after the preparations of iron have failed;
by M.  Gendrin, Dr.  Clendenning,  and  Mr. Spencer Wells in gout;  by M.'
Arrigan, in albuminuria; by Mr. Sankey, of Beckley, in ague, given in large
doses; and by MM. Demarquay and Gustin, in stomatitis.  The latter  writers
think it more efficacious in this disease than chlorate of potassa.  (See page
616.)  Dr. Williams, of London, considers it applicable to the treatment of
various forms of secondary syphilis.   He used it with success, 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. Handheld Jones found it particularly efficacious  in that form of rheuma-
tism, characterized by wandering pains in the bones.  According to the clinical
observations of  Dr. W. R. Basham, iodide of potassium is well suited to the
treatment of chronic periosteal rheumatism  in subjects who  have previously
taken mercury to salivation;  while it is  not applicable to the disease when
occurring in patients who have not undergone  a mercurial course, but have
suffered from syphilis, which  has been neglected, or  treated only locally.  In
the latter cases he conceives that corrosive sublimate and sarsaparilla are the
proper remedies.   It is probably useful  in the former cases on the principle of
eliminating  mercury from the system, agreeably to the views of M. Melsens,
given below.   In 1843, MM. Guillot and Melsens gave iodide of potassium
with advantage, in doses of from a drachm  to a drachm and a half daily, in
mercurial tremours and  lead  poison.   In a  memoir published in 1849, M.
Melsens  gives  a full account of his  experiments with it as a remedy for the
affections caused by  mercury and  lead.  He effected  a number of cures  of
mercurial tremours and lead palsy; and during the progress of the cure, these
metals were found in the urine.  The manner in which the  remedy acts, ac-
cording to M. Melsens, is by rendering the poisonous metal, which has become
fixed in the tissues, soluble, first converting it into an iodide, and then dissolv-
ing the iodide formed.   This view is supported  by  the fact that all the com-
pounds  of mercury and  lead  are  soluble in iodide  of  potassium.   (See  the
Memoir of M. Melsens, translated by Dr. Budd, of  Bristol, England,  in  the
Prit and For. Medico-Chir. Beview, Am. ed., for Jan. 1853, p.  157;  also a
paper by Dr. J. WT. Corson, in the N Y.  Journal of Medicine, for Sept.  1853.)
The views and results of  M. Melsens have been since confirmed by therapeutic
trials in lead poisoning by M. Malherbe, of Nantes, and by Drs. Parke and
Sieyeking, of London.  An important fact  observed by M. Melsens was that
iodide of potassium, given at the same time with certain compounds of mercury,
rendered them more active; and, when given after them, developed an activity
not previously manifested, and sometimes to  such an  extent as  to  occasion
serious accidents.  This fact he explained by referring it to the power of  the
iodide to render the mercurial compounds soluble, in which  state only are they
capable of being eliminated  with the urine.   During the use of iodide of
potassium, ptyalism  sometimes occurs.   This has been  usually considered a
primary effect of the remedy; but the light shed on the subject by M. Melsens,
leads to the belief that it may be a secondary effect,  resulting from the libera-
tion from the tissues of mercury previously taken, which is  thereby enabled,
by becoming  soluble, to produce  its  constitutional effects.  Dr. Budd  relates
several cases, in which mercurial  ptyalism came  on, during the use of iodide
of potassium, in persons who had not taken mercury for weeks  or months 
PART II.
Potassa.
.    1223
 before.  It is  probable  that, in these cases, the mercury had been  long lying
 fixed in the system, and  was rendered, soluble and active by the iodide.
   The late Dr. Isaac Parrish, of this city, employed iodide of  potassium suc-
 cessfully in strumous inflammation of the eye, given in the compound syrup of
 sarsaparilla.   It appeared  promptly to relieve the  severe neuralgic, circum-
 orbital pain.  Dr. Griscom, of this city, cured  a case of membranous croup in
 a child by the  use of this remedy, after .leeches, sinapisms, warm baths, and
 emetics had failed.  (Trans, of Coll. ofPhys.  of Philad., n. s. ii. 164.)  Dr.
 De Renzy, of Carnew, Ireland, found it efficacious in hasmoptysis.   Dr.  G. L.
 Upshur, of Virginia, recommends its use in the suppurative stage of pneumonia.
   The dose of iodide of potassium is from two to ten grains  or more, three
 times a day, given in dilute solution.   Ricord rarely exceeded three scruples a
 day.   Some practitioners have employed 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 to  drink 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  this iodide, even when given in small doses.   According
 to Dr. Gull, of London, the efficiency of the  remedy is much increased by
 uniting it with carbonate of ammonia, in the proportion of two  or three grains
 of the iodide to four or five of the carbonate.
  , Iodide of potassium passes quickly into the urine, in which it may be detected
 by first adding to the cold secretion a portion of starch, and then a few drops of
 nitric acid, when a blue colour will be produced.  It has been  detected  in six
 minutes after having been swallowed.  According to Schottin it passes slowly
 into the sweat.   Taken in half-drachm doses, daily, it did not appear in that
 secretion until five days had elapsed.
   According to Ricord, this salt produces in some constitutions peculiar effects;
 such as eruptions of the  skin, excessive diuresis, vascular injection of the con-
 junctiva and tumefaction of the eyelids, cerebral excitement like that produced
 by alcoholic drinks, and  discharges from the urethra and vagina, resembling
 blennorrhcea.   Eruptions of the skin yvere also  observed by Dr.  A. Yan 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. Dr.  John O'Rielly, of New
 York, reports several cases, in which, after the use of this iodide,  spots like pur-
 pura were produced, invading first the face, and  then the trunk and extremities.
 These became bullas,  sometimes an inch in diameter, filled with a purple liquid,
 and finally sphacelated spots ending in ulcers.  Great constitutional disturbance
 coexisted,  with  swollen tongue, fetor, and salivation.  The remedies found suc-
 cessful were nutritious diet, tonics, and stimulants.  From the facts above men-
 tioned, showing the power of iodide of potassium to render latent mercury in
 the system active, it is not improbable that the  cases of Dr. O'Rielly were mer-
 curial salivation, modified by a cachectic condition of the system, which caused
 the coincident eruption.
   Iodide of potassium is employed as an external application in  the form of
 ointment, either alone or  mixed with iodine. (See Unguentum Potassii Iodidi
 and Unguentum Iodinii  Compositum.)
   Off.Prep.  Emplastrum   Potassii  Iodidi;  Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum;
Liquor Iodinii Compositus; Liquor Potassii Iodidi Compositus; Pilulas Ferr
Iodidi; Plumbi Iodidum;  Tinctura Iodinii Composita;  Unguentum Iodinii
Unguentum Iodinii Compositum; Unguentum Potassii Iodidi.          B. 
1224
Potassa.
PART II.
   LIQUOR  POTASSII  IODIDI  COMPOSITUS. Lond.  Potassii
Iodidi Liquor  Compositus. Dub.   Compound Solution of Iodide of
Potassium.
   " Take of Iodide of Potassium ten grains; Iodine five grains; Distilled Wa-
ter a pint [Imp. meas.].  Mix, that they may dissolve."  Lond.
   The Dublin formula is the same as the above, with  the exception that the
College directs its pure iodine.
   This, like the compound solution of iodine, described  at page 1124, is an
aqueous solution of iodine and iodide of potassium;  but, while the compound
solution of iodine is so concentrated as to be given in drops, this solution is
so dilute as to be administered  in tablespoonfuls.
   Compound solution of iodide of potassium is a  permanent liquid, perfectly
transparent, and of an orange colour.   It is twice  as strong as Lugol's iodine
solution of medium strength. (See page 429.)  The dose is a fluidounce, con-
taining a quarter of a grain of iodine, gradually increased to two fluidounces
or more.   The dose should be diluted with an equal bulk of water at the time
it is taken.                                                        B.

   POTASSII  SULPHURETUM.  U.S., Lond., Ed.  Hepar  Sulph-
uris.  Dub.  Sulphuret of Potassium.   Liver  of Sulphur.
   "Take of Sulphur an ounce; Carbonate of Potassa two ounces.   Rub the
Carbonate of Potassa, previously dried,  yvith 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, wdiich is to be well stopped."  U. S.
   " Take of Sulphur one ounce; Carbonate of Potash four ounces.  Triturate
them well together, and heat them in a covered crucible till they form a uniform
fused mass;  which, when cold, is to be broken up into fragments,  and kept in
well closed vessels." Ed,
   "Take of Sublimed Sulphur four ounces; Carbonate of Potash from Pearl-
ash, first dried, and then reduced to powder, seven ounces.  Mix the ingredients
in a warm  mortar, and, having introduced them into a  Hessian crucible, let
this be heated, first gradually, until effervescence has ceased, and finally to low
redness, so  as  to  produce perfect fusion;  and let its liquid contents  be then
poured into an iron cup, over which a second vessel should be immediately in-
verted, so as to exclude the air  as completely as possible, while solidification ia
taking place.  The solid product thus  obtained should, when cold, be broken
into fragments, and immediately enclosed in a green glass bottle, furnished with
an air-tight stopper."  Dub.
   The London College has transferred this sulphuret to the Materia Medica list.
   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 tersulphuret
of potassium.  The three eqs. of oxygen, by uniting with the remaining eq. of
sulphur, form one eq. of sulphuric acid, which combines with the undeeomposed
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 French Codex sulphuret, made from the same proportion of carbonate
and sulphur, is stated in that work to have  the same composition.  In the Dub-
lin formula a less proportion of carbonate of potassa is taken than in the U. S.
process, but the product is probably similar.   The product of the Edinburgh
formula may be assumed to have the same constituents, plus a certain propor-
tion of undecomposed carbonate of  potassa, on account of the large excess of 
part ii.                         Potassa.                            1225

alkali taken.  In performing the process, the fused liquid is usually poured out
on a marble slab, and, as soon as it concretes, the mass 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
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, doc.  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 name of hepar sulphuris or liver of sulphur.  The
colour of the  surface of  a fresh fracture is brownish-yellow.    It is inodorous
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 gradu-
ally changed 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 excess of sulphur.
It is also incompatible with solutions of most of the metals, which are precipi-
tated as sulphurets.  When boiled with an excess of muriatic acid and filtered,
it gives a yellow precipitate with chloride of platinum.                 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,
heat of the skin, and different secretions, especially  the mucous.  Occasion-
ally 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 di-
rectly to reduce the action of the heart.   It  probably does so, when taken in
considerable quantities, by the development of sulphuretted hydrogen.  In over-
doses it acts, according to Orfila, as a violent poison, corroding the stomach,
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 overdose, and having besides emetic properties.  The com-
plaints in which it has been most advantageously employed are chronic rheuma-
tism  and gout, and various cutaneous affections.   It  has been given also in
painters' colic, asthma, and chronic catarrh, and acquired a short-lived reputa-
tion as a remedy in croup, after the publication of the essay to which the prize
offered by Napoleon for the best dissertation on that disease was awarded.   It is
said, in some cases of cancer, to have assisted the palliative operation of hem-
lock.   In consequence of forming insoluble sulphurets with the metallic salts,
it has been proposed as an antidote for some mineral  poisons;  but Orfila has
shown that it  does not prevent their effects.  Dissolved in water it has proved
efficacious as an external application 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 quan-
tity or rather more may be added to a gallon of water.  A very small proportion
of muriatic or sulphuric acid may in either case be added to the solution.   The 
1226
Potassa.—Pulpse.
PART II.
ointment is made by mixing half a drachm of the sulphuret yvith 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.                                                       T,y

                              PULP.E.

                                 Pulps.

  These are soft uniform solid bodies, of a consistence fit for the formation of
confections or electuaries, and prepared from fruits by comminuting them when
requisite, softening them when dry  with  a small quantity of hot water, then
passing them through a sieve to separate hard solid matters, and evaporating if
necessary.  But few of them are officinal.                            W.

   CASSIA FISTULA  PULPA.  U.S.  Cassia Prorata. Lond.
Cassia Pulpa. Ed.   Pulp of Purging Cassia.
  " Take of Purging Cassia, bruised, a convenient quantity.  Pour boiling water
on the pods so that the pulp may be 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.
  "Take of Cassia  [pods of Cassia Fistula] broken longitudinally a pound;
Distilled Water sufficient to cover the Cassia.  Macerate for six hours, occa-
sionally stirring.  Strain the softened  pulp through a hair sieve, and evaporate
by means of a water-bath to the consistence  of a confection."  Lond.
  The Edinburgh College places cassia pulp in its Materia Medica catalogue.
  In consequence of the presence of the fragments of the pods, it is inconvenient
to pass this pulp in the ordinary way through a hair sieve.  The larger fragments
may be picked out, and the remainder of the cassia pressed by the hand through
a very coarse kind of muslin, such as that used by the bonnet-makers, in which
it has been previously enclosed.  A pound of the pods will yield between four
and five ounces of pulp.
  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 composition
and effects, see Cassia Fistula.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Cassias; Confectio Sennas.                    W.

  PRUNI PULPA.  U. S.  Prunum  Pr^paratum.  Lond.   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.
  "Take of Prunes a pound; Water sufficient to cover the Prunes. Boil slowly
for four hours.   Express the softened pulp, first  through  a coarse cane sieve,
afterwards through a fine one of hair.   Lastly, evaporate by means of a water-
bath to the consistence  of a confection."  Lond.
  The prunes may be softened by placing them on a perforated plate or dia-
phragm, or a wire sieve, or suspending them in a net, over boiling water.   A
pound of prunes of  good quality yields about ten ounces of  pulp.
  Off. Prep.  Confectio Sennas.                                     "VV.

  TAMARINDI  PULPA.  U S.   Tamarindus Pr^paratus. Lond.
Tamarindus.  Ed.  Pulp  of Tamarinds.  Dub.   Pulp of Tamarinds.
 ^ " Take of Tamarinds a convenient quantity.  Digest them with a small quan-
tity of water until they become of a uniform consistence; then separate the seeds
and filaments by pressing the pulp through a hair sieve."  U. S. 
PART II.
Pulpse.—Pulveres.
1227
   " Take  of  Tamarinds a pound; Water sufficient to cover the Tamarinds.
 Macerate with a gentle heat for four hours, and complete the  process in the
 manner directed for Prepared Prunes."  Lond. (See Pruni Pulpa.)
   The Edinburgh  and Dublin Colleges place this pulp in their catalogue of
 Materia Medica.
   The tamarinds should be digested in an unglazed earthenware vessel over hot
 ashes, or by means  of a sand-bath.   The operator should be specially cautious
 not to employ iron vessels or iron spatulas in making this preparation. * A pound
 of good tamarinds  will yield  a little more than seven ounces of  pulp.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Cassias; Confectio Sennas.                    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 cor-
 rosive 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 be taken to  keep substances which are liable to be injured by such ex-
 posure in closely stopped bottles.   In many instances it is also important to
 exclude the light, which exercises a deleterious influence over numerous medi-
 cines when minutely divided.  This may be done by coating the  bottles  with
 black varnish.  In relation to substances most liable to injury from these causes,
 the best plan  is to powder them in small quantities as 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 embraced
 under the present head.  In the preparation of the compound powders, the in-
 gredients, if of different degrees of cohesion or  solidity,  should be pulverized
 separately and then mixed.   An exception, however, is when one substance is
 employed to  facilitate by  its hardness the minute division 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 intended to be kept; the former, because they render the prepara-
 tion damp and liable to spoil,; the  latter, because they are apt to become  ran-
 cid, and impart an unpleasant odour and taste.  When deliquescent substances
 are extemporaneously prescribed, the  apothecary should enclose them  before
 delivery in tin foil or other impervious covering; and the same remark is ap-
 plicable to  volatile powders, as carbonate of ammonia and camphor.
   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 London College  gives the following general directions for the prepara-
 tion  of powders.   "It is necessary that whatever we direct to  be reduced  to
 powder should be so passed through a fine sieve that the impurities and thicker
 parts may be  separated.  It is proper that most powders should be recently
 prepared, and  not kept long."  The whole substance in the mortar should not
 be beaten till completely pulverized; as the portion already powdered 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 material.  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 pulveri-
zation and  sifting, until the process  is completed.   Care should be taken to
mix thoroughly the several portions of fine powder thus obtained.       W. 
1228
Pulveres.
PART II.
   PULVIS ALOES COMPOSITUS.  Lond.   Compound Powder of
Aloes.
 _  " Take of Socotrine or Hepatic Aloes an ounce and a half; Guaiacum [Re-
sin] an ounce; Compound Powder of Cinnamon half an ounce.   Rub  the
Aloes and Guaiacum, separately, into  powder; then mix them with the Com-
pound Powder of Cinnamon." Lond.
   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 pre-
paration is a warm stimulant cathartic, but is little  used.  The dose is from
fifteen  to thirty grains.                                            \y.

   PULVIS ALOES ET  CANELLA.  U. S.  Powder of Aloes and
Canella.   Hiera Picra.
   "Take of Aloes a pound;  Canella three ounces.  Rub them separately into
a very fine powder, and mix them."  U S.
   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 Powder
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 ma-
terially affected by the change is uncertain.  The preparation may be employed
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 Cinnamomi
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  directs 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, each, of cinnamon and ginger,  and an  ounce, each, of cardamom seeds
freed from their capsules, and of nutmeg.
  The  cardamom seeds  should always be separated from their capsules before
pulverization; and the powder, when prepared, should be kept in well stopped
bottles.   The London  preparation is more pungent than the others, in conse-
quence  of the long pepper which it contains. These powders are  stimulant and
carminative, and may be given in the dose of from ten to thirty grains, in cases
of enfeebled digestion with flatulence; but they are chiefly used as corrigents and
adjuvants of other medicines.  A mixture of aromatic powders in the form of
a cataplasm is much used as a mild rubefacient, especially in nausea and vomit-
ing, being applied over the  epigastrium.  Such mixtures are commonly called 
PART II.
Pulveres.
1229
 spiced plasters.  The following is a good formula.   Take of ginger, cloves,
 cinnamon, and black pepper,each, in powder, an ounce; tincture of ginger half
 a fluidounce; honey a sufficient quantity.  Mix the powders, and then add the
 tincture and honey, so as to form a stiff cataplasm.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Aromatica; Confectio Opii;  Pilulas Aloes et Ferri;
 Pilulas Cambogias; Pulvis Aloes Compositus.                       W.

   PULVIS CATECHU COMPOSITUS. Dub.  Compound  Powder
 of Catechu.
   "Take of Catechu,.Kino, of each, two ounces; Cinnamon, Nutmeg, of each,
 half an ounce.  Reduce each to pow*der, mix, and pass through a fine sieve.
 When prepared, the powder should be kept in well stopped bottles."  Dub.
   This is an agreeable form for the administration of kino or catechu ;  but we
 do not see the propriety of mixing two substances so similar in their properties,
 at least in relation to taste and medicinal effect, that they may be considered
 identical.   The dose is from fifteen to thirty grains.
   Off. Prep.  Confectio Catechu Composita.                         W.

   PULVIS CRETA  COMPOSITUS. Lond., Ed., Dub.   Compound
 Powder of Chalk.
   "Take of Prepared  Chalk half a pound; Cinnamon four ounces;  Tormen-
 til, Gum Arabic, each,  three ounces; Long Pepper half an ounce.  Rub them
 separately into very fine powder, and then mix them." Lond.
   "Take  of Prepared Chalk four ounces;  Cinnamon, in fine powder, one
 drachm and a half; Nutmeg, in fine powder, a drachm.  Triturate them well
 together."  Ed.
   "  Take of Prepared Chalk five ounces; Cinnamon two ounces and a half;
 Gum Arabic two ounces ; Nutmeg half an ounce.  Rub the ingredients sepa-
 rately to powder, then  mix, and pass through a fine  sieve." Dub.
  In the Edinburgh preparation,  the aromatics are too small in amount 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 yvith acidity and without inflammation.
 In such a combination, however, the due proportion, and even the choice of the
 ingredients, vary so much with the symptoms, 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 Cretas Compositus cum Opio.                    W.

  PULVIS CRETA  COMPOSITUS CUM OPIO. Lond.   Pulvis
 Cret^:  Opiatus. Ed., Dub.    Compound  Powder of  Chalk with
 Opium.
  " Take of Compound Powder of Chalk six ounces and a half; Opium, in
 powder, four scruples.  Mix them." Lond.
  The Dublin process, though differently expressed, is identical in its results
 with the London.
  "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 pow-
 der of chalk in diarrhoea ; and its equal diffusion through the powder presents
this advantage, that it may be conveniently given in minute doses applicable 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. 
1230
Pulveres.
PART II.
   PULVERES EFFERVESCENTES.  Ed.   Pulveres Efferves-
 centes Tartarizati.  Dub.  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 Acid
 and either Bicarbonate separately to fine powder, and divide each into sixteen
 powders.  Preserve the acid and alkaline powders in separate papers of differ-
 ent colours." Ed,
   The Dublin  College takes ten drachms of  the crystals of tartaric acid, and
 eleven drachms of bicarbonate of soda or thirteen  drachms of bicarbonate of
 potassa, reduces them separately to powder, divides each into  eighteen parts,
 and keeps the acid and alkaline poyvders in papers of different colours.
   This is a formula, introduced into  the last editions of the Edinburgh and
 Dublin Pharmacopoeias, for a preparation which has been long in use under the
 name of soda powders.   The common soda powders contain the ingredients in
 somewhat different proportions ; consisting of twenty-five grains of the acid in
 one paper, and  thirty of the bicarbonate in the other.   They are always pre-
 pared with bicarbonate .of soda; while the Pharmacopoeias allow a choice be-
 tween that and the bicarbonate of potassa.   This want of precision is highly
 objectionable in officinal  formulas.  If it was thought advisable that the prac-
 titioner 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 powder
 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  slightly laxative ; and afford an
 agreeable and refreshing  drink, suitable to febrile  complaints.           W.
   PULVERES EFFERVESCENTES  CITRATE  Dub.   Citrated
 Effervescing Powders.
 . "Take of Crystals of Citric Acid nine drachms;  Bicarbonate of Soda eleven
 drachms, or Bicarbonate of Potash thirteen drachms.  Reduce the Acid and
 alkaline Bicarbonates, separately, to a fine powder, and divide each into eighteen
 parts.  The acid and alkaline powders should be kept  in papers of different
 colours." Dub.
   The same remarks are applicable to these as to the  preceding powders, and the
 same objection to the wrant of precision in the name.  These powders, at least
 those made with bicarbonate of potassa, are excellent diaphoretics, being iden-
 tical in composition with the neutral  mixture and  effervescing draught,  (See
 Liquor Potassae Citratis.)               •                        W.
   PULVIS  IPECACUANHA  ET  OPII.  U.S.    Pulvis  Ipecacu-
 anha Compositus.  Lond., Ed., Dub.  Powder of Ipecacuanha  and
 Opium.   Compound Powder of Ipecacuanha.  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 powder,
 simply directs them to be mixed  together.  The Edinburgh orders eight times
 the amount of the materials, and directs them to be triturated thoroughly to-
gether.  The Dublin takes the opium and ipecacuanha in fine powder, mixes
them thoroughly with the sulphate by trituration, and sifts them. 
PART n.                        Pulveres.                          1231

   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 com-
pound depend.  It also serves to dilute the active ingredients, and thus allow of
their division into minute doses adapted to the complaints of children.   This
composition, though 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 in a red-hot crucible, and afterwards very finely powdered; one ounce
of opium, sliced, was then added,  and ground to powder  with the saline mix-
ture ; 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 little change in the present.
   This  powder is an admirable anodyne diaphoretic, not surpassed, perhaps, by
any other combination in the power of promoting perspiration.   Opium itself
has a strong tendency to the skin, evinced  both  by the occasional diaphoresis,
and by  the itching and tingling sensation which it excites.  While  the vessels
of the skin are stimulated by this  ingredient, the secreting pores  are relaxed by
the ipecacuanha, and the combined effect  is much greater than that which re-
sults from  either separately.  At  the same time, the general stimulating influ-
ence of the opium, and  its tendency to  operate injuriously on  the brain, are
counteracted, so that the mixture may be given yvith 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 diaphoresis, especially in painful affections, or those
connected with  unhealthy discharges.  It  is admirably adapted to  the phleg-
masia,  particularly  rheumatism and pneumonia, when  complicated yvith  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 sometimes also given in dropsy.  In bowel affec-
tions, 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 ayrup, or in  the form
of  bolus, and repeated at intervals of four, six,  or eight hours,  when it is de-
sirable to  maintain a continued diaphoresis.  Its action may be 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. Pilula Ipecacuanhae cum Scilla; Pil. Ipecacuanhas et Opii.  Wr.

   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 Dublin, two ounces of jalap, three
ounces and a half of bitartrate of potassa, and half an ounce of ginger.  The
Edinburgh College takes the same ingredients in  the same proportion as the
U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and directs them to be rubbed 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  combination of
these two ingredients, though with a larger proportion of cream of tartar (see
Jalapa), forms a good cathartic in dropsy, and scrofulous diseases of the joints
and glands.  The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a  drachm.
  Off. Prep. Pulvis  Scammonii Compositus,                         W. 
1232
Pulveres.
PART II.
   PULVIS KINO  COMPOSITUS. Lond.   Compound  Powder  of
 Kino.
   "Take of Kino fifteen drachms; Cinnamon half an ounce; dried Opium a
 drachm.  Rub them separately to a very fine powder, and mix them." Lond.
   This is an anodyne astringent powder, useful in some forms of diarrhoea, but
 of which the composition would be better left to extemporaneous prescription,
 as the proportion of the ingredients should vary yvith the circumstances of the
 case.  Twenty grains contain one grain of opium.  The dose is from five grains
 to a scruple.                                                    \\r>

   PULVIS RHEI  COMPOSITUS, Ed., Dub.  Compound Powder 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 wTell closed bottles."  Ed.
   The Dublin College uses the same ingredients in the same proportions.
   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.  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 mixture
 in well closed vessels." Ed.
   This is an aperient powder, and maybe 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.  Com-
pound 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.
   The Edinburgh  College  takes equal parts of scammony  and  bitartrate of
 potassa ; the Dublin, an ounce of scammony, and three ounces of compound
 powder of jalap.
   It should be observed that the Edinburgh compound is  essentially different
 from that of the London College; 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 extract 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. The  Dublin powder is
analogous in power to  the Edinburgh,  though somewhat weaker.      W.

   PULVIS TRAGACANTHA COMPOSITUS. Lond., Ed.  Com-
pound Powder 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. 
PART II.
Quinia.
1233
  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.  Quina Disulphas. Lond.   Quina
Sulphas.  Ed.,  Dub.   Sulphate of Quinia.
   " Take of Yellow Bark, in coarse powder, four pounds ; Muriatic Acid three
fluidounces; Lime, in powder, five  ounces; Water five gallons; Sulphuric
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 li-
quor is hot, gradually add the Lime, previously mixed with two pints of water,
stirring constantly until the Quinia is completely precipitated.   Wash  the pre-
cipitate with Distilled Water, and, having pressed, dried, and  pow'dered it, di-
gest it in boiling Alcohol.  Pour off the liquor, and repeat the digestion 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 Sulphuric 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 neu-
tral, acidulate it very slightly with Sulphuric Acid; should it, on the contrary,
change 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 Distilled Water, Sulphuric Acid, and
Animal Charcoal, as before."  U.S.
   The London College has transferred this salt to its Materia Medica list.
   "Take of Yellow Bark, in  coarse powder, one pound; Carbonate of Soda
eight ounces; Sulphuric Acid half a fluidounce; Purified Animal CharcoaHw-o
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 yvater 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.  Con-
centrate 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 im-
pure quinia on a  cloth, wash it slightly,  and squeeze out the  liquor with the
hand.   Break  down the moist precipitate in a pint of distilled 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, stimng constantly, till the gray colour disappears.  Should
       78 
1234
Quinia.
PART II.
 the liquid redden litmus, neutralize it with a little carbonate of soda,  Should
 crystals form  on the surface,  add boiling distilled  water to dissolve  them.
 Filter through paper, preserving the funnel hot; set the liquid aside to crys-
 tallize;  collect and squeeze the crystals;  dissolve them in a pint of distilled
 water heated to  212°;  digest the solution for fifteen  minutes with the Animal
 Charcoal; filter and crystallize as before.  Dry the crystals with a heat not
 exceeding 140°.   The mother liquors of each crystallization will  yield a little
 more salt by concentration and  cooling." Ed.   The Imperial measure is  em-
 ployed in the above process.
   The Dublin College  exhausts the  bark by maceration  and decoction with
 water acidulated with sulphuric acid, concentrates the liquor, adds lime  in ex-
 cess, dries the  precipitate  partially on porous bricks  and  subjects it to power-
 ful pressure in blotting paper, boils it repeatedly with rectified spirit,  expresses,
 filters, distils off all the spirit,  dilutes the brown viscid mass which remains^
 heats it to the boiling point, adds diluted sulphuric acid to neutralization or
 in slight excess, and, finally, after treating the liquor with  animal charcoal, sets
jit aside to cool and crystallize.
   ■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 muriatic
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,  which  has  been almost universally
employed wibere  alcohol is  not too expensive.   Henry's process, with all its
details, may he found in former editions of this work.  An explanation of the
several directions given  in the U. S.  Pharmacopoeia will be  useful to  the stu-
dent, 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 pro-
bably 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 insoluble
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 pro-
cess.   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 em-
 ployed, the resulting 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 ex-
cess 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, then pressed,  dried, and  powdered, the  next step is to  separate the
 quinia from  the  insoluble impurities.  This is accomplished by the repeated
 action of alcohol, which dissolves the former, and leaves most of the latter be-
 hind.  The whole of the alkali having been abstracted, the alcoholic solution of 
 part ii.                         Quinia.                            1235

 quinia is then concentrated so as to afford a brown viscid mass, which is impure
 quinia.  Portions of this may be reserved, if thought advisable, for the prepara-
 tion 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, being somewhat in excess, enables the  salt to be readily
 dissolved.  The animal 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 charcoal; 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 ren-
 dered 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  unprecipi-
 tated, which is greater when the lime employed is  in excess.  Having ascer-
 tained by trial that quinia is not dissolved by  a solution of soda, and in scarcely
 appreciable proportion by chloride of sodium, he proposes to substitute  this!
 alkali for lime;  first neutralizing the excess of acid  by the carbonate, and then^
 precipitating the quinia by caustic soda.  (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., 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 crystallization; 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.
   Pelletier proposed to substitute oil of turpentine for alcohol in the ordinary

  * Mr. Weightman, of the firm of Powers and Weightman, manufacturing  chemists of
 this city, informs us that the following modification of the above process has been found
 practically advantageous in their laboratory.  The tincture obtained by acting with
 alcohol on the impure precipitated quinia, is neutralized with sulphuric acid in the
 distilling vessel;  and the alcohol is then distilled off, leaving a viscid mass of impure
 sulphate, which is drawn off, and crystallizes on cooling.  The  mass  thus obtained
having been expressed, is dissolved in boiling water, to which purified animal charcoal
has been added.  The solution is filtered while hot, and then allowed to cool and crys-
tallize.  Another solution and crystallization are required to get the sulphate of quinia
quite pure and white.—Note to the tenth edition. 
1236
Quinia.
PART II.
process for procuring sulphate of quinia.  The impure quinia, precipitated by
lime from the acidulous decoctions, after being washed, pressed, and dried, is
digested with the oil, which dissolves the quinia.   The solution thus obtained
is agitated with yvater acidulated with sulphuric acid, by which the sulphate of
quinia is formed.  The  oil separating, rises to the top, and is removed for future
use; and the watery solution of the salt is evaporated, and treated as  in the
original process.  A disadvantage, however,  of this method is said to be, that
the oil does not completely exhaust the precipitate of its quinia,
  A similar process has been employed in England, fusel oil or benzole being
substituted for oil of turpentine.  In this instance, however, the new solvent
is added to the impure quinia, without separation from the acidulated decoction
from which it was precipitated by lime.   The mixture being well  agitated, the
fusel oil or benzole  dissolves  the alkaloids, and, rising  to  the surface  of' the
liquid, is drawn off by a syphon.   The  solution thus drawn off  is treated as
above with water acidulated with sulphuric acid, and the process  is completed
in the  same manner.  (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans, xiv. 29, 92, and 139.)
  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.  Messrs. Powers & Weightman, who are probably among the largest
manufacturers of sulphate  of quinia in the world, inform us that  they have
usually obtained from 2*5 to 3 per cent, as an average product,
  Sulphate of quinia may be obtained from other varieties of Peruvian bark by
the above processes; and from some in considerable quantity; but most of them
yield a much larger proportion of sulphate of cinchonia than the Calisaya; and
this, being much more soluble than the sulphate of quinia, will remain dissolved
in the  residuary liquor  after the crystallization of the latter.  To  obtain the
cinchonia 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 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 boil-
ing alcohol, which dissolves the  organic alkalies.   The alcoholic 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 alcohol, 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 con-
tinued till no  more can be obtained.  The cinchonia  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 from alcohol, maybe obtained by evaporation
to dryness.   To obtain the sulphate of cinchonia, mix the alkali with a small
quantity of water,  heat the mixture, and add gradually dilute sulphuric acid
sufficient to saturate it; then boil with animal charcoal previously washed with
muriatic acid, and  filter the liquid while hot.  Upon cooling it will  deposit
crystals of the sulphate, and, by repeated evaporation and crystallization, will
yield all the salt which it holds in solution.f

  * Soda is probably a better precipitant, as it appears to be incapable of dissolving
any quinia when employed in excess. (See page 1235.)
  t A new mode of extracting quinia and other active vegetable principles has 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 
PART II.
Quinia.
1237
   When barks containing the newly discovered  alkaloids cinchonidia and
quinidia (see page 263) are used, as their sulphates are much more soluble than

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
Peruvian bark of all its soluble principles by repeated maceration in alcohol of 0-923,
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.  Ace-
tate of lead was added to precipitate the resinous matter; and the liquor, having been
filtered, was made to  pass slowly through purified animal charcoal by which it was
deprived of colour and taste.  The charcoal was theh 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.)  A chemist, however,  who has tried this process, informs us, that  he has not
found it to answer well in practice.
   We have been told that considerable quantities of a preparation have been imported
from South America, consisting of a mixture of the alkaloids  of bark in an impure
state, obtained by forming acidulated decoctions of bark, precipitating with lime, treat-
ing the precipitate with alcohol, and evaporating the alcoholic solution.  From this
material the sulphates of quinia and cinchonia have been prepared on a large  scale.
It has sometimes yielded 25 per cent, of quinia converted into sulphate, and more than
an equal quantity of cinchonia.—Note to the eighth and tenth editions.
   Quinoidine.   Precipitated Extract of Bark.   Amorphous Quinia.   Cinchonicia and
 Quinicia of Pasteur.   Upon the evaporation of the mother liquor left after the crystal-
lization of sulphate of quinia  in the preparation of that salt, a dark-coloured substance
is obtained, having the appearance of an extract.   This  was habitually employed 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. Pharmacopoeia 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.
Sertiirner 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 conta'ined in it consisted of quinia and
cinchonia,  obscured by admixture with  a yellowish substance that interfered with
their crystallization.  Nevertheless, under the name of quinoidine or chinoidine, given
to the  supposed  new alkali by Serturner, there has been long 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 mode-
rately heated,  agglutinating into a mass of a resinous 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 forming 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 crystallizable.  Pasteur has found that
ordinary quiniodine or amorphous quinia, consists of two alkaloids, derivatives from
quinia and cinchonia, with which they are respectively isomeric, though differing in
being uncrystallizable, and named, in view of their origin,  quinicia and cinchonicia.
The pure amorphous quinia of Liebig is the former of these alkaloids.  (See page 265.)
This substance has been found equally effectual with quinia in the cure of intermit-
tents.  In an  economical point of view, it is highly important  that it should be em-
ployed.  It is  sometimes sold under the name of precipitated extract of bark, and there
can be little doubt that  it enters into other preparations, which, under the name of
extract of bark, have been put forth as peculiarly valuable  for the cure  of intermit-
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 en-
tirely 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.)  We have been informed that, in  an extensive  chemical manufacturing
establishment  in Philadelphia, since the introduction of steam heat, the loss by quin- 
1238
Quinia.
PART II.
 that of quinia, it follows that, in the mother waters left after the crystallization
 of sulphate of quinia, there will  be found a  portion of sulphate of cincho-
 nidia or quinidia, or of both.  In fact, there is generally, under these circum-
 stances, more or less of the sulphates of the four alkaloids, quinia, cinchonia,
 cinchonidia, and quinidia, all of which are contained in many bark's; and, be-
 sides these, a portion  of amorphous  alkaloid,  incapable of crystallization,
 probably resulting, in part at least,  from the  heat employed in the process!
 These may in a great degree be separated through their different solubilities in
 water.   Sulphate of quinia being least soluble will first crystallize, afterwards
 the salt of cinchonidia or quinidia, and finally that of cinchonia, which is the
 most soluble of the four; while the uncrystallizable salt  will  remain in solu-
 tion, and may be obtained in the amorphous state by evaporation to dryness.
   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 crystallization.
 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 more  soluble in water than the officinal salt, and
 crystallizes from its solution with much  greater difficulty.  This is  now' con-
 sidered by many as strictly neutral, and therefore  entitled to the name of sul-
 phate 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 disulphate
 of quinia.   The latter name has been adopted by the London College.  In
 the U. S., Dublin, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, as yvell 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.
 According  to M. Baup,  the  neutral sulphate,  formerly called supersulphate,
 and still considered by some chemists as the bisulphate, 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 sul-
 phate, as much sulphuric acid as already exists in the salt, and then evapo-
 rating the solution.
   Composition.   The officinal sulphate of quinia,  the  disulphate of most
 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 distin-
 guishing epithet.  In the crystalline form it is  stated to consist of one equiva-
 lent of sulphuric acid 40, two eqs. of quinia 324 (or, if considered as the neutral
 sulphate, one eq. 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 crystal-
lization ;  and at 240° it loses one-half of the remainder, retaining two eqs. or

oidine in the preparation of sulphate of quinia has much diminished, showing the
agency of heat in converting the crystallizable into the uncrystallizable salt. 
part ii.                           Quinia.                             1239

about 4 per cent, of water, of which it cannot be deprived without decomposi-
tion.  (Phillips.)*
  Incompatibles and Tests.   Sulphate of quinia is decomposed by the alkalies,
their carbonates, and the alkaline earths.  In solution, it affords white preci-
pitates with potassa, soda, and  ammonia, which are partly soluble in an ex-
cess 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.   The soluble salts of oxalic, tartaric, and gal-
lic acids occasion more or less precipitation with solution of sulphate of quinia
without excess of acid;  and Mr. J. M. Maisch has ascertained the same to  be
true of the acetates. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvii. 91.)  A freshly prepared
solution  of chlorine, added to a  solution of sulphate  of  quinia, and followed
by the addition of water of ammonia, occasions an emerald-green colour,  and,
in certain proportions, the deposition of a green precipitate.   If, instead  of
ammonia, a concentrated solution of ferrocyanuret of potassium be added, a
dark-red colour is  produced, which persists for several hours,  but ultimately
passes into green.   This does  not take place with cinchonia.   Sulphate  of
quinia gives a reddish-brown precipitate with iodine dissolved in a solution  of
iodide of potassium.
  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, salicin,  and sulphate of cinchonia, are among the substances
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 vola-
tilizable, 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.   The absence of organic substances may be in-
ferred, if pure  cold concentrated sulphuric acid  forms a  colourless solution.
Gum  and starch are left behind by alcohol, and fatty  matters by water acidu-
lated  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

  * Iodide of Sulphate (Disulphate) of Quinia.  This remarkable compound of officinal
sulphate of quinia was discovered by Dr. Wm. Bird Herapath, of Bristol, England,
who also investigated its singular optical properties.  If to a solution of sulphate  of
quinia in a mixture of acetic acid and diluted alcohol, tincture  of iodine be added  by
drops, and the mixture kept at 130° F. until perfect solution takes place, upon the
cooling of the liquid, crystals will  gradually form, which Dr. Herapath has found  to
consist of iodine, quinia, and sulphuric acid, probably combined in the  state  of sul-
phate of  iodo-quinia.   To obtain  fine  crystals  various precautions  are  necessary,
for which the reader is referred to  the paper of Dr. Herapath.  The crystals are of a
brilliant emerald-green when viewed by reflected light, but almost colourless by trans-
mitted light, and present  a  curious-play of colours  under varying circumstances  of
position.  Their shape is very diversified, but traceable  to the rhombic prism.   They
are dissolved by heated acetic acid and heated alcohol, and deposited on cooling.  Their
most remarkable property is that of polarizing light, in which they are equal if not supe-
rior to the tourmaline, for which they may  be  substituted  with advantage in experi-
ments in this branch of optics.  (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., xi.  448 and 449, and xiii.
378. See also Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxvi. 18.)  From subsequent experiments of Dr.
Herapath, it appears that quinidia acts in the same way with iodine ; but that the  re-
sulting crystals, instead of an emerald-green colour by transmitted light, are of a deep-
garnet red, while by reflected light they are of a clear bluish-purple tint.  Cinchonidia
forms crystals with iodine and sulphuric acid, very closely resembling those  of sul-
phate  of iodo-quinia, and distinguishable only by their different tint with reflected and
transmitted light. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxix. 246, from Chem. Gaz., March 2,1857.) 
1240
Quinia.
PART II.
 an alkaline carbonate.   Salicin imparts the property of becoming reel upon the
 contact of sulphuric  acid; but, according to  Pelletier, this change of colour
 does not take place, unless the proportion of salicin exceeds one-tenth.  If only
 in this proportion, the salicin 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 salicin 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.)   Caf-
 fein alters the solubility of the medicine in different  menstrua.  According to
 M. Calvert, a saturated solution of sulphate of quinia in cold water gives, with
 a solution of chloride of lime, a precipitate  soluble in  an excess of the latter •
 while a solution of sulphate of  cinchonia 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 produced yvith lime-water, and solution of ammo-
 nia;  and solution  of  chloride of calcium, while it furnishes a precipitate with
 a solution of sulphate of cinchonia, yields  none with a solution of sulphate of
 quinia.  (Journ. de Pharm., Se ser., 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 sul-
 phuric 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 entirely in solution of oxalic  acid."  According to the
 London College, " 100 grains dissolved in diluted hydrochloric acid, yield, on
 the addition of chloride of barium,  26-6 grains of sulphate  of baryta, dried at
 a red heat."  Though sulphate of quinia,  as prepared for use, frequently con-
 tains a portion of  one or more of the recently discovered cinchona  alkaloids,
 the salt is probably not less efficacious on this account; as these alkaloids have
 been shown to possess identical therapeutical properties with  those of quinia,
 and, with the  exception perhaps of cinchonia, do not  appear to be inferior in
 strength.
   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 as
 Peruvian bark, without being so apt  to  nauseate and oppress the stomach.
 (See Cinchona.)   Its effects upon the brain  are even more  striking than  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 de-
 gree of this observable action on the brain is rather desirable than otherwise,

  * Liebig's test of the presence of cinchonia is  perhaps the simplest.  Rub together
 fifteen grains of the  suspected salt and two ounces of solution  of ammonia, put the
 mixture into a flask, add two ounces of ether, and shake frequently.   The quinia libe-
 rated by the ammonia  is dissolved by the ether,  while  any cinchonia that may be
 present remains undissolved, floating  between the ethereal solution  above and the
 ammoniacal beneath.  But M. 0. Henry has shown that cinchonia is slightly soluble
 in ammonia, so that  a small portion might escape  detection.  It has, therefore, been
 proposed to modify the test by heating the mixture of the suspected salt and ammonia,
 so as almost entirely to drive off the excess of this  alkali, and then to add the ether.
 If the liquid now remain quite transparent, without any turbid layer between the up-
 per and lower stratum, it may be inferred that no cinchonia is present.  For papers
 on this subject, see  Journ. de Pharm.  (3e se"r. xiii. 102, xvi. 327, and xxi. 284), and
 Am. Journ. of Pharm. (xx. 231, and xxiv. 166).  For a method  of detecting the pre-
sence of quinidia (cinchonidia of  Pasteur)  in sulphate  of quinia, the reader is referred
to a note in the first  part of this work, page 268. 
 PART ii.                         Quinia.                            1241

 as an evidence that the medicine is affecting the system.  In very large quan-
 tities, 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 physician 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 occasions great gastric  and  intestinal irritation, marked  by
 oppression of 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 vomiting by a ligature round the oeso-
 phagus,  in  quantities varying  from fifteen or twenty grains to two drachms,
 with the symptoms of narcotic poisoning; yet we have  seen no well authenti-
 cated case of death from its  direct action on the perfectly healthy human sub-
 ject.  Given largely in disease, it has repeatedly caused fatal results,  not  so
 much however by its peculiar  action, as  by. co-operating with the  disease  in
 establishing 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 practice.  The
 probability is that the apparently sedative effect upon the circulation arises from
 an overwhelming stimulant influence upon the cerebral centres, whereby the sys-
 tem is deprived of the support of these centres, and the heart's action is depressed
 with other organic functions.   Similar effects may be obtained from excessive
 doses of most of the cerebral stimulants.  Examination of the brain in the lower
 animals,  after death from quinia, has shown great congestion of that organ and
 its membranes, and even meningitis. (See Am. Journ. of Med. Sci.,  xix. 19V)
 In the present state of our knowledge, therefore, it is safest to consider sulphate
 of quinia as a direct and powerful stimulant to the brain.  It probably operates
 through  the circulation, as there is  no doubt that it is absorbed, the alkaloid
 having been found unchanged in the urine.
   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, and more speedily absorbed in the latter.
 Still we cannot be certain that there are not other active principles in bark be-
 sides the  alkaloids, which  are closely analogous in their effects, nor that the
 mode of combination in which these principles exist, may not in  some measure
 modify their therapeutic action.   Until this question is solved, yve may resort to
 the bark if the sulphate of quinia should not answer the ends in  view ; and in-
stances have occurred, under our own  notice, in which it has proved  successful
in  intermittents after the salt had failed.
  Sulphate of quinia may be given in  pill or solution, or suspended in water by 
1242
Quinia.
PART II.
the intervention of syrup and mucilage.  The form of pill is usually preferred.
(See Pilulse Quinise 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 Pharma-
copoeias ; and this is the most eligible mode of exhibiting the medicine 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.   Mr. J.  S. Blockey
ascertained that glycerin will, if gently heated, dissolve eight grains of the sul-
phate in each fluidrachm, and may therefore be conveniently used as a vehicle.
(Lond. Chemist, Sept. 1857.)  Dr. R. H. Thomas, of Baltimore, found  that
one part of tannic acid will deprive five parts of sulphate of quinia of bitterness,
without impairing its medicinal efficacy.  (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N.S., xix.
541.)  It is obvious that tannate of quinia is thus formed ; and as this, though
insoluble in water, is readily dissolved in dilute acids, and consequently in the
gastric  liquor when acid, there can be no doubt that it will generally prove
efficacious.   It may, however, happen that the stomach  maybe quite free from
acid, and that the operation of this  salt may prove less certain than  that of the
sulphate; and such is  asserted to have been the case in  some instances: but  a
little  lemonade taken after the medicine would probably obviate  the difficulty.
   Twelve grains of 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 maybe
given three or four times a day, or more frequently in acute cases.   In inter-
mittents, from twelve to twenty-four grains should be given between the parox-
ysms, 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 malignant inter-
mittents 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 neces-
sary,  not  to  employ this  heroic practice against easily conquerable  diseases.
Yery  large doses of the sulphate have recently been given in acute rheumatism,
and with great asserted success ; but  the occurrence of  at least one fatal  case
from  inflammation of the brain should lead  to some hesitation in this employ-
ment  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 render 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 surface denuded of the cuticle.  Tlie 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.  Purified
oleic acid will dissolve one-tenth of  its weight of sulphate of quinia,  if aided by
a gentle heat;  and this solution may be used as a liniment.
  Solutions of sulphate of quinia have been advantageously employed as local 
PART II.
Quinia.—Soda.
1243
 applications to indolent ulcers, and chronic mucous inflammations. (Wedder-
 burn and Fearn, Ned Orleans Med. and Surg. Journ., iii. 161 and 341  )
    Off. Prep. Pilulas Quinias Sulphatis ; Quinas Murias; Tinctura Quinas Com-
 posita.                                                            ^y
    QVmm  MURIAS.  Dub.  Muriate of Quinia.
    "Take of Sulphate of Quina one ounce [avoirdupois] ; Chloride of Barium
 onehundred and twenty three grains; Distilled Water thirty-two [fluidounces
 Dissolve the Chloride of Barium in two [fluid]ounces of the Water, and the
 Sulphate of Quina in the remainder, raised  to the temperature of ebullition.
 Mix the two solutions, evaporate to one-half, filter, and continue the evaporation
 by means of a steam  or water heat, until  crystalline spicula begin to appear.
 The solution is  now  to be permitted to cool, and the crystals which separate
 to be dried on blotting paper.  The liquor  decanted off the crystals will, by
 further concentration and cooling, yield an additional product."  Dub.
  _ The only advantage of this salt of quinia over the sulphate is its greater solu-
 bility ; and this is  scarcely worth the trouble of the process, especially as the
 latter salt may be so  readily rendered soluble by the addition of an acid.   The
 dose is the same as that of the sulphate, to which the reader is  referred.
    Off. Prep.  Quinas  Yalerianas.                    .                yvr

   Qlimm  YALERIANAS.  Dub.   Valerianate of Quinia.
   "Takeof Muriate  of Quina seven drachms  [Dub. weight]; Yalerianate of
 Soda one hundred  and twenty-four grains ;  Distilled Water sixteen [ fluid.']
 ounces.  Dissolve the Yalerianate of Soda in two ounces, and the  Muriate of
 Quina in the remainder of the AVater,  and, the temperature of each solution
 being raised to 120°,  but not  higher, let them be mixed, and let the mixture
 be set by for twenty-four hours, when the Yalerianate of Quina will have be-
 come a mass of  silky  acicular  crystals.   Let these be pressed between folds of
 blotting paper, and dried without the application of artificial heat." Dub.
   This is a case of double decomposition between the two salts  employed, re-
 sulting in the production of chloride of sodium which remains in solution, and
 valerianate  of quinia which  crystallizes.  This salt has  a strong, adhesive
 odour of valerianic  acid, which is very repulsive, and quite distinct from that of.
 oil of valerian.   It is  soluble in water, more so in that liquid at a somewhat
 elevated temperature than when cold, and is deposited from its warm solution
 in fine crystals on cooling.   In boiling water it  melts into oily globules, and
 undergoes  decomposition, with the escape of valerianic acid;  and the Dublin
 College directs that its solution shall not be heated above 120°.  Even at com-
 mon temperatures it is probably undergoing a constant, though slow loss of the
 acid, of which it smells so strongly. It is soluble in alcohol.  It may be given
 in the dose of a grain or two repeated several times a day, in cases of debility
 attended with nervous disorder.  A combination of Peruvian bark and valerian
 has long been known as peculiarly efficacious in hemicrania.  Perhaps the vale-
 rianate of quinia may  be used advantageously in the same affection.    W.

                                SODA.

                       Preparations of Soda.

  LIQUOR SODiE. Lond.   Sod^i  Caustics Liquor. Dub.   Solution
of Soda.  Solution of Caustic Soda.
  "Take of Carbonate of Soda thirty-one ounces; Lime nine ounces; boiling
Distilled Water a gallon [Imp. meas.].  Prepare this Solution in the manner
directed for Liquor Potassas."  Lond.   The sp. gr. of this Solution  is 1-061.
  The Dublin College takes two pounds [avoirdupois] of crystallized carbonate 
1244
Soda.
PART II.
of soda, ten ounces [avoird.] of fresh burnt lime, and a gallon and seven fluid-
ounces [Imp. meas.] of distilled yvater, and proceeds precisely in the manner
directed for obtaining solution of potassa.  The phraseology of the two formulas
is the same.  The resulting Solution is stated to have the sp. gr. 1-056.
  Solution of soda is prepared in the same way as solution of potassa.  By a
double decomposition between carbonate of soda and hydrate of lime, there are
formed hydrate of soda in solution, and carbonate of lime which precipitates.  In
both the  processes an excess of  lime is used, which is necessary to insure a full
decomposition of the carbonate.
  Properties,  dec.  Solution of soda, commonly called solution of caustic soda,
is a new officinal  of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of 1850, and the London of 1851.
It is a colourless liquid, having a caustic taste  and alkaline reaction.   Its prop-
erties and tests are the same as those of solution of potassa, with the exception
that no precipitate is produced by bichloride of platinum or tartaric acid.  The
London solution is somewhat stronger than the Dublin,  and contains four per
cent, of soda.  The alkali dissolved must be viewed as hydrate of soda, consist-
ing of one eq. of soda 31-3, and one of water 9 = 40-3.
  Solution of soda is used by the London College as a chemical agent for pre-
paring oxysulphuret of antimony, and by the Dublin  College for saturating
valerianic acid in forming valerianate of soda.
   Off. Prep. Sodas Yalerianas.                                      B.
   SODiE  CARBONAS EXSICCATUS.  U. S.   Soc-iE  Carbonas
Exsiccata.  Lond.   Sod^; 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 until the
crystals fall to pieces, then subjects it to a red heat, and finally 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.
  "Take of Crystallized Carbonate  of Soda  of Commerce  any convenient
quantity.  Expose it in a porcelain capsule to a pretty strong sand heat, until
the liquid which first forms is  converted into a dry cake, and, having rubbed
this to powder, enclose it in a bottle." 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 nothing from the  crystallized,  except in being devoid
of water  of crystallization.  (See Sodse Carbonas.)  When decomposed by dilute
sulphuric acid, it evolves 40-7 per cent, of carbonic acid.  (Lond.  Pharm.)
  Medical Properties and Uses.  This preparation was introduced into prac-
tice by Dr. Beddoes, who extolled its virtues in calculous complaints. It is ap-
plicable 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.  For
the medical properties of this salt see  Sodse Carbonas.
   Off. Prep. Sodas Bicarbonas.                                      B. 
PART II.
Soda.
1245
   SOD^E  CARBONATIS  LIQUOR. Dub.    Solution of  Carbonate
 of Soda.
   "Take of Crystallized Carbonate of Soda of Commerce one ounce andahalf
 [avoirdupois]; Distilled Water one pint [Imp. meas.]. Dissolve and filter.  The
 specific gravity of this Solution is 1-026." Dub.
   This, preparation furnishes a  solution of carbonate of soda of determinate
 strength, each Imperial fluidounce of which contains nearly thirty-three grains
 of the salt.  It is convenient for prescribing the alkali in solution, and for form-
 ing effervescing draughts, each  fluidounce being saturated, on  an average, by
 half a fluidounce of lemon juice.   The dose is from one to two tablespoonfuls,
 sufficiently diluted with  water, and given two or three times a day.        B.

   SODiE BICARBONAS.  U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Bicarbonate 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 parti-
 tion 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 generating car-
 bonic 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.
   In the London Pharmacopoeia of 1851, bicarbonate of soda has been trans-
 ferred from the Preparations to the list of Materia Medica.
   " Fill with fragments of Marble a glass jar, open at the bottom and tubulated
 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 bot-
 tle, 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 dilute 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.  Remove 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 Crystallized Carbonate  of Soda of Commerce two pounds [avoir-
 dupois] ; Distilled Water one quart [two pints Imp. meas.];  Muriatic Acid of
 Commerce one pint and a half [Imp. meas.]; Water three pints [Imp. meas.];
 Chalk, in fragments, one pound [avoird.], or a sufficient quantity.  Having
 diluted the Muriatic Acid with the Water, and dissolved the Carbonate of Soda
 in the Distilled Water, manipulate with these solutions, and with the Chalk, as
 directed in the formula for Potassae Bicarbonas, employing also the arrange-
 ment of apparatus there described.   With the view, however, of obtaining from
 the mother liquor an additional quantity of Bicarbonate, it  is not necessary
 that the evaporation shall be preceded by a filtration." Dub.
   The object of these processes is to unite the soda with an additional equiva-
 lent of carbonic acid, whereby it becomes converted into the bicarbonate.
   The process adopted in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia since 1840, is that  which
has been  practised for many years in the United States, and was described in 
1246
Soda.
PART II.
1830, by Dr. Franklin R. Smith, in the first volume of the Journal of the Phil-
adelphia College of Pharmacy.   This process  is attributed  to Dr. Smith by
Soubeiran, who characterizes it as the best that can be employed.   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 crystallized 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 consid-
erable quantity of water is liberated.  This water would finally dissolve the
bicarbonate formed, were it not-fbr the pierced 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 opaque and
of a porous texture.  The necessary carbonic acid for forming the bicarbonate
may be economically obtained from other processes in which this acid is evolved •
as, for example, from the process for making tartaric acid, in which tartrate of
lime is formed from cream of tartar by the addition of carbonate of lime.
  The process adapted in the last Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia is that of Berzelius.
In the U. S. process, the excess of water over the quantity necessary for the
bicarbonate is allowed to drain off; but it holds a certain portion 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 recom-
mended by Berzelius accomplishes that purpose.   Thus, the salt which he pre-
pares to be submitted to the carbonic acid, is an intimate mixture, in fine pow-
der, of four parts of effloresced carbonate, with  one of the  crystallized salt.
The proportion adopted by the  Edinburgh  College is different, namely, two
parts  of the dried carbonate to  one of the crystallized carbonate; and is such
as to  afford a slight excess of water over that required to constitute the bicar-
bonate.  Hence the Edinburgh  process  furnishes a damp salt, which is dried
in the air without heat, or at  a  temperature not exceeding 120°.   The appa-
ratus  employed by the College for obtaining  the  carbonic acid is precisely the
self-regulating generator, devised by Dr. Hare on the principle of Gay-Lussac's.
The empty bottle, placed between the generating  apparatus  and that contain-
ing the salt, is intended to detain any impurity which may be carried over with
the stream of carbonic acid.
  In  the Dublin Pharmacopoeia of 1850, the process was adopted 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  washed, drained, and  dried as directed for bicarbonate of
potassa.   A second crop of crystals is obtained from the mother water without
filtration,  by evaporating it to one-half by a heat not exceeding 110°.
  Artus has given a process for obtaining bicarbonate of soda, similar to that
of Wohler for forming the corresponding salt of potassa.  (See Potassse Bicar-
bonas.)   In this process, the effloresced carbonate, mixed yvith half its weight of
freshly ignited and finely powdered charcoal, is saturated by a stream of carbonic
acid,  derived from the  fermentation of  sugar.   The presence of the charcoal
greatly promotes the absorption. (Pharm. Cent.  Blatt, 1843, p. 254.)
  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 Dublin preparation is in minute,
colourless, indistinct crystals.   Bicarbonate  of soda is permanent in the air, 
PART II.
Soda.
1247
 and slightly alkaline to the taste andrto turmeric paper.  It is soluble in thir-
 teen parts of cold water.   When the solution is exposed to heat, the salt gra-
 dually parts with carbonic acid, and, at the temperature of 212°, is converted
 into sesquicarbonate.   At  a red heat,  the  water of crystallization and the
 second equivalent  of carbonic acid, amounting together to 37 per cent., are
 expelled, and the anhydrous carbonate is left.  One eq., or 84-3 parts of the
 crystallized bicarbonate should lose, on complete decomposition by dilute sul-
 phuric acid, two eqs. or 44 parts of carbonic acid, equal to 52-1 per cent.  The
 salt is seldom  so perfect as  to  satisfy this test; as good commercial samples
 generally contain from two  to three per cent,  of carbonate.   The note of tests
 of the London Pharmacopoeia calls for the presence of 51 "7 per cent, of car-
 bonic acid, which is very near the theoretical  quantity.  The presence of car-
 bonate maybe known by a decided alkaline taste and reaction, by a cold solu-
 tion of the  salt yielding a precipitate with sulphate of magnesia, and by a
 solution in 40 parts of water, affording, without agitation, an orange-coloured
 or reddish-brown precipitate with corrosive  sublimate; whereas the pure salt
 produces a slight opalescence only with this test.  The corrosive sublimate test
 is adopted in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and, according to Dr. Christison^. ^
 readily detects one per cent, of carbonate.   The pure bicarbonate is not preci^:"''?
 pitated by bichloride of platinum, or, when treated with nitric acid in exceaa-fr-?;
 by chloride of barium or nitrate of silver.  The non-action of these tests sht^ff
 the absence of salts of potassa, and of sulphates and chlorides.   The ihcoW.^
 patibles of this salt are the  same as those of the carbonate,  except sulphate of  ;:
 magnesia in the cold, which  decomposes the carbonate, but not the bicarbonate.
   Composition.  Bicarbonate of soda, when perfect, consists of two eqs. of car-
 bpnic acid 44, one of soda 31*3, and one of water 9=84-3.  The London College
 formerly prepared this salt by a faulty process, and gave it the name of sesqui-
 carbonate.  In its Pharmacopoeia of 1851, it has  placed  the salt, under the
 correct name of bicarbonate, in the catalogue  of Materia Medica; where,- per-
 haps, it properly stands, as it is now prepared in great perfection on a large scale.
  Medical Properties.   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 calculous
 cases, characterized by excess  of uric acid.  The continued use of the carbo-
 nate in these cases, 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 Yichy, this objection does not apply to the  bicarbonate,  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 bicar-
 bonate of potassa.   Bicarbonate of soda has been given in infantile croup, with
 apparent advantage in promoting the expulsion of the false membrane, in the
 dose of a grain every five minutes, dissolved in milk  and water.   Dr. Lemaire
 has proposed it as an  antiphlogistic remedy in the  treatment of pneumonia,
 membranous angina, and croup, supposing it to act on the principle of remov-
 ing from the blood the excess of fibrin, which exists in that liquid in inflam-
 mation.  Its utility in membranous angina has been confirmed by M. Marchal
 (de  Calvi).   According to M. Jeannel, the use of bicarbonate of soda lessens
 the  sugar in the urine of diabetic patients.   The dose for an adult is from ten
 grains to a drachm, and is taken most conveniently in a glass of carbonic acid
 water.   When  given  in angina, fifteen  grains may be administered every half
hour in a tablespoonful of water.   This salt is principally consumed in making
soda and Seidlitz powders. (See page 57.)  It is sometimes made into lozenges.
 (See Trochisci Sodse Bicarbonatis.) 
1248
Soda.
PART II.
  Off. Prep.  Pulveres Effervescentes; Pulveres Effervescentes Citrati;  Soda-
Aqua Effervescens;  Trochisci Sodas Bicarbonatis.                      B.

  SODiE AQUA  EFFERYESCENS.  Ed.   Effervescing  Water of
Soda.
  " Take of Bicarbonate of Soda one drachm; Water one pint [Imp. meas.].
Dissolve  the  Bicarbonate in the Water,  and saturate it  with  carbonic acid
under strong pressure.  Preserve the liquid in well closed vessels." Ed.
  This is a solution of bicarbonate of soda in carbonic acid water, in the pro-
portion of three grains to the  Imperial  fluidounce.   The name given to it is
incorrect.  The reason is  not obvious why this solution is made with water,
and the corresponding one of potassa with distilled water.              B.

  LIQUOR  SODM CHLORINATE.   U.S., Lond.  Sode Chlo-
rinate Liquor.  Dub.   Solution  of Chlorinated Soda.   Solution  of
Chloride of Soda.   Labarraque s Disinfecting Liquid.
  " Take  of  Chlorinated  Lime a pound; 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, stir-
ring the mixture after each addition.   Set the mixture by for  several  hours
that the dregs may subside; then decant the clear liquor, and mix it with the
solution of Carbonate of Soda.   Lastly, decant the clear liquor from the pre-
cipitated 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 [Imp. meas.];  Chloride of Sodium four ounces; Binoxide of Manga-
nese three ounces; Sulphuric Acid two fluidounces and a half.  Dissolve the
Carbonate in two pints [Imp.  meas.] of W^ater.  Then  put the Chloride and
Binoxide, rubbed to powder, into a retort; and add to them  the  Acid, pre-
viously 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 the Carbonate above directed." Lond.
  "Take of Chlorinated Lime  half a pound [avoirdupois]; Water halfa gal-
lon [Imp. meas.]; Crystallized Carbonate of  Soda of Commerce seven ounces
[avoird.].  Blend well by trituration in a mortar  the Chlorinated Lime with
three pints of  the Water,  and, having transferred the mixture to a stoppered
bottle, let this be well shaken several times for the space of three hours.  Pour
out the contents of the bottle on a calico cloth, and to the filtered solution add
the Carbonate of Soda, dissolved in the remaining pint of Water.   Having
stirred the mixture well for ten minutes, separate the liquid by a second filtra-
tion,  and preserve it  in a well stopped bottle.  The specific gravity of this
liquid is 1-034." Dub.
  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
therapeutic properties.  The  U. S. process is that  of Payen, 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 process of the Dublin College is  the same in principle as
that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; but the  proportions employed are different.
While the U. S. process gives an  excess of  carbonate of soda, the Dublin for-
mula orders a proportion  so small as not to be sufficient to decompose the whole 
PART II.
Soda.
1249
 of the chlorinated lime, even assuming this to be of inferior quality.  The
 water taken is  not  much more  than half that ordered in the U. S. Pharma-
 copoeia; from which it follows that the Dublin solution is denser.  In conse-
 quence of the chlorinated lime being taken in excess, the Dublin preparation
 must  be  a mixed aqueous solution  of chlorinated soda and chlorinated lime.
 The London process is that of Labarraque.  All the chlorine generated from
 the prescribed quantity of materials for forming that gas, is  passed  into the
 solution of carbonate of  soda;  and, when the chlorine  gas is limited to this
 quantity, no carbonic acid is disengaged.   The chlorine is  first passed  through
 water to free it from muriatic acid, which, if suffered to come over, would con-
 vert the alkali into common salt.
   Properties.  The U. S. solution is a colourless liquid, having an alkaline re-
 action, and a faint smell  of chlorine.  With lime-water it yields a precipitate of
 carbonate of lime, known to be a carbonate by its dissolving with effervescence
 in an acid.  This precipitate is caused by the excess of carbonate of soda.  Owing
 to the presence  of loosely combined chlorine, it rapidly destroys the colour of
 sulphate of indigo.   The London solution has a pale-yellow colour, and a sharp
 saline, astringent taste.   The colour of turmeric is first rendered brown, and
 afterwards destroyed.  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 pro-
 perties of the original liquid.  Upon the addition of muriatic acid, both these
 solutions  emit carbonic acid and chlorine together, the  former known by its pre-
 cipitating lime from lime-water, the latter by its decolorizing power on sulphate
 of indigo.   The Dublin solution is  peculiar in containing no undecomposed
 carbonate of soda.   It has not, therefore,  an alkaline reaction, is not  precipi-
 tated by lime-water, and does not emit carbonic acid on the  addition of an acid.
 All three  solutions, when exposed to  the air, absorb carbonic  acid and slowly
 evojve chlorine.  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-
 ferent.  Assuming  the  chlorinated  lime  to be  essentially hypochlorite  of
 lime with chloride of calcium (see page 162), the U. S. solution, after decan-
 tation from the precipitated  carbonate of lime, will contain hypochlorite of
 soda with chloride of sodium.   CaO,C10 + CaCl and 2(NaO,C03)=NaO,
 ClO+NaCl and 2(CaO,C02).  Besides these there will be present more or less
 carbonate of soda, according as  there happens to  be  in the chlorinated lime
 less or more chlorine to decompose it.   In all cases, however, there will be an
 excess  of carbonate of soda; as the best chlorinated lime does not contain suf-
 ficient  chlorine to effect its entire decomposition, in the proportion in which it
 is taken in the formula.  The constitution  of the London preparation  is more
 complicated.   As it is a peculiarity in its formation that no carbonic 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 hypo-
 chlorite 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 re-
 maining 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 hypo-
 chlorous acid.   This acid then unites with  the remaining eq. of soda to form
 hypochlorite of soda.   The view here taken makes the IT.  S. and London so-
lutions analogous in  constitution ; but differing in  one containing the carbo-
nate, the other the bicarbonate of soda.   In the London preparation, half the
       79 
1250
Soda.
PART II.
 soda is bicarbonated; in the U. S.  solution, from a  half to a third is mono-
 carbonated, according to the quality of the chlorinated lime used.  The Dublin
 may be supposed to be the same as the U. S. preparation, with the exception
 that, instead of having an excess of carbonate of soda, it contains an excess of
 chlorinated lime.  According to Millon's view, all these solutions contain oxu-
                         (0        .    .
 chloride of sodium, Na -j ™, or,  which is the same thing, bichloride of soda

 (NaO,CL); thus making the compound assimilate in constitution to the perox-
 ide of sodium (Na03). On Millon's view, one eq. of carbonate of soda would de-
 compose two of chloride of lime, with the result of forming one eq. of bichloride
 of soda, one of carbonate of lime, and one of free lime.   2(CaO,Cl) and  NaO,
 C02=NaO,Cl2 and CaO,C03 and  CaO.  M. Millon's view doubles  the pro-
 portion of the  chlorine to the soda.  Mr. B. Kavanagh, of Dublin, finds that
 a solution of alum  has its alumina precipitated upon being added to the Lon-
 don 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 yvith chlo-
 rine and not with hypochlorous  acid, and, accordingly, conceives  that he has
 proved the correctness of Millon's views.  Upon the whole, analyses are want-
 ing before we can determine the  true constitution of  the officinal  solutions of
 chlorinated soda.   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 Properties 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 these 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 peculiarly
 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 disorders,  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 is from thirty drops
to a teaspoonful,  given in a  cupful of water or mild aqueous liquid,  and re-
peated every two or three hours.
  As a local remedy it is found useful in all affections attended with fetor, such
as gangrenous, cancerous, scrofulous, aud syphilitic  ulcers, ulceration of the
gums, carbuncle,  ozasna, mortification, putrid sorethroat,  &c.   In these  cases
it is applied as a gargle, wash, ingredient of poultices, or imbibed by lint.  In
the sloughing of the fauces occurring in severe cases of scarlatina, Dr. Jackson,
late of Northumberland, Pa., found it efficacious, used as a gargle, or  injected
into the throat.  In  small pox Mr.  John Gabb employed  this solution with
 great benefit, as a wash and gargle for the mouth and throat, and as an ap-
plication to the skin to  allay itching.   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 cannula.  The solution of chlori-
nated soda has also been applied successfully to burns, and to cutaneous  erup- 
part n.                          Soda.                             1251

tions, particularly psoriasis, tinea capitis, scabies, and obstinate herpetic affec-
tions.   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  nipples,
Dr.  Chopin  found nothing  so successful as frequently repeated lotions with
this solution.
   Solution of chlorinated soda is a powerful disinfectant, better suited for dis-
infecting operations on  a small scale than chlorinated lime.   In the chambers
of the sick, especially with infectious diseases, it is highly useful, sprinkled on
the floor or bed, and  added to the vessels intended to receive the excretions.
   Off. Prep.  Cataplasma  Sodas  Chlorinatas.                           B.

   SODE ET POTASSE  TARTRAS. U.S.,Dub.  Sobm  Potassio-
tartras. Lond.  Potasse  et SoDiE Tartras. Ed.   Tartrate of Po-
tassa and Soda.  Tartarized Soda.   Rochelle Salt.
   "Take of Carbonate of Soda a pound; Bitartrate of Potassa [cream of tar-
tar], in powder, sixteen ounces; Boiling Water five pints.   Dissolve the Car-
bonate  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 Edinburgh and  Dublin  processes correspond  with  the above.   The
London College has transferred this salt to the  list of Materia Medica.
   This is a double salt, consisting of tartrate of potassa combined with tartrate
of soda,  The theory of its formation is very simple, being merely  the satura-
tion of the excess of acid in the bitartrate of potassa by the soda of the carbon-
ate of soda, the carbonic acid of  which escapes with effervescence.  The quan-
tities of the materials for mutual saturation are 143-3 parts of  carbonate and
188-2 of bitartrate, or one eq. of each.  This gives the ratio of 3 to  3-95.  The
proportion adopted in the U. S., Edinburgh, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias is as 3
to 4, 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 containing tartrate of
lime, it  is, perhaps, best in all cases, after indicating the nearest average pro-
portion 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 has a saline and slightly bitter taste.   It dis-
solves in five times its weight of cold water, and  in much less  boiling water.
Any undissolved residue is impurity, probably tartrate of  lime or bitartrate of
potassa, or both.   Its solution is neutral  to test paper, and  yields  no precipi-
tate with chloride of barium, or a dilute solution of nitrate of silver.  The non-
action of these tests shows the absence of sulphates and chlorides.  When the
salt is exposed to a strong heat, the tartaric acid is destroyed, 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 in-
compatible with most acids,  and with all acidulous salts except 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 crystal- 
1252
Soda.
PART II.
 line precipitate.  This double salt was discovered by Seignette, an apothecary
 of Rochelle, and hence is frequently called Seignette's salt, or Rochelle salt
   Composition.  Tartrate of potassa and soda consists of two eqs. of tartaric
 acid 132, one of potassa 47*2, oneof soda 3U3, and eight of water 72 = 2825-
 or, considered as a double salt, of one eq. of tartrate of potassa 113-2, and one
 of tartrate of soda 97-3, with the same quantity of water.
   Medical 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  asso-
 ciated with that salt in  solution.  It is an ingredient in the effervescing  ape-
 rient called Seidlitz powders.  (See page 57.)  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., 3e ser.,  vi. 222.)
   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.)                    B

   SOD^E  MURIAS PURUM.  Ed.  Pure Muriate  of 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 formula of the Edinburgh College is unnecessary.  If commercial  sam-
 ples 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 Muriaticum
 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.                             B.

   SOD^E PHOSPHAS.   U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.  Phosphate of Soda.
 Medicinal  Tribasic Phosphate of Soda.
  "Take of Bone, burnt to whiteness  and powdered, ten pounds; 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,
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 degrees
the Carbonate  of Soda, previously dissolved in  hot water, until  effervescence
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 pro-
duced.  Lastly, preserve the crystals in a well stopped bottle." U. S.
  The Edinburgh College takes the same materials,  in the same  proportion,
and  proceeds substantially  as  above.   The tyvo pints and four fluidounces
(Imperial measure) of sulphuric acid, ordered by the College, weigh six pounds.
 The Dublin takes ten avoirdupois pounds of calcined bone, fifty-six Imperial 
PART II.
Soda.
1253
fluidounces (six and a half avoird. pounds nearly) of acid, four and a half Im-
perial gallons or sufficient distilled water, twelve avoird. pounds or sufficient
crystallized carbonate of soda, and makes the salt in the usual way.
   The London College places this salt in the list of Materia Medica.
   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 sulphuric
acid, the carbonate of  lime  is entirely decomposed, giving rise to effervescence.
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 phosphate, and remains
in solution as a superphosphate of lime, holding dissolved a  small portion of
the sulphate of lime.   In order to separate the superphosphate  from  the pre-
cipitated 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 superphos-
phate of lime, are mixed and allowed to stand, and by cooling a portion of sul-
phate 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 superphosphate, generates  one variety of the
tribasic phosphate of soda;  while the superphosphate of lime, by the loss of
its excess of acid, becomes the neutral phosphate, and precipitates.   It is re-
commended by the editor of the Dublin Hospital Gazette  to have both solu-
tions boiling hot, in order to insure the full extrication of the carbonic acid, and
the complete precipitation of the phosphate of  lime; and this plan is  adopted
in the Dublin formula.   The phosphate of lime is separated by a new filtration;
and the filtered liquor, which is a solution of phosphate of soda,  is evaporated
so as to crystallize.
   In the U. S. and Edinburgh processes, the calcined bone is to the acid as 10
to 6;  in the Dublin process  as 10 to 6| nearly.   The proportion recommended
by Berzelius is 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.   All the writers state that phosphate  of soda crys-
tallizes more readily by allowing its solution to be slightly  alkaline; and a
remarkable fact is that a neutral solution, when it crystallizes, leaves a superna-
tant 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 expeditious
method for obtaining phosphate of soda.  To the powdered calcined bone, dif-
fused in water, sufficient dilute sulphuric acid is added to decompose all the car-
bonate of lime which it contains.  When the effervescence ceases, the matter is
treated 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 com-
pleted, the nitric acid is recovered by distillation.  In consequence of a double
decomposition, sulphate of lime and phosphate of soda  are  formed, the latter
of which is separated by water, and crystallized  in the usual manner. 
1254
Soda.
PART II.
  Properties, &c.   The medicinal phosphate of soda is in large colourless crys-
tals, which have the shape of oblique rhombic prisms.   They are transparent
at first, but  speedily effloresce and become opaque  when  exposed to the air.
It possesses a pure saline taste, resembling that of common salt.  With tests
it displays an alkaline reaction.  It dissolves in four parts of cold, and in 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 into a globule of
limpid glass, which becomes opaque on cooling.  It is not liable to adulteration,
but sometimes contains carbonate of soda, from this salt having been added
in excess in its preparation; 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.   Chloride of barium will detect
carbonate of soda  also,  by producing  a precipitate (carbonate  of baryta), solu-
ble with effervescence in nitric acid.   If a  chloride be present, the yellow pre-
cipitate caused by nitrate of silver will be a mixed one of chloride and phosphate
of silver, not entirely soluble in the same acid.  The salt is incompatible with
soluble  salts of lime, with which it  gives a precipitate of phosphate of lime,
and with neutral metallic solutions.  It is found in several  of the animal secre-
tions, particularly the urine.
  The medicinal phosphate of soda is one of the three tribasic phosphates of
soda,  characterized by having  its three bases, made up of two  eqs  of soda and
one of water.  When crystallized, it consists of one  eq. of phosphoric acid 72,
two of soda 62-6, one of basic water  9, and twenty-four of water of crystalliza-
tion 216=359-6.   Its  formula is, therefore, 2NaO,HO,P05+24HO.   When
gently heated it loses its water of crystallization;  and at a red  heat its basic
water is driven off, and the salt is converted into pyrophosphate of soda, or
that variety  of bibasic phosphate which  has the formula 2Na0,P05.  This
bibasic phosphate is characterized by giving a white  precipitate with nitrate of
silver.   When the medicinal  salt is  thus  dried and ignited, it  loses  62-3 per
cent, of water. (Lond. Pharm.)
  Medical Properties  and Uses.   Phosphate  of soda was  introduced into
practice about the year  1800, by Dr. Pearson, of London.  It  is a mild purga-
tive, 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
isbest given  in gruel or weak broth,  to which it gives a taste, as if seasoned
with common salt.
   Off. Prep.  Ferri Phosphas; Pulvis Antimonialis.  Dub.              B.

   SODiE  YALERIANAS. Dub.   Valerianate of  Soda.
   " Take of  Bichromate of Potash, reduced to powder, nine ounces [avoirdu-
pois] ; Fusel Oil four fluidounces [Imp.  meas.];  Oil of Yitriol of Commerce
six fluidounces and a half [Imp. meas.];  Water halfa gallon[Imrj. meas.];
Solution of Caustic Soda one pint [Imp. meas.], or as much as is sufficient.
Dilute the Oil of Yitriol with ten [fluid]ounces, and dissolve with the aid of
heat the Bichromate of Potash in the remainder of the Water.   When both
solutions have cooled to nearly the temperature of the atmosphere, place them
in a matrass, and,  having add