]

.-Itf -
ir*&
 
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
             Washington
Founded 1836
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Public Health Service 
 
 
^mm
r^ i rw

 
 
REMARKS
THE  USE  OF ALCOHOL
PREPARATION OF MEDICINES.
BOSTON :<'/: . Si (p \T \ ^
PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON, 21, SCHOOL STREET.




           1849. 
 QV
"R3S4 
                  THE


      USE  OF  ALCOHOL

FOR  THE PREPARATION  OF MEDICINES.
In a number of the States in this country, laws have
been passed prohibiting the  sale of alcohol, except
for  medicine  and the  arts.   In  these  States the
apothecaries have become its only regular venders,
and  some of them have availed themselves of the
opportunity thus afforded to retail it to the tippler.
This practice partially defeats the operation of the
law, and thus  threatens to  be  a public nuisance.
The question has naturally arisen, Whether alcohol
is a necessary article of the  Materia Medica; and,
if so, to what extent ?   Whether, for example, it is
not  employed in many cases where other articles
might be substituted with propriety, and even with
advantage ?
  The principal uses for which alcohol is employed
in medicine are, first, As a Stimulant; second, As a
Menstruum ; third, As an Antiseptic.
  As a stimulant, it is not so necessary  as might at
first view  appear.  When  it is employed, for  ex- 
4
ample, to revive a person who is much exhausted, the
distilled aromatic herbs, or a mixture of the essential
oils, would answer.  Peppermint-water  and the other
aromatic waters, by increasing the proportion of the
essential oils, may be made as strong a stimulant as
can  be  swallowed without  excoriating the throat.
These  may often, therefore, be very properly sub-
stituted for brandy.   For  some other cases,  the
preparations of ammonia  are  more  proper.  Their
action  is more rapid; they possess greater stimu-
lant powers;  and the quantity required is therefore
less.
  Second, as a menstruum, alcohol is employed  for
extracting the virtues  of medicinal plants, and dis-
solving  medicinal resins.   The  substance,  being
infused  in  alcohol a  certain time, imparts its pro-
perties, or a portion of them, to the liquid ;  which is
then administered, sometimes in  a pure state, and
sometimes  diluted with  water.   Many people  are
not aware, that, when they take a  glass  of elixir
proprietatis or of tincture of rhubarb, they swallow
two  ounces of strong rum.  Yet delicate females,
and even children, are made to take these daily, and
thus become   habituated  to  the  use  of alcoholic
stimulants.  The danger  arising  from such  prac-
tices in some  inflammatory complaints  must be very
great.
  The medicinal resins for which  alcohol is used as
a solvent are aloes,  myrrh, guaiacum, &c.  The
tincture formed by the  combination of alcohol and 
5
the first two of these is the famous " Elixir Pro."
which, in former  times, every good mother thought
herself obliged to prepare and keep for the benefit
of her young family.  Many an unconscious mother
has brought on symptoms of violent fever by intox-
icating her offspring with these insidious articles.
Now, for these there are substitutes, which  may be
employed in the greater number  of instances.   An
infusion  of rhubarb in water, with some aromatic,
is a better medicine than the alcoholic preparation
in three  cases out of four.  Aloes  may be used as
an extract in pills, and  may be employed  in the
simpler state of powder,  and even  in decoction; so
that there are, in fact, very few,  if  any, cases where
the  spirituous preparation  is  required.  It  is a
common  opinion,  indeed,  that tincture  of  aloes
and myrrh,  or elixir proprietatis, is an  excellent
remedy  for colic.   If it be used in a colic  from
indigestion, the astringent property of  the alcohol
may, by contracting  the stomach on  undigested
food, increase  the  pain;  and the  same is true  of
brandy,  gin, and other forms of  alcohol.   If, again,
it be used for wind-colic, or pain from flatulence,
drinks  actually hot,  as  hot peppermint-water,  or
even simple hot water, are preferable.   Tincture of
cinchona, or " tincture of bark," as it was formerly
called, contains less tonic power than may be found
in the preparations of quinine ; and the same may
be said of most of the bitter tinctures,  as calumba
and cascarilla.  Tincture of red  lavender  poured 
6
 upon loaf-sugar has been a favorite  cordial with
 young  ladies who  wish to fortify their stomachs
 against any  particular  emergency,  and it  is  noto-
 rious that this indulgence  has been a very  frequent
 origin of tippling.  If,  instead of taking  lavender
 to  relieve  the stomach, they  omitted  the use  of
 sugar-plums  and  bon  bons, they  might  experience
 neither the disposition for, nor the ill consequences
 arising  from, alcoholic articles.  Stoughton's elixir,
 which is the same  as the tincture  of gentian, was
 regularly introduced into the drawing-room during
 the last generation to give keenness to the  appetite
 for an  approaching  feast.   But at  last it was dis-
 covered, that, by overstimulating the empty and un-
 protected organ, and producing a sense of satiety
 before any food was taken, instead of quickening
the appetite  or aiding the  digestion, it blunted the
 one and enfeebled the other.  Our epicures, having
sagaciously observed these  disagreeable effects, have
proposed to tickle and awaken the stomach by the
introduction  of  a  large  cold  oyster or  two.  The
best substitute for both of these  will be found in
half a glass  of  water, fresh as it comes from the
spring, and not  spoiled  by ice.   The  cases  above
mentioned  will  perhaps  be thought  sufficient  to
show how easy it often  is to find  substitutes for
alcoholic medicines.
  There is  a  class  of preparations, revealed  by sci-
ence,  which  promises great advantages  as  a sub-
stitute for  the tinctures.   In  the number of the 
7
"Boston Medical and Surgical Journal" for Sep-
tember 5. 1849, will be found an account of a mode
of producing a fermentation, by which is generated
a substance containing the properties  of medicinal
articles in a convenient state for administration and
preservation.   By adding to an infusion of  senna a
due  proportion of sugar, a fermentation  is  gener-
ated which produces a vinous fluid, so weak as not
to possess any important stimulant properties, and
yet strong enough to prevent decomposition.  This
preparation we have tried,  and find  elegant, con-
venient,  and safe.   It cannot  be  used for the pur-
poses of  intoxication, on account of its weakness and
medicinal effect.  Various preparations — as, for ex-
ample, aloes, opium, gentian,  rhubarb, and many
others most necessary in medical  practice — may
be made in the  same way.  Perhaps  it  will be
thought that they are no better than tinctures ;  but,
in fact, they have not the strength of tinctures.  No
extraneous  alcohol is introduced.   We recommend
to  the  enterprising apothecary the preparation  of
these products of fermentation, as promising much
advantage to the medical practitioner, and a valuable
 improvement in economy to  the apothecary  himself.
   A third use of  alcohol is  to prevent decomposi-
 tion.  For this purpose  it is  added to some infu-
 sions, decoctions, and syrups.   The two former of
 these should always be prepared recently and with-
 out alcohol;  and  the last, if properly made, do
 not require it. 
8
   Physicians have been  among the most forward,
 persevering,  and  able advocates  of  temperance.
 Without their aid, the temperance reformation could
 never have proceeded as far as it has.  But it appears
 there is an evil existing under their eyes, and, in a
 measure, maintained  by their prescriptions, which
 has  become  formidable to  the public morals.   If
 they would take the matter into  consideration, and
 satisfy  their  own  minds  when  alcoholic prepara-
 tions are really required,  their prescriptions would
 undoubtedly  be much  more restricted than  they
 now are in the employment  of the  tinctures.  The
 facts so briefly stated  above will probably be suf-
 ficient  to convince them, that they might,  with  a
 very little sacrifice of convenience, employ  substi-
 tutes more beneficial to the patient, and less objec-
 tionable on the ground of temperance;  and  they
 would have the satisfaction of believing, that  they
 have removed from the reach of their patients an
article which  might, by slow and insidious steps,
have ultimately led to their ruin.
  Note. — Some of the Pharmacopoeias direct that spirit
should be added to infusions to prevent decomposition,
when  they are to be kept any length of time.  This may
be accomplished without alcohol, by placing the infusion,
while  hot, in a closely-stopped bottle, and keeping it in a
cool place. 
 
 
 
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
NLM D3E7MSSE  1
NLM032745521